#i like the him :) ive been wanting to draw him uwu

[frankingsteinery]

been sitting on this for awhile because its a bit controversial, but its one of the main reasons i was pushed into the frankenstein fandom space so i figured it was high time to talk about it

ive noticed that theres this general opinion, both among scholars and present in more fandom-y spaces, that victor is somehow effeminate for what are ultimately symptoms of disability (fainting spells, being bedridden, hysteria, etc) as if being physically or mentally ill is something that is inherently feminine. i have read articles published by academics that victor’s sickness is proof of his “femininity,” which is why he wants to take on the traditional part of a woman, that is, childbirth (via creature)

even in general, and not on an academic level, it emerges in jokes or memes all over the place — people poking at victor for being weak, or sick, or a gay little UWU bean sub, because aw hes fainting all the time XD and he’s sooo dramatic! as if these things were somehow both his choice, and somehow innately feminine

so, not only is there this weird link people are attempting to draw between disability and femininity, but also queerness (particularly, ive noticed, being a “bottom” or “sub” — but thats a whole separate can of worms) and femininity. as if being either of these things is inherently girly or cutesy and thus worthy of being made fun of

there comes a point (particularly when these interpretations leak into broader understandings of something via pop culture), where, for lack of a better word, it comes off as fetishizing or romanticizing queerness and/or queer relationships

and while this may seem relatively harmless on the surface and comes off as just thoughtless jokes made in bad taste, it IS serious. not just within the context of frankenstein, but the general premise of the severity that even subconscious reinforcement of detrimental and stereotypical ideas should be treated with. its a slippery slope from jokes to notions that affect you and how you see the world

this is obviously part of a broader problem with the way disability, gender, identity and etc is thought about and taught, which results in people harboring all sorts of these types of underlying prejudices. its just that victor happens to be a particularly good example, wherein he is a feminized man that is ascribed as “weak,” and the attribute “weak” is ascribed to someone who has been historically analyzed as both disabled and queer. this has been reinforced for decades, and i feel like this treatment of his character in this way is so blatantly obvious and runs rampant while it goes nearly entirely unchecked — and also in the case of frankenstein discourse, its often a quadruple whammy (ableism, misogyny, transphobia, homophobia)

and the worst part is that it is so often completely unintentional, and the bulk of this sort of content are well-meaning jokes. i genuinely don’t think people do this in bad faith or out of malice, but spreading these concepts even in formats that appear to be harmless (jokes, memes) just contribute to and continue to spread these ideas and stereotypes. its frustrating because its hard to point out and bring attention to without coming off as nitpicky or overly sensitive because this sort of thing is just so SUBTLE, and these beliefs are so gradually learned and then reinforced on a subconscious level

i could go on but for risk of sounding redundant ill digress, however to be clear this is not me saying you cant view victor as transfem, or disabled, or queer (i do!), or to view him as feminine, or etc, but that you should look at the reasons for WHY you think so, and how you or others treat the subject when talking about it.

[thedeafprophet]

D for the trio

D. Have they always had the same physical appearance, or have you had to edit how they look?

oh fun! I've had the three of them since 2020, and theyve all changed a bit over the past few years.

So, when i first started playing back in like 2020, this was the first takes i did on the trio ( i was more into pixel art back then):

Josie has recieved the least amount of changes beyond adjustments to things here or there (cant fix whats already perfect), but Alex and Jamie have been pretty reworked (i swapped the hair colours almost immediatly)

This happened after i got bored in 2020, and stopped playing the game for a few months. when i came back in 2021 i rehashed Jamie and Alex, because they just didnt Feel Right

Which much more closely resemble their current appearance. I had finally captured The Vibes.

Everyone stayed pretty much the same in 2022, with some mild adornments here or there, and Josie getting her jacket.

and then 2023 is where everyone is the most like their current form.

The only real notable changes have been things like Alex loosing his hat (i dont want to draw it anymore), Alex's hair getting a bit more curly, and Jamie's becoming a bit more wavy. I've modified outfits here or there but honestly they all just own multiple clothes.

Phyiscally, body type wise, Alex has become a lot more built and buffer over time + the facial hair (he went on T, good for him).

I've also made Jamie chubbier over time, which is in part just what feels more fun for the character + wanting to work on body types and also well.... to be a little personal, i got real sick in the past couple years with my swallowing disorder, which caused me to loose a lot of weight. Drawing Jamie just well, makes me feel good!

so.... YEA. thats my visual summary over the past years ive had them UwU

Ask Game From Here

[wackpedion]

I always want to send u jimmy for these ask games. rpf? anyway seth

yaaayy from this ask game:

favorite thing about them

ermmm idk hes just captivating as a whole.... ig how queer that fukn dude is he showed up, acted homosexual, and left without explanation. ok.

least favourite thing about them

HOW HE APPEARS IN ONE CHAPTER AND THEN NEVER AGAIN :(( HE DESERVED MORE

favorite line

"It makes me so sad that... hehe... that I want to sink a ship", like first of all #okay dude and second of all i like his giggle

brOTP

him and vivia IVE BEEN SAYING THIS!!!!!!!! autistic green coded familial trauma bearing quiet silence appreciating dudes They'd Vibe let them set next to eachother for 30 minutes in pure silence itd be a blast for them.

OTP FURROUGHS FURROUGHS FURROUGHS THERES NO DEBATING THIS. UGGHJHHHCHCCHJCVHBJHBHHHHHHHHHH

nOTP

ermmm idk? idrc bout most ships but theyre not a No for me. oh i know one Seth x Wiki WETH SHIPPERS DNI NOW!!!!!!!!!!

random headcanon

ermmm hes left handed

unpopular opinion

No he isn't evil incarnate who wanted to desperately to kill the detectives he literally he literally does everything to AVOID that if anything having giving them so much time and second chances and trying to bargain with them and also No he isn't a soft uwu baby whos done no harm either Guys Please Please What Are We Doing Here

song i associate with them

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD BY MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE

Favourite picture of him

highoncatfoods drawings of him and also ermmm this one he looks soft and malleable and like i could knock him over with a light push. hi charlie

[subconsciousmysteries]

enneagram is a game, don't overdose, DSM musings

Have a very knowledgeable friend who's sick of enneagram, not the legit spiritualist version of it a la Almaas and before him, but the version where people go around trying to "accurately type" "correctly type" everyone else, including themselves.

she says it's just a social power game and she's literally right. I've never seen any enneagram discourse end constructively. even i've been guilty of misusing enneagram, because there's no natural progression to discussing "my type" "that person's type", other than forcing either others or yourself (or both) to identify with the ego fixations that we're supposed to be transcending.

at best enneagram is something to be picked up occasionally and then rapidly put down and forgotten about for a long while so that you can experience life without the filter of enneagram getting in the way. you can draw profound new insights from personality theories for a very brief window in time before you start overdosing on them and distorting your reality with them. it's like acid / LSD. it's a once-every-few-months drug (at most) and that's assuming you have an eventful life with lots of novelty.

(this goes for any personality framework btw. MBTI, IV, Big Five, DSM personality disorders, are all included)

coz when you try to process life through the framework of personality theories, you start to see everything through the lens of your own confirmation bias very quickly. this confirmation bias leads you to miss essential parts of other people's personalities, which interferes with your ability to form meaningful bonds and connections, on top of causing other problems. and this isn't a skill issue. there is no way around this problem of personality theory distorting reality if you use it too much, because personality theory is subjective by nature. there are no clear scientific metrics to tell you that your observations about other people's personalities are wrong and you need to rethink your approach. Most who try to create these scientific metrics just end up becoming dictators, imposing their personal interpretation of how humans work and who everyone else secretly is onto others, with no objective basis.

the problem I'm describing doesn't just describe enneatards online. it plagues the entire field of psychology which is heavily dependent on personality theories. this is where the endless debate about "is psychology a science or an art?" comes from. as I've talked about before, the DSM is little different to an abstract, interpretive personality type theory. there are no objective metrics (i.e. a brain scan) to confidently tell if someone has a DSM personality disorder. diagnosis is 100% based on observations and reports of your behavior and personality, and how this picture of you fits into boxes arbitrarily defined by some other person. just like personality typing is.

despite its myriad of issues I have to praise the DSM for one thing: at least it has the courage to call a disorder a disorder. It admits that good and bad exist. that there is a hierarchy of morality. unlike personality theories which too often try to pass off dysfunctional traits as "just another type" "just another part of the human experience that we have to accept and cater to uwu" "all personality types are equal".

but you have a lot of people in the psychiatric community who are dangerously changing the way we view disorders. they want to turn personality disorders from rightfully looked-down-upon spiritual ailments, to normalized "disabilities" that deserve to be catered to. they've turned psychiatry into just as much of a moral relativist, narcissist-enabling clusterfuck as online personality discourse is. the type of people who say, "uwu Cluster Bs are valid it's just a different way of being it's not wrong it's not a disorder". "uwu delusions that people were born in the wrong body need to be coddled and enabled" are leading this change.

[irritablepoe]

JOHNNY pls be honest if ur gonna be weirded out, i won’t take it offensively/srs/gen

but i’ve noticed u’ve been kinda down lately, and wanted to make something for u!! specifically,,,,a fluffy fanart of u and Noe!! bc he’s the only character ive seen u say some, uh, well, things on main HSHSHSHS

im drawing u and him w him hugging u uwu BUT I KNOW THAT SUCH A THING MIGHT BE CREEPY (UNDERSTANDABLY SO) SO MAY I ASK UR PERMISSION TO CONTINUE??? I WANTED TO SURPRISE U BUT U MIGHT BE WEIRDED OUT BY ME LOOKING THRU URPICS ON UR BLOG TO DRAW U WITH HIM OR JUST BEING DRAWN IN GENERAL

ik some ppl like it like an in person friend was so happy when i drew her with a guy from chihayafuru but not everyone is comfy so.....bottomline is ive rambled too much when all i wanna ask is: would it not be weird for u? would u be comfy?

ily i hope life gets softer <333

TOBI OMG YOU'RE SO KIND TO ME AFHJDHFJDHKSFHKSDHFJD, ofc it's alright you're my friend and you could literally draw me with my guts spilled out and i'd be happy /gen AHHHHHHH i wanna hug you so bad, i'd be so honored if you do this ILY TOO AND I HOPE YOU'RE DOING SO SO WELL AND LIFE IS GOOD TO YOU💜💜💜💜🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺

[randomthefox]

Ive been seeing way too many pieces of art like that for eggman, the genocidal war criminal whose actions have been straight up described with the very word GENOCIDE in the games. Oh yeah the fascistic authoritarian dictator character who wants to take over the world by force and control everyone is totally a great mouthpiece for freedom and peace. This is what happens when people think "The only thing sonic hates oppression" thing means people who say things people on twitter don't like, instead of eggman, the oppressor in the games.

And I see some of the same people who treat fiction as one to one with reality suddenly changing their tune and saying "this is why we need to separate fiction from reality, you can still like the character without liking the actor", (despite the character being the one clearly vocally and visibly in favor of genocide of the two in no uncertain terms) so it only isn't the case when it benefits them, very interesting!

If people had any balls, they'd be drawing fanart of Eggman waving an Israeli flag while stomping on a crying babies head while houses and hospitals burn behind him and innocent civilians are chased down by killer robots with a speech bubble saying "free the hostages". Now THAT would stick it to Mike Pollock. And it'd actually be in character for Eggman to dishonestly champion a cause he doesn't believe in as a thinly veiled excuse to justify committing atrocities.

Honestly, that's probably the biggest thing that annoys me about internet slacktivism nowadays. Everyone's a bunch of fucking pussies. Drawing generic "free the [sad people] uwu" fanart is like the liberal version of "I'll keep you in my prayers." Sure as shit doesn't actually help anybody, but it makes YOU feel a lot better about YOURSELF doesn't it?

[jinkicake]

Brainrot yet again 😔and this time it’s aether but because nobody on this site can write for him, they don’t know him like I do!!😤like not EVERY aether fic and hc can be super uwu subby crybaby boy SOME OF YALL ARE LYING!! I fully stress myself out by going back and back to the aether tag😭 like I have a handful of artists who draw him normal even Venti isn’t that elusive😭 like aether is a fully grown man with a 9-5! he will not start blushing from me holding his hand!! Like I had an epiphany the other day this man is LITERALLY-like Giorno just longer hair and minus all the trauma; like hear me out!! Blonde pretty boy who looks too pretty to be real,unreasonably strong,showing skin for no reason!!(gio got his chest out for what? Aether wearing a crop top why🤨) have powers that people can’t comprehend,mysterious origins, and they’re both very playful and mischievous; they’re literally like cousins😭(see how my problem is falling for any giorno adjacent characters?💀)you’re traveling w aether getting into all kinds of shenanigans bc trouble follows him like a magnet 🙄and he’s quietly thinking “I am going to absolutely destroy you” like he’s the type so oh so subtly use anemo to blow your clothes,Geo to trip over rocks that were not there before, shocking you w electro 😭 he’s literally a menace bc who’s gone beat his ass?? He’s the honorary knight what would they even say if they caught him Fucking your throat on the roof of the favonious HQ? He’s saved Liyue from Osial and his wife! What they don do if they see him balls deep in you in some tucked away some corner of the Jade palace, LITERALLY FOUGHT GOD AND WON IF THEY KNEW WHATS FOOD FOR THEM THEY WOULD MIND THEIR BUSINESS IF THEY HEARD HIM BLOWING YOUR BACK OUT IN THE TEAHOUSE!! Ayato is a messy ass bitch he would recommend a bathhouse that’s on the outskirts of Inazuma city that has wonderful acoustics just in case he wanted to hear you moans echo🥰 like aether isn’t from this world so his dick would be out if this world as well. Literally the 😏 emoji like he gets up early to finish his daily commissions and get paimon breakfast so he can come back and sweet talk you into letting him cum inside you at like 9am he’s nothing if not clever! Pissing him off to get him to use that god destroying >>> using electro on his dick to overstimulate you, seeing you get a little too friendly with childe or zhongli (bc me too lmao) so he has to remind you he’s better than them🥰 bc he has a cute face but he can be mean asf when he wants to be; sitting and looking at you with a blank face save for the glare burning holes into your head as he makes you bounce on his cock and does absolutely no work as punishment 😔 watching your legs tire out and thrusting up when you stop for even a second rolling his eyes LIKE ITS SOME KIND OF INCONVENIENCE TO HIM “You know, I could always get you off right here,shame you don’t know how to behave” and lazily rubs your clit w his thumb. He loves edging bc he’s a little shit😒 will wait until you admit defeat and put you in a mating press bc he will make sure you can’t move an inch and that you take everything he’s giving you💕 is willing to be tied up and used like the good boy he is🥰

ive never been able to get behind the subby uwu characterization of aether like even when he's shipped w childe and others... idk to me he's strong and puts UP a fight regardles of who he is with!!! so i get you i really do

HAHAHAHA no hes a grown ass man who is over 500 years old... he's seen shit and has been with people before! affection and intimacy is not something new to him!! so why do people act like he's never dealt w romance before in his life!

now..... comparing him with giorno,,,, you do understand you're setting aether up my dear? like this is DON GIORNO we are talking about but with your reasoning i can say that i now understand. and its not your fault for falling for giorno or giorno substitutes like he's the best yandere there is, you cant be blamed!

i love aethers crop top he's so cute i just have to say that

WAHHHHHHHH THE PERV HEADCANNONS W AETHER ARE GONNA MAKE MY MIND EXPLODE... that is TOO good, how do you come up w this stuff im literally in shock like that got me good. also... to add... he could use dendro to create an aphrodisiac right? like a natural dust- idk!

no bc aether can get away w anything on the planet now and no one can stop him like he has four nations under his belt backing him up- no one stands a chance! (except my ice wifey archon!!!)

now see aether getting jealous would lose me bc bae,,, why don't we all just share! like he's mad over childe and alhaitham... BRING THEM IN THE ROOM TOO! there's enough room in his teapot for all of us and we all got enough holes too!

we need more abyss prince!aether i like when they have no life in their eyes... thinking abt that! he wants to get rid of the archons i say DO IT (raiden and venti hide under my bed),,, i'll advocate w him!

[alexcutecolly]

omg ive been really all over the place recently sorry I vanished!! you can pretend I was missing cuz v.olo ate me if u want!

it makes me really giggley to think about him smiling while laying on his stomach with us in there all squished ❤️ I hope he’s as comfy as can be!! that feeling is one of my favorites >w<

i think he and his pok.emon team would be really nice to take breaks with even when we arent shrunk! he’d always make sure we weren’t working too hard cuz he sounds worried about us sometimes but if we were working too much he has a good fix for that where he gets a nice full belly too!!

i think he’d be a really cute merman too!!! and the ocean is cold but inside him would be nice and warm and we don’t need to worry about breathing underwater to stay with him!

uuuu half size is rlly cute too!! it would be all tight pressure like a hug all the time as we get moved deeper in!!! and he could rest his human half on top of us once we’re deep enough that’s so sweet

-v.olo uwu

Omg it's absolutely okay dear v.olo uwu anon!! Don't worry! 😭💕 It sounds like V.olo let you out for now! xD jokes aside, I hope everything's alright! 🥺

Awwwww yeah, he'd be super cute with that smile of his! 🥺❤️ just chilling and enjoying our wriggling, maybe while reading that book x3 I can see him taking a nap in the same position too, maybe using his crossed arms as a pillow to sleep more comfortably 🥺🥺❤️❤️ we'd feel like a sort of C.utiefly or tiny B.eautifly in him by then, and then we realize he's fallen asleep because of his slowed breathing and heartbeat 🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️❤️

Omg I think so too!! His team would really like us, especially T.ogekiss, L.ucario and H.isuian A.rcanine!! x3 Imagine a cuddle pile tbh, with all his p.okemon and ours resting together! It'd be super sweet! 😭❤️ And if V.olo found out we've been overworking ourselves, I feel like he'd take us aside to discuss that, like how he's noticed we're exhausted and spent all the time for example. And of course he'd offer us a peculiar solution, hehehe x3 ❤️ that could also be the very first time he vores us as well! Then the rest is history... x3

Yessssssss I agree!!!! Omg he'd be such a gorgeous m.erman!! 😭😭❤️❤️ I did draw him as a m.erman for last year's M.erMay tbh! And he looked adorable, hehehehe x33 I should draw him again this year! And I feel like staying in his belly while he's swimming would be wonderful!! So warm and cozy... 🥺🥺 And trueee!! We wouldn't have to worry about breathing underwater! x3 he could also show us some ancient relics he's retrieved from the bottom of the ocean, when we're back on the surface! 🥺🥺

Omggggg exactly!!!! 😭😭❤️❤️ I like half size vore with n.agas for the same reason, it'd feel slightly tight for us on the inside but so so fantastic for him!! The wriggling would feel so great, it's basically a very deep bear hug in his snake half!! 🥺🥺 Also omgggggg, I blushed at the thought of him resting his human half on top of us!! 😳 I'd get redder than a tomato if he pecked our spot too, aaaaaaaaaaaa

Btw ngl, imo he'd look amazing with vertical slit pupils in his silver eyes 🥺🥺❤️❤️

[leggyre]

Can you tell us some stuff about your splatoon ocs?

OH BOY so ive been meaning to drop some stuff about them(even the oldest ones because they've got some updates boooi) but ive been too busy drawing squid and playing squid bideogame to write about squid do u get me

so UH ill use this as my excuse to do at least some rambling uwU (<- me before i wrote this whole fuckin thing) they're all around the same age (17-19) but their character arcs sorta start based on the game i made them for (does that make sense?)

i wanna get them all smth decent on toyhouse eventually but this will do for now lmao

okay so this post is long as hell its readmore time

so to start with the splat 1 crew who were around 14 when i first made them;

but first here's the post w most of them, for reference :-)

Fernanda is basically the focus point of everything that happens here. Definition of girlboss; she moves every plot point because she is bold and determined to reach her goals. Her main objective is the classic BECOME THE VERY BEST and for that she's constantly trying to assemble the perfect team; though the means to reach that goal are pretty flexible. She's pretty much feral in battle, and is what some might call a "tryhard" in-game. She does try very hard. Way too much sometimes.

-anyway the moment she became a legit kid who is a squid at 14 she started going to turf war bc it was always her passion. Additionally, the moment her Childhood Bestie(tm) Speckle reached the same age she dragged him too. Personally, he'd rather not get into that stuff because hes very timid and nervous and scared and- yeah, that- but he's willing to do it with a friend; specially Fernanda, whose secondary hobby is beating up people who are mean to him. Thats sorta how they met in the first place.

She is, however, very determined to teach him the ins and outs of turf war and challenge him to go out of his comfort zone. He likes using brushes because he's an artsy person, but since it's a mostly aggressive weapon type, Fernanda wants him in the frontlines with her. It's just strats guys she totally isn't also doing it just to spend more time with her friend :-) shhh

But he sorta sticks like glue and depends a lot on her for safety, which isn't really the best idea in her mind. SO to try to teach him to be more confident she eventually starts joining the opposing team instead.

Needless to say, Spec is terrified being in a team without her. Doesn't help that she's the enemy, either, even though she usually doesn't outright splat him when they eventually clash. She moreso tries to give him a lesson first. It doesn't work very well. And worse yet, at one point some annoying ass charger starts targeting her specifically whenever she gets close to the other side of the map.

...And that's Gabriel (but i just call him gabe) :) He sorta notices how this girl keeps going after the same guy over and over again and eventually went 'yeah okay thats enough' and just started giving Speckle some support. (wanna make a lil note here that this is based on an actual thing that happened to me in game; i ran out of ink in a fight and the team charger blasted them and we both went BOOYAH. ill never forget u bro)

So yeah spec being spec he glued onto gabe instead. fernanda was, indeed, very upset by this because not only she couldn't enforce her lessons anymore but also spec was just doing the thing she didn't want him keep doing in the first place. And dealing with gabe is like. very, very annoying. specially for her as a roller main. he's always camping at the same few spots and he pretty much always avoids confrontation of any kind; motherfucker just jumps back to spawn or to a teammate who's safe. He has not only an advantage in range, but also his aim is impeccable. it's terrible hes terrible

anyway spec, despite being timid, actually grows attached to people really fast. from then on, every time they spot gabe in the lobby he waves and invites him to join them. fernanda is very annoyed my this but eventually she actually forms some sorta friendly rivalry with him(instead of, ynow, her being motivated purely to kick his ass). she ends up inviting him to join her (to be) Perfect Team(tm) and they all start hanging out more and learning how to work as a group.

also theres this plot thread

its really just classic fluff n they end up dating like god intended

now there's like a big story gap here because, uh, it used to be some shared stuff with a friend but-- Yeah. im not sure what to do with that just yet. (..and its the big arc where fernanda has the most character development, strengthens her goals and improves herself. big gay shit too. bummer. 😔)

This gap extends all the way to the timeline of Splatoon 2, where they're all around 16

But lemme add some misc stuff that's happened since the first game tho; -Speckle has a new hobby, weapon customization! :-) he mostly does it for fun or for his friends, but occasionally someone comes up offering pay for it. he's not very confident about actually selling the stuff, but hey, he wasn't the one who asked for money. -Gabe learns to camp less but he gets tired real fast. -Fernanda and Gabe actually form a good and strong bond???? the rivalry is still there and they sometimes do 1v1 because she wants to get better at fighting people with far ranged weapons. -Actually, Fernanda's skill in particular grows exponentially. She's really giving it all she's got. Speckle might be less scared of going to turf alone, but it still makes him sorta nervous. -They move together to a lil place near Inkopolis Plaza because I don't follow real world rules (does a little dance) i will spare you of the somewhat underdeveloped socioeconomic hcs i made for this

OK MOVING FORWARD-

Splatoon 2 is the "Fernanda goes out scouting for a 4th person to complete their team and Spec befriends every single candidate" arc. It's what it says on the very specific tin. Just three of them won't do, and they have to get a 4th team member in order to start actually cooking some neat strategies because everyone has to be in on it.

They do turf and ranked matches and Fernanda tries to recruit the people who do best alongside them. In this process they meet Fernando, aka Fucco bc hes a fucker thats all there is to it lmao(though I have to mention Gabe is the origin of this nickname because he can't fucking stand Fernando; everyone else just sorta agrees because Yeah It's True), and through him they also are introduced to Roberta(bobby) and Orlando(orb!!!), who are his buddies and theyre just here to chill tbh.

When Fernanda rejects Fucco as a possible team member he is absolutely offended by it. So he rallies up his allies(see: his two friends) to clash against the og trio. Thing is, they don't really have much experience as a team. Bobby and Orb just sorta do turf casually, for fun. Fucco is the only one of them who is actually competitive and he just thinks great at it (hes average at best). He's always acting like they're the mean girls when both teams cross paths and tries to make up for his lack of skill with witty remarks, which, granted, is something he actually is good at.

He sorta starts pushing his teammates a bit too much to the point they're not really having fun anymore so they have to like stop supporting this for a moral lesson that he does not listen to and makes him feel betrayed so he gets upset at them. And then these battles devolve into just 1v1 between [chuckles] Fernanda and Fernando with everyone watching it like it's a saturday morning cartoon because honestly theres no contest here. This obviously makes him break eventually, and so Fernanda now is the one who has to break the moral lesson about idk fighting with passion, teamwork, actually accepting your own flaws and working around them and not through them, etc etc all that anime kinda stuff. Maybe throw something about the power of friendship there too just for flavor.

So while all these things happens, Spec is just being nice with the other team. He sometimes just stops mid-battle to listen to Orb rambling about something as he often does(yeah they just sit there but don't worry Gabe is always there to watch for whiny tryhards too), gives them a lil booyah when they do cool stuff, and always invites them to chill at the cafeteria when they're all done with their matches. And they do, although Fernando has a little uuuuuuh trouble with this. There's always a long exchange of threatening glares between him and Gabe and/or Fernanda. He's mostly only there because Orb is a friend he'd die for. and Orb really likes Speckle too.

Annnd yeah when this is all settled down and Fucco has finally stopped trying to be a nuisance these guys all merge into One Larger Group and he actually gets to join Fernanda's team in turf; not as one of them, though, just hanging out with them. It's all just shenanigans for them for a while after all that's done (-:

Eventually they meet MY BOY Michael aka Mikemas which is like Splatmas but with his (nick)name because he was 12 when he made that username. I switched the protagonist POV to him because, in case you haven't noticed, I just really love him. He's a little bastard who's got a significant following on the internet; he occasionally livestreams turf war(and other stuff) and has a BIG passion for music. Also makes funny short skits and other trendy type of content you'd see from an online personality. Speaking of online personality - that's all his sorta dumb egocentric attitude is. Though he is very confident, most of the dumb shit he says and does is mean to be a joke (see: "I don't need this, I'm an influencer" while being completely aware he isn't of that scale yet). Biggest highlights are the Calamari Inkantation ballad cover - the thing which usually makes people notice just how good his vocals are - and the "Now Or Never But Every Loop Gets Faster" video.

And then there's Manga, who I just got out of the afriendmadethis limbo because he and Mike go hand in hand. They live together and they're childhood friends who are, really close, not in a romantic way but in a way you'd probably think is. Manga participates in the internet presence stuff as well, he plays the keyboard and has a soundboard of funny sound effects for streaming :-) He's nonverbal, very quiet and deadpan most of the time but he's basically got the same sense of humor as Mike; they're very similar in a lot of ways that would make you question if maybe they're actually siblings? (they aren't) He's just less confident and less likely to engage in dumb shit; to the point he kinda has to act like a fuckin babysitter because someone keeps "forgetting" to take the medicine for their bipolar disorder and we simply can't let that happen so I guess we gotta fuckin suplex him to do it I guess. A lot of things need to have parental controls enabled because someone is very prone to addiction and keeps trying to play videogames for 24 hours nonstop without consuming anything but the hoard of iced tea they have in the fridge, which occasionally has to be locked also.

(in conclusion mike would've never been allowed to live away from his family if manga wasn't there)

Anyway yeah they meet Mike in turf and he's actually almost as good as he says he at it is so he earns the invitation to claim the honorable title of 4th member of Fernanda's team. ...Okay. It's more like. He's the one person who accepted it, I guess. And thus, Mike and Manga get to join their table at the cafeteria.

The last characters I made for Splatoon 2 were these guys, who never really got any development(or even names) until Splatoon 3 so I'm kinda pushing them to be for the Splat 3 plots I've been cookin'. And they finally have names - Vespa Gel, Roll and Viv.

So yeah now where we are, Splatoon 3 where everyone is 17-19. This is all still going on in the general area near Inkopolis Plaza, though we'll get to the mentions of Splatsville soon.

Mike was a very late addition to the team, so he isn't very well adjusted to the way they go about in turf and... He isn't really what we can call responsible, and is quite the chore to deal with. This bit of plot is mostly about several dumb conflicts between him and Fernanda because he keeps skipping practice, missing calls, and mostly acts independently instead of trying to work as a team. He is, however, a vital asset because of the skill level and comes in clutch very often, which is why he hasn't been kicked out of the team yet.

Now the stuff here is mostly still a mess so I'll get to some key points that happen parallel to that conflict--

-Mike meets Viv in turf and they bond a lot not just during matches but also afterwards bc Viv just sorta likes taking walks around the plaza and Mike tags along, initially because he wants to know when he could expect to see Viv in turf again because its good stream content and he just really likes going against people who match his skill bc it's fun :-) This sorta leads to them just hanging out a lot and meanwhile everyone at the table is just... sorta giggling quietly about how sus he's being bc of how he excitedly talks about Viv but he pushes back saying it's just some fun kinda rivalry y'now??? nothing to see here.

-Viv eventually has to stop hanging out bc he kinda is part of a gang that now kinda despises Mike. Well, Vespa, specifically, but the other two have goon brain so they gotta pretend they also hate him. They could hurt him in all sorts of bad ways because the boys r kinda unhinged, so Viv decides it's the best option to stop hanging out at the plaza(which is actually pretty far from where he lives)

-This is heartbreaking, of course, specially bc it happened right as Mike accepted that Yes, He Has The Hell of a Crush and sorta hits some insecurities he has.

-But right after he meets Sen, and they kinda have a relationship? One where they are together, but both don't really want to admit it? because theyre both fucking stupid lmao (jk its related to more serious things but yeah)

(this is where i pause bc im legally required to share a ref of him though i dont have a good and finished one so just take this)

(fucken pastel anime boy babeeey)

-Sen is from Splatsville, he moved to Inkopolis alone to work towards a career goal by taking some extensive courses and apprenticeships. He is constantly overworking himself and being stressed due to it, but he really doesn't want to grow attached to anyone in Inkopolis because he is very deeply affected by separation. This move itself has been very hard for him, even though he still has contact with his friends back in the Splatlands, and he doesn't want to have to go through it again when he eventually goes back home. Well, that was the plan until he was forced to have a funny little guy who sticks like glue, as a treat :-)

..this is all I can confidently share for now, but there's a lil bit in the crock pot that I've been brainstorming because Splat 3 finally convinced me to take a dip on making the agents ocs. its THE GIRLS they're the ones featured in this post. i wanna do an alt story mode with them eventually but no promises since im bad at keeping my word LMAO

(small note i forgot to add, they are kinda connected to the main group bc they are sen's aforementioned friends they bully him on inkstagram)

(UPDATE) dear lord ive named them theyre Amber(Captain), Camellia(4), Elizabeth(8), and Goo(3) (<- but u say it more like its "gaw"). Lil' buddy is just lil' buddy but goo will occasionally call him cute lil nicknames when no one is lookin' so they do the fabled bABYTALK!!!!!!!!!

heres some extra stuff w them 😌

and these bc theyre funny

theres definitely more of these but searching for them specifically is tough DJFHGHBGDF

i want you to know that ive been writing this on and off ever since you sent this ask

[chaaancewe]

MR Cash Money :3

[mammonslastbraincell]

I drew 4 angel OCs none of them have names-

But I love them all//

[gnarxta]

swoons tho like the nerd i am,,, i love artemis sm u dont understand..... ive got so much freickng art of him....

here he is beating up some horrible person-- i wont get into what this is about tho jdjgfd

[cabinetduo]

ctubbo characterization master post

Ok so I was thinking abt ctubbo and characterization and how a lot of the fandom doesn't rlly have a solid grip on him (no shade its not on here mainly) whether it's bcs of lack of interest or exaggeration and like fandom lense or whatever (he tends to kinda get fucked ovr in ensemble fics) and then I thought well we talk abt scary nuke violence tubbo vs uwu beeboy or whatever but I was thinking there's definitely more to it then that bcs sometimes when I'm writing even I'm super insecure abt my portrayl of ctubbo so ig this post is kind of like a breakdown using some of my fav ctubbo things for me that could b useful 4 others as well

(This might b a little unorganized and like unprofessional-!!i will misspell and abbreviate a lot srry!!-but it's tumblr so who cares just don't expect too much cohesiveness I am writing this to get my thoughts out mostly

[DISCLAIMER!! most of this is my personal interpretation of ctubbo seeing as that's what ctubbo is mostly, what u interpret him as, but also its a bunch of notes and common traits that I got from awesome ctubbo fans and I'm mainly making it 2 help me :) < I'm not linking canon examples and evidence bcs I'm lazy and fuck that alsooo I'll mainly b focusing on ctubbo individually and not his relationships and such

ctubbos humor

I'm gnna start w ctubbos humor and irony and that kinda stuff. So like w ctubbo and characterization a lot of times ppl will take traits or speaking habits from the streamer and apply them to the character which is common in the general mcyt fandom but w ctubbo it's esp common bcs of cctubbos whole "ctubbo is just me but if I was put into certain situations" which we've kinda moved past seeing as that thought process worked better in the earlier seasons before ctubbo was morw cctubbo and less a result of his circumstances, his experiences, and ctubblings drawing lines between things << this isn't my main focus rn tho there is a huge distinction between cc and ctubbo

To get to the point ctubbo is a pretty serious dude but also he's not, there's a fun middle ground that I like where ctubbos humor has definitely become darker as he's aged bcs of his circumstances. One of the best examples I can thing of is this line from elegy in eleven bars by ssootsprite

^^this definitely portrays ctubbos humor well imo, the dark irony and humor that often stems from taht fact that ctubbo will sometimes jsut do what he finds funny but usually those take form on a smaller scale if we want an actual cohesive character

ctubbo swiss army knife

Ive made a handful of posts abt this but one bit abt ctubbo that is often missed is the fact that he's been dehumanized throughout his story which led to him internalizing it not seeing himself as a person entirely, more like a tool for others or a means to an end. I love love dsmp au fics but something some of them miss out on is ctubbos urge to serve others which stems into two branches that I call safety and self

When in a dangerous situation or around someone that he's deemed dangerous ctubbo will instinctively shift to politeness and servitude occasionally its his follower instinct<<this is bcs of manburg specifically cschlatt though it was really instilled to him by cdream after the whitehouse fight (where he called him a follower) and the disc saga finale (called him a sidekick). This happens sometimes in canon but enough times for it to be a full blown like, thing my fav explanation of this is augustus evergreen by thatweirdguyinthebushes on ao3

The second facet "self" is more deep, it's ctubbos actual beliefs, that he's not worth anything if he's not doing something or his tendency to work as a means of avoiding emotion. He doesn't see himself as a person or a child, often forcing himself into the roll of an adult to meet a goal of serving others (his nlm presidency) < this also comes from Manburg but can also be tied to my fav quote "a good kid and a better spy" (not gnna go too into ctubbos spy mentality bcs that's a whole other essay LOL) after being repeatedly handed jobs that are not meant for kids, responsibities much larger than him, he internalized all of it and tied it to his self worth and how he sees himself

Fav FAVVVV example is this poem and art

by @/yellogazello which gets the point across by whacking u ovr the head w emotion and some ctubbo aesthetics that rlly do well 4 his character -> also I made 2 web weaves on all ^^^this if ur interested also I've got a bunch of analysis on it in #smpanalysis bcs it's my fave ctubbo is kind of naturally a follower but this isn't always a complete negative (see: the way he comfortably follows Tommy or the way he and Tommy willingly followed Wilbur- it isn't always an 100% bad thing but over the course of his life it's kind of been tainted

ctubbo logic brain

Tubbo "logic braining" something =/= him thinking logically it's him and his fucked up process that filters things through his weird logic that would make any stable person worried, his brain does flips to rationalize his own and others thought processes to make them make sense to him, it's the same kind of thinking that is responsible for his "safe people" its the same kind of thinking that makes him blame himself for things that were clearly out of his control. While ctubbo is often seen as a more "brain lead" character, most, hell, all of his core motivations are emotional >> the need to protect his loved ones, his people, the innocent, to live upto expectations, and so on. This ties into his protective sort of paranoid nature that he displays toward his loved ones that is sometimes misconstrued as controlling

A lot of ^^^^^ this can be tied to ctubbos relationship w attachments and belongings which is one of the dsmps overall themes, ctubbos logic being that attachment is irrational and only leads to being hurt but forming attachments and getting hurt against his better judgment

ctubbo and the nukes

One thing that is often lost in surface level depictions of ctubbo is the nuke plot. This is often used to characterize ctubbo as violent or immoral (which I won't deny he can be at times) but one key detail about ctubbos nukes is that they were always a last resort, no matter what he threatened or said he never ever wanted to use them, constantly emphasizing how crazy it was that he had access to so much power and how terrified he was of misusing it in the missing nuke stream w jack. ctubbo has always always been a peaceseeking character. Like w most things abt ctubbo there's a nice middle ground, though tubbo leans less towards chaotic and more towards solemn, esp when at an emotional low

The nukes hold a lot of symbolism for ctubbo and are often presented as an antithesis to the bee symbolism used for him > the nukes being him becoming more violent and straying from what is deemed moral as a defense mechanism, becoming worse than your enemies (stay soft by mitski etc) and the bees representing his innocence and the loss of it (a common theme w ctubbo and on the dsmp in general) tying to the more nature-y imagery that become professional/political in late s1 & 2 which then became technologybased and cold in s3 & 4

ctubbos emotional intelligence

Another thing that a lot of people miss about ctubbo is that he has very veryy little emotional intelligence. Post-Michael kidnapping and arguably pre-Michael kidnapping there was this (mildly popular) notion that ctubbo was together emotionally to the point where there were a lot of misunderstandings surrounding his actions but the thing is he isn't. When it comes to himself ctubbo is aware that he is effected by his trauma (he will often make references to it) but he never does anything about it, he views it as irritational and tends to compartmentalize and repress his emotions which often leads to him hurting himself and others. ctubbos responses to emotion range from pure apathy to overwhelming him to the point of tears (which we've seen once w the anniversary stream) He's also not very good with recognizing the emotions of others, while he is good at reading people and their intentions (mainly people he has close relationships with) he is generally extremely blunt sometimes to the point of hurting other people's feelings on accident which he usually apologizes for immediately afterwards. In fact, ctubbos bluntness and politeness are a fun contrast to experiment with if you're interested

With all of ^^^this stuff dissonance by shrugofgod does a rlly good job of this I'm just putting a small snippet but the entire fic is incredible w sm details and ctubbo intricacies it's so good

ctubbo survival and tragedy

ctubbo has survived a lot especially in comparison to other characters he is close to << that was badly worded, what I mean is a lot of the people in ctubbos life have died/were dead/are dead and he just isn't. Tragedy is a large part of ctubbo, if something is going right for him it will inevitably go wrong, things like stability don't exist for him, he doesn't trust it and why should he? His paranoia has consistently been proven to be justified over and over again. Dramatic irony is such a huge part of him, he's experienced so much and has survived through so much but its like he can't die and he has to live everytime.

I made a webweave abt this that pust cqs firey survival next to ctubbos cold survival, I think i do a better job explaining in the notes of that

And this post which is the best thing I've ever posted is basically a bunch of super talent tubblings who've written poetry abt this topic (and other ctubbo stuff but mainly this) if u wnna check it out

Most of these things can be heavily elaborated on (nature of the dsmp is to have incredible fleshed out characters that feel human and awesome and that make u crazy) but this is kinda a summary and I have others posts that kind of do that I just wanted to put all this in one place

More stuff ⬇️

This post is a succinct and well put ctubbo explanation/summary and a fave

And this post is wondas god tier dsmp characterism breakdown that will save ur life if ur a writer

This post is a fic recs post that has a lot of epic awesome dsmp writers but a lot of them write ctubbo bcs I'm biased

And finally here's a link to tubbo3091<3333 which a roleplay blog that has the most perfect ctubbo characterization ever in the world

[victoria1676]

If only you knew the amount of fun i had making this:

Ive been having so much fun drawing xinyan from the imposter au with the few details you discribe her with along with a little imagination for her design if you don't mind but i would also like to make a note that i was using a body sketch i found so sorry if it doesn't look like my art style i was just trying to make the body and style match i was going for match so ya that's that lol but also i believe i didn't get her tone right since i just got a pic of her full design and used her color palette to draw this so sorry if she looks to light I'm willing to redraw it since the pic of her that i used had bright lighting and ya that's a few things i wanted to say about the drawing and I hope you don't mind the little headcannons i made, tho I'm really more interested in how you veiw xinyan since she had a bit of time to show up but didn't really do much but warn aether with the letter and just dipped out and went of somewhere so I'm really excited for what you have in store for her and the rest once you finish the next chapter lol so I'll be waiting while drawing the few characters design for the future lol but feel free to state how you personally feel about this drawing since in enjoy any feed back or small stuff you'd would like to add anyway see ya lol.

(I'm slowly working on fishel since she's pretty difficult so send help)

-Anon Crow ✌️🙂

Heyo sorry i didnt see this yestersay i was busy trying to get Kazuha and finally got him! Plus a new sword for Kaeya that is now my second 5 star weapon XD Bless my friend who wished on my account 😭😭😭 The fact i also had a dream of actually getting Kazuha after thinking i couldnt get him and the DREAM WAS REAL YASSS!

Ahem- Back to the ask you sent with a fanart and can I say Im still half alseep since i just woke up but damn i didnt expect you drew Xinyan and she looks pretty cool! OwO

I did say in my story around Prologue 2 that Xinyan had her hair down since i feel like she wouldnt stick to her usual hairstyle after what happened which you guys can read it here in prologue 2 XD but i also mentioned Xinyan got her entire arm off including her elbow OwO

Still though im impressed with your design on her and she really looks amazing! You did amazing Anon Crow!! UwU tbh all i can say is positive words and if you want to redraw it you can since it is your drawing after all OwO i can understand as a fellow artists we arent satisfied what we draw so over all i am okay with your drawing but its your opinion if you want to re-draw or not XD

[lovelywingsart]

If Emelia was in the game, where would she come in? Would she be a mini boss like the Demi sisters or just a side character you would see on occasion? Like with Vixen, she would replace that fight with Sturm and be a mini boss for Karl (also if you're curious, i'll tell you how the fight would work) - Lu

HHHH IVE BEEN WANTING TO GET INTO THAT FOR SO LONG- Buckle up Buttercup, here we go 👀 This is gonna be long because I've been holding this to myself for MONTHS. But also note, this isn't all the details. There's alot more, and i DO plan on writing/drawing alot of this out!!

SO

The answer is... Kinda both! But definitely similar to the Dimitrescu sisters but with a /much/ longer fight!!

So, you know when you go to make the Large Gear in the Foundry? That's when you physically meet her. Beforehand you actually find a journal page or two that you know is obviously NOT Karls from difference of writing and the fact that she calls him 'Lord Heisenberg' in the first entry. (you can actually read all the entries you find here!! I wrote them out and posted to twitter~ uwu)

Anyway

When you go to make the gear, the casting machine... stopps. It gets stuck. Ethan, obviously, fuckin panicks- and then Emelia shows up. She actually simply brushes past him, unsticks the machine, and... hands him the gear.

See, despite watching her friends get fucking murdered by this man, she's still willing to try and HELP him because she knows their end goal is the same- kill Miranda. She also does NOT agree with Heisenbergs plan at ALL. She despises the idea of using a child, especially considering she's always wanted one of her own, and she straight up tells Ethan that. So she offers to help Ethan and talk to Heisenberg to change his plan so Rose is safe and, yknow, NOT used as a weapon, and they can all escape and Kill Miranda. Ethan actually agrees despite her saying she's also a Cadou mutant, and they almost shake hands on it;

Until he mentions killing Karl too.

But why? Well, to him, he sees a form of Stockholm syndrome. Which... I mean, yeah, kinda... Thats an understandable viewpoint if you've JUST met her and don't know their 30+ years of history. So he says, Kill Heisenberg, and she'll be free too.

That, uh... that doesn't go over well. It actually enrages her to the point of picking him up and throwing him across the Foundry, and before he can shoot her in defense, two Soldat Zwei appear and she runs off when they attack him. (They would actually USUALLY attack her too, but they don't this time... for a reason that I won't quite reveal yet. 😏 Its not exactly a fun reason, either, and one that's already made two people cry because I've only TOLD 2 people.)

You see more evidence of her around, more journals and whatnot, but you don't actually physically see her again until her fight starts. The problem? You do still fight Sturm. Sturm IS still a fight, and she's literally RIGHT after him. As in, when you get to the Lift to get to the surface to meet Karl again, she drops down infront of it, already partially mutated, and goes after you.

Her fight is a tad complex- You start off shooting, of course. Its pretty simple, but incredibly claustrophobic, because you're stuck in that small area until you shoot her enough so she stumbles over the edge;

And then she Fully mutates and jumps back up, and chases you down.

Thus starts the sequence which I like to call the 'Cat and Mouse' or 'Hide and Seek' sequence, where she's fully mutated and chases/forces Ethan BACK down a set route. The game mechanic here would be that there's set places you can hide (VERY much like the closet in Beneviento), and you HAVE to hide- if you don't, she WILL catch you, and she WILL kill you. After every successful Hide, you get a chance to Shoot. Fun fact, she's the only one who you are almost NOT safe in with the Duke, because she tries to get into the ficking elevator. She only doesn't because Duke is still there, but he will comment that you've 'angered the 'Lady' of the House'.

She pushes and pushes back until you get back to the Foundry or another large area, and then you FIGHT fight her again while she's still fully mutated. The usual shooting is involved until you get her weak enough to where she mutates back to the partial mutation, and then the events of 'A Crystal Heart' happen. (her running to find Karl, and her death) You then continue as normal, but as you're on the lift back up to the door, you hear... a scream. You hear Karl scream, because Emelia just died with him, and now he's going to fucking kill you.

And then you meet him again as usual and the game goes on as normal.

Also, when you kill Heisenberg, you get BOTH crystals- because her own crystal is in the 'chest' of his mutated form, because he didn't let it go the entire time. Giving them both to Duke at the same time will result in a similar comment to 'Romeo and Juliet, only together in death' as well as his normal comments about Heisenbergs crystal, and another comment about Emelias strength from her crystal.

So, she IS a 'mini' Boss, but also a pretty big boss at the same time because of how long you're fighting her! The big reason for the Hide and Seek is to give you a chance to get your health and ammo up and buy time since its literally right after Sturm.

You'll need the ammo. 😂

[theunconcernedembalmer]

what’s the issue with elisop? is it just bc you hc aesop as ace? im so concerned by seeing ppl adamantly opposed to mlm/wlw ships but im also genuinely curious about why you dislike it and other lgbt ships so much lol

hmm. that is a strong accusation, n i find it just a bit odd. are you new here? or perhaps you are taking personal offense at my dislike towards a favourite ship of yours and using the lgbt argument as moral high ground?

whatever the case may be, i thank you for asking. if u r truly looking for an answer, its below the cut n it is very very long. mind u these are all my personal opinions n i am in no way policing how others enjoy ships. just in case this wasnt clear; i dont wish to start discourse on this blog, especially since my takes are probably... unpopular.

firstly i would like to address the “disliking lgbt ships” bit, because this has very strong implications in itself. i have nothing against lgbt ships. i enjoy them, even. if the two characters have chemistry between each other, i ship it. however, the moment characterization is broken for the sake of romance, i lose interest. this is generally my stance on ships in general, n this applies for both straight n lgbt ships. 

the ships themselves are fine. however, i do have issues with the ship dynamics, so ill let u in on that.

i want to touch on mlm ships in particular; i believe u are familiar with the top/bottom dynamic that is rampant in these kinds of ships? (i wont deny that this dynamic can be found in other types of ships, but for arguments sake i will be focusing on gay ships because i feel that this occurs more commonly here) its such a popular dynamic that is prone to stripping the personality from one if not both characters, only for them to be reduced to being dominant/submissive. for a character to be pigeonholed into a stereotypical category based on... preferred sexual positions? its just downright insulting, never mind the larger more problematic implications of it. top/bottom is not indicative of someones personality, by the way. flattening multi dimensional characters into these stereotypes is so so so insulting.

unfortunately this is The Most Popular portrayal of just about any gay ship around. ive seen it being used everywhere in so many fandoms n it just about becomes apparent to me that ppl come to stories looking for a Ship. not the stories, nor the characters, just a ship. while id like to say theres nothing wrong with that, keep in mind not everyone is just looking for 2 characters that look pretty next to each other. if i ship something, i see interesting n meaningful interactions between 2 characters, which is so often not the case once u bring in the top/bottom dynamic. why is it so popular? because somehow this is what ppl like from a gay ship n hence it sells. ppl want the drama, characterizations be damned. ppl want to see the big kiss that happens in the end, n maybe the sexy parts that come after. characterizations be damned.

so u can say im a little wary of gay ships when they cross my feed. hell, as a joseph aesop shipper i see this trope everywhere n im pretty disappointed as well. small tangent but i feel like this is the reason why zh0ngli n ch1lde is so popular in g3nshin. i try to see the appeal, i really do, but after a long while of analyzing their respective characters i dont think they have as much chemistry as ppl think they do. dont even get me started on how incredibly ooc they make either of these very interesting n unique characters in ship portrayals. all because of the top/bottom dynamic that ppl want to see. i say this for that particular ship, but this is pretty much the case for a lot of ships out there, n the latter part is painfully true even when the 2 characters do have potential between each other. ill say it again im disgusted by the blatant disrespect to the characterizations if all ppl ever want is 2 pretty puppets to mush lips together. cos thats what theyre essentially reduced to this way.

n its so obvious to see when an artist subscribes to this rhetoric, because u can so clearly see it in the way they draw their characters. the “top” generally has sharper features to go with their “dominating personality”, while the “bottom” has disturbingly softer, feminine, dare i say sometimes child like features “to submit”. n thats where the uwu soft gay trope comes from, i believe. which, in case u still dont know, i hate with a burning passion.

so again for ppl with impaired reading comprehension, im fine with ships, including lgbt ones, but the moment u break characterization for the sake of the ship, im not that okay with it. u want to do it for a short crack comic? fine. but if thats the only way ur portraying the 2 characters then im immediately wary of ur content. ill still look at it cos usually the art is really good, but im very very wary. so im not “adamantly opposed”, just very critical of how the ships are being portrayed. if other ppl want to enjoy their ships like that, sure. just dont expect me to join in on something i dont agree on.

.

now id like to address not shipping “because i hc aesop as ace”. for ppl who are new to the blog (hello there), im an ace in a romantic relationship, so thats definitely not the reason i dont ship elisop. its more of being in a relationship has largely shaped my views towards romance as a whole. even before i met my boyfriend, i hated the romance genre in stories n media. most of it comes off as incredibly forced, especially those love triangles they seem to love putting into teen novels. thats one reason why i stopped reading when i was younger, but i digress.

did i partake in shipping when i was younger? i did. for a gay ship too (if anyone really wants to know, its kurotsukki from haikyuu. at least this was one that i can remember, i was mostly working on my 20 odd ocs for the longest time). i also used to write little short romance ficlets that i never posted anywhere cos i hated (n still do hate) my writing. but writing romance when u dont have experience was really just a way of projecting n probably a way of coping for myself, not that i knew at that time. but after i actually started a relationship with my boyfriend (whom i love n cherish a lot thank u very much), i began to see how much all these have skewed my views towards romance n have actually done some harm to our relationship. the bullshit that the general media feeds u constantly doesnt help in the slightest either.

quick topic shift to elisop in particular (about time, right?). i already stated that i only ship characters if i sense chemistry between the two personalities, n if u have seen the part where i dont ship elisop then u must have seen how agonized i am over not being able to have a concrete personality for eli. that is the main problem i have with elisop: eli does not feel like a solid character to me. n that is a huge problem, because if he doesnt have any defining characteristics besides being mild n nice, then he can be whoever i want him to be. (i have done this in my exorcist comics, i will admit this. n the fact that i can just do that... it really does not sit well with me personally.)

n that is dangerous.

back to young me doing lil ship things. i think its also pretty safe to say when u really do ship 2 characters, chances are u kinda really relate very very hard to at least one of them. that very quickly can turn into projecting, n shipping therefore is not “exploring the relationship between 2 characters” n it becomes “my preferred dating simulator 101″. of course this isnt always the case, but at least it was for me, n subconsciously it might be for lots of ppl too. n since this is ur mental playground, u call the shots, n there is no consequences if u slightly (or even entirely) alter one or both personalities to fit ur desired narrative. n u wouldnt even notice or know, cos ur blind to ur own biasness.

we bring our perceived notions into real life, im sure u know that. so when ur partner does not become that perfect knight in shining armour, or when they get upset at things that u do (which is a very normal thing by the way), n u think (very subconsciously), That isnt what my otp would do, something is wrong here (nothing is wrong, actually its just ur skewed perception of a stable romantic relationship). why wouldnt ur otp do this? because u are both halves of ur otps, there is no hidden secrets between them (apart from the pining part but thats irrelevant), n again they have been altered to fit ur preferred narrative. 

a real relationship requires a lot of communication between parties, because newsflash, liking someone doesnt mean that u have to like every single thing they do, they will make mistakes n it will hurt u, n guess what, the reverse is also true. if u do go with absoutely anything that they would do with 0 objections whatsoever, ur not crushing on someone, ur idolizing them, n that power imbalance is detrimental to a relationship. these things are not obvious to ppl, especially when the whole climate is hell bent on getting into romantic relationships by a certain age or some bullshit. communication is key n is pretty much the only way to solve relationship issues, because the other person has a lot that u r not seeing n vice versa. as similar as 2 ppl can be, i doubt u can have 100% the same thoughts on all things. i dont make the rules.

so in ur mental playground u focus on the fluffy parts, maybe there is communication, but rarely is there any meaningful conflict. thats unrealistic, n if u bring that mindset to an actual relationship, thats not going to end well. i say meaningful conflict, because yes, generally u shouldnt have conflicts with ur significant other. but inevitably when ur with each other for long enough, u will realize that there are habits that u must change in order to be with the other person. habits that are harmful to the other person directly, or harmful habits towards yourself that indirectly harm the other person. these are meaningful in a sense that if left alone, it will manifest into larger problems that will harm u, the other person n the relationship as a whole. its meaningful to the relationship.

all these is made even worse if ur neurodivergent. maladaptive coping practices, self sabotaging behaviours, inherent disabilities. all these must be adjusted n addressed. im so incredibly thankful for my boyfriend for being incredibly patient with me when working all these out, n it has not been easy for me to work on myself n all my problems, n im still not done working on them. this aspect is often not explored in romance in general (or properly), n there is a very good chance i would have still been stuck in the unhealthy mindset of “this isnt like my otp, maybe we’re not meant to be”. because loving someone is a choice. no one is made for each other, it is a conscious choice made between 2 ppl to make things work. this is how arranged marriages work, i am told, n i do see the appeal, not that it actually does appeal to me culturally.

special mention to the kurotsukki ship, cos from there i found a very, very good fic that explored their relationship before n after getting together, n it actually showed aspects of this problem in the incredibly slow burn of (at that time) 20+ chapters. it was just one fic (n a very good one at that, i believe it was called Leviticus), but it had a lesson i never thought i needed to learn, n learn it i did, with a lot of help from my dear. 

this is also probably the reason why i dont really want to delve too much into romance now. i know its a lot of work, n everything (mostly) that the media feeds u is really false advertising, but ppl eat that shit up n so it remains one of the most popular genres to date. im just very wary that if i do start on a romantic story, i want to be able to show it in a way like that fic did, the truths of relationships, because i dont want to make something that sells, i want to make something that meaningful to me, if a little indulgent. n that also includes being very careful in how the respective characterizations will change in a relationship. almost too careful now that i think about it, but its not something that i mind. i was never one for romance from the start, n now im very careful about shipping because of what happened to me persoanlly.

okay enough about me, lets talk about aesop. in any au u put the character in, the essence of the character must remain despite the change in environment. so lets say we have ur typical modern au. dead mom, check. shitty mentor doing illegal stuff? also check. autistic boy with social anxiety? we’re good to go. all these have implications on aesop as a character, n while ppl are aware of this, again the way they go about portraying it can go, in my personal opinion, very wrong. ppl who immediately woobify aesop completely because he has autism annoy me. ppl who reduce him to uwu soft boi cos he has social anxiety do not know how the disorder really works n as someone who has that i hate it to the core. ppl who do all these for the sake of ship have lost my respect. its insulting.

remember the top/bottom dynamic? not that elisop is completely free from that (even if i dont know much about eli, to put him in either one of those stereotypes feels very insulting to his character. i wont even say anything about doing it to aesop its so upsetting), but its not entirely made up of either. but now i want to introduce another trope i am very wary of, which is “i can fix him”. im sure u guys have seen the meme going around poking fun at this trope (for those who havent, its along the lines of “u can fix him? well i can be his worst nightmare”) n no doubt yall would have seen it n gotten sick of it in some forced hetero romantic bullshit. we have one damsel in distress with a saviour that solves all their problems just by existing n being romo with each other.

remember “my preferred dating simulator 101″? this is not mutually exclusive n from my point of view this is dangerously close to this trope. lets be real, if it was actually a thing that all ur deep rooted trauma magically disappears if someone were to waltz into ur life, we would want it. definitely. no painfully dissecting ur own problems n constantly facing them head on. real life states that this is not the case, but it will not stop us from dreaming. n so this trope is born n lives n will go on.

(finally) pulling aesop n eli into this, at least in my mind, u have one severely traumatized boy with lots of issues n u have this. nice mild guy who can be anything u want him to be. i hope u can see where im going with this, n thats the direction i see some elisop heading towards (i dont read a lot of elisop to be fair). if u came from my eli character talk, i mentioned that it is incredibly one sided. this is exactly what im talking about.

putting it all together in case u havent already, aesop is the damsel in distress, whose problems magically disappear because of elis godly kindness n little to no work on improving himself, n they lived happily n gayly ever after.

can u tell how much that does not appeal to me. 

never mind the butchering of character that inevitably happens somewhere somehow, the unrealistically perfect themes n implications of this trope makes me so viscerally uncomfortable. this is, of course, due to personal reasons, n i definitely see the appeal of this dynamic because i would probably have been interested in this once upon a time as well. but as i am now, with everything i have explained up there n everything i have been through, i would politely rather not.

n its difficult to think of another dynamic, because of how little i know about eli apart from him being this saint, which easily makes him a candidate for being aesops trauma panacea. never mind aesop rarely, if ever, does anything for eli as a character in return, n its so damaging to buy into this rhetoric, where a person like this who would solve all ur issues no strings attached exists somewhere in the world. they really dont. a relationship has to be mutually benefitting, or it will be draining n disastrous. maybe u say, Oh its nice to imagine it once in a while. n yeah, i agree, except once in a while is a little difficult to keep track of n that is sort of what happened to me. id rather stay as far away as possible from this kind of unrealistic fantasy, i just got this shit sorted out with myself n my boyfriend.

i have some other reasons, but theyre more personally problematic, so i wont go into them here. but this is mostly n generally why i do not ship elisop romantically. if u do, u do u, and have fun, but again dont expect me to join u. thank u for coming to my ted talk, this took a lot longer than expected.