#he gains a dedicated fanbase too

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

DP X DC WRITING PROMPT #8

(Had this idea a couple nights ago after playing Oxenfree for the eighth time. Not based on the game or anything, but that would also be extremely cool to read. Anyone who wants to take this idea, take it and run. Run as far as you can with it. I'd love to see what you write.)

next →

✦

Radio Silence

The Ghost Zone/Infinite Realms is supposed to be linked to every universe/dimension in existence. If this is true, what if when The Accident ™ occurred, Danny's dying screams echoed throughout the multiverse where everyone to ever exist hears the cries of a child going through what sounds like agonizing, lethal torture.

This wakes some of the heroes/vigilantes in the DC Universe ™ from a dead sleep, chills scraping up and down their spines, while others freeze in their spots as they listen and can do nothing to stop it. The Supers have it the worst, because the screams ring in their ears long after they stop and they were also able to pick up what sounded like begging. Begging for the pain to stop. What felt like hours of listening to the tortured screams of the poor child, is only a matter of thirteen seconds before they're abruptly and eerily cut short. Clark is absolutely sobbing up in the Watchtower, Batman beside him as they were originally going over plans for a mission.

This just took immediate priority though.

Clark fully believes that whoever the child was, they were no longer alive. At least until he starts hearing the voice, mostly when the child was in distress, in pain, or seemingly battling something. It's later that he discovers the rest of the world -and even the universe- can also hear the child's voice, although more faintly and only on occasion. His voice comes across more clear on silent unused radio frequencies. Danny has basically become the voice of the universe.

While the Justice League are trying to devise a way to find and keep this child safe, them and the rest of the universe are able to hear every battle (especially the ones against Pariah Dark, the other Ancient ghosts, and Dan) every late night spent stitching himself back together, everytime he's been electrocuted and forced to relive the way he died. Those particular moments are what nearly bring the JL to their knees. The screams are too close to what started this entire mission to find the mysterious boy. Whoever this Vlad Plasmius or the Guys in White were gained a long list of people who want to personally punch them in the face, Batman and Superman being the first of that list.

By the time the JL have built a machine to allow them to travel to Danny's dimension, they've heard all of Danny's accomplishments, followed him throughout his growth as a young hero, and his ascension to the throne. They are immensely proud of him. Several of them have thought of inviting him to the Justice League, even if he was from an entirely different dimension.

Now though, after years of listening to him and hearing his struggles, and begging for a way to find him, the Justice League will finally complete a years long mission.

Time to meet Phantom.

✦

This prompt doesn't have to be just a DP X DC prompt. This can apply to any universe you want to work with! Run wild with it! Have fun!

[adiluv]

❥ 𝐈𝐃𝐎𝐋 𝐎𝐁𝐒𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐔𝐂𝐇𝐄. ˚⊹꒷

717 words, modern au, obsessive fan behavior, reader is not traveler, not edited.

superfan scaramouche who is absolutely infatuated with you. he's been one of your group's day one fans, his stan account going back even before y'all had blown up in popularity. and you? you've been his bias from the very start, too ꒰a fact he doesn't even attempt to hide꒱—obsession growing all the more rampant with time.

superfan scaramouche who collects all of your merchandise, whether it be official or fan-made. hauls have become a necessary part of his lifestyle, long having adopted the habit of shelling out thousands of mora every month in order to add to his ever-growing collection of albums, photocards, and posters. the wood of his shelves are practically curving beneath the weight of everything, trashcan overflowing from all the packaging he throws out after unboxing everything.

superfan scaramouche who streams these unboxings to his loyal follower-base, the sharp tongue he's become infamous for always being undermined by the adoring smile on his face as he flaunts everything. the sheer extent of his collection has made him a well-known name amongst your fans, merch creators often sending him their newest design ideas and samples for feedback.

he's harsh in his critiques, unhesitating as he point out even the slightest flaws to his audience—especially so when it comes to designs with you. in his mind, if they're going to portray you, then they'd best do it right. other members of your group's fanbase do call him out for this behavior, though he counters saying that creators are already well aware of his temperament when send him anything.

superfan scaramouche who uses his position and wealth as the son of an inazuman politician in order to fund this lifestyle of his, although ei is oftentimes left unimpressed with his dedication to you. as such, she'll occasionally attempt to lecture him about his spending habits, but her words often fall on dear ears as he continues reaching out for his credit card the second your group's official twitter teases at a new release. honestly? the only thing that she manages to accomplish during these 'interventions' is tiring her throat out.

superfan scaramouche who rakes in extra money by capitalizing on his appearance, aware that some of his followers are only really interested with his account because of his breathtaking features. so long as the donations are large enough, he has zero problem flirting with his audience, immediately setting the money he gains from them aside to be spent on you. ironically enough, he can't help but find his admirers pathetic for thirsting over a man that hardly even knows them... despite having the exact same attachment to you.

superfan scaramouche who will get into fights online over your name. anybody who attempts to insult you—even as an off-handed remark—are met with a barrage of harassment from his ꒰many꒱ burner accounts. every aspect of their online persona is scrutinized, attempts to expose his identity met with ever harsher abuse. nearly all of his victims have had to deactivate just for the sake of being left alone, a fact he doesn't feel bad for in the slightest.

superfan scaramouche who attends every. single. one. of your group's events without fail, always making sure to come prepared with gifts and merch for you to autograph. covered in head to toe in bagging clothing, a baseball cap on his head, and a mask to obscure the bottom half of his face—you can't help but feel a little apprehensive when he makes a beeline straight towards you, though your inhibitions are quickly forgotten when the both of you start chatting.

superfan scaramouche who appears totally innocent and unassuming during your conversation, compliments almost falling off his tongue as he sings your praises. he'll comment on the smallest details within your mvs, choreography, outfits—claiming it a shame that you aren't as popular as some of the other members within your group. you eagerly sign the photocard he presents you, telling him to have a nice day before he leaves. it's the only thing he posts about for a week straight.

unbeknownst to you, he records the entire interaction, watching it compulsively to fuel his delusions—convincing himself that you're madly in love with him. needless to say, the charges on his credit card only increase in size afterwards.

i have a taglist, which you can sign up for here!

[orfisheus]

An elaborate thoughtpiece on the recent state of EW

With the recent Youtooz announcement, I've been having a lot of thoughts regarding Eddsworld and the rumors about them returning Tord back to EW canon, so consider this a dump?? (For clarity's sake, the IRL people will be referred with their name and last initial. :])

I'd like to preface this by stating that I wouldn't mind the character coming back, as long as there's consent with Tord L. I'd assume that they would do this with the full intent of respecting his boundaries, so I'll give that the benefit of the doubt.

My issue, however, comes with HOW they're doing it. We are all aware that they've been teasing the episode, first with their post teasing their scriptwriting, and then Matt H. on Twitter confirming something big is coming with whatever they're working on next. Along with the YouTooz release and the removal of the Tord FAQ, it's very likely that this is what they're teasing. And yeah, that's fairly big news. The return of a fan favorite character who had a major impact on the plot? That would shift the current trajectory of their presentation and of the fandom. But, in regards to the fandom, they're aware he's a fan favorite. Want a quick buck? Be it for a charity or for themselves, he's the perfect tool to weaponize. Especially with a prevalent neurodivergent population in the fandom, he's especially easy to use. These fans will be dedicated, and they will buy it. I've seen multiple people say that they would for this sole reason. In no way is this a jab at any neurodivergent folks. I hope y'all enjoy your figurine. I would too. However, it ties into my next point. The dedicated fanbase that Eddsworld has isn't all too dedicated to the actual episodes. Look at content creators on tumblr. A majority have created their own elaborate AUs or headcanons so estranged from the own canon that the real canon holds little value. As each episode comes out, it will gain minute traction, only to swiftly be buried in the sea of fan-derivative content. I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't aware of this. In their comment sections on Instagram, oftentimes people will post GIFS of older episodes. Nothing to say about current content. Just GIFs. There's no drive for people to consume this media outside of their already preestablished footholds. So, how can people say something? How to bring in the quiet masses? Give them what they want. Give them Tord.

I made a theory a few days back with my friends. If a piece of media's lore has people begging for more, you'll likely see more AUs, more explorations of the characters outside of canon. I've seen this frequently when shows were coming out. The Owl House, for example, had budding fan theories and prevalent fan works and creators, such as moringmark, who played with fan theories as the show came out, exploring the potential the narrative had. However, by the time it ended, and the story was satisfactorily brought to its conclusion, this content diminished. Audience members felt fulfilled. When people aren't fulfilled, they ask for more. They make more. In this vein lies Miraculous Ladybug, a show known for egregious writing, to the point where content creators have basically transformed the entire show, disregarding a lot of the lore and establishing their own. Unfortuantely, with Eddsworld's current trajectory, the trend of AUs and headcanons feels more aligned with the latter rather than the former.

Another issue that's been plaguing my mind is narratively how his return would work. From the fandom, I've seen a few conflicting perspectives. Some people enjoy him as a villain/antagonist, whilst others prefer him as a member of the main crew. It would be impossible to satisfy both sides. Do they regard The End or not? And if so, how would they treat his facial scars and potential amputation? Ableism has been a plaguing issue in this fandom, and it makes me weary to see it potentially play out in the biggest form of media that Eddsworld uses. And I don't think people would be 100% okay if it was ignored, either. It's an extremely strange gray area where, no matter what, the consequence will be that someone will end up disappointed. To pull it off, they'd need a much more stable foundation and reputation. By the way the last few episodes have gone, I'm not too confident that they do.

After all, they've used this big episode so far to address a few criticisms I've seen for previous episodes. Aside from Tord's presence, they've teased the episode, which many had previously criticized Matt H. for his lack of transparency with the fandom upon production. The same goes with making it a sort of big episode. Beyond's episodes so far have been tamer and less narratively focused in comparison to later Classic and Legacy. That isn't a bad thing, but it's a major tonal shift that has felt awkward. Going back suddenly to the old formulas of narrative also feels a bit strange. The new narrative hasn't had success, sure, but every new creator will always have things to improve upon. Using what made Classic and Legacy successful in an era more focused on simpler narratives makes it seem like the showrunners don't know how to run in their own shoes, so they need to use someone else's to be successful. Here's the thing, you don't gain merit from being derivative, you gain it from making your own stuff work. Beyond wants to focus more on comedy than storytelling? That's great! That's what I've felt like those episodes were focusing on. Improving in that department will help overall. But changing something entirely because it wasn't working feels less confident, less focused on growth, and more on personal achievement. Especially when they have to use a fan-favorite character to get there. They couldn't make it on their own, so use what they know the people love.

I was discussing a book in one of my classes earlier, White Noise, when my teacher brought up how he wants us to constantly be aware of our society after reading this book, and how consumer culture greatly impacts our day to day lives. That's what the author wanted his readers to get out of it. Awareness. Every good work comes with a goal. What is Eddsworld Beyond's goal? What do they get out of bringing Tord back?

To me, it's the epitome of the current state of the entertainment industry. In Hollywood, where the animation corporations don't trust risk or exploration, they remake the old movies or produce soulless sequels. Kung Fu Panda 4, Megamind's sequel, every single live action Disney remake. And yet movies that take risks, like Strange World, no matter the quality, are shoved aside with little marketing. Cash grabs are easy ways to garner attention. They ensure profit. But they never garner the same soul as the original. To me, at least, the showrunners feel less confident in their own works because they've garnered little success from the 3 major episodes they've released so far, not including the shorts. Compared to Legacy and Classic, current Eddsworld has had nothing to say and very little gains from it. Legacy is a bit of a stretch for a standard, but it is a standard previously set by the show. This inflation is something so hard to achieve when a majority of fans have moved on, so I can't entirely blame them for potentially wanting to achieve this same success. It's just an empty way to do it.

I want to see this show succeed. I have a lot of love for it. I know there's a lot of love being put into it by the crew, and in no way do I want this to discredit their work. I see it as a current work in progress that's working out its kinks to reach its true potential. I just don't believe using the character of Tord is the right way to improve and garner traction. This is more of a critique on the writing and overall direction. Please understand this. I hope that, in the future, stuff starts going right for Beyond. Someday it'll succeed. But potentially using, for the lack of a better word, cheap tricks in order to obtain this is not the way to go as a creator.

Feel free to share your own thoughts. I'd love to hear what y'all have to say. And feel free to give helpful critiques as well! I'd love to make more elaborate writing pieces like this, so anything helps! Thank you, and farewell.

[bidokja]

isekai as a genre has plenty of genuinely interesting series in it, actually. the main problem is that isekai as a genre also has an overwhelming amount of mid and outright bad series in it. it's over-saturated because it's popular. (because everyone is eager to hop on the isekai hype train which has been swiftly chugging along ever since SAO came out and dramatically elevated its popularity.) if you slap an isekai genre label on it, there's a dedicated isekai fanbase that'll swarm to check it out no matter how copy-paste and unoriginal and boring it is.

and here's the thing: there are a lot of mid series that would actually be good if they just weren't isekai. if they were simply an original story set in an original world with no isekai taking place. the first key to having a truly great isekai is that the isekai part is intrinsically relevant. that your story has to be an isekai for the premise and plot and character paths to really hit.

if your story does not have to be an isekai then just...don't make it an isekai. please.

honestly this same principle largely applies to reincarnator series as well. if the reincarnation isn't actually central to the plot, then it doesn't need to be a reincarnator series. in fact, it would probably be infinitely more interesting if it wasn't. like, oh, he reincarnated and is seeking revenge, and must pretend to be a secret disciple of his former self in order to explain his motivations and gain allies? boring. been done a million times and it is highly unlikely this one is gonna bring anything new to the table. it would have been ten times more compelling and engaging if he actually was a secret disciple. it creates depth and conflict and new relationships. if it's a reincarnation it's too straight forward. just don't do it if it doesn't have to be a reincarnation.

[sageistrii]

I can’t believe I have to defend Taehyung of all people but I’m pretty sure he has better Spotify numbers than Hybe’s nepo girls who get lots and lots of playlisting(OMG was on TTP over a year) with the money BTS made while every BTS member who isn’t Jk doesn’t get shit in terms of promo

Nj might be top in Sk (I’ll give them 2 more years max until the gp moves to a new group) but they are not more popular than Tae Internetionally or overall

They're not as popular as any BTS member and a BTS members solo fanbase is bigger than new jeans' whole fanbase but their music seems to be more popular. Honestly new jeans does not have a big fanbase, I think le sserafim has a more dedicated and bigger fanbase but new jeans has a lot of casual listeners and even people who don't listen to kpop listens to their music.

Tae will have better first day numbers on all major platforms except melon, but new jeans performs better in the long run which means they end up having bigger numbers after a few months.

New jeans is a wild card, I get this feeling that they gained popularity way too fast that it's going to fizzle out before their peers, but at the same time they could end up being another blackpink, a group with instant success but also with longevity. But I think even if they don't fizzle out, in no time there's going to be some other 4th gen group that will catch up with them internationally and their success will not seem so special anymore.

And groups like g-idle and Ive are actually on par with new jeans in Korea, some might even argue that Ive is bigger than new jeans in Korea but the success they got in the US makes everyone think they're the most successful 4th gen girlgroup in Korea when it's actually Ive.

New jeans already has competition in SK, the competition they need is another 4th gen girlgroup that consistently charts on Spotify global with an average of 3m streams. They had competition in fifty fifty but we know how that turned out and the only other girlgroup that seems to do great internationally right now is le sserafim but they're not quite new jeans level yet, and it seems to be a slow but steady climb for them.

[the-saltiest-duck]

Salty Comic Review #1: Eeveelution Squad

[DISCLAIMER: PLEASE DO NOT ATTACK OR HARASS ANYONE MENTIONED IN THIS REVIEW]

Introduction

Eeveelution squad is a DeviantArt comic made by EV-Zero, previously known as PKM-150 which started in 2016 and ended in 2021. This comic was very popular gaining a dedicated fanbase, with many fandubs, art, fanfiction and even fan songs! I know I personally enjoyed it back when I was young, so it holds a lot of nostalgia for me. The author started a reboot of the series but quickly abandoned it, since he was understandably burnt out after working on the comic for 5 years.

Review

As much as this pains me to say, this comic is NOT good. For one, the characters are very basic. I did not care for any of them in the slightest. This problem only gets worse when later in the comic there are way more characters introduced and all of them have the combined personality of a slice of bread. Because most of the characters in the story are eevees or eeveelutions, it becomes difficult to tell them apart at some points. The characters are written in such a way that they don't feel like actual people at all. The best way to describe the writing of this story is, person watches too much anime and shoves every annoying anime trope possible into their story. Many "senpai"s and "baka"s are dropped and it reminds me of those cringey anime kids in high school. The worst offender of this is Glaceon, who has a running bit of harming Jolteon when he does absoloutely nothing wrong. I shouldn't have to say why this is bad. Though this might be partially my personal preference, I hated all of the romances which ranged from vaguely abusive to boring as plaster. If you want to reread the comic for nostalgia purposes, only read the first few chapters, once you get to the special chapters, just stop reading. This comic was such a painful read of 1020 pages, not even including all the extra content. The lore of this story is so unnecessarily complex for a story about which elemental dog is going to smooch who. I could not tell you a single thing about all the lore in this story except there are evil shadow monsters and parallel universes. The lore isn't even important at all to the story. The most irritating thing is that at one point it just starts alternating these long ass exposition dumps inbetween the actual story. The Eeveelution Squad was enjoyed by so many people because it was cute and simple, if it had kept to slice of life it would still be cringey but it would be bearable. But having all this lore literally nobody cares about and pages of long ass textboxes it just not going to work with the kind of story ES is. But no, it had to be dragged out for an unbearably long time because fuck you!

Conclusion

Pros

+ Cute artstyle

+ Simple and shippable cast

Cons

- Bad writing

- Complete disregard of show don't tell

- Boring characters

- Horrible pacing, especially at the end

- Overdone anime clichés

- Waaayy too many characters

Overall rating 1/5

[dojae-huh]

hi! briize here to answer ur riize qns :D

riize gained attention initially due to 1) sungchan & shotaro & their new grp 2) a bit bc of anton being yoon sang's son and 3) siren mv because of their difficult choreo!

personally, their success in enlargening their fanbase probably came from tiktok as well? i saw them getting viral in tiktok due to the get a guitar challenge, sohee's talk saxy bridge & anton being 'riize's tiktok social manager' since he (and the members) were rly active in liking and commenting briize's tiktoks + creating rly gen z tiktoks w themselves too

their mainstream success probably came from 1) their performances (they debuted nearing towards award season, so they did a lot of performances i.e. rising sun by tvxq which highlighted their proficiency a lot) & 2) the members' visuals going viral (i.e. wonbin & sungchan who are constantly getting mentioned by hong seokcheon)

riize has rly become monster rookies since they debuted, earning rookie of the year titles less than 6 months of their debut. sohee is being lauded by his seniors for his vocals, wonbin is constantly on the spotlight for being a 'once in a generation' visual who's likened to jaejoong (and jaejoong knows this as well).

and although most news do center on seunghan's situation, that still pushes riize's name to the forefront, esp when it comes to briize's relentless support (rii7e forever 🥹)

and yes, there's no leader! they don't exactly have set titles aside from the basic dancer, vocal, rapper (sohee's the only one labeled as 'main' as the main vocal!)

riize's name was formed by sungchan, and riize as a group was set to debut due to a choreo by shotaro & wonbin which the 7 of them did together. they still don't have a full album yet, and is going to comeback in april iirc?

hope i was coherent and it's helpful 😭

Hi, thank you for the detailed overview!

So several factors contributed: virality of challenges and choreo, timing of the debut, members' visuals. It's interesting that Anton supervises tiktok, heh. SM's early attempts at using the platform for promotion were very clumsy, the staff didn't know what to do, while few neos, aside from Tae, are interested in tt. Younger people are needed, who grew up with the platform and know it and its algorythms well.

I'm somewhat baffled about Seunghan's situation. I'd think he is on hiatus to let the group go through the debut stage more smoothly, have time to gain strength and a dedicated core fanbase, however, other members also get accused of things. And the fandom seems to stand with him, asking for OT7. Taeyong was also hated by knets during the debut, SM didn't remove him. Demands to get rid of Irene, Chen also were ignored. Which makes me think that either Seunghan's mental state plummeted and he asked for a leave himself. Or there are more idols and companies involved, I heard a rumour that one of the winners of Girls planet was taken out from the final debutet line-up (Illit) due to her connection to Seunghan's group of friends.

How dooes Riize function without a leader? Fans invented positions in the first place, and, as far as I know, NCT got theirs with a delay. It seems that it's a 5gen trend for groups to not have fixed positions.

A full album is too early. It takes a couple of years for a group to make one. Some groups never release a full album. But, perhaps, you meant an EP? I see only singles in their discography. 4 songs with language versions + 1 special project.

Wish also started with singles. So did aespa, actually. Seems like a new strategy in SM. 127's first EPs are poorely know. People buy/download single songs, and often don't look into the whole discography.

[destinyc1020]

Kaia n Austin hav only been together for (about to b) 2 yrs, they hav a age gap that ppl r divided on n their fanbases r very different n divided, they just dnt compare to couples like TZ or Dylan/Barbara who r the complete opposite.

2 yrs, imo, just aint a lot in general, esp compared to the almost decade long relationship Austin had with Vanessa bt to Kaia this is def her longest relationship.

The age gap is obvious, gurl culdnt even drink in America wen she was with him wen they 1st started dating lol

i tgink as far as the fanbase part most Austin fans seem to b indifferent towards her (nt even in a mean way bt they may just focus on his career primarily and nt his relationship). Obviously u get the few extremes on both sides, sum who REALLY hype Kaia up n become her fan too n sum who REALLY hate her. Kaia dsnt seem to hav a large or dedicated fanbase like that bt the few i do see will post her pap pics, street style and a photoshoot here n there. Obviously Austin (or any of her previous bfs) will sometimes b in a pap pic or she'll go to an event of his so her fans seem more open to him cuz pap picz are a lot of her content as a fan

Kaia n Austin hav only been together for (about to b) 2 yrs, they hav a age gap that ppl r divided on n their fanbases r very different n divided, they just dnt compare to couples like TZ or Dylan/Barbara who r the complete opposite.

Even though I've seen some cute couple moments btwn them, Austin and Kaia don't compare to those couples in the least imo lol. And nobody sees them as "couples goals" lol. But I don't think it's due to the age gap, or even the different fan bases (Tom and Z's separate fanbases are quite different if you think about it). I think it's more so due to the fact that Austin and Kaia just don't seem like a "soulmate couple". Like, does anyone (other than die-hard Kaia stans or Kaustin shippers😏) actually think they're "soulmates"?? Lol 😅

I don't get that vibe in the least. I got that vibe more with Austin and Vanessa tbh.

They might look "cute" together, and I'm sure they have lots in common with each other, but nothing about them screams "we're soulmates". They just seem like they're just dating and enjoying each other's company to me? 🤷🏾‍♀️

2 yrs, imo, just aint a lot in general, esp compared to the almost decade long relationship Austin had with Vanessa bt to Kaia this is def her longest relationship.

Idk if it's her age or what, but I just feel like she's still in her "growing" and "experimenting" phase of her life. Just being honest. I don't even think it's the length of time of dating tbh. Some fans can sense a couple that are soulmates even when the couple has only been together for a relatively short period of time. Also, add to the fact that a lot of fans feel the Kaustin Berger relationship is a bit contrived and pap-happy lol, I think some even question whether the relationship is even really all that genuine or based on REAL love, and not just an engine to gain some exposure. Idk...maybe it's just HER in general, but a LOT of her relationships (not just the one with Austin) seem a bit opportunistic and not really genuine to me. Idk what it is. Maybe it's her family lol, Idk. 😅

i tgink as far as the fanbase part most Austin fans seem to b indifferent towards her (nt even in a mean way bt they may just focus on his career primarily and nt his relationship).

I think some fans may ignore the relationship, but I do feel like there are definite two sides to the fandom atm. It seems the newer and younger newbie fans of Austin are staunch Kaia supporters and ship Kaustin. Whereas more of the die-hard/older fans of Austin who knew him back when lol, are not really feeling this relationship AT ALL lol. 👀

The Kaia stans of course mostly love her with Austin, cuz she seems like she's happy with him, and he's probably the most decent bf she's ever had tbh lol 😅

[inactive-maelstroem]

References to Goncharov in Brokeback Mountain

The 1973 movie Goncharov has gained its status as a cult classic partially due to the relationship between the titular Eugene Goncharov and Andrey (alias The Banker), which many fans view as romantic despite the director having denied it multiple times in interviews. Over the years, a community has formed around the presumed relationship, dedicated to writing and sharing fanfiction where the pair are romantically and/or sexually involved; the pairing remains in the top charts since the 80's. Brokeback Mountain (2006) has similarly spawned a lasting fanbase. Unlike in Goncharov, there can be no question as to the nature of the relationship between the protagonists, however, the movie contains several references to the Martin Scorsese picture.

Moose. The protagonists of Brokeback Mountain shoot a moose for meat in a seemingly insignificant scene in the beginning of the movie, however, it parallels the assassination of a rich mobster in Goncharov. The money of the man is the "meat" gained by Eugene and Andrey, although they end up paying a high price for it.

Ennis' breakdown. After a summer with Jack, seeing him drive away makes the protagonist drop down to his knees in an alleyway, banging his fist on the wall. The scene is shot in a specific manner: the viewer looks out of the dark alleyway, only seeing the man's silhouette. A very similar shot is present in the beginning of Goncharov, after the man himself decides to leave for Italy, leaving Andrey behind. Although he's just as devastated, there's no crying, no visceral emotion - Eugene only sits leaning against the wall, smoking a cigar. What really gives this reference away is both men's response to a staring passerby: "what are you looking at?"

Reunion observed. There are many similarities between Katya and Alma, from their relationships with the protagonists to the color palettes in their wardrobes, but the most glaring of all is revealed when Ennis and Jack are reunited after four years apart. They're shown pressing each other to the wall and kissing hard, which is when Alma thinks to look out the window. A look of confusion, then anger and sadness, appears on her face, very similar to Katya's reaction to Andrey and Eugene’s reunion. They are, of course, not kissing, merely talking and laughing as the shot pans away from them to Katya playing the piano, the music drowning out the conversation. Her expression may be interpreted as fear for the future now that the criminal couple are back together, but shippers prefer to view it as jealousy.

“It can be like this forever” is a phrase Andrey utters in the famous smoking in the rain scene, referring to the life him and Eugene could share. Much like in Brokeback Mountain, this dream never comes true - both couples cannot live together in a world that does not accept their love. This is the whole point of the 2006 film, its tragedy, and while the Scorsese classic is a gangster movie first and foremost, an argument can be made that the many atrocities committed in Goncharov could’ve been prevented if the two protagonists were allowed their peaceful life. It is interesting to note that Ennis and Eugene have radically different approaches to the situation: the former stays completely passive, perfectly illustrated by the quote “if you can’t fix it, then you gotta stand it”, while the latter turns to mindless violence in the name of his beloved.

***

In conclusion, the similarities between Goncharov and Brokeback Mountain are too numerous to be unintentional. Perhaps it is the director’s way of highlighting the tragic nature of the story, hinting at his opinion on the relationship between Eugene and Andrey or simply celebrating the complex and exhilarating Martin Scorsese classic. 

[goatedgreen]

i feel like there are two kind of routes you can go when you join the smp. the ranboo route: you join the server as a relatively unknown guy and you create a really compelling character and story, which then translates into your other streams because people become interested in the guy behind the character. OR you can go the foolish route: you join the server and stream consistantly on it OOC but endear and audience to your personality, then incorporate lore later on which people are invested in because its your lore. each out come it the same. you gain a dedicated fanbase. michael has done neither of these. he hasnt been involved with the dsmp consistantly enough both IN or OUT of character for the dsmp fanbase to "latch on" to him in terms or any of his content. ultimately it was a lack of consistancy that pushed him away, not any of the other ccs (esp because his lore was specifically engineered to not require that much input from anyone else?)

thats not to say that michael doesnt have a dedicated fanbase, that would be a lie, he def has fans and he is in no way irrelevant. but i think he’s expecting a bit too much for what minial amount he’s actually logged on to the server.

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

(Possible continuation to writing prompt #8: Radio Silence. This doesn't have to be what happens, it's just an idea I had)

(#) = Answered questions

← previous

✦

What if Clockwork saw what the Justice League was doing and decided to toss Danny into the DC Universe ™ right after the JL left to go to his. They just missed each other.

Danny is so lost and has no idea what's going on. He walks up to the first person he sees and asks them where exactly he is. The only thing is that Danny's voice is so well known and his radio station is so extremely popular that his voice is immediately recognizable to people.

"Oh my gosh! You're Danny Phantom the ghost hero, aren't you?!"

He's asked this on a crowded street while he's still in his human form. No one should be able to recognize him but before he can fully process the situation he's suddenly swarmed by nearly everyone on the street asking him questions about his life that no one besides his closest friends should know. Now Danny is both confused AND freaking out. Like, how do so many people know about his secret identity? Where was he? Was he in danger? What if the GIW or his parents heard??

Danny is full on having an anxiety/panic attack and now a whole crowd of unbelievably kind and friendly people are trying to talk him down and get him doing breathing exercises while someone explains the whole ordeal to him. The one trying to calm him down and explain everything could probably be one of his vigilante fans. What happens after that could either go the wholesome route or the darker route in the previous post's reblogs. Or any other way really.

✦

@lenacraft @captain-krow-drozdov

Answered Questions:

(1) Does this count as ancient of space! Danny?

Sure! I don't see why not. It kinda fits, imo, especially with how radio waves work in space.

(2) Do they hear him all the time or just in his ghost form?

They can only hear him if he's in his ghost form or his ghost powers leak through to his human side while emotions are running high. Other than that, they can't hear him the rest of the time. They only hear him when he's a ghost either battling other ghosts, patching himself up cause pain, or when his emotions are influencing his powers.

[ino3zi]

In the latest buzz surrounding Kpop soloist Noé, fans have been abuzz after an Instagram account tagged the talented artist in a recent post. The account, @nana_ra, is believed to belong to a student at the prestigious Korean National University of Arts (KNUA), where Noé himself is enrolled. Fans have been quick to speculate that the two might be secretly dating, leading to a flurry of excitement and curiosity among Noé's dedicated fanbase.

Noé, who is known for his captivating performances and soulful vocals, has gained a significant following since his debut under Chéri Devil Records. His unique style and undeniable talent have propelled him to stardom, with fans eagerly awaiting every update on his personal and professional life.

The Instagram tag by @nana_ra caught fans' attention when they noticed Noé's handle mentioned alongside a heartfelt caption. While the connection between Noé and the account owner is yet to be confirmed, fans have been quick to draw conclusions, considering the common link between them as KNUA students.

The rumors have spread like wildfire across various fan forums and social media platforms, with fans expressing mixed emotions regarding Noé's alleged secret relationship. While some supporters are thrilled at the possibility of Noé finding love and happiness, others have expressed concern over the potential impact on his career and the attention it may attract.

One fan, commented, "I'm really disappointed if the rumors are true. Noé should be focusing on his music and career, not dating someone and distracting himself. This could affect his image and the quality of his future releases."

However, not all fans share the same sentiment. Another User said, "If Noé is happy and in love, then we should be happy for him too. He deserves to have a personal life outside of his career. Let's support him through every decision he makes!"

As fans eagerly await an official statement from Chéri Devil Records regarding the alleged relationship, Noé's agency has remained tight-lipped on the matter. While some fans hope for an announcement to address the rumors and provide clarity, others believe that Noé's personal life should be respected and left to his discretion.

Noé continues to captivate fans with his mesmerizing performances and heartfelt music. As the speculation surrounding his alleged secret relationship grows, fans are left eagerly anticipating what lies ahead for their beloved soloist.

Whether the rumors are true or not, Noé's fanbase remains devoted, eagerly supporting him every step of the way as he continues to flourish in his musical journey.

[skelltan]

what is "fool's work?"

i am nothing if not introspective. every action i take is deliberate, meticulously planned out, and i am always seeking the steps i can take to better myself, define goals and pursue them.

i have had a lot of stop and start endeavors, and this is the latest in that; only, this is to be THE endeavor. this is the credo i use to dictate every piece of creative work i create from hereon out.

it's too easy to start and stop; if i am to tie all my works together through the lens of "fool's work", it'll allow me to introspect upon my work more and understand what i have done and what i want to do, whether it be to change direction or to continue what i've started. all of it is "fool's work", the work of the fool - not because i am idiotic, but because i am like the fool of tarot who always strives to learn. sometimes this will lead me to dead ends, other times it will lead to progress.

there were two main inspirations for this process; watching a video essay by "In Praise of Shadows" on youtube about the comic Strangehaven by Gary Spencer Millidge. truthfully, i've yet to finish the video, but i felt enough motivation from what i have watched to inspire myself. i found myself identifying greatly with millidge's drive to do something without caring about the scrutiny of publishers or material gain, and how he had dabbled in various other experiences - this contrasts with how dedicated he finds himself to his work.

that leads to my latter inspiration. unlike gary, i don't have the burdern to self print, publish, etc. i can simply publish what i wish on the internet. i've always admired early internet and how more insular it felt - this ties together with my general admiration for the idea of a community as opposed to how the internet has only divided us and left us strangers in our separate chambers, both online and in real life.

so, to put a long story short, that's what i wish to do - to categorize all my works in order to gain a better understanding of them, and to publish things online that i truly wish to pursue rather than view art as a trade, and if anyone likes it, that's a bonus, whether that be any friends i show or random online onlookers.

if i were to distill it into three main points, which i will not further articulate too far, as i feel i have done so adequately already; fool's work is:

passion projects

malleable

never the focus of my life

i will expand on the final point; i may go months without updating something, for example, but it may not be dead; it ties back to the first point of being a passion project and the prior point of it being non commercial. i will not stress myself to do something because i have a ravenous fanbase or i have bills to pay. my work is primarily to indulge in my creative impulses with no bounds whatsoever first and foremost. i will not struggle trying to perfect my craft until i create a masterpiece that will make me rich, only to worry about how to follow it up. any possible praise, fandom or monetary gain that may result from this will always be secondary, such is fool's work.

if it was not clear, any time i create a piece of work i feel is complete enough to post, i will post it on this blog via this tag. however, due to the malleable nature of fool's work, the "main hub" of where i post is subject to change, such as if i find an avenue more suitable than tumblr - but if that is the case, i will make it known.

otherwise, i feel these are very good ground rules to what fool's work is.

[chim-chim1310]

even i thought prolly jk is naturally talented (as armys love to say) like writing songs, composing, directing etc etc that he did earlier, im actually surprised to see nothing came on his OFFICIAL debut. no writing, no composing not even directing, if he is naturally talented then where is that? did he lost passion? or he wanted an easy way to gain success #1. now people are saying its hybe doing not jk but without artist approval not even a letter will be written so jk is also responsible, he is 26! many fans are older than him or same age, are/were those ppl still kids at 26? lol golden maknae but he already gave gold to western ppl lmao? iykwim! and lastly, im proud of jimin getting #1 and i dont think any other bts member can ever reach that level with same kind of promo and sabotage that jimin got.

Right! Jimin got his #1 because of his own talent and hardwork and because of his dedicated fanbase.

Even if jk does get that #1 (which I think he will because of all of the fraud) it's gonna be not his success but scooters and bangpd. Jungkook didn't do shit in this song instead of giving his voice.

And also it's revealed that jungkook's album songs will be all in English. Like wow. Dude. How much more low will they stoop? He obviously won't have any writing credit because the songs in English. Probably scooter's gonna carry this too.

Like wtf is jk even doing?! Has he really lost all his artistry?

It's obvious who's the real talent here. And I'm glad I'm Stanning the jimin.

[maismahidol]

&&. announcing her royal highness, ( ‘mai’ siriphon mahidol ), the ( 25 ) year old ( princess ) of ( thailand ). she is often confused with ( mookda narinrak ). some say that she is ( vain and calculating ), but she is actually ( charismatic and ambitious ). ( OOC: JIA / 27 / GMT+2 / SHE/HER )

PINTEREST BOARD.

STATISTICS.

NAME: 'Mai’ Siriphon Mahidol

AGE: 25

BIRTHDAY: August 15th

ZODIAC SIGN: Leo

GENDER & PRONOUNS: Cisfemale, she/her

FACE CLAIM: Mookda Narinrak

PARENTS: Rama Xi Mahidol &  Kham Laksanara Kashemsri

SIBLINGS: 13 sisters, including Nisa Mahidol (full sister) & Araya Mahidol (half-sister)

PLACE OF BIRTH: Bangkok, Thailand

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

HEIGHT: 5′5″ (1.65 m)

BACKGROUND.

Born the fifth princess to the late King of Thailand and second and youngest daughter of his first wife, Mai didn’t experience a stable childhood, not when her father banished her at the age of three, alongside her mother and older sister, Nisa. She would grow to learn this wasn’t the first time it happened to her mother, nor will it be the last.

Mai was enrolled into boarding school in Singapore. She would end up going back and forth between Thailand and Singapore whenever her father reversed the banishment then reinstated it. Each time, she would have hopes that this time she wouldn’t have to leave Thailand again and that her father would accept the family, which turned into a vicious cycle.

When she was old enough to understand the reality of the situation she, her mom and Nisa were in, an ambition and a thirst grew in Mai. If she wasn’t worthy of her father’s love and acceptance, she’d earn the love and acceptance from the world. That would be enough to show her dad what a grave mistake he had committed, and that she’s more than worthy. She sought perfection, attention, love, and fame and worked against her father, fully cutting ties with him.

She thrived in high school. She was what you would call a perfect girl. Straight A’s, popular, and graduated valedictorian. She thrived in college too, securing an early admission into the National University of Singapore, earning a dual degree in communications and management, and graduating top of her class. During her high school and college years, she was rapidly gaining popularity and fame worldwide. It was around her high school years when she had outgrown the need to prove herself mainly to get back at her dad, no, she was doing it solely for herself.

After graduation, it was clear she would need to go back to Thailand to support her mother and Nisa. Naturally, her return had gotten her so much media attention and she reveled in every single second of it, using this to her own benefit and to further win over the people and have them focus on her and Nisa, rather than on her half-sister, Wora.

She did everything in her power to keep eyes on her. She wore the most fashionable clothes, dedicated a good portion of her time towards humanitarian work and philanthropy locally and worldwide, and kept her reputation polished and perfect. It was easy to say that among the Mahidol sisters, she was the most loved. Loved to the point she had her own loyal fanbase, loved to the point she had unintentionally become an influencer. Whatever she wore, whatever she did, it’d become the new trend, the new hype. She had the Thai media wrapped around her little finger.

Her reason for joining the program was easy: gather more support for Nisa and keep an eye out. Her unwavering loyalty to Nisa and her mom meant that she would do everything in her power to secure the throne for her sister. She’s not against manipulation, deceit and lies to get to that end goal. After all, as far as she’s concerned, the throne belongs to them and only them. Her mom was the late king’s first wife, and for Mai, the only one that mattered.

HEADCANONS.

Can fluently speak Thai, English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, and Mandarin and a little bit of Turkish and Arabic.

Has been playing the violin since she was six years old.

Does a lot of aerial yoga. especially when she’s stressed.

WANTED CONNECTIONS.

Friends she’s met when she traveled around for her humanitarian work

Best friend / ride-or-die please

Ex friends: We can figure out why that happened

Her pen pal during her childhood and/or teenage years

Friends who bicker for the fun of it

Enemies to friends

People she wants to befriend as part of making connections to help Nisa

Alternatively, someone who needs Thailand’s support through her

Her rebound after she broke up with Zhaohui

A one night stand she pretends never happened

Friends with benefits

Aerial yoga buddies

Drinking buddies

Maybe someone who wants to learn the violin and she teaches them?

ANYTHING! <3 Give me everything

[naynay5155]

Sometimes I despise C!Tommy, god. Sometimes I remember how shitty of a person he is in canon and I just wanna implode. Because he never really gets punished for regularly being a shitty person.

The punishments he goes through are never because of his bad actions. He never gets it pointed out to him how was and still is, lowkey abusing C!Tubbo. He never gets called out on the general anti-socialness he displays around pretty much everyone. He never gets called out for his frequent mistreatment of Jack or Niki or Fundy. He just... gets away with that.

The "punishments" he does get are never because he's being an asshole and because he needs to become a better person. They are just straight up abuse at the hands of serveral trusted adults in his life. And this abuse doesn't actually help him anyway because it's abuse of course it wouldn't.

So, when he gets put through bad shit, and anyone has anything to say in regards to him being really shitty as a person, the fandom won't understand, because C!Tommy has the Halo Effect after a full year of gaining so many shields.

The First shield is the fact that he's the protagonist in a Action & Adventure story, making it so that the audience automatically wants to root for him.

The Second shield is that he is framed as being the underdog, and has been from the start. This is as a result of the roleplay originally starting as basically a Hamilton Parody, where C!Tommy was framed as this "Spunky and larger than life eager young man". And he still is veiwed like that by the audidence, even when he's grown past that and arguably doesn't count as being and underdog anymore.

The Third shield is him being played by a 16 to 17 year old Minecraft Youtuber, which gives people the excuse to play the age card to handwave all his actions. If Tommy, who is playing him, is 16 or 17, than to a lot of people that's all the reason they need to assume C!Tommy is also 16 to 17. And I can't say I blame them, the timeline is nonexistent.

The Fourth shield is the fact that he is the most popular Content Creator in the entire series, due to the viewer count he gets, the dedicated audience of young people, and the regular spotlight the writing gives him. He is, 100%, the most popular character, with only maybe like, C!Ranboo and C!Wilbur and C!Techno beating him out of that. That is like, three out of the 30+ who canonically exist on the server. When you can pull 630,000 Live Viewers on Twitch.tv of all places over Minecraft, you are fucking huge. That creates a very loyal fanbase.

The Fifth shield is him being an abuse victim. Similar to him because mostly seen in the fandom as a minor and as a result getting away with a lot, C!Tommy being an Abuse Victim and Mentally Ill coded makes it so that his shitty actions can be handwaved away. No matter how severe his shittiness is, or what exactly has happened you can just say, "Well, he's clearly traumatized cut him some slack!" This can be done even when Tommy hasn't properly taken it upon himself to play C!Tommy as traumatized consistently.

The Sixth shield is also, arguably, the fact that C!Tommy is portrayed as a Straight, White, Cis Man. You cannot tell me that if C!Tommy was canonically a girl, that the gaming community wouldn't have dogpiled on her and made fun of her and called her annoying for no reason. Not with the way Niki is treated. The character gets given so much more importance and respect in comparison to some other people, like Eret, Niki, Ponk. And I don't think that's just a coincidence.

The Seventh shield, is that CC!Tommy's entire brand is being funny. To the point where it leaks into his roleplay portrayal, and means that a lot of the shitty things that C!Tommy does end up being framed through the lens of humour. Which means the impact and effect of his bad actions do not hold weight and are taken way less seriously than when something happens to C!Tommy himself. There is a reason why most people don't think much of C!Jack Manifold because being basically just a clown to be mocked.

All this stuff prevents a lot of very obvious stuff in this roleplay from getting talked about. So many people would rather focus on headcanons and made up lore, that when the time actually comes to point the finger at C!Tommy and say "Hey, this guy is a bad person," so many people get confused or up in arms because they weren't thinking that C!Tommy being a bad person was possible.

When it gets to the point where you have people thinking C!Tommy and Ghostbur were totally friends with no issues at all, you know you have a problem. Because C!Tommy canonically treated Ghostbur like shit and was not really treating him well at all. C!Tommy regularly trigger and upset Ghostbur, blaming him for the actions of C!Wilbur even when he knew it was pointless and hurt him. He hung around him a lot, but its obvious he clung to Ghostbur as a way to still maintain the memories of "Good Wilbur" rather than because Ghostbur was good on his own merits. He would regularly guilt trip him, and seemed completely indifferent to how his actions and words hurt Ghostbur for a long while.

This is not good, there were a lotta problems there, and they should be addressed as the problems they are, otherwise you miss out on proper understanding of C!Tommy's character.

And this misinterpretation of Tommy's character is as much a fault of the writing of the DreamSMP as it is the biased Fandom's.

Because how are the audience supposed to know that C!Tommy isn't really a good person, when he never faces narrative consequences, his issues are never handled and talked about, he gets away with everything, and we're too busy focusing on the "Worse" people, like C!Wilbur and C!Dream, to actually talk about C!Tommy?