Tumgik
#but its not really a fandom exclusive bit of misinformation
wastrelwoods · 1 year
Text
imagining a world in which people chose to talk about BSE/vCJD in the same way they talk about kuru and made weird misinformed posts about how only isolated backward primitive cultures and crazy suicidal people eat beef because eating beef gives you a special rare illness that melts your brain into mush. oh is it more nuanced than that? is there some kind of deep internalized bias about the boundaries of correct human behavior that’s leading you to mythologize and fearmonger about one illness and not the other?
9 notes · View notes
necroromantics · 19 days
Text
Once again respectfully begging and pleading and asking the Creepypasta fandom to stop treating Bipolar disorder like its just mood swings PLEAAAAAAASE PLEASE ITS SO FRUSTRATING I understand that theres an insane amount of misinformation about Bipolar Disorder, but the extreme highs/lows (manic/depressive episodes) in Bipolar are periods of time that last weeks or even months. It is NOT going from being happy to super angry at the smallest trigger, that is more associated with BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER (BPD). Which is VERY DIFFERENT from Bipolar Disorder (BD).
If you want to write Toby with volatile emotions and hes super moody and he goes from happy to angry or sad really quick, you can, but please don't call that Bipolar. That isnt at all what Bipolar Disorder is. I see it ALL the time and its gotten to a point where its like Man wtf. Please do research
Bipolar episodes are long periods of extremely high energy/moods (manic), or extremely low energy/moods (depressive). Theres a bit more nuance than that but Ima keep it simple for you guys. But I very very highly recommend actually reading about Bipolar and even the difference between BD and BPD
Also, manic episodes are bipolar exclusive. They are the hallmark feature of the disorder, so if a character has bipolar, they will experience manic episodes, or if they experience manic episodes, they will be bipolar. Borderline PD does NOT have manic episodes, though they might experience periods of euphoria.
Theres a very very big difference between mood swings and Bipolar mood swings. Thank you.
114 notes · View notes
mecachrome · 4 months
Note
I just wanted to say huge thanks for the support and love for papaya boys which you share with us all. I’m quite new to this f1 fan internet stuff and I was shocked to see how much hate is spread around, especially on twitter. It was really not fun after the race yesterday. I haven’t seen so much hate being spread towards someone in a very long time. idk why but mclaren team just resonated with me from the very first moment I watched f1. I support the team and landoscar as one, might be weird but that’s how it is to me. team. And I would never hate another driver to be honest, I kinda like and enjoy every single one of them. Anyway… thank you 🧡 your blog is one of my favourites and brings me so much joy.
wahhh hello anon and thank you for this kind and thoughtful message! i'm glad that my blog is able to better your online experience even if just a little bit T__T
honestly i haven't really seen much if any of the vitriol so i'm not even fully briefed on the situation asldfkhdflk... my fandom experience is significantly improved by being a reclusive introvert viscerally averse to maintaining any form of public social media profile 🥲 but i do want to say that as a new fan you should never feel you have to justify your approach to fandom to anyone or feel bad or weird for how you consume the sport!!! professional sports are just entertainment products after all... and imo f1 especially exacerbates strange amounts of zealous discourse because of its relatively individual nature and the fact that it is in itself a nearly unmatched symbolic expression of gross socioeconomic privilege, so you can understand why people buying into its high camp façade of exclusivity experience a disconnect between person and celebrity.
tbh there are many drivers i don't like or rate haha but i guess i just don't see the point in doing anything about that on my oscar blog... and even with oscar himself i would never say that i rep him to such an unconditional degree that i'd always assume he's been wronged by mclaren or that he's never made a mistake or that lando is being favored etc. etc. (first of all literally what would they achieve by trying to sabotage him... toto we're not in Line Distribution Video comment sections anymore), and in the grand scheme of things i also don't really care if people hate him or express dislike for his character! being an oscar fan during crbgate was interesting though because of how much people genuinely detested him and gleefully spread misinformation wrt the circumstances of his contract situation, so i know how frustrating it can be to watch inane moments get blown out of proportion & spiral into senseless or uninformed negativity
honestly i've been in hockey fandom for so long i think i'm just used to sports culture that is much less sympathetic to athletes individually but also less… i don't know, i suppose "defensive" in the sense of not perceiving them as projections of fans' own selves and personalities and sensibilities. i know most people on twitter are young so i'm not going to moralize this behavior or anything, but as you mentioned it can & does lead to unproductive externalizations of aforementioned parasocial attachment. really i'm sorry you have to deal with that because everyone deserves a space to engage in fandom comfortably! TT__TT
sorry this response is way too long asdflkhdsf i just wanted to lay out my thoughts on fandom spaces + my own personal engagement definitively i guess... i do always try to contextualize situations objectively and honestly i barely have enough time and energy as it is to reblog all the stuff i LIKE about oscar, so why would i waste it getting mad at other things you know! anw i hope you can continue enjoying your time in this fandom because eye personally think being a mcl fan is great 🧡 sending u my love anon!!!
16 notes · View notes
hanijunk · 4 years
Text
Alright boys, girls, and nonbinary folks of the world. It’s 5:36am (1/30 when I first started) as I decide to give up on my attempt to continue to focus on learning statistics, avoid studying for my two upcoming midterms, and put off my two actual essays for two different classes.
Instead we’re going into a dive about ✨ KazuFuuma ✨ . Is this me telling you you gotta ship it? No of course not, you’re entitled to your own ships! You don’t really gotta care about it as a ship. But I do want people to recognize it’s THERE canonically, and how disregarding it is extremely unfair to Kazuki as a character particularly. Also, I’m working on the assumption anyone clicking this at least knows the bare bones about what KazuFuuma (ex. You know they are a ship of Kazuki/Fuuma from Dolce, you know they are childhood friends, you know who Dolce is, you know about Honeyworks, etc.) I’ll be making references to specific things, but I won’t always go into heavy detail. Might just hope you know it or take my word for what it is, and go into analyzing it. Some I’ll put direct references to find, but some I’ll trust you can find it yourself. If you somehow read this MAMMOTH and want reference to a specific thing mentioned, hmu I can help you find it!!
Also I hate tumblr formatting sm if you legit wanna read this 7 page essay but hate tumblr format lmk I'll add it as a google doc link instead too. anYWHO
Before actually getting into the meat of things lemme preface some stuff.
Again it’s like almost 6am so this will be disorganized and very train of thought (and likely long due to the fact when I fly by the seat of my pants I’m known to get unnecessarily extensive). It’s definitely gonna be in large part why it’s important to recognize as a romantic relationship foundation and what about it shapes Kazuki’s character in particular. Maybe a bit of how it’s been built up and its general focus and implications. Dunno yet. We’ll see LMAOO
I say f*ck. Not a lot, just a handful of times. This ain’t something scholarly this is for my own enjoyment so if you don’t like that might not wanna read. And it’s not like spitefully I just curse a lot if you haven’t...read my tags before lol
Again this is through the lens of a Kazuki stan. Of COURSE I’m going to have some level of bias, but if anything that bias may help more than hurt because that means I become FIXATED and think a lot about Kazuki. Which plays into establishing just how important it is that Kazufuuma’s relationship is recognized, especially in a romantic light at this point. Lmfao. 
I’ll have a few more prefaces about the actual content below but to keep this from getting too long if you wanna read come below the cut owo
I have extremely limited knowledge of Japanese just taking a few classes in highschool (so like 3 yrs ago) and live in America. This means a lot of my knowledge is gathered through the english translations of the super duper incredible and lovely people in the Honeyworks fandom who provide translations (delaix and takanenene esp have provided so much for me being able to understand Dolce) and my own limited Japanese paired with Google Translate for things that remain untranslated.
This only will be drawing on information I have come in contact with and have access to and making assumptions based on that, most (if not all) of which is in the public domain. So things like the Dolce Manga Volumes released via Animate, exclusive 4komas, and Light Novels are out of my area for the most part (apart from again snippets of translations thanks to this fandom’s godlike and generous translators).
I will not be drawing on anything from the first Dolce album with the exception of Nade Nade. From a meta standpoint, I consider those songs as songs made as performance media as opposed to character explorations. Nade Nade is the exception because (1) it was released a whole year before the album and (2) you can tell it’s explicitly an exploration of Fuuma and Kazuki’s interpersonal relationship even if it’s in a slightly more performance based context than the songs that came out with the Dolce LNs. Easiest parallel I can make to show this is if you held Non-Fantasy, Yume Fanfare, and Samishigariya up against each other, you could tell the difference in intended audience and intended purpose the same way the Dolce 1st album, Nade Nade, and the songs of the LNs do respectively. Even if there is some basis to ground Kazufuuma, for the purposes of this essay I’ll be acting under the assumption the 1st album falls under the Non-Fantasy equivalent category.
THAT WAS A LOT OF PREFACING CONSIDERING LIKE 2 PPL WILL PROBABLY READ IT I just have a tendency to anytime I do anything analytical lay down ground acknowledgements for myself to work on just...cuz it makes me feel less guilty for any accidental misinformation even if I’m writing towards my future self to read lolll IM SORRY WITHOUT FURTHER TO DO HERE’S THE BRAIN DUMP
First let’s go ahead and establish why it needs to be recognized as an important relationship. Again, I’m a Kazuki stan. He’s my favorite character not only of Dolce but also of the entire Honeyworks series, and as much as I love him for reasons outside the ship, whether you like it or not Kazufuuma is an essential aspect of his character and narrative. Of course there’s the fact that him and Fuuma are childhood friends, so that’s going to in part define their characters and interactions with each other and those around them. They’re both going to be relevant to one another and important to one another’s stories to an even greater extent than the rest of the members of Dolce. But on Kazuki’s side at least, it’s an EXTREME amount. A running plotpoint in Dolce Diary is the sheer amount of dedication Kazuki has to Fuuma and how much his thoughts and decisions are influenced by Fuuma, whether it be how he feels happiest spending time with Fuuma, how he decided to get his piercing to represent he wanted to protect Fuuma, how he doesn’t want to dislike food so he can eat what Fuuma dislikes, etc. Not to mention running jokes about his borderline overprotectiveness and downright possessiveness of Fuuma, how proud he is when Fuuma gets praised, or that one 4koma that literally explicitly states he can read Fuuma’s mind when he thinks motherfucking ‘dirty thoughts’ about his childhood friend (Fuuma). I still don’t know what the fuck to make of that last bit. Genuinely. Or the fact it’s a fucking running joke. As in it’s not a one off. It’s been brought up multiple times. Kazuki what the fuck. 
That’s not to say that he doesn’t have character outside of Fuuma or he doesn’t interact with people other than Fuuma. He’s great friends with Sara, Girisha, and Kippei and is shown time and time again to have fun interactions with all of them, generally acting as the best support friend for every member of the group, not Fuuma alone. For instance how he helps Kippei with his self confidence issues or stays over at Sara’s to protect him from a cockroach (which he fails at lol). Nor is that to say all his interactions involving Fuuma focus solely on his devotion to Fuuma, especially in instances where the manga focuses on Dolce as a group dynamic (though even in that setting there are times where jokes about his devotion are thrown in). He’s kind, he’s stupid, he’s friendly, he’s an amazing character in his own right, and I love him for all those reasons. But that doesn’t change the fact a major part of his character and his character interactions are rooted in Fuuma, and arguably some of his most interesting, eccentric, and notable behaviors and traits revolve around Fuuma (again the mind reading for example).
Hell let’s take it one step further. If you look at the character bios of the Dolce members, you get everyone’s motives for being an idol and interests. Of them, Kazuki is the only one to have another character mentioned directly, not to mention that supporting Fuuma is explicitly stated to be his primary motive as to why he became an idol. Not even Fuuma’s sister is mentioned, though two arguments can be made for this. The first would be that Fuuma’s backstory about wanting to fulfill his dream for himself and his sister was decided later to explain Fuuma’s choice to crossdress though it can be argued it was intentionally done to leave it as a reveal at a later date, to which I would argue I don’t think this backstory was a choice in post. While Fuuma’s dedicated Dolce Diary extra exploring that backstory was released a little less than a year after Dolce was revealed, the preview to set up Fuuma’s backstory was actually the first thing released after the character bios on the Dolce Official Twitter page if you exclude a drawing of Dolce from Yamako. The second argument could be that information about his sister was intentionally withheld to set up the reveal when Fuuma’s extra released to explore it. However, going by that logic (which I do agree with), that would also mean that Fuuma’s inclusion and importance in Kazuki’s character bio also set up his dedicated extra, which I don’t think would be incorrect to assume considering what his actual extra turned out being.
Which brings me to the thing that makes it inexplicable to write off the romantic implications behind Kazufuuma: Kazuki’s dedicated Dolce Diary extra, Suki. I shipped Kazufuuma before even knowing of Suki, sure. But the fact that Suki even exists is a shock to me and drove into me the fact that Kazufuuma wasn’t just my own projection. Again, it’s not a surprise that Fuuma shapes Kazuki’s life. They’re childhood friends, of course they’re going to be important to each other. But this extra explicitly brought Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma under a direct spotlight. At first I was thinking oh, this extra was just to acknowledge the fact that Kazuki and Fuuma’s relationship can have romantic implications, but the end of it the conclusion that we got was that it didn’t matter what type of “like” he felt for Fuuma. Originally, I thought it wasn’t anything more than saying there are all types of like, and it doesn’t always need to be explicitly defined, but I appreciated the fact they were aware that they were writing Kazuki in a way that conveyed romantic implications. 
Then I thought about it because, again, I love Kazuki of course I’m going to think about his character extra, and realized...that’s not how these character extras have worked. There are only three character extras out as far as I know and have read: Fuuma, Kippei, and Kazuki. If we look at Fuuma and Kippei’s, each extra had a conclusion, sure, but they didn’t have a resolution. Rather, they were simply setting up explicitly what each character’s primary character arc and conflict were. Fuuma’s extra brought attention to the fact that he’s particularly a crossdressing idol by exploring the motives behind it. His choice to be a crossdressing idol is constantly under fire both by himself and the world around him. He’s not immune to those who consider his crossdressing strange, and a part of his story is both finding people who accept his decision to crossdress and to succeed for himself as a crossdressing idol. It’s an essential part of how we understand and define him as a character and it’s a central part of how he interacts with the world around him. For Kippei, it lays the severity of his insecurity under the spotlight and his journey and motives for improving himself. Again, this isn’t something isolated and resolved in the extra; his extreme insecurity and negativity is constantly affecting how he interacts with practically everyone from his fellow Dolce members to his fans despite the fact in all honesty? He’s fucking insanely talented in his own right, his own brother mentioning how smart he is and how he has amazing reflexes. For Kippei, his negativity is an essential part of how we understand and define him and central to how he interacts with the world as much as Fuuma’s decision to crossdress is to him.
Which brings us back to Kazuki, of course. In his dedicated extra, in the chapter that’s supposed to explore and establish and bring attention to an essential part of his character, the aspect of himself under investigation is how he feels about Fuuma. It’s not just how he behaves around Fuuma, it’s explicitly an exploration of his feelings, on top of the fact it’s explicitly an exploration about whether or not he likes Fuuma r o m a n t i c a l l y. Literally the conflict is spurred on by someone outright asking “Do you like him?” and having to clarify “I mean romantically.” What they decided to focus on for Kazuki’s character and emphasize and establish is that Kazuki’s like towards Fuuma toes the line between friendship and romance. His ambiguous feelings towards Fuuma (if we leave them inconclusive as Suki did) are just like Fuuma’s crossdressing and Kippei’s insecurity in the sense the weight of whatever those feelings may be are seen in how he interacts with the world around him and influences his behaviors. It would be another story if they introduced the potential and shut it down all within the extra, because then his central conflict would to me be less directly open to romantic potential and more simply about how his arc was meant to explore the dynamic of the behavior of an extremely dedicated best friend. The fact that he may be romantically attracted to Fuuma or may be only platonically dedicated to Fuuma is instead something that looms over Kazuki in the same way Fuuma’s decision to crossdress constantly looms over him. It’s what Dolce wanted to point to and say this is Kazuki’s central character conflict and central arc: exploring what type of feelings he has towards Fuuma. 
Sure, it can be argued that there’s only three Dolce Diary character extras, there’s not enough to be sure about that being the purpose of the extras unless we get the other two’s extras. First, at this point I honestly don’t know if or when they’re going to release an extra revolving around Sara and Girisha just because not only has it been over a year and a half since the latest Dolce Diary Character Extra (Kazuki’s) was released despite the gap between the first and latest Dolce Diary Character Extra (Fuuma’s and Kazuki’s) were within a year of release but also because the Dolce 4komas and comics they’ve been posting to Twitter have decreased (last one being over half a year ago) potentially due to them deciding to focus on releasing Dolce manga content through the purchasable volumes instead. (This is not particularly related to the Kazufuuma argument, just wanted to put out there my two cents on what Sara and Girisha’s extra/focal arc would be. Based on a large part of the Dolce Diary in conjuncture with Can’t an Idol Fall in Love, I’d argue Sara’s would be his journey to regain his passion for performing, and if it’s not that I’d say it’d be coming out of his self-imposed isolation and opening up to people again. As for Girisha, I have less of a concrete idea but I’m assuming it’d be something pertaining to how people often misconceive him whether it be in tandem with his determination, his optimism and sociability, or his stupidity/ability to ignore those misconceptions and work past them. But Girisha is treated like the comedic relief 90% of the time so I’m not entirely sure, but his primary conflict is definitely rooted in misconceptions of him being his roadblock imo. #MoreGirishaContentPlz) That being said, I personally feel like the three are already enough evidence, especially considering it would be honestly even more cruel for Kazuki’s character-centric extra to be focusing on something that wasn’t essential to his character and character arc, anyway. And though it’s not explicitly stated that these chapters are extras exploring a central character, you can kind of tell based on how they are (to my knowledge) the only Dolce Diary updates with cover/title cards each which include their focal character front and center. So working off that fact, the Kazuki-centric chapter established that a pillar to his narrative was his feelings towards Fuuma and that those feelings are still open to romantic potential. 
But if you follow me, this is why up until Can’t an Idol Fall in Love With Another Idol’s release, I was terrified of them writing that off. I would have been ok if it was just an arc that was given attention then continued to actively work in the background, as all the character arcs have been over all of Dolce’s content. The fact that they might be giving Fuuma a love interest and giving Fuuma a love arc while Kazuki’s feelings were still up in the air and were still the primary highlighted narrative for him would have been fucking scuffed. To me, it would be like… why would they make him so Fuuma-centric to the point that even his dedicated chapter was not just focused on Fuuma but focused on the ambiguity and potential of him having romantic feelings for Fuuma, yet reduce him to being Fuuma's designated right-hand man. Don’t get me wrong, friendships are just as important as romantic relationships. But again, rather than conclude Kazuki’s answer in Suki to be that his feelings were of friendship, they left it open ended and allow audience members to be actively aware that Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma still had potential to be romantically coded. It would just be so weird to quickly close off that narrative by giving Fuuma a love interest as opposed to letting Kazuki conclude it himself. It would be fucking beyond frustrating for me, at least Eventually, I kept trying to drive my hopes that they would explore Kazuki’s narrative at all down to the ground because it was a Fuuma-centric novel; maybe if anything they’d explore those feelings in his own novel after the fact. But then they kept having little drops here and there of Kazuki being even the slightest bit relevant and I’d go back to questioning “Are??? They??? Is this on purpose??? Do they know what they’re doing or are they just doing this because Kazuki’s just so important to Fuuma as his best friend that he’s there as his right-hand I genuinely can’t tell???” And um. Welp.
Safe to say Can’t An Idol Fall in Love sold me on the fact that they know what they’re doing LOL. And to anyone who thinks that Kazuki’s feelings can still be read as ambiguous in CAIFILWAI as opposed to explicitly romantic - whether it be due to a fear they may pull the “I like him as a friend” card or due to the disbelief that they have an explicit mlm main character in the Honeyworks series - I’d like to cover any bases that may make you think this way. If you think it’s just Kazuki acting like a protective friend, why do you think he calls Yui a rival? If you’ve only seen the MV and think it’s ambiguous or can be taken as the "likfe" for friend, then does that mean you think Yui’s feelings toward Fuuma are also ambiguous or as a friend? With the way Yui responds, she is trying to rival Kazuki’s feelings towards Fuuma. She and Kazuki recognize whatever feeling it is that they hold towards Fuuma, both of their feelings are the same type. I don’t think most people would argue that Yui’s confession about Fuuma was one of pure respect and friendship. Plus, if anything I’d argue of the three characters in the MV, Fuuma is the one whose feelings are left the most ambiguous despite him being the central character. It’s heavily implied that he may be forming feelings for Yui, but nowhere is it established either in the song or in the MV, especially if you compare it to Kazuki and Yui’s declarations or if you compare it to Sara’s feelings for Uru in Can’t An Idol Fall in Love. Fuuma’s romantic narrative here is trying to figure out how he feels for Yui, while for Kazuki and Yui they’ve established a rivalry because they both have mutually established they like Fuuma romantically.
If the MV isn’t enough for you and Suki isn’t enough for you for...some reason…??? You can check out the snippets of the light novel which the wonderful takanenene translated: one which revisits the conflict set up in Suki and one that covers the confession scene in the MV in more detail. If the fact that the conflict set up in Suki (aka the lurking feeling of not knowing if all he felt for Fuuma was only platonic or more than platonic) was specifically reestablished in the LN for anyone who didn’t keep up with Dolce Diary didn’t tip you off that it was something important, his behavior in the confession scene as depicted by the LN definitely should have. He’s possessive about his spot by Fuuma’s side. He doesn’t want that spot to be taken by anyone else. Even if he knows that they can help Fuuma, he wants it to be him. And this line: “Kazuki then trails off his words, quietly saying ‘That’s why…’ and then gave Yui a slightly painful smile, his cheeks turning red,” before he declares Yui a rival and states he likes Fuuma. If you can tell me you read that line and are still on the fence about Kazuki’s “like” towards Fuuma being romantic, please message me and I will see how I can get through to you. Like it wasn’t even just a romantically coded confession. It’s just a romantic confession. That “like” is romantic. And I’m so proud that he’s not only come to understand for himself how he feels, but that he’s confident enough to ask the person he sees as a romantic rival to speak in private and not only clarify her feelings for Fuuma but before she can even do that firmly establishes that he loves Fuuma with conviction. Kazuki my boy I’m so proud of you. *sniffs*
And that’s it for establishing Kazufuuma as at least canonically one-sidedly canon and why there’s not only no reason to deny it but also why denying it is a fucking disrespectful move towards Kazuki. He’s a character, sure, but that doesn’t change the fact you shouldn’t write off his struggle to come to be convicted enough to say it out loud. This has been something weighing on him at least a year, if not more (all I know is it started when both he and Fuuma were in some year in middle school). And as a character in a piece of media, I’ve been saying this the entire time, but brushing it off as non-romantic is literally chucking a fucking pillar of his character’s story into the gutter. And to those who may be saying Kazuki’s confession came out of nowhere and is pandering reread this entire fucking essay again I dare you to do it and tell me to my face it’s pandering. Again. Writing off the buildup as pandering is disrespectful to him, disrespectful to his character and narrative, and disrespectful to the wonderful people who have been creating Dolce so diligently and have crafted this narrative for us. Saying his “supposed feelings” and “ambiguous confession” is pandering is like saying Fuuma’s crossdressing is pandering which. If you say either of those I will find you and I will shank you in the fucking gut. Even if you’re not fully into Dolce, recognize these characters are actually very well developed and executed amazingly, as per every Honeyworks character that has come to exist. I don’t blame you if you weren’t aware of the weight of Kazufuuma, but now that you read this I hope you are. That’s mainly what I needed to get out there, but as follows will be me more exploring how Kazufuuma has been built up and generally waving my hand off at where it may be going. If you want you can dip, thanks for reading up to here because I know I repeated a lot because it’s just. So important to drill into your head and has been something I’ve been hung up about constantly. LOL
As for where exactly they’re taking it from this point on, I honestly don’t know. In all honesty, I didn’t even expect them to take it the direction they did. But honestly, I think the direction they went with it is really interesting and better than I could have imagined, in my opinion at least. Honeyworks never ceases to amaze me with their storytelling and narrative choices, and I don’t think there’s any that stand out to me as being severely questionable that they haven’t reapproached at some point down the line. And, again, I think they’re treating this with a lot of care and deserved respect. So I’m just gonna be gushing about how smart they set it up and how smart they’ve been executing it and maybe my own hopes on the direction it could go.
Whether they make Kazufuuma reciprocated I have no real clue or bearings, but to me my gut reaction is they will. Of course, I’m biased, but again if you trace things all the way back to 2018 and step through Dolce’s content and growth from there, I’d say even if they didn’t know if they could execute it like this and see it to fruition, I’d argue that Kazufuuma has been at least heavily implied since the beginning as a relationship they wanted to explore from both sides of the relationship. Obviously I brought up Kazuki’s character bio already, but if you look at the *goes to count* 5th Dolce Diary update already has a joke jabbing at the fact that Kazuki is technically Fuuma’s type (and the way Kippei and Kazuki excitedly react is so cute). The fifth update. And as stated before there are tons of Kazufuuma moments in Dolce Diary, whether it’s played for comedic effect or played straight (and this is post Suki but oh my god I’ve said it before I’ll say it again get yourself someone who looks at you the way Kazuki looks at Fuuma oh my jesus). But song-wise, I mentioned the one Dolce album song I would bring up is Nade Nade and this is where it comes! 
Not only is Nade Nade specifically focused on Kazuki and Fuuma’s relationship as opposed to the whole of Dolce despite being the first song, it included the setup/preview of the Fuuma-centric extra prior to the full release of the Fuuma-centric extra itself and was released early as fuck. Literally between the 6th and 7th update to Dolce Diary. Sure, it could be to isolate them as a duo for marketing purposes (they’re very often the two promoted idols together if the whole of the group aren’t included), but the way it’s established as a perspective song as opposed to a general idol duet is what fascinates me. Anyone who didn’t know about Dolce prior and only followed Honeyworks for music would be first introduced to these characters through this song alone, and maybe this is where my Kazufuuma bias comes from but I was one of those people LOL. I thought it was just a cute one-off relationship that they had set up for the purpose of a song and that it was an implied friends-to-lovers story that would never get a conclusion. Also I mistakenly thought Fuuma was a girl oop-. In the full context of Dolce, this song in part helped establish Fuuma and Kazuki more solidly as a unique duo out of all of Dolce, but it also specifically explored through Fuuma’s eyes just how much Fuuma recognizes and appreciates the unwavering support Kazuki gives him to follow his dreams as he wishes. For Fuuma, he loves Kazuki too, though whether it holds any romantic potential in the same way Kazuki loves him has never been explored to nearly the same extent. But Fuuma appreciates how Kazuki’s remained by his side and does everything he can to support him, so Nade Nade explores how his way of expressing his love and thankfulness to Kazuki is by never saying that he needs Kazuki by his side. He’s glad Kazuki’s always been there for him, and his reciprocation takes on the form of being ready to unwaveringly support Kazuki and not ask for more than he already has, even if it meant Kazuki would be leaving his side, despite the fact that he really does wish they could remain together forever just as Kazuki does. The one point he lets himself say something vaguely close to always wanting to stay together, he gets a surprised expression out of Kazuki and says an ambiguous “suki dayo.” Of course, this it much less romantically coded than what we get from Kazuki in Suki and CAIFILWAI, but there is an interesting emphasis put on it nonetheless. Keep in mind, this is all established through the song, which released long before not only Fuuma’s character-centric extra released but also Kazuki’s character-centric extra released, so there is at least a substantial setup for Fuuma’s feelings towards Kazuki’s being strong as well and possibly grow to be reciprocated one day.
I think for me the most fascinating part about Nade Nade is how they tied it back around to Can’t An Idol Fall In Love with Another Idol. Again, without remembering Nade Nade, I still thought CAIFILWAI was brilliantly explored and executed, even if some people would have preferred no love triangle. But honestly, revisiting Nade Nade makes me trust even more the direction they’re taking with this. Whether or not they make Kazufuuma canon mutually (which. Even if they for some inexplicable reason didn’t I’m going down with this ship.), I’m sure they’re putting a lot of thought into the story, because the last bit of Nade Nade directly parallels the misunderstanding that arose from Fuuma mishearing the Kazuki and Yui. Fuuma is resolved to support Kazuki in any area he’s given the chance, and that explicitly includes if Kazuki had some girl he liked, which is what he assumes is going on. The fact that they tied this back around in the form of a misunderstanding was really really smart and Honeyworks is always so good at parallels and references back to their older songs, but for some reason I didn’t expect this. I don’t know how to say why, but the fact that the song that started it all, kicked off both Dolce and Kazufuuma, was directly referenced both visually in the MV with a cameo at the start and narratively despite the central dynamic being predominantly explored in this story in particular was that of Fuuma and another potential love interest and involves said potential love interest for some reason makes me think that (sorry Yui) this is all planned out for Kazufuuma in the grand scheme of things. That being said, I don’t know if me thinking it was planned all along is just me with shipper goggles, but the idea it’s come full circle nearly 3 years later is not shipper goggles and a very very well done parallel in my opinion, whether this trajectory was their plan for Kazufuuma from the beginning or not. Just wanted to gush about that some more. 
There’s more I could go into especially if I went into specific details about interactions or specific implications established in Honeyworks' Dolce content about different characters that would be fascinating to explore in relation to and under the lens of Kazufuuma, but I think this is uh...plenty long enough. Plus, I doubt you'll stop seeing Kazufuuma posts from me so those ideas will probably just be miniposts or somethin.
Back to the overarching point of this segment, idk what they’ll do with this story in the end, but do I think Kazufuuma will canon? I’m used to looking at ships that aren’t explicitly apparent with a sliver of skepticism, but all things considered (as I stated before) yeah. I don’t see reason why they wouldn’t now that they’ve explicitly identified there is a romantic dimension to it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Like to me, the setup isn’t something that would be written off as unrequited? And this doesn’t have to play into why I don’t think it will canon, my personal opinion on the Fuuyui relationship (again albeit through the lens of a hard Kazufuuma shipper lmao) has it’s own merits and is really cute, I find it cute in the way I found Koyuhina cute. I personally never really shipped Koyuhina, and especially since they slipped Kotarou into Ima Suki Ni Naru I was more curious about who this kid was and how he played into things I didn’t really see Koyuhina as something that would come to fruition. Similarly, there’s more importance in the overall sense on Kazuki than there is Yui (considering he’s one of the 5 original and focal members of this generation of idols, this would be natural), as well as the fact there’s just way more foundation and exploration in Fuuma and Kazuki’s relationship than there is Fuuma and Yui. As for how much of a balance there is inside the LN itself, the fact that they seem to have spent a substantial amount relaying the foundation of Fuuma and Kazuki’s relationship and re-exploring it (at least in Kazuki’s perspective) at all on top of how much content there is covering their relationship prior to the LN ever since Dolce’s origin just feels like that relationship holds more weight. Pretty much Kazufuuma feels more established as a priority in general. The way I personally hope Fuuyui plays out is whether they wind up holding mutual feelings or not or whether Fuuma doesn’t feel that way towards Yui is they get a relationship akin to Kotarou and Arisa. Albeit, Kotarou and Arisa never viewed each other in a romantic light, but they had mutual respect and solidarity. That’s the type of friendship I hope comes out of Fuyui. And considering there hasn’t been a break-up in any Honeyworks’ canon relationships (nor do I expect there to be… they’re all perfect for each other LMAO) it would actually be interesting if Fuuyui get together but don’t endgame and Kazufuuma is established as the inseparable endgame after some realization or another, though I don’t expect them to go that route nor do I know if that’d be the best way to go about it anyway. Also final point, Honeyworks seems to have a thing for childhood friends trope anyway soooooo owo All in all, don’t know where they’re taking it, just excited to see where it goes. 
TL;DR of this *counts* 7 page essay, stan Kazufuuma. Not gonna proof this. Maybe I’ll edit and repost but yall are getting a confusing clusterfuck of ramblings over 2-3 hr periods of me writing across 3 different days at around 5am each day. Uh. If you got this far like and subscribe and-- jk plz reply to this mammoth anywhere you see fit or tell me if you have stuffs to add or counter or whatnot I like hearing people talk about Kazufuuma ;w; I am Kazuki and Kazufuuma brainrot can you tell after reading this? No? Lemme just remind you I’m K--
74 notes · View notes
thedeadflag · 5 years
Note
G!P characters aren't necessarily trans, it seems pretty offensive that just because they share the same genital configuration as trans people (sometimes temporarily) do, that they should be deemed trans. There is so much more to being a trans person, especially the identity struggle that is just not in these characters.
You’re literally thisclose to understanding. 
There is absolutely more to being trans than our typical genital configuration at birth. You don’t need to tell me that, I’m a trans woman, I know this intrinsically.
When it comes to the g!p trope, he’s some major points of what we know:
It became a known, if rare trope as trans porn started taking off in the late 80s and early 90s. As trans porn became more popular, it also became more prevalent in wlw fandom, solidifying its presence in the late 90s/early 00s, making a bit of a jump in popularity when the a/b/o trope took off during the height of the Supernatural fandom.
As a trope, its sexual content heavily mirrors the core elements of trans porn. It doesn’t deviate from that framework. 
The g!p characters overwhelmingly possess the major aspects of transmisogynistic stigmas that get passed off as erotic taboo elements for people who aren’t us. The same things that amplify the cis gaze’s taboo fantasy gets us abused, exploited, hurt, isolated, and killed.  
I could go on for a few hours on everything that makes g!p function as a trope, but I’ll limit myself and leave you those to chew on. You can look through my archived posts for some more detail on the nuances and specifics if you want.
But here’s what we also know:
Trans women are the overwhelming majority of women with penises. We’re virtually the only women with penises that cis people and trans people alike have come across in any form of media content. 
This means that we are the framework worked off of when people think of women with penises, and we are the ones affected by media representation of women with penises.
When people create media including women with penises, the penis generally exists in that content as a vehicle for a variety of desires. When a marginalized person is desired for various physical aspects of themselves, with the substance of their character, their lived experiences, their diversity all tossed away? That is called fetishization.
Your argument breaks down to be essentially that because people fetishize trans women’s bodies and create media content through that fetishized lens, that those g!p characters aren’t necessarily trans, because there’s more to being trans than those fetishized parts of us. It’s an argument that fetishized caricatures of marginalized people aren’t necessarily those marginalized peoples.
It’s a very cart-before-the-horse surface level perspective. Think of all the harmful media stereotypes out there and ask yourself if people shouldn’t be upset about them because they clearly don’t reflect the reality and complexity of the people they’re negatively representing.
Let’s take the well known character of Jame Gumb/Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal Lecter, at one point, remarks that Jame isn’t a trans woman. But every frame of Buffalo Bill’s existence in that film works to play on transmisogynistic stereotypes. Every single scene with that character sends the message that trans women are delusional, dangerous sexual predators. But since an authoritative character claims Buffalo Bill isn’t trans, am I supposed to declare the film free of transmisogynistic representation? 
What about Rocky Horror Picture Show? Again, the main villain is an amalgamation of all the common transmisogynistic stigmas at that period in time, fused into a single murderous, rapist, alien entity. We also know the creator of RHPS considers (in the nicest light it can be stated) trans women to be cross dressing ‘third sex’ individuals, not actual women, and doesn’t believe anyone assigned one binary gender can actually be the other binary gender. But apparently, since it doesn’t explicitly say Frank N Furter is a trans woman, it’s not a problem? It’s not transmisogynistic representation?
No. Media literacy has taught us enough to know that there’s tremendous transmisogyny afoot in those two cases. 
So there’s parallels with g!p, obviously. You get a lot of folks literally removing part of a trans woman’s experience and playing around with it and experimenting with it through people who aren’t explicitly trans women. They’re treating trans women as a collection of ideas and kink potential to be picked apart like a berry patch instead of real human beings. Even if they say it’s not a trans woman, the result of their effort is a character that is all the fetishized trans woman elements, often a fair bit of the stigmatized elements, minus all the meaningful experiences. If I carve a pumpkin and empty all the insides out of it, and put a candle in there, it’s still a pumpkin. A Jack o Lantern, sure, but still a 100% pumpkin.
And that’s bound to happen. It’s inescapable.
I mean, when 99% of cis folks don’t understand how trans women tend to be sexually intimate… when they don’t understand what dysphoria is and how it works and how it can affect us physically and emotionally…when they don’t understand almost any of our lived experiences…then they’re not going to be able to accurately portray us even if they wanted to.
And I’ve read enough G!P fics where authors wrote those as a means of trying to add trans rep. but because they didn’t understand us at all, it wasn’t remotely representative, and it was entirely fetishistic.
So while the g!p trope was built on the foundation of trans women’s fetishization, and all such characters are inherently and implicitly trans women if not explicitly, they absolutely don’t reflect our realities, whether because of a lack of understanding, or an overriding fetish, or a cissexist & fetishistic mix-and-match approach, or what have you.
It is trans fetishization, it is transmisogyny, and they are erasing us through these works by overwhelmingly flooding the market with misinformation and messaging that ultimately does come back to bite us in the form of sexual violence, community exclusion, enhanced cissexism, .
Because it’s late and I’m exhausted after working and commuting, I’ll cut things a bit short and I’ll quote trans guy user SynthDicks here on his take on Mpreg a ways back, which was very on point and relevant to this discussion
like… you cant write about pregnant men in a way thats divorced from trans men. writing about one way in which bodies adjacent to trans manhood are sexy or fun or desirable, while writing some complicated world in which the rest of the ways trans male bodies are characterised are done away with is creepy and transphobic. all it means is that both bits of the revulsion/fetishisation complex that trans bodies are placed under happens at the same time …
and using trans manhood purely for a pregnancy arc- erasing all the experiences that come from being a trans man- for the purpose of focusing on that one aspect of trans bodies is dehumanising and fetishising. its a fetishisation of trans bodies and a revulsion at trans experiences. these arent opposing statements. theyre the same statements
I really, truly hope you’re a little closer to understanding how this all works after all this rambling. If I had the energy to make a properly structured and cohesive post, I would, but alas. 
Tumblr media
23 notes · View notes
snkpolls · 6 years
Text
SnK Chapter 115 Poll Results
Tumblr media
The chapter poll closed with 1,585 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!
RATE THE CHAPTER 1,471 responses
Tumblr media
Isayama’s winning streak continues. Overall chapter satisfaction was up almost 10% over last month with the majority of fans (57.2%) giving it a 5 rating. Less than 5% viewed the chapter unfavorably.
Isayama is ruthless, my god.
We got an amazing chapter this month which came out of the blue, in my opinion. So many answers were given as well as many more shocking questions. Definitely one of the best
It was definitely more eye opening  and you could just feel the tension through the different scenes.
I loved this chapter, it was definitely one of the most compelling
This is a candidate for the greatest chapter of the manga, the last candidate was chapter 112 followed by 104 and there are a lot of them. Isayama-sensei is killing it. Every single chapter is either great, or a candidate for the greatest chapter.
Honestly, just incredible. Everything I could've possibly wanted. These kinds of chapters are why attack on titan will be my favorite for a long time.
It was an interesting chapter. We got to learn more about the PATHS and some parallels to older chapters were cool.
A bit of a rollercoster of emotions but, I’m putting my faith in Isayama he’ll do what’s best
Loved it, everything's insane and pulling at nerves. Eren is the best, hands down. He's got to have the best poker face. Neither side even knows what he's up to!
Masterpiece. Wanna know more about the girl who seems to be ymir, and Pieck’s intentions as well. Cuz idt she can even stand a chance against eren, imo.
THIS CHAPTER WAS LOADED WITH FLASHBACKS. WHICH WERE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE?
1,457 responses
Tumblr media
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Yeagerbro conversation was the most desired flashback and nearly 60% of the fandom were excited to see it. In second comes Zeke’s reaction to learning his father survived and continued on. The third place spot goes to Reiner and Bertolt as fans of the warriors were happy to see them again, even if for only a couple panels.
I'm a simple stan, I see Reiner and Bert, and I cry. 10/10 scene its about time we got more uprising arc warriors scenes but Isayama pls give us Reiner outside of a flashback again thanks
Finally, Jaeger Bros talk.
While flashbacks are nice, I feel like a lot of it was filler-esque and had hopped for more progress on what happened to Levi and Zeke.
WHAT WAS THE MOST DISTURBING IMAGERY OF THE CHAPTER? 1,492 responses
Tumblr media
Attack on Titan is known for its plethora of disturbing imagery, and this chapter was no exception.  The majority of readers, at 32.3%, thought that a titan shoving Zeke into its stomach was rather unsettling.  16.5% were especially grossed out by Levi’s fingers being several yards from the rest of him.  Coming in third, 15.4% were disturbed by Levi’s face.
It might be the most disturbing chapter of the manga to date.
Floch, his presence and face is rather disturbing.
Yelena rape face
Ymir's soulless voids for eyes
The titan that vored Zeke was made of Flex Tape
I dont think you know what mpreg means...
The behaviour of the yeagerists towards levi which was once considered the hero of humanity
As a big Levi fan, everything that just happened to him in general.
Is everything an option? Because I am going with All Of The Above.
All of the above, tbh
all of them
Yes
OF THE FOLLOWING, WHICH WAS THE MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT OF THE CHAPTER? 1,495 responses
Tumblr media
Zeke’s rebirth wins by a small margin with the mystery girl coming at a very close second. At an equally close third, people were happy to see Hange find Levi and protect him from the Yeagerists. Following these was Pieck’s sudden reappearance, and Hange taking Levi and diving into the water to escape.
i honestly can't choose one. everything in this chapter was A++, one of my favorite ones in a while.
that path thing that ymir seemed to be experiencing too
Eren looking at pieck blankly 0.1 seconds after being shocked by her pointing a gun at him
Zeke's grief when considering the pain his younger brother must have suffered.
Levi’s wrecked face
Titan putting zeke into its belly
For myself personally, I found most memorable two events. Firstly, was the revelation of paths as being a physical plane on which one can percieve and exist, as opposed to a merely transcendental metaphysical force. Secondly, most memorable alongside that for me was the whole scene of Hange protecting Levi from Floch's band of Jägerists, in no small part due to my lowkey shipping of Levi and Hange.
Zeke's flashbacks + Zeke's rebirth + Pieck appearance
P A T H S
WHO WAS THE LITTLE GIRL THAT … TURNED ZEKE INTO A SANDCASTLE? 1,456 responses
Tumblr media
While most people (almost 90%) agree that the mysterious little girl Zeke encountered is somehow Ymir Fritz, there’s no shortage of other creative possibilities regarding her identity:
I wonder if this girl could be Maria Fritz, the hair and hairband are similar.
It’s P A T H S, whose power is even more immense than that of the Devil of All Earth and Ymir Fritz. Paths can take the form of anything. Paths just happened to take the form of a little girl during that moment.
A new important character
The titan that resurrected Zeke was originally that girl. Because the titan was closest to Zeke, Paths compelled that titan to save Zeke, whether it wanted to or not.
Original inheritor of the beast titan
An asspull
I'm not sure maybe but it can be the girl "Christa" from Frieda's & Historia's storybook too
It seems clear enough to me that this is at least outwardly Ymir Fritz. As for it being I wonder perhaps if this girl being Ymir Fritz and the Devil of the Earth isn't mutually exclusive. I have no evidence to substantiate such a claim, but recently acknowledged the possibility on part of the historical misinformation in regards to her origins.
HOW SATISFIED WERE YOU WITH THE NEWLY SCULPTED ZEKE BOD, FROM “THE SAND WAS MORE APPEALING”, TO “GET THAT CENSORSHIP STEAM OUT OF THE WAY” 1,455 responses
Tumblr media
We got a pretty full view of Zeke’s new bod this chapter, and it garnered love, hate, and apathy; as only Zeke’s body could.  Most of you wanted to get a full view of that Eldian ass at 34.7%.  On the opposite end, 22.3% would rather get freaky with the sand that turned into the bod in question; and 25.1% don’t have a strong preference either way.  6.4% aren’t in love with either the sand or Zeke, and 11.5% enjoyed the view but would like that titan smoke to stay right where it’s at.
A complete chapter, with brand new information coming to us... and lots of monkey nudes. Zeke is the fanservice character of snk.
Thicc thighs won't make me forgive his sins
Everyone is seeing zeke’s dick but me
@ isayama: release zeke's n00ds.
No more naked Zeke plz.
I feel for him and but he's a seriously underwhelming antagonist. He's really nice to look at though.
I love him as a character; his motives, his history, his personality and his character design (not just because he is a sexy hunk of Edlian ass).
I know only three things
1. Levi is not dead. 2. Eren does not agree with Zeke. 3. Zeke is hot as hell.
I suddenly feel very sorry for the SC uniform - it’s being worn by absolute pricks. Please don’t let them cover Zeke’s ass with the cape.
my heart goes to THAT DUDE WHO CAN'T STOP STARING at Zeke's nekkid crotch. i feel ya man. that shit is weird.
Zeke has the big PP. Pieck has the biggest PP.
I don't like him because of sexualization and shipps.
Zeke's abs tho
So much Zeke nudes, we need more chad Eren (don't even need to be Eren nudes, just him shirtless is ok).
I wanted to see Zeke's beastly c-ck.
Zeke is pure. Pure SLUT
WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING STATEMENTS REGARDING ZEKE’S “REBIRTH” DO YOU THINK ARE TRUE? 1,441 responses
Tumblr media
A slight majority of the fandom believes Zeke’s rebirth is evidence that Ymir Fritz needs Zeke alive. Close to 50% believe Zeke will see it as divine approval. While a quarter of the fandom thinks this experience has changed him, only 7% believe he’s changed for the better.
Zeke's reincarnation is bs but if Ymir does have more plans for him, I'd like to see how it all turns out for the best.
I hope Zeke learns that genocide is never the answer.
I just hope we get some specific answers soon regarding how Zeke was reincarnated like that. Felt pretty off seeing Zeke revived like that, but I can understand the theory that perhaps Ymir Fritz wants him to live to save the Eldians (and perhaps this is where the "To you, 2000 years in the future" comes into play).
WE’VE WAITED A LONG TIME FOR THE YEAGERBRO TALK. WAS IT WHAT YOU EXPECTED? 1,483 responses
Tumblr media
The largest portion of replies indicate that the conversation between Eren and Zeke overall went as expected. But there were also many who didn’t care how it went and were simply glad to finally see their first talk together. Smaller portions were either more than happy with the conversation or found it a total disappointment. Certainly that couldn’t be all they talked about, right?
I knew they wouldn't be on the same side but didn't expect it to be so obvious Eren is lying to and manipulating Zeke. Zeke tearing up when Eren called him "brother" is the saddest shit, but also kinda hilarious considering how many people Zeke betrayed. Also, I wonder if we'll get more since Eren talked about how he learned a lot from Zeke.
Finally got confirmation that Eren played Zeke like a fiddle. Happy to see that lil bro backstab.
I expected something more grandiose tbh, when i saw the panel of zeke standing in front of eren, i thought that was a perfect tease to just end it there
It feels like Eren has Zeke eating out of the palm of his hand and it hurt more than expected
People who latch onto the belief that Eren's goal differs from Zeke are in for a disappointment
I am disappointed that zeke cares for eren and eren doesn't seem to reciprocate those feelings, and that he was trying to play the tough guy, it's annoying and i want wholesome jeagerbros!!!!
I didn't expect to be so short, and I assume we'll get more in the future, but this time from Eren's perspective.
I think it is too early to say one way or the other. We only truly got one side of the conversation.
It was good, but I hope it's not the only thing we see. I get the impression it was merely an appetizer. When I think about the brothers talking I always imagined it will be a full chapter. This was just their first conversation. Eren said Zeke told him many things, like the info about the Ackermans, so I am expecting a hell of a lot more dialogues between them.
it wasn't what I had expected. I also can't say yet if it is better or worse cause so much about Eren's true motives is still up in the air. Like originally I had expected Zeke to be the one to convince Eren of something, but clearly that is not what is happening here. Which, on the face of it, doesn't have to be a bad thing, I just need more info.
DO YOU BELIEVE THAT EREN TRULY AGREES WITH ZEKE’S PLAN? 1,490 responses
Tumblr media
Over half of respondents agree that there’s no way in hell that Eren is on board with Zeke’s euthanasia plan. 23% believe that he is in partial agreement with Zeke’s plan, while 10% don’t want to say confidently either way whether Eren is on Zeke’s side. A small sliver of the fandom are certain that Eren is in favor of wiping out Eldia.
He just said what Zeke wanted to hear from 'his brother'. From the start of his speech Eren expressed clearly his purpose, bonus showing sympathy toward Zeke. The way that Eren said some of his points of view and plan fits to me in what he truly thinks about, but the way he said it was molded in orden to manipulate Zeke and get his confidence
Eren is getting influenced and this 'external influencer' is manipulating Zeke. Double manipulation.
He agreed with Zekes ideology at some point before Historia saved him
Zeke told him about his plan to euthanize eldians, Eren agreed that not being born into the world is salvation itself. We all know Eren thinks the EXACT opposite of that. he's manipulating zeke, only wanting his royal blood. Zeke might be the KEY to Eren's own secret plan.
I don't think eren is the kind of person to blatantly lie to someone, especially about the force that has driven him his entire life. There are some truth to his words, yes, but i think eren is going to use the fact that he thinks he shouldn't have been born to try and change the world into a safer place for his people, whereas zeke will use that same reason to eradicate his people, not giving them a chance to feel a sense of belonging in the world
He's using Zeke for some goal of his, but has gone way too far. Both of them are twisted, and perhaps share some points of their goals.
He understands and agrees with Zeke on a basic ideological level, insofar as the suffering that Eldia, and by extension Titans, bring to both the world and themselves by inherent virtue of being born. I believe, however, that this is where the agreement in actuality ends. What Eren disagrees with is the method to solve this problem. Whatever other solution Eren may have thought of, it entails the end of the titans and the elimination of paths, while sparing Eldian's lives and allowing them to continue on and have families. How this would be achieved, I do not know; this is merely my conjecture on where the story might go next.
I think he agrees with Zeke's goal of not having any Eldians born into the circumstances they are, but not his methodology of euthanasia. I think he has his own plan which will somehow stop/rewind/erase the Curse of Ymir/titanisation, possibly through altering Eldian DNA to make them unable to be turned into titans.
He's being brainwashed/manipulated by having so many memories that belong to other people, he's not being himself; not his true self
I don't believe he agrees, but I like to believe he isn't simply using his brother without any regard for him...though I can't really tell anymore with 'this' Eren :\
If Eren truly agreed with Zeke, all his development will be for nothing.
Maybe eren does actually agree that the best salvation is to never have been born, but when has eren ever wanted "salvation"?
WITH ALL THE RECENT FOCUS ON ZEKE, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HIM NOW? 1,487 responses
Tumblr media
Zeke’s been getting a lot of focus lately, and this chapter was no exception.  45.7% of you enjoy his character but don’t support his schemes, and 21.9% don’t like the man but can sympathize with him at this point.  Not all are as warm however, as 19% would like to see him burn.  8.9% love monkey boi and want to protect him with all you’ve got.
He's a perfect Grey character a villain and a hero depending on view point.
I’ve always loved him. Now I love him more
His plan is batshit and I don't really like him but I think he's an interesting character but he needs to burn
His plan is unethical & impractical, his methods consist of war crimes. I hope he's taken down *ideologically* & realizes he was wrong b4 he dies
I'm not for Zeke's plan but I want him to go out feeling like his life wasn't a complete waste.
I feel sorry for all kids who have shitty childhoods, but I don't then excuse them when they project their own hatred for life onto an entire race and try to take away their right to life. It doesn't matter how righteous or merciful he believes he's being, it's undeniable arrogance to decide you know whether another person's life is worth living or not.
I hate him as a character but his plan makes him more interesting/sympathetic
I like him but don't agree with him. I'm going to be depressed when he is inevitably stabbed in the back by his beloved little brother. I am also extremely hype for that to happen.
I like his recent character development, however I don’t really like him. Very interesting character though!
Interesting, complex character. I can understand his plan too. Overall a well crafted character.
I'm so so sad for Zeke, the way he genuinely cares for Eren and trusts him, how he tears up when he called him "brother"...It will be heartbreaking when he'll realize Eren's just using him (because there's no way Eren agree with his plan), this guy's been used and craved affection and understanding all his life.
I feel like I'm crazy one here but I'm actually on Zeke's side and not at all mad at what he did to Levi
He is cancelled to me since Erwin's death.
WAS GRISHA IN THE RIGHT TO SLAUGHTER THE REISS CHILDREN? 1,475 responses
Tumblr media
Eren recalled back to a disturbing action is father took, and gave his thoughts on it, but does the fanbase agree?  44.7% feel Grisha made the right choice, as without it things would have gone as Eren laid out for Paradis.  37.8% were unsure, and only 14.4% agreed with Eren’s conclusion that it was wrong regardless.
I acknowledge it as a necessary evil. It goes against many of my moral principles, but it was a necessary evil in the face of the worst case scenario.
He could have found another way to keep the children alive. He was lazy and chose the most convenient option.
He was neither right nor wrong, as in he had little choice.
I don't think there's a right or wrong in this scenario. Grisha did what he thought was for the greater good. No matter what decision he made, though, people still would have died.
It was a necessary evil, both logically right and morally wrong at the same time
Immoral but beneficial in the long run
there are two sides to the moral scale! For the survival of his people, of course! Every threat needs to be eliminated, but it is quite painful to know that in reality, regardless of the bigger picture, he still killed children.
For me, this is a much too complex topic to be reduced to a categorical choice of right and wrong. I can't choose between this two options ("I'm not sure" neither because it's in the same line of though) because I can't think his action in that terms.
It was not nice
WAS HANGE BEING TRUTHFUL WHEN SHE INFORMED FLOCH OF LEVI’S DEATH? 1,497 responses
Tumblr media
Nice try, Hange. 91% of us are pretty sure that Levi still lives, and that he was only pronounced dead in the hope that his life would be spared. Not even 2% of us think that he is actually dead.
Oh, please. It doesn't take a Levi fan to know that Hange would immediately let Floch feel Levi's pulse if he was indeed dead - it was only worth potentially upsetting her guards if she thought there was a chance of his survival. Hange is one of the smartest characters in this series - she wouldn't act that way for any other reason.
Well wouldn't be reasonable to jump on a river with a corpse so i guess is the second option
I think he's alive, but it feels like Levi is being milked for popularity at this point. If he truly did survive, then I hope Levi will somehow maybe fulfill his promise!
IF LEVI IS ALIVE, DO YOU THINK HIS INJURIES WILL PROVE TO BE FATAL? 1,491 responses
Tumblr media
In contrast to the widely-held belief that Levi still lives for the time being, there is less agreement about whether that will continue to be true. Almost half of respondents think that he will survive his wounds. The remaining half is split between thinking Levi’s days are numbered (25.4%) and being completely unsure of his fate (25.9%).
Man, seeing Levi suffering really got me, but I hope hange manages to bring him to safety, cause I think his injuries aren't fatal and the only threat to his life now are the yeagerists
he's still barely alive, but he'll die in her hands once they're safe and have swam the river, the death was slightly delayed since this chapter was focused on other things, levi will give his last little speech to hange next chapter and die
I think Levi survived his injuries and Hange is lying about him being dead, but I don’t think he will survive. Part of me hopes (for his sake) that he doesn’t survive
probably but I'm in denial so i want to believe he's fine
Levi is on the edge of death, he will die next chapter after revealing Zeke's true intentions to Hange, which will ruin Eren's plan for the moment. At least, that's what I hope happens. Levi surviving and coming back to fight doesn't make sense and Levi surviving only to be out of commission for the next of the manga and to open a tea shop is disappointing, I would rather have him die now.
IF LEVI IS ALIVE, DO YOU THINK HE WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN FUTURE BATTLES? 1,490 responses
Tumblr media
41% of respondents believe that Levi is permanently on the sidelines due to his condition while 37% are feeling optimistic that he will find a way to keep fighting. ⅕ of the fandom don’t want to say confidently either way. Will Levi surprise us in upcoming chapters?
Dead my ass! I can't wait for Levi to appear again out of nowhere with a badass face scar and kick Zeke's ass AGAIN
I hope we still see Levi in action, even if just once, cause removing him leaves everything in the hands of ‘god-like’ characters who can control people. Now it’s just like humanity’s doomed cause the ‘gods’ decided so and I don’t like it. There is still Mikasa, but with Levi humanity had a better chance in this ever so uneven battle.
I think Levi is out of the fight (thanks to those godawful fingers on the ground ugh) BUT I think he'll have one last move, one last action in the final battle that will somehow deeply affect the plot, before dying (think Erwin cutting off Eren from Bertholdt after his arm was eaten). I want to be wrong because Levi has always deserved better, but I also want to be right because he needs to rest and the ignominy of humanity's strongest taken out of the fight like that is just. Too much.
Levi has to live and fight bc he needs to show off his new badass battle scar duh
I really love Levi, but I don't want him to be disabled so I prefer him to be dead. If Isayama can make him okay as before, I hope the story wont become weak.
I want Levi' s scarred face to be the last thing that Zeke ever sees.
I'm wondering what's worse, Levi dead or Levi hobbled and injured so badly that he can't fight anymore.  Robbing him of his identity is perhaps even crueler than death.  How awful, to linger and watch the rest of the battle unfold, knowing he can't even help because of his own careless actions.
WHETHER IT’S PLOT ARMOR OR A MEDICAL MIRACLE, WHICH CHARACTER’S ESCAPE FROM DEATH HAVE YOU FOUND LEAST BELIEVABLE? 1,551 responses
Tumblr media
We heard from several sources that this was the most difficult question on the poll. Maybe that’s why it had dozens more responses than any other question. It turns out that Zeke getting shoved into a titan tummy and having a sandcastle body sculpted by a mystery child isn’t the most unrealistic save in this manga. “Reiner surviving everything” followed by “Armin surviving his fall and burns” were the top choices.
Zeke's resurrection is the most bullshit ass pull of all.
Erwin and Armin were the two less believable survivors. I can turn a blind eye on plot-armors when it involve Shifters or even Ackermans, but Armin and Erwin were simple humans.
Erwin surviving all the way through serumbowl with a partly missing abdomen while bleeding out is just as worthy of being there, no one mentions it because he eventually died but it's almost if not on the same level as Armin living long enough through serumbowl.
I feel tired of the whole plot armor some characters have. Reiner, Armin (even if he is one of my favorites), Levi and now Zeke. I just feel tired of seeing them dying and then being magically saved. Yes, some dots are connecting together, but the whole armor plot makes the story boring and unnatural. A lot of great and interesting characters died, but there are some blessed ones who will not die even if a large bomb will fall straight at their heads.
maybe Zeke transferred his consciousness to other parts of his body like Reiner did in the Return to Shingashina arc? That's the only other idea I can think of how Zeke survived in the end.
I can't believe Levi narrowly escaped death because the monkey dingdong was too shiny and hypnotizing
I can't believe it, but Isyama finally topped the plot armor Reiner had back in RTS. Holy shit. The first thought was no one could have more plot armor than Eren did back in Shiganshina, then it was when Rod Riese became that hideous nightmare enduing faceless titan and didn't try and eat Eren, then it was Reiner's plot armor in RTS that stole it with notable mention from Armin, then it was Levi as a notable mention. This resurrected bullshit that saved Zeke can't be outdone. There is just no way in hell. Like, you just can't out do it. No one does plot armor better than Zeke!!!
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YELENA INSTITUTING ARMBANDS ON PARADIS? 1,484 responses
Tumblr media
The irony of Yelena immediately instituting armbands as a classification system wasn’t lost on it. 44% thought is was horrible and a wrong choice, 28% recognized it as gross but understood the need to organize, while 22% had no opinion
As a sociologist, it’s interesting. The reality is that society/social classes often create symbols to communicate their social status so if it’s not armbands it’d be something else.
As expected of Yeagerists they are true organized shits! Congrats!!
Isayama is very big on the 'history repeating itself' thing and without a doubt this is one of those things.
I feel as if he is being kept out of the loop by the Volunteers, due to his befriending and fraternising with Eldian's (Hange especially), in much the same way as Niccolo was. This makes me inclined to think that Onyankonpon would side with the established Survey Corps if/when he learns the full plan, and that Yelena knows this.
it's ironic and though it's wrong, i think it's also clever how no matter how hard the yelena is trying to break free from marley traditions, those traditions still come naturally to her them whether she realizes it or not
I have a problem with how she's using people, not how she's doing it
People make a mountain out of a molehill, it's not something bad, it's just practical. They need to know who drank the wine and who didn't. Their actions are bad, but not their way of organizing.
Regardless of anything, I'd let Yelena tie me up any way she likes and I think deep down Pixis totally agrees
You boors know nothing of fashion.
IS ONYANKOPON ON PARADIS’ SIDE OR IS HE IN CAHOOTS WITH YELENA? 1,480 responses
Tumblr media
Only 12.4% of the fandom believe Onyankopon is fully aligned with Yelena, A percentage more (13.9%) believe he’s on the Survey Corps side. The remainder of the fandom is either undecided or think that he is.
boi is lookin mad confused every time he appears now tbh
He might be on Yellena's side but I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to play a different game.
His arms are crossed and he's literally side-eyeing Yelena. He is not all-in with Yelena.
He said that he dedicated himself for "Eldia". I don't know why, but I have that weird feeling that he would help Eren and his group (Floch etc.) to make the new Eldia empire great again
I think he will help Hanji, he was always showed with them more than with any other person
Maybe he is working for someone else entirely. We still don't know if we have all the chess pieces on the damned board.
I really want an insight into Onyakopon's motives at this point. You can see he's not as enthusiastic about the situation, and I thought he genuinely bonded with Hanji.
WHY DO YOU THINK EREN WANTS TO LURE IN THE WARRIORS? 1,473 responses
Tumblr media
Nearly half of the fandom believes that Eren’s goal is to eat the remaining warriors and gain their powers. About ⅓ of respondents think his goal is to negotiate with them, while smaller portions of the fandom think he may just want to get them out of the way or fully ally with them. Hopefully his chat with Pieck enlightens us! Meanwhile here are some write-in thoughts:
That boy is an enigma wrapped in a riddle, i have no idea what he is doing
Either to unlock a new ability with the Founding Titan that might require all the other Titan Shifters to be present or to kill them for the eventual rumbling.
I dunno but he clearly needs them for something. I'm leaning towards him needing to collect all their titans to do some sort of Curse Reset.
I am not sure whether he wants to eat every single warrior, especially regarding the convo he had with Reiner in the Marley arc. He wanted to chomp Porco tho, so I am not sure.
he can only do so much by himself, he has gained reiner's sympathy so having him as an ally seems like an option
I'd like to believe that Eren is luring the warriors so he can ally with them but realistically, he's probably going to eat 'em all. It started with the warhammer titan and he was about to do the same to Porco back in Marley for his jaws (which he would need to crack Annie's crystal open) but I digress. It'll probably happen in that order. He'll get annie after eating porco and pieck. Fuck. That part's gonna suck
I'm not sure, but he definitely doesn't want them trying to stop him doing whatever he's planning to do.
Like he said, he'll keep moving forward until his enemies are destroyed.
He wants them to connect and give the 9 elements to original Ymir. Maybe this way eldians will be free.
I laughed at the negotiation option, because if Eren ever was capable of comunicate with anyone in Paradise this mess wouldn't be happening. Actually if any character comunicated this wouldn't be happening.
Eren playing 4d chess
WHAT DO YOU THINK PIECK’S INTENTIONS WITH EREN ARE? 1,477 responses
Tumblr media
The big chapter cliffhanger this month was Pieck pulling a sneaky on Eren, as expected of her.  About two thirds of you, at 65.9% are guessing she’s there to talk with him; while 31.2% think she has more aggressive options in mind with that gun.
Pieck is smart. If she wanted to kill or capture Eren, she would've shot him without a warning. Clearly she wants something out of Eren, probably information, before neutralizing him
For the moment she's probably more interested in rescuing Gabi than doing anything with Eren.
Get information from him then kill him
Pieck most likely would want to talk about the jaegerbros sudden "alliance" She wants to know why Zeke used and betrayed her and their comrades.
Idk for sure, but I'm 120% sure she has a plan. Everyone is underestimating Pikku.
No clue. I don't hate her, but she's still complicit in war crimes, so whatever she's up to, it can't be good
To talk, Pieck is smart and if she wanted to kill Eren she should know that she had to do so earlier.
Probably a battle of wits, since Pieck is always exactly right and 19 yo Eren became very manipulative
Something tells me she's going to want Eren to direct her to Annie first. I mean, it's the final arc, and they still haven't resolved the Annie situation. I feel like this how Annie's supposed return will kick in: One of the reasons Pieck is in Paradis on reconnaissance is because she want to retrieve Annie from Paradis and bring her back to Marley. Maybe, she wants to do it with minimal bloodshed without making a scene.
Have a baby with him to cuck Zeke
EREN & PIECK - WHO HAS THE UPPER HAND? 1,480 responses
Tumblr media
About ¾ of the fanbase at 76.3% lean towards Eren and his three titans having the upper hand here, and 23.7% think Pieck’s planning will pay off exactly as planned.
Pieck isn't stupid and it's quite obvious to anyone that she CANNOT kill eren. She isn't very strong as a titan compared to him, nor in human form. She doesn't stand a chance.
She knows he is powerful, I doubt she'd be stupid to try to have a fight with a man who holds three titans.
Pieck will fix everything
Pieck knows Zeke best of the current batch of warriors- I HOPE TO GOD THAT SHE IS NEVER WRONG WITH PLANS.
Pieck certainty cannot beat Eren in her titan form without her men and big guns, and doesn't seem to be in great form physically, as she was on crutches until a short while ago.
Kinda want Eren to absolutely demolish Pieck, whether it be Titan-form or not, just so Gabi can freak out even more.
I want Pieck to beat the shit out of Eren, but I know it won’t happen
I fear for Pieck's life :( Eren's gonna Warhammer her ass against the ceiling before she can say 'Wuh'
WHO’S WITH PIECK? 1,443 responses
Tumblr media
Is Pieck alone, or does she have support?  The majority seem to think Reiner and Porco are accompanying her, with 64.9% and 63.5% respectively.  34% think Colt tagged along to help find his brother, and 18.7% think General Magath is there as well.  2.1% of you are holding out hope that our Ymir is still alive, and with the warriors in fact.  Pieck might be by her lonesome though, with 18.5% of you choosing that option.
It's been a while since we've seen any of the Warriors besides Pieck and it is the perfect time for Eren and Reiner to meet again.
I presume Reiner and the others are close by, but I still cannot see how all of them would be able to subdue or beat Eren, as he beat them all almost single- handily before he consumed the War hammer titan.
I have a strong feeling that Reiner's going to be the one to find the 104th and the Braus family in the cell. It will make for an interesting meeting, especially with Armin.
Freckled Ymir keeps getting indirectly referenced while highlighting her absence.
OwO best waifu Pieck returns all is well.
I JUST WANT TO SEE REINER ALREADY!!!
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS AFTER THIS CHAPTER?
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Hange’s heroics netted them a giant surge in popularity (1004↑) while Yelena (755↓) and Floch (898↓) each took a hit. Pieck’s confrontation with Eren was appreciated (737↑). Despite being unconscious, Levi’s approval was likewise up (701↑). The debut of Ymir Fritz had the majority holding off on judgment, although 514 respondents where inclined to view her favorably.
Hange is the best human in this manga
Hange, a real champ. Zeke is a dumbass. The more I see douchebag Eren, the more I want to kick him in the balls. Floch, Yelena & Co (exclude Oyankapon, he is a good boi) can go shove fucking thunderspears up their arses...the deeper their devotion, the deeper the penetration.
hange's great - zeke's wack - eren's angsty - press f for levi
AT THIS POINT, AROUND WHICH CHAPTER DO EXPECT THE MANGA WILL CONCLUDE? 1,396 responses
Tumblr media
We have a lot of differing opinions regarding how much of this story remains to be told! The most popular option for the final chapter of the manga is chapter 130 with 35% of respondents selecting that option. More striking perhaps, is that 86% of respondents think that the manga will continue to at least chapter 130. 50% believe that 134 is the earliest possible chapter for the story’s conclusion.
WHY is 118 an option for the conclusion of the manga? No fucking way we've only got three more chapters, surely? Don't fucking do this to me y'all
WHO DO YOU MOST HOPE TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,493 responses
Tumblr media
The majority of the fandom seem to have had their fill of Zeke and the Yeagerists and are ready to focus on other characters. Topping our wishlist is a continuation of Eren, Pieck and Gabi’s confrontation (70%), followed by the seeing more of Levi and Hange (60%). Armin Mikasa and the 104th (45%) and Historia (40.4%) are also on many minds.
Can't wait to hear what Pieck and Eren have to say. I think this chapter has allowed for some development between them.
I have been waiting years to learn all that was in this chapter and the end has me dying cause I’ve been wanting to know what it’d be like if Eren and Pieck met. So awesome chapter! Can’t wait for next month!
I really fucking miss Historia.
after having so much mikasa since 102 i’ve realised that i miss her presence a lot in the last three chapters... so i hope she’s in 116
I hope mikasa and armin are ok and Levi I feel so bad for 😢
Annie day now
I miss Reiner ;___;
WHERE DO YOU NORMALLY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,427 responses
Tumblr media
Thank you Reddit 😘
ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 
Loved the realisation that we’ve already been shown a paths “dimension” preciously in the manga and anime.
Fucking crazy, on one hand is like Yams, please, slow down and on the other hand is like, yes, keep it going, you crazy bastard.
It had a lot of emotional impact. I hated it and loved it at the same time.
Needed more Floch, I live for Floch.
I hate sand. It's coarse, rough, irritating and gets everywhere
Some interesting parallels that relate very well to the chapter's title "Support": Ymir Fritz puts Zeke back together, Eren "appears" to support Zeke's plan, Hanji grabs Levi and saves him from the "traitors" (how dare they use Eren's surname, they're not worthy!), and Pieck arrives to save Gabi and Falco!
I love Eren more with every chapter. He's so fucking cool. He was startled for two seconds, then went back to apathy and is just standing there with his hands in his pockets while Pieck holds a gun to him. What a chad.
With how many weird turns this manga is taking, you really don't know what to expect next. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if in the next chapter, Eren asks Pieck to marry him, Zeke shoots himself to see if he'll get revived again (and doesn't), and Hange injects Levi with titan serum, but rather than helping him in any way, it just makes him 3 inches shorter.
Holy crap the art was on point 👌👌👌 plus I've been lowkey itching for some more supernatural elements so I'm pretty happy with this development
It made me more excited to see the conclusion and what everyone's true motives are.
I love the suspense each panel gives, I feeling of worry and excitement
Can Floch die? I mean seriously, can he just fall off a cliff and get impaled? Or get hit by a stray bullet? Because his superior attitude is grating on my nerves. I’m glad Hange escaped 👍🏿
Great to see how the different characters draw motivation for their different goals and I am hyped that the reader is not told what Eren is really planning.
I just want Armin to play a major role. He’s been put on the backburner for far too long and he actually needs to be using his brain to fix the situation that Eldia is in. Even now, I still have faith that Armin is going to be the one to save the people in the walls. I predict that Armin does have some hidden agenda up his sleeve that he hasn’t revealed yet that will change the game entirely. He’s as intelligent if not more so than Erwin is after all. I still believe that Armin is the true savior of Eldia and that he is someone that Marley and the world should fear.
Zeke's resurrection was probably one of the most bizarre moments I've ever witnessed in this manga and I've got so many questions now. The chapter as a whole, however, was still enjoyable and very thought-provoking. Seeing how close we are to the end, though, I hope we get all the important questions answered before it's over because I hate when things are left unanswered.
To me it's clear that Eren is playing Zeke, but I wonder how he knew exactly how to play him so well? This is basically their first face-to-face interaction, I don't think he took the idea from Yelena, because actually I doubt Yelena understands Zeke except through her own filter, and Grisha definitively didn't understand him, so he can't even have been relying on his memories. Not to mention Zeke is a notoriously closed off individual in general, so what gives, Eren?
I absolutely love the direction of the story even though so much is happening against the interests of the party I want to win. Exactly how Return to Shiganshina felt like. And similar to RtS, I feel we will have a lukewarm conclusion that'll make us feel all the emotions in existence all at once.
Can't believe there wasn't a question about Zeke's junk. Did he get his wish or not? I swear, the quality of this poll has gone down dramatically this month.
I honestly don't understand Eren in the Jeagerbro talk. He seems to be making contradictory statements - ""We'll keep moving forward... But only until we practically erase our race's existence in this world."" Zeke's plan isn't a move forward, isn't a step towards freedom the way we know Eren / Attack Titan crave freedom. It is tying and blindfolding the people of Ymir to metaphorical train tracks. Which is far from freeing them, and which is why I think Eren has his own agenda and is only pretending to go along with Zeke. Now I'm not saying Eren has some noble plan that will properly save all the Eldians, for all we know he still wants to go ahead with the rumbling. I'm just saying Zeke's plan does not seem to align with Eren or the Attack Titan's ideologies (and yes, I'm talking about post Ch 90 Eren).
I really love where this is going and in just 2 chapters he made Zeke become one of my favourite characters, - if not the No1. Poor boi, needs to be protected at all costs. Also it is so horrible to see that he was used by everyone around him, his father especially and now it looks like Eren is about to do the same. Poor fella just wants a family member who actually cares about him as a person and he never really got that. Also, showing a more human side to him when he worries about Eren and then tearing up when Eren calls him brother? Give me more please.
Floch is still my favorite character. Fucking fight me about it, try it, I've got a hairstylists' nightmare on my side who isn't afraid to shoot (don't worry he can't aim very well).
Floch you fuckin piece of shit. Such a good character but such a fucking bastard. I really love to hate him. Fuck you Floch, you magnificient bastard
Can we safely assume that Annie is actually in the paths realm?
Could Pieck be Kruger's daughter?
if Levi gets oofed I'll get oofed with him.
Thank you to everyone who participated. We’ll see you again next month! 
70 notes · View notes
worst--jeanist · 6 years
Text
using sign language in facfiction
so i’ve been reading ~*fanfiction*~ again and i’ve noticed that with the popularity of d/Deaf and hard of hearing characters and headcanons, there’s also a LOT of mistakes being made. whether its from misinformation, lack of research, or simple oversight, I think it’s important to keep some things in mind.
ive got a simple list type thing below for things to consider when using sign language in fanfiction
**Big Honkin’ Disclaimer!!!*** I am not d/Deaf of hard of hearing! I’m an outsider of the community, but I’ve been taking courses in ASL and Deaf Studies for four years now, and I want to spread what I know to other people who might be interested!! Also, i’m keeping it under the cut so updates can be seen cause i’m SO cure i missed a lot!!
1.) ASL is not universal
ASL stands for American Sign Language and is primarily used by Americans, Canadians (except Quebec). Some other countries have adopted it, including many African countries, and some costal Asian countries, but it remains large exclusive to America and Canada. 
In fandom, you’re likely to come across Japanese Sign Language for Anime, British Sign Language for BBC shows, French Sign Language for some cartoons, etc. etc. Basically, what I’m saying is that if your thing takes place anywhere besides America, look up what kind of sign language they use, and I would recommend even looking up some basic signs to get yourself acquainted with it.
Note: I can’t say for certain because I absolutely do not know if it’s the case with other sign languages, but at least in American Sign Language, sentence structure is very different from it’s spoken language. In English, we might say “I went over to Clarissa’s house yesterday”, but in ASL, it would translate more directly to “Yesterday Clarissa’s house I go.” Whether or not you choose to write in this word order is up to you. Another option might be to simply sum up what they said like:
Jane asked Sarah, “What did you do yesterday?”  Sarah responded that she went to Clarissa’s house.
I, personally, find this the least jarring way to read Deaf characters in print, but that’s just me. It also could avoid a lot of missteps if you’re not familiar enough with the language, especially foreign sign languages!
2.) There are other ways to communicate with deaf and hard of hearing people.
I’ve deadass read fics where character’s S/Os will learn sign language in like. A week. And yeah some basic signs could be picked up in that time, but likely not. Instead of jumping right to “And then his husband learn sign language for him!”, maybe they started somewhere else.
Writing/texting back and forth is a SUPER COMMON AND VERY CONVENIENT way of communicating with a deaf person if you don’t like sign language. I’ve yet to stumble upon a fic where someone is writing cute notes to their S/O like c’MON THAT’S LOST POTENTIAL!!
Gestures go a long way! A lot of signs were born from common gestures, like the sign for “telephone” or “drink”. It’s entirely possible to communicate gesturally to someone without knowing a lick of sign language.
There’s... kind of a lot to say in the way of interpreters so I uuuuh. Okay, as far as fanfic is concerned, the interpreter (Note: the word is “interpreter”, not “translator”) is likely a friend or child because I don’t know who’s writing in RID certified interpreters into their slashfic. But it’s very important that the character is talking to the deaf character and not the interpreter. If that character doesn’t know that, let them learn! It’s fun to read about people knowing things!
Lip-reading and speech-reading is very very difficult and often super inaccurate!!! Especially if the character didn’t grow up deaf or hard of hearing, it’s very difficult to have a conversation with a deaf person who is lipreading. Try it for yourself, it’s SUPER difficult. Hard of hearing characters might have an easier time since residual hearing plays a big part in it but it really rustles my jimmies when deaf/hoh characters are like “haha just talk to me normally, i can read lips :)” when in reality its more like “okay so i can kinda read lips cut can you sit on the other side of me cause there’s more like and also speak slower but don’t over annunciate and also please speak up and can you talk a bit more with your hands so i can get a sense of what you’re talking about and wait im sorry what’s the context again?” followed by many many :can you repeat that?” “what was that again???” JUST BELIEVE ME it’s difficult.
Also remember that a lot of deaf people can’t speak. Also remember that some deaf people can. Also remember that some deaf people don’t “sound” deaf. That’s a whole other can of worms.
 3.) Not all sign language users are d/Deaf.
In an attempt to keep this sign language centric, I want to point out that some other people who use ASL actually might have perfectly function hearing and even speaking mouthparts! Some of these people include autistic people, especially children, people who are mute, people with speech processing disorders, and even people with audio processing disorders. And that’s only the groups of people I can come up with off the top of my head. There are all kinds of people use use sign language, gesture language, etc. in their daily lives. 
4.) Not all d/Deaf people use sign language.
A sad reality is that many many institutions don’t favor the deaf. There are adults who were born deaf and never learned sign language because they weren’t taught it in schools or because they were taught ~*oralism*~ which was heavily pioneered by Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone and husband to a deaf woman. Not entirely relevant, but interesting. Oralism is the practice of forcing speech and lip-reading onto deaf people, where classes were spent teaching deaf people to speak rather than to sign. In some oralist schools, sign language is even flat-out banned. 
A YouTuber that I really love, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, talks about how her school would provide a BSL interpreter, but not BSL lessons while she was going deaf. And that is a sad reality. In some American school systems, deaf children simply sit through class and kind of. Hope that they get whats going on because their school won’t teach them sign language. And, just as sadly, a V A S T majority of hearing parents to deaf children simply won’t learn sign for their kids and instead enforce oralist ideals on them at home. 
5.) *blink-182 voice* All the small things
-pls stop saying you “speak” sign language. you use sign language. I know it sounds a little weird but trust me, speaking sign language sounds even more physically impossible
-hearing aids are not a cure all. Someone isn’t just suddenly hearing because they have hearing aids
-same with cochlear implants but i aint never seen that one in a fanfic. look into it tho it’s a rly interesting debate
I’m gonna be updating this as people have any questions, but i think this is some pretty basic stuff to get started with!
95 notes · View notes