#i'm sorry if that made no sense also this is a very valid and respectful question don't worry

[bandzboy]

hi! so this isn't a hater question i promise, it's a genuine concern from someone who has been doing the kpop boycotts + other boycotts. i see the sheer number of zionists in the mainstream music industry, and how not giving them any money means boycotting practically all mainstream music, plus the fact that many pro-palestine people are likely boycotting other companies too (like the bds list + other companies with known ties to israel and zionists). and my concern is just... how can this be done in a feasible, sustainable, scalable way? if the goal is to give zero money to israel and zionists then there are a ton of companies and brands to avoid, especially since big companies tend to be ubiquitous and own a lot of smaller brands. that's hard for someone to constantly be mindful of especially on a wider scale, and i worry that it will result in a kind of consumer's paranoia over what is morally correct to support (and tbh i feel this paranoia sometimes) or some weird moral purity wars online bc, well, that's the internet ("if you're really pro-palestine why aren't you boycotting x!" at someone who is already boycotting what they can, calling their reps, donating, etc.) and i imagine that neither of these things are great for the movement's morale. sorry this got rambly but this is genuinely something that worries me

i mean my take on this is definitely that it's not easy to keep up with everything but i think it's important to be aware of these things like this is me personally but after i found out that there are truly so many zionists in the industry i haven't been the same and i can't consume music the same way and probably never again! this music industry boycott is very new and there aren't a lot of people that are aware especially on the western side and also on the kpop side so it's all still very new and we are trying to navigate this in the best way we can and assume as time goes by there will be better ways to take action and we might approach this differently at some point but i feel like as of now it's very important to bring up why the existence of these boycotts are important and why there should be pressure on labels and companies to drop eventual zionist sponsors as well ceos and etc etc the truth of the matter is that it's... all very scary and it's even bigger than we thought because these zionists connections run deep and i can see what you mean with the consumer's paranoia. in general this is all very new to me and the truth of the matter is... with the things i know i can't be indifferent to it you know? but the concerns you brought up are valid i wish i could have a smart answer for them but since this is something that people have trying recently there's still a lot of working and thinking to do when it comes to action

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

i explain india but i'm drunk.

Hello maggots of mine you're all such babygirls and bastards just like Aziraphale and Crowley. I'm so proud of you all for existing. Yes i'm a wholesome drunk you now know this about me. The wine tastes like rotten grapes and smells of battery acid and cost 245 rupees INR. Speaking of INR, thanks to a maggot's ask, I'm here to explain India. I've never set foot outside of this country. But I'm also very very shit at general knowledge.

To any non-Indians reading this, this is a totally legit 1000% everything covered all-inclusive summary. To any Indians reading this, I'm so so fucking sorry.

India, explained.

So there's south india and there's north india and there's north east india. north india is very racist about south india and they're both very racist about north east india. Most of these people are also probably racist either to other countries or they have internalised racism. It's a wild trip.

There are. A lot of languages here. And a LOT of scripts. I can read two scripts, understand four Indian languages and speak in two of them (badly), and those two are not my native tongues. I cannot speak in my native tongues. It's basically English at this point. These aren't dialects, those are separate. Picture like, Europe, but more, in terms of how many languages.

Everyone hates each other which is valid for the entire planet honestly.

In south india we have a lot of coconuts. Like a lot. There are so many coconuts you have no fucking idea guys you cannot escape the coconuts. I was nearly killed by a shower of coconuts when I was 5 I escaped by one second.

There are also cows. People will tell you that you are being racist when you say India has cows everywhere. But it's true. Two weeks ago I had the pleasure to be stuck in a traffic jam. Next to the street barrier thing (what divides a street im too drunk for this) I saw a huge bull fucking HUMPING a cow. The vehicles just had to move around them. They were having sex right there.

If you're a middle class Indian kid, your career options are: doctor, engineer, scientist, CA, lawyer, government official or family disappointment.

Needless to say, I was going to be doctor and am now instead family disappointment. I'm babygirling so hard it's insane. The prodigal son.

It's very ace-friendly and heterophobic in the sense that you are not supposed to be exhibiting any sexuality whatever in a respectable household. Just shut up and give virgin birth already. But be married. That's crucial.

Oh yeah gay marriage isn't legal trans people are constantly othered by society and/or given no respect whatsover and we're just all vibing here this is totally not why I'm finishing a small bottle of cheap wine on a thursday past midnight alone in my room.

Foreigners are like a zoo species you see them you're instantly concerned like what are they doing outside the TV screens and then either people are normal (rarely), they run up and take photos or try to slip into conversation (more often than you'd think, even I've been guilty of the conversation thing as a kid) OR they start talking about how 'this western culture is ruining our culture'. Which is fair but honestly both the 'cultures' these people are talking about usually involve incredible amounts of bigotry and are more similar than they think.

I think the lesson here is that humans just suck as a species. Except for you maggots. I love you all and I will defend you with my life.

THE CHAAT. THE CHAAT IS INSANELY AMAZING. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THE CHAAT. I HAVE NO SPICE TOLERANCE SO I HAVE TO BEG ON MY KNEES FOR THE SPICES TO BE REDUCED BUT STILL. THE CHAAT. THE CHAAT, YOU GUYS. YOU NEED IT.

Sorry yes I'm normal. ALSO THE STREET DOGS. THE INDIES. THEY'RE SO LOVELY AND SWEET AND CHAOTIC AND I KEEP TALKING TO THEM. Once when I was crying I made the dog distress while and like five dogs that I didn't know came running to me and comforted me and licked me.

INDIAN DANCE MUSIC. I FUCKING LOVE IT IT'S INSANE. My family were elitist as fuck so I never got to listen to Bollywood music as a kid but it's AMAZING I'm so glad it exists. Bhangra too.

Beaches very very pretty hills very very pretty honestly the nature is fucking beautiful if you can just quickly pretend humans don't exist, which again is true of this entire planet. Yeah. Okay I'm so fucking drunk.

Yeah lots of diversity which is very nice when the humans aren't screaming at each other about it but the rest of the time it's very nice

The garbage and sewer stories? yeah they're all true im sorry

Traffic rules more like traffic suggestions amirite

Well, we still have far better healthcare access than america. so. there is that.

If you speak English well you'll be mocked and isolated. If you speak English poorly you'll be mocked and isolated. Honestly, just be rich. That'll fix it all.

All the conservatives hate each other and don't realise they're the exact same but in like different flavours.

Oh yeah we have auto rickshaws. Look them up. They're so much better than cars I don't get motion sick as easily in them. But the drivers all hate you and never want to take you anywhere.

Eyyyyyyyyyy it's so fucking fun here *drinsk more alcohol* I am so fucking not looking forward to college.

Please someone crowdfund me out of here let's all go chill in Alpha Centauri I've heard it's nice this time of the year.

I will, however, miss the casual live cow pornos. A true highlight.

[I got this peer-reviewed by my friend in India's top law school, just in case, because I'm too drunk and generally dumb. They say I will not be killed. And they've been on Twitter so.]

Irrefutable legal proof y'all. I don't mean to offend anyone except bigots. Fuck you, bigots, if you're not offended then I've disappointed my community.

[oonajaeadira]

In honor of Catfish Day, may I ask a question? What is Frankie's best line of dialogue in TF? (also every time i consider deep and evocative world-building, i think about your stories and wanted you to know)

My Megan, my Cheese. You are a lovely soul, did you know???

I will admit that I've only watched Triple Frontier the once, but of course "We gotta fly over the fuckin' Andes, man!" is iconic.

This movie was what I VERY LOVINGLY call "Bro Fare" and is full of boys-being-boys, full of drugs and violence and military and bad decisions. And while I applaud the fact that it kept me gripping the back of the couch in a half escape, afraid for all of them and what could go wrong next, it wasn't really my kind of movie.

And now I'm gonna say something that may raise some hackles around here....other than Pedro and Oscar, I don't really remember the other characters. I know a lot of folks like Garrett or don't like Ben or whatever, but at the end of the day, I felt like the other three dudes were just playing your run of the mill military dudes.

But Oscar's Santi had a LOT of subtext. He was fighting against blaming himself for anything that happened because he called them all there and he didn't want to drown in it before they were out. There was a morally grey center to all of them, but I really feel like Oscar did an amazing job holding down the one that was the furthest from the light even if he was also trying desperately to protect them all. (Come after me if you want to say Tom was the worst, but that guy was just a damaged idiot. He's almost not even on the same scale.)

And on the flip side, I was amazed at the choices Pedro made to play the opposite end of the scale. You give a man a role like this, most of them are gonna play the military bro. These boys have seen service and it's easy to just play that stereotype (which, sorry, is what I felt the other three kinda did.) But Frankie is almost too soft of a heart to be there. His personality doesn't scream military in the Hollywood sense...because Pedro made a conscious choice not to play it. Any chance he could have swung into macho, he went the opposite direction, and listening to his lines and imagining how they are, flat on the page in a script, that role could have easily become that. He actually read his lines and found a different Frankie under them, chose to play someone who made bad choices and regretted them because he'd hurt people he loved with those choices. He isn't the loudest of the bunch, he's more a wallflower in the group because he's there to support, not be supported by them. And when Pedro asked himself, why does this man say yes to this with so much on the line? His answer was obviously love. He loves his brothers. He's at the fight not because he loves the fight but because he loves his friend. He hates saying no to Santi when he's asked to go because he doesn't want to disappoint his friend and you can see it in how he pussyfoots around his (very valid and nothing to be ashamed about) excuse. He ultimately says yes out of love and loyalty even if it hurts himself, even if it turns him back into the monster he wish he never was and Pedro made that choice to make it make sense to himself. And then he played THAT guy.

I love Pedro just as much as the rest of you, but I make a living in the theater and beyond his looks and his killer personality, I respect Pedro's acting chops and his choices and his deliveries so very very very much. I'm wowed by him on a nerrrrrrdily technical level. It's what drew me to him in the first place--when Din took off his helmet and told Grogu it would be alright and barely held it together, when this big tough warrior showed his face and that actor was not afraid to show that emotions in no way weakened his strength and could exist in a warrior in harmony, I was like WHAT IS THIS FRESH CHOICE WHO IS THIS FUCKING AMAZING ACTOR AND WHAT ELSE OF HIS SHIT DO I NEED TO WATCH NOW.

And now I can't unsee it. I love falling in love with his characters because they are so multi-dimensional, so nuanced, so real because he does the work and makes good choices. Every time a new role shows up, I'm a true Gemini: one half of my brain is squealing like a little girl because dur dur pretty Pedro boy and the other half is squealing like a little girl because OH MY GOD THAT'S A FKN AMAZING READ WHERE DID THAT CHOICE COME FROM.

He's amazing. And what makes Frankie amazing to me is all the easy choices he turned away from and yet made the harder ones look like childsplay.

[fiyaa-xoxo]

I love your child Riddle story, so I would like to request a child Malleus please.

Malleus has turned into a child , now y/n has to take care of him

Yay!! my very first request, tysm @jazzybug163 for requesting something! I gave this fanfic a little twist so i hope its alright ^^.And some things dont make any sense(i'm truly really sorry about that) This isnt my best work, my riddle one was better but i hope you guys like this one too. Also the fic is quite long so i hope its alright!

TW! Slipping something into someones drink, drgs dealing (it was mentioned as a joke)

Malleus Draconia

✧˚ · . You must be wondering how the future king of the valley of thorns, one of the most powerful mages in the world turned into a child. Well... he didn't really turned into a child, Lilia missed taking cared of child Malleus so he used a very very powerful potion with from the Queen of the valley of thorns (Malleus's grandmother). Lilia put the potion in a drink you made for Malleus.

✧˚ · .You and Malleus were talking and drinking a smoothie you made outside the gate of Ramshackle. While Malleus's 3 retainers were hiding in a bush near you for different reasons ( Sebek wanted to make sure you didn't they anything to his young master. Lilia wanted to see if the potion he put in Malleus's drink worked. And Silver wanted to check on his young master and he got dragged by Lilia to join) As Malleus took a sip of drink Green smoke surrounded and circled the Dragon fae. Out of panic you and Sebek ( who jumped out of the bush) shouted Malleus's name. As the smoke cleared the Dragon Fae was gone! Sebek, you, and now a fully awake Silver was panicking trying to find him

✧˚ · . You stoped panicking when you felt someone tug your sleeve. As you looked down you saw a small child that looked like Malleus. "The potion worked as a charm!" said the bat Fae floating " Wait what potion?" asked Silver "I added a potion into malleus's drink that turned someone young again. I missed young Malleus so i wanted to see his young self again" Lilia said. "WITH ALL DUE RESPECT MASTER LILIA, BUT THAT WASNT A VALID REASON TO MAKE THE FUTURE KING A KID AGAIN SIR" shouted Sebek "WHAT ABOUT IMPORTANT THE MEETING MALLEUS-SAMA WAS GOING TO ATTEND!?". Sebek and Silver talked Lilia into turning Malleus back and finally they did. Lilia and the 2 knights had to go to the Royale Palace back in Malleus kingdom so in the mean time your taking care of Him. ( Sebek didnt like that Idea at all but since it was Lilia's idea he didnt get a saying in it)

✧˚ · . Malleus got turned back into his 10 year old self . The whole time the 3 of them talked about turning Malleus back. He was next to you looking at his Retainers, Malleus for some reason remembers Sebek, Silver, Lilia, and you but anything else after turning 10 he dosent remember.

✧˚ · . Malleus is a very quiet, shy, and soft spoken child, he was quite shy when you were taking care of him. But soon after some time Child Malleus grew fond of you. He woulnd't let go of you, he'd get jealous if grim tried getting your affection or even just being near you. Lets just say malleus has gotten very attached to you (as you know dragons are very territorial when it comes to their treasures). The timed you spent with Malleus was short but you saw many things that Normal Malleus didn't show you. His cute and soft side, Malleus didnt look scary at all (well he never did to us but yk he looked more cute ig)

✧˚ · .When the 3 came back and got the potion to return him you kinda didn't want to turn Malleus back. But you know you had to or else the people of the valley of thorns have to wait another 10,000 years for a new ruler. When Malleus turned back he didn't know what happened. So you had to tell him everything, after you told him that was the first time you saw Malleus flustered. But he soon found it quite funny.

Bonus part:

✧˚ · . At the late hours of the night your were dressed in a long coat, a big hat and sun glasses hiding behind ramshackle like some drg dealer. Lilia approached you dressed in the same attire "Do you have what i need?" "yes i do Lilia" you said handing him a folder full of.... Malleus's pictures you took when he got turned into a child!! "Thank you very much Y/N i finally got more baby pictures of Malleus and black mail 😈" after he said that he disappeared

Requests are open!! ^^

───────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆────────⋆⋅☆⋅⋆──

[r1ckst3r]

Discussing stuff:

Gonna try to make this short and simple.

If you have been in the Kaeloo fandom these last few months you might have saw or heard some discussions about some drama happening. One of the person concerned posted a document about it and I'm not here to talk about it or anything since someone else already got that covered. I'm here to talk about the one "critic" (or how do you want to call it) I have received in it.

Even if I joined the server very lately compared of most people involved I somehow made it in there.

The only interaction I've had with Jay was them complimenting a WIP of an animatic I started and never finished that I then posted in STM, nothing else.

But still they've decided to include me in the document for only saying that my opinion doesn't count because I am a fictionkin?? At this point you could've just ignore me at all.

Do you even know what a fictionkin is? Or you just saw the word misused on socials and went with it. Because I am sorry to disappoint you but even like that, your point doesn't make any sense.

To make you try understand where it isn't working here is a small definition of fictionkin. A fictionkin is someone who has a deep connection to a certain character (in a emotional or spiritual way) to the point they believe they were them in a past life or alternative universe. It can be caused by neurodivergence or trauma, and it's sometimes a sort of coping mechanism.

Your whole point is that since I "identify" as a character as a coping mechanism from the stuff I've experienced, my opinions are obviously wrong and not valid.

Here is a small reminder for you that I am a person, a minor, and like everyone, I have feelings and the capacity of thinking. I know what I like and what I don't. I know what is right and what is wrong.

You are in a fandom of a kids show, where the targeted audience are children. There are gonna be kids, they are gonna have access to any content, if they see the stuff you've created, it's your fault. Posting the content you make on an adult only server or platform would've worked. But you are posting that content saying that "you aren't responsible of minors viewing it", well you are actually.

I tell you this with all the respect and kindness I have, please grow up. Because judging literal children for being "cringe", (since, I understood your sentence as a sort of mockery), is literally the most childish thing you could ever do.

Thank you for whoever took the time to read this. Remember to check also Random's response before picking a side.

[the-way-astray]

I don't know if we're all sharing our journeys with you about how we came to our conclusions about Keefe and Fitz, but here's mine:

About a year ago I read Flashback for the first time and that was when I first started to realize that Keefe was manipulative (I know I know, it's a basic argument at this point and it makes people mad when it's brought up, but that's what I noticed, and I wasn't in the fandom so this revelation was.... revelatory?), but I still thought to myself, oh yeah that makes sense given his background (which I still do believe but now it's just too annoying for me idk), and then reading his POV in the Flashback short story, I thought to myself, 'huh, he's saying the perfect things, isn't he? Almost like it's propaganda or something....'

A bit later I went to the internet, and learned that it is very very popular to not like Fitz at all (though I had already seen that in the real world talking to other people in real life), and to compare him to Keefe a lot. So I think that's why I started disliking Keefe, the way so many people perceive him (and compare him to Fitz) just soured my opinion of him. And I know people like to say "you can like both!" And while I do agree with that I don't think that anyone who doesn't isn't less valid or less mature than those who do, which I think is the attitude of some people who make that argument.

Anyway. That is my story (I don't dislike anyone who likes Keefe and Fitz or who likes Keefe and dislikes/hates Fitz)

had to do a different graph for you since your opinion over time wasn't all over the place like summer's was.

the one summer sent was because i asked about her story specifically, but now that you mention it, i do want to know everyone’s stories about how they decided what their opinions on fitz and keefe are. i should create a tag . . . anyway send me your stories everybody! i’ll make you a messy little visual.

interesting that flashback was the book that made you see him as manipulative. i personally think it starts a lot earlier, and gets particularly bad in nightfall. and yeah, i talked about this in my rant, but shannon randomly decides to have keefe say all the perfect green flags in flashback/the short story to cover for the fact that his actions literally do not match his words.

i'm not a fan of the idea of a "basic argument" or "complex argument", i'm more of a fan of "valid argument" or "invalid argument". like if an argument is good, it's going to be repeated . . . because it's reliable? that should be a point in its favor not a strike against it. and i'd say saying keefe is manipulative is a perfectly valid argument. but i'm also heavily biased. obviously.

i’m gonna be so honest, i have no idea why people hate fitz so much. like yeah, he gets angry, but he does apologize and try to get better, which i don’t see with keefe. i don’t hate fitz haters and unlike a lot of people in keepblr, i actually respect them, but i don’t understand them.

there is definitely an attitude of people thinking you’re less mature or not as valid if you hate on fitz or keefe. i think, as long as you’re mature about it (and don’t send weird asks), you can dislike whoever you want, and you aren’t a bad person if you do. the idea of "you can like both!" is very true, but i think we do need to respect haters. and i'm not just saying that as a keefe hater. fitz haters (as long as they aren't being weird about it *cough* "Just because your gay doesnt mean Sophie is!!!" anon *cough cough*) deserve respect, as well. acting like hating a character is immature is ridiculous. they are fictional. they are not real. chill out.

oof, i just turned your ask into a rant. sorry . . . moving along . . . i, too, do not dislike you if you like keefe or hate fitz. i'm actually pretty neutral on fitz myself, wouldn't say i'm particularly insane or obsessed with him.

[grumfield]

hi!. first of all, i'm absolutely obsessed with your blog, thank you for posting, i've never felt so validated reading someone's posts before. i'm currently falling deeply into the star wars abyss and i was wondering if you could recommend any books you personally liked (the angstier the better)? i'm a complete fandom newbie, so far I've only seen movies and clone wars season one, but id love to hear your opinion on what I should read next. if it's not a weird request. sorry if it is! have a nice day.

WAAAAH thank you so much!!! So glad you’re here and I’m SO HAPPY to recommend books to you because I was exactly in your position only a few months ago!

Okay. So the consensus within the fandom, especially if you’re an Obikin enjoyer (not sure if you are, but if you’re following me I suspect you at least find their platonic dynamic compelling), is that if you’re going to read one book it’s the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matt Stover, and I agree with this. I’m not someone who was ever interested in reading movie novelizations but this book single handedly changed my mind. It’s exceptionally well written and just has this pervasive sense of growing doom that’s super unsettling while also giving a lot of emotional dimension to all of the characters in ways that film really isn’t able to. There’s a lot of interesting choices that are made—Anakin’s fall feels explicitly like Palpatine is taking advantage of an oncoming mental health episode and pushing him to snap, Anakin’s perception of the Obi-Wan/Padmé affair is tied more to anxieties about the two people he loves most not wanting him around than infidelity…there’s a lot of scenes that are in the book that aren’t in the movie that really just hit like a gut punch.

It’s absolutely great for angst, it’s written in such a unique way and literally the last scene gave me full body chills when I first read it. Horrible, beautiful, highly recommend it. Also uses second person narration in ways that are very clever.

(Also, it like…portrays Obi-Wan as like. A repressed gay monk in love with his oblivious straight friend and it’s incredible)

Now for my more personal recommendations for after you read that, if you want more!

I am a massive Rogue Planet and Jedi Quest enjoyer. They are honestly the cornerstones of my characterizations for these characters. Despite being a singular book and a middle grade series respectively, I group them in the same category for their absolutely incredibly compelling way it portrays the foundation of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s relationship—specifically how absolutely fucked it is in ways that aren’t super clear in the movies. They take place after the Phantom Menace and before AOTC, so cover Anakin’s time as Obi-Wan’s padawan.

Rogue Planet by Greg Bear follows Obi-Wan and Anakin on a mission when Anakin is 12 and there’s no way I can describe it other than it reading kind of like…what if the Virgin Mary was a permissive boymom who sucked at her job and the kid she’s raising has a 50/50 chance at being Jesus or Satan. Obi-Wan in this reads like the most 15 year old 28 year old ever, is still reeling from the death of Qui-Gon and has entered the motherhood phase of “my child is perfect and special and can do no wrong ever ever ever”. He’s extremely permissive and has hinged an unsettling amount of his hopes on Anakin’s role as the Chosen One because of his own personal issues. So when Anakin does shit like…oh I don’t know…accidentally explodes a man’s head with his mind…does things he isn’t supposed to Obi-Wan is like. Don’t Worry You Did Nothing Wrong I Will Ignore It.

And then hot on the tails of this is the Jedi Quest series by Jude Watson which follows their relationship after that on various missions as Anakin grow up. The series kind of focuses on the systemic ways in which Anakin leading up to AOTC was let down and what eventually drives his decisions later. Do not be fooled by it being a series for 12 year olds, it’s absolutely apeshit and additionally my favorite place for informing my perspective of their dynamic. Obi-Wan has gone from being boymom to being more emotionally distant as he tries to make Anakin be an “ideal jedi”. Jude Watson’s entire thesis is that like, Obi-Wan is not father brother or friend to Anakin, he is a Jedi, and does not have the tools to be anything else so his and Anakin needs and wants more. There’s this insane line at the end of book one where Anakin says like “Obi-Wan would come to love him. He would make him do so” which just acts as the through line for the entire series. the push and pull between someone who wants more and someone who consistently holds back creates this very unhealthy master-disciple dynamic that drives me insane. (I have kind of an uncharitable perspective of Obi-Wan because of this but it’s actually what made me love him even more, I prefer Jude Watson’s portrayal of him to almost any other author)

Anyways that’s my long drawn out first 3 recommendations to you lol! If you like them (or if you don’t!) feel free to come back and I’d be happy to chat with you more <33

[joculatrixster]

I respect that you have concerns about possible homophobia behind criticism of Scott, but your post about it used some inaccurate information.

Grian cheating is actually a recurring plot point in many desert duo fanfics. It isn't ignored. The difference is that when discussing the CCs, Grian's cheating was actually a result of wanting to switch up his content (Double Life happened after a post on the Hermitcraft subreddit where Grian was criticized for always grouping up with Scar and Mumbo), while behavior towards Jimmy often doesn't have as clear of an OOC reason for it.

Furthermore, Scott isn't the only one who gets flack for how he treats Jimmy - to use a recent example, people had major issues with Sausage's behavior towards Jimmy in Minecraft SOS. To use an older example, Jimmy had to reassure chat in one of his Raft streams that he was okay with how Grian, Joel, and fWhip (all married to women) were treating him, and even repeated that reassurance when he cut it down into a shorter video.

It's also important to note that Scott isn't the only LGBTQ content creator in the MCYT sphere. Joey Graceffa is gay; Lizzie, Gem, and Cleo are bi; Shubble is ace. You also make assumptions in your post that Pearl is straight, which we don't know for sure, as she's private about her personal life. While she has a boyfriend (at least I'm pretty sure he's a boyfriend), she often refers to him as a roommate instead of a boyfriend, and she could very well be bi/pan or ace. We don't know, and assuming people are straight as default can cause issues.

i kkmow scott isnt the only queer one brother ive been into mcyt since i was 10 i dont need u to explain to me who is and isnt queer im an og lizzie fan😭

firslty man saying that grian thing is. stupid. im sorry. no, saying there is a reason grajn as the person didnt wanna group up w scar so his character cheating makes sense yet scott who explained why he didnt wanna team up w pearl and instead went w cleo but u claim there was no real reason to do that even tho rp reasons is just as fine of a reason is just. strange. ike even if scott did it just bc he wanted to for no other reason than teasing jimmy that doesnt justifiy making him out to be an abuser or making posts anaylizing how he makes jimmy uncomfortable/is weird to jimmy specifically which ive Seen Multiple. scott and jimmy have always had a bit of a rivalryand its just fucking weisd ppl make out scotts teasing as inherently toxic yet say nothing about grian or joels teasing

also ive never seen grian vilinized or made scars abuser if this is a common hc its not one ive seen, just unpacking the cheating is not the same thing as making grian scars abuser or making him clearly seen as negative all portrayls Ive Personally seen paint grian in a sympathetic light and the fandom as a whole does that in general w bad actions grian does. pretending its of a similar caliber is just strange considering how blorbofied grian is and how ppl r convinced scott is literally maliciouly trying to hurt jimmy In Real Life like dude be so fucking fr rn

ill admit i dont watch sos nor raft streams but im calling out ppl who r calling scott specifically abusive and ive literally never seen anyone as vilinized as scott in fics i can think off the top of my head 3 fics ive seen where scott is the vilian and portrayed as jimmys abuser which is NOT true for anyone u mentioned. if u havent seen this i understand u might think jimmy expressing boundaries about his friends is the same thing which is a valid point to bring up but im specifically pointing out how it is normalized tto have scott specifically be an abuser or cruel villian which is NOT the same as fans expressing concern over if some ppl r going too far w the bit. thats fine genuinely

ur right i did assume about pearl i shouldn't have i dont rlly watch her thats also on me but also doesn't take away the point i was saying. literally her being bi aroace or even a lesbian does not take away the point i made about reducing her character to the violent female hysteria but also tragic victim of scott. as an agender aroace lesbain...buddy i know straight aint the default. when i talk about misogyny and homophobia the point is the misogyny and homophobia. im sorry i called someone who hasnt come out at all yet straight i dont assume someone is queer until proven otherwise bc thats just weird to assume. i just literally never saw pearl included in queer mcyt creator talks ever but assuming she isnt straight doesnt change literally anything about the mysongy or weird homophobua that only scott is portrayed in a negative light for actions he does in double life

[what-do-1000-swords-look-like]

In the book Yigrett and Jon’s relationship is much more dubcon so it’s not hard for me to see how Kit got to that thinking. (Though in the book, I’m not sure Jon IS attracted aggressive women as much as confidence/strength.) I think Sansa is the proverbial balance. Sansa is confident and has learned to assert herself but she also validates Jon as a person, cares for him, protects him while not being afraid to confront him on his mistakes. Thanks for responding!

Anon, I am so sorry. I thought I had responded to all of my asks and yet there yours sat. If you're still around, please accept my deepest apologies.

I confess I have not yet ventured past book 2 so I have no idea how their relationship goes, but I will say it seemed a tiny hint of dubcon in that cave scene in the show, in the beginning but only for a moment. So I can see it for sure. And I think the show played up on Kit's and Rose's natural chemistry to help make it something on its own if that makes sense.

I agree wholeheartedly with you about Sansa and how she regards him and treats him. Ygritte had his back as long as it served her interests. I'm not saying she didn't love him but when he chose something else over her, then it was game on and only her feelings for him made her hesitate before she was going to kill him. And she was going to kill him if Olly hadn't killed her first. Jon's whole reaction in that scene (and Kit's performance) confirmed it I believe.

And the funniest thing is, while Dany and Ygritte are different in some ways, one similarity they share is that it's all about them in the relationship and the minute Jon chooses (or appears to choose) someone (like family) or something else over that, even if it's for the right reason, then Jon's in mortal danger.

Whereas with Sansa, she actually wants to protect him and keep him with the Pack. Yes, she wants safety but not at the cost of any of her family, and she absolutely considers him to be her family. That's why when Sansa antis say all she wanted was power and Dany stans say she only wanted to kill Dany, I just laugh. Because they really don't understand her showverse character and they're looking at it through a tainted lens (their favoritism of Dany or hatred of Sansa). As you said, she asserts herself, sure, but she also respects Jon, validates him, and wants to protect him. She's a very balanced character and a positive for Jon, romantically or not.

And even though I don't know book!Jon, I agree with you and I don't think Jon was attracted to aggressive women in the show either. I think you're right, it was all about confidence and strength.

I hope you have a great weekend, Anon. Sorry again!

[bookishphysicsgirl]

Hello, I have a genuine question, especially for trans people since you are the most affected, regarding Harry Potter fan fiction.

I'll try to tag this appropriately so that anyone who doesn't wish to see any content regarding to this doesn't, but if it accidentally slipped through I'm sorry, just tell me what else to tag it as so it will be better blocked and I will.

Obviously Joanne is a delusional b**** and I will never be touching anything she writes or sells ever again, since it would be giving her funds to actively harm trans lives.

The only question I have is regarding fanfiction because I've been seeing many arguments about this and still can't quite make my mind up about what side is right, but the thing is none of the people I saw making statements about this were trans, so I would very much appreciate your opinion since I believe that your thoughts are the most valid in this situation.

The first argument is that HP fanfiction while not directly supporting J.K. and oftentimes going directly against her beliefs is still giving visibility to her work and ultimately attracting people to the world of HP that normally wouldn't have exactly because of the effort put in to fix the mistakes of the original text.

I think the way they put it was that she is "profiting off the free labor of the folk she despises".

I actually see how this can be true and it makes a lot of sense to me since, for example, when All The Young Dudes blew up on tik tok a lot of people who might otherwise not have done so started buying HP merch and getting it farther up in the trends, even though ATYD by itself is a very queer-positive work.

The second argument is that fanfiction is not directly supporting her and it is incredibly healing and supporting for many people struggling. Not only that it can be a platform to expose her wrongdoings and stop the fandom from becoming a home ground for hate groups.

The argument went somewhere along the lines of if a child receives the HP books from a relative unaware of all the issues and likes it and then goes looking for more content, if the fan content made by the queer community isn't there to receive them all they will be met with is people who reaffirm Joanne's toxic opinions and it could be extremely harmful to those children, especially if they are queer themselves and aren't aware yet.

I myself have gone to HP fanfiction when I was questioning my sexuality and when I was depressed and it helped me immensely to understand what was happening to me and that it was ok and normal.

Trans protagonists in HP fanfiction also helped me understand gender theory better and what might be going on in trans lives and how to be more respectful (disclaimer: I am a cis woman so I cannot speak for trans people, I am merely stating that it helped me understand).

Both of these arguments make a lot of sense to me, and I can't see which one would be more correct. On the one hand I think that stopping everyone from even interacting with fandom might be a bit extreme, on the other I can't help but worry whether that is just me creating an excuse to keep enjoying things I like.

I don't feel like I enjoy HP fanfiction for nostalgia, especially since I openly recognize that both the books and the movies were actually a bit boring and not that well written and haven't been able to re-read them since I was 12. I think it has a lot more to do with the healing factor of being able to disassociate to another world and see stories that reflect mine and see people feeling the same things I do. But I am more than willing to stop if it is in fact causing more harm than good, especially since the last thing I want is for Joanne to receive clout she does not deserve.

Either way, I just wanted to know your opinions in all of this, since as I mentioned before I've only ever seen cis people arguing about it (mostly on tik tok).

Thank you so much for reading all of this and thank you if you reply.

(note: I will not be tagging this with trans tags because I know that a lot of people can feel unsafe when met with content regarding Harry Potter)

[sitp-recs]

I just want to pick up a fic where harry isn't needlessly cruel to draco in an attempt to make him worthy of any love because of past canonical events. Especially when draco is painstakingly written to have worked so, so hard to change?I am so tired. And ridiculously triggered because you CAN'T filter these out 😔🙏... How do i refine my reading experience? There are no tags for this. The scenes just lie buried in fics. And i have spent so much TIME getting through long fics only for draco to be treated so poorly. It's such a common occurence! Or harry doing something really fucked up without consequence and draco being so accepting because he feels guilt. Like a casual use of veritaserum and then asking really invasive questions outside of what they agreed to be asking each other in what was supposed to be a safe space for the both of them. Or harry just sometimes casually being violent or angry in a way not necessarily part of the narrative... it's just something he does?

I'm not averse to harry with anger and trauma, this is why Balance, Imperfect, Heal Thyself, and A Sword Laid Aside are such treasured reads to me. It's just that they make sense...

So much of the fandom's fics will have something like this... like a really crude violation of draco's boundaries in popularly "wholesome" fics as a stepping stone for the romance. As them getting to know each other? But it really isn't that though... is it.I'm sorry, it's just NOT my thing. I don't know how to filter such things out. How do i keep a respectful distance away from such fics?

I respect the catharsis people find and seek with such scenes and pieces!! They're perfectly valid. I used to be just fine with such a relationship dynamic because they are undeniably good reads. And again, cathartic to see draco on the other end of the stick. But life just happens and somethings i can't enjoy anymore. I just don't know how I'm supposed to navigate my way around them.

Do you have authors that write these two with a more balanced perspective? Or maybe fics that deal with their hurt and pain and trauma with consideration but doesn't end up feeling like either harry or draco have to hurt the other more?

Also, l think you're one hell of an archivist and librarian when it comes to fics. Do you have any tips on how i can find the stories for me and peacefully navigate the ocean of fiction within the drarry tag?

Hi anon! I think I’ve received a shorter version of this ask a while ago but can’t for the life of me find my response so I’m not sure if I’ve already done a specific rec list for you. I love those long fics you mentioned, they all have excellent character arcs.

I totally understand where you’re coming from because I share the sentiment - and I’m pretty sure I know which fic you’re referring to re: the invasive Veritaserum scene. I’m sorry you’re having a rough time trying to filter those scenes out. As you said, they’re buried deep within the fics and to be honest I don’t think there’s an easy way to tag them, because characterization is very subjective and creators might see this topic differently. I might not come off as someone picky because I read and rec lots of stuff but I’m particularly sensitive when it comes to emotional imbalance in fic - I don’t enjoy characters being mean for the sake of it or taking advantage of another character written as meek/pitiful, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth so I try to avoid those if I can. Now I think about it, this might be one of the reasons why I’ve shifted away from long “redemption arc” fics and have been reading more “friends to lovers” and shorts recently, as I find them more emotionally satisfying. Hmm 🤔

Unfortunately I can’t offer any tips in terms of tag filtering - I think that would be extremely difficult and frustrating, especially if you find it triggering. If I were in your shoes I’d solely rely on rec lists made by people in whom I trust and crated within those parameters. Or just avoid the redemption arc altogether and focus on fics where they’re already in friendly terms? I wish I could help more because even a rec list would eventually end and chances are you’ve already read all the ones I have in mind. Let’s see if my followers have any interesting tips that might be helpful in this situation!

PS: some author suggestions I can think off the top of my head are firethesound, tackytiger, blamebrampton, Writcraft, thestarryknight, bixgirl, astolat, Omi_Ohmy, aibidil, shiftylinguini

[heatwa-ves]

sorry i know this is coming from nowhere but please tell me about izumi i deleted the game before i ever learned anything about him 💔

oh my god ok. don't apologise I'm always always ready to infodump about my favs 💖

so. izumi is part of knights ofc and he's actually the person who made the unit along with leo back when their previous unit chess broke down. long story. he's also a model and has been modelling since his childhood which is where he first met naru and makoto.

he is uh. a bitch. in the nicest way possible he's such a bitch. in lionheart he describes himself as someone who's unable to be honest with himself so he comes off really harsh and rude but he does genuinely care about the people he's close to especially knights and also makoto.. sora describes him as having a very kind color and if sora says it you know it's true

his relationship with makoto is uhhhh. obsessive. they were really close as kids when they were modelling but lost contact due to I believe izumi changing agencies? something like that. makoto quit modelling and now they're at yumenosaki together and after the events of checkmate (izuleo relationship got really codependent and they were doing Very Bad mentally and leo ended up not coming to school for months bc he was Really Depressed) izumi got even more attached and obsessive over makoto as both a replacement for leo leaving and, to quote the wiki, was depending on him for happiness. also he kidnapped makoto at one point. anyway makoto was obviously Very Uncomfortable with this. over time now izumi is a bit more stable nd leo is back and they're less unhinged he's giving makoto more space and their relationship is less. yeah. but still not perfect like izumi is still a little obsessive.

I'd talk in detail about his relationship with leo but I wrote another whole thing on that so I'll just talk a bit, basically they met in first year became friends and it developed into leo seeing izumi as his muse and izumi relying on this for validation because he is honestly kinda insecure but would never let anyone know that bla bla bla leo left bla bla leo came back and now they're good! izumi still blames himself for leo breaking during the war and leo feels guilty for hurting izumi and izumi still struggles with loving and being loved but he's learning and they're messy but they're trying 💖 me when characters are healing and growing as people... aughgh... love them to death I reread lionheart earlier and was having a category 5 izumi moment he makes me feel unwell...

rn he and leo are living together in florence where they're working on modelling and composing respectively and they come back to japan semi frequently for knights activities

he's also really good friends with naru they also met as kids when modelling and have remained friends she will counter his bitchiness with her own <3 but they do genuinely have a level of understanding of eachother that no one else gets like there's a few scenes in euthanasia that really show it especially at the end where they talk about a shared desire to be adored.. one of my fav scenes in the entirety of enstars I love you euthanasia

izumi was really spoiled as a kid and his parents were really protective over him (only child moment) but because of that they were always the ones deciding things for him and he had very little agency of his own, he says in next door how his parents just wanted an ideal doll like child who's do as he was told, they loved him but they didn't love HIM if that makes any sense.

he's a huge tsundere (they say it about him in canon im allowed to say it too) even to leo who he's closest to like for leos birthday line he says "I just happened to be in the country it's not like i came just for you..." and near the end of main story he says texting leo is annoying because he takes a while to reply and loses his phone and I don't like waiting it's not that I'm worried when he takes long to reply...

also he is canonically a cat person and the official character introduction essentially describes him as cat coded which brings me great joy and he hates the summer... just like me fr.. and more fun facts he plays tennis and can knit!! a girlie of many talents!

anyway I think I will leave it here for now if you want to know more I am ALWAYS happy to talk about izumi.. he's my favorite character of all time and means the world to me

[dontbotherwiththepronunciation]

16, 17, 8, 25 ?? (i want to ask then all sorry!)

Don't apologise! It's really nice of you to show interest and I'm just sorry it'll be disappointing because I'm feeling better now, so the self-respect and confidence that comes with the anger is gone and my answers will probably be more boring or bland.

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Everything relating to the Ironborn. The idea that they are westerosi uber-macho, alt-right, republican, white-trash becomes very annoying and often makes me thing that Luwin's propaganda spread to the fandom. There is also something about the fandom vilifying most Iron Islanders and their culture when they are not that much more different than the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. Rape and slavery/thrall culture is just as present in Northern characters (which we can clearly see on Arya's chapters) as it is on the Islands, with the only real difference being that it's not based on religion. All of the core Greyjoy's except for Asha are often depicted as these uber-conservative, alt-right ignorant, macho, toxically masculine people although there is not a lot of canon foundation on that. Their culture seems to be more liberating to the role of women than most, we even have Qarl's mild gender fuckerism, they are more sexually liberated, the concept of "Iron Price vs Gold Price" is more of an ideological statement (with Victarion wearing a Kraken-helmet that MUST have been tailor-made for him) than a factual way of living, and Balon's cruelty to Theon being less about him wearing a necklace and more about him wearing a chain and coming as an envoy, not a free man. Then again, characters like Quellon Greyjoy and Rodrik Harlaw (and often Alannys, even though based on what little we know of her, I doubt she would fit in this) are seen as pure-hearted, good natured and intelligent people who are enlightened compared to the rest and thus, are glorified by the fandom because they appear to be "less Ironborn" (as in less stupid, reckless and violent) and are falsely considered to have adapted to a more idealised version of mainland values. Tris is also often added to the group above, although he doesn't seem to share their ideologies, he is simply characterised by Asha as "too sweet for the Islands" and most readers seem to take it as such, although this claim is never backed up by evidence. It almost reminds me of colonisers of European descent classifying some of the indigenous groups of the regions they invaded as "civilized" because they had adopted attributes of European culture and the entire dichotomy of the "good Indian vs bad Indian". Really hate that. I don't really like comparing the Islands on itself to indigenous tribes who were colonised (Theon is another matter), but in this aspect...

16. you can't understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

The entire modern AU Theon concept since the characterisation is very often based on this strangely idealised mixture of AGOT-Stark perception of Theon and an exaggerated comical retelling of his tragedies during ACOK without any actual nuisance for the reasons behind those tragedies. It feels very sadistic. Free-loader Theon, Dropout Theon, Unemployed Theon. The repressed homophobic homosexual Theon is the most baffling though and it often seems to be more connected to shipping dynamics rather than canon characterisation (Canon implied he had a threesome (or more) with Patrek!!!!! Why did everyone forget about that?????).

17. there should be more of this type of fic/art

I feel hypocritical because I don't do a lot for her, but I wish we had more fan work on Kyra. Until now she is mostly used as a meta type of tool to explore the rules of consent in Westeros and Theon succumbing to his worst impulses during ACOK, and that's valid, it makes sense since she doesn't have much of a characterisation or background story, but I really wish someone would adopt her as their canon OC. I wish we would get to see her as her own failed final girl who has to beg for help to the man who raped her in order to escape an even bigger monster. I know it's an unpopular opinion and that most shippers prefer to see their dynamic as something salvageable or as a more positive and stable fwb relationship and many interpret Kyra as someone who genuinely loved Theon while he saw her as a more or less low-stakes girlfriend (and no hate to anyone who likes any of the mentioned concepts), but personally I would love to see fanworks from her perspective that show us Theon through a more macabre lens. So many fanfics that take place during their escape decide to put Kyra in a position that is similar to Jeyne; she is thankful, clingy and somewhat loving, and as said, I get why people enjoy those. But I like to believe that at the end of everything, when she asked him for help, she no longer loved him, if she ever did. I like to believe she was afraid of him, not that she hated him, simply that she was afraid, how could she not be? I often think about Theon's "On the far side, he had kissed her." and "You saved us." and how there are no descriptions of her response to those things. With Jeyne he describes how she is the one who initiates the physical contact during their escape and he responds somewhat positively, but in Kyra's case we have none of that and it makes me anxious in a good way. I wonder how it might have felt for her. I don't think she would have liked it, she must have been so frightened. Aaaaand I can feel my stomach starting to twist and turn the more I think about it! Time to move on! So yeah TLDR: I would like to see Theon as a villain from the lens of someone whose reasons for seeing him as such are justified. Also we need more f/f cersei fanfics.

25. common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

"OMG guys did you know some sickos ship [underage character] with [young adult character]?!? They clearly didn't absorb anything from the books because George won't endorse pedophilia! Anyway, here is my [another underage character] x [same young adult character] fanfic, it's a soulmates au with fluff & smut <3" or any of the other variations of that. I encourage filtering tags and blocking people, I do that a lot, but I will not tolerate clown on clown violence.

[odusseus-xvi]

I'm not the type to willingly look at critics of stuff I like. Mainly cause it makes me sad. But I've seen some recently about c3, and I have to admit there are some valid points... But a lot of them just makes me confused.

For exemple one that comes up a lot : There is too much/not enough stakes.

Both are utilized a lot. 10/20 episodes back people kept saying the campaign was boring and "there is no stakes, and no overall goals, and nothing to look towards" etc... Now I see a lot of "There is too much stakes, I don't understand what's happening, It's too stressful, Why is there stakes that early" etc...

WHAT DO YOU WANT ? Like seriously, I'm not even mad at those people just... confused. They also keep comparing those aspects to C2 for some reason (because c2 is absolutely perfect of course and was cr's peak and all that bullshit) Don't get me wrong, I loved both the previous campaigns, but like, they had stakes too. The Chroma attack, Vecna, Lorenzo kidnapping half the party and killing one member permanently very early in the campaign, The Angels of Iron trying to f* release Tharizdun or help spread it's chaos, Cognouza and I can probably keep going.

Then there is : "Bells Hells don't talk about there problems like M9 did, They are all so open to each other already I don't understand. They feel unorganic."

Ok. Let's look at something.

Goals of the M9 at the start of c2 :

All (exception of Fjord) : I'm fleeing from things and people, I need to survive and make money. I don't know who I can trust, but I probably will have more chances if I accept some help.

It make sense for them to be wary of each other, and to open up later. They don't have an urgency, a goal that makes them go forward, not yet.

Goals of BH at the start of c3 :

Orym (Dorian and Ferane follows) : Set on a quest to uncover what happened to his home and husband, searching for Oshad Breshio.

Imogen (Laudna follows) : Get to the starpoint conservatory to undestand her (and laudna's) powers.

Ashton : Clear their debts. Understand what happened this day.

FCG : Uncover what happened to their old party.

Chetney : Finding people to help him controls his powers.

They are all tangled up in misteries the want to untangle. They want to understand their lives, why they are here right now. They really quickly realise they were all traumatized in some way by things like that, AND that each of their misteries are probably more dangerous and out of their league that they anticipated ; They both realize they are gonna need help AND understands the others situation very early on. They have reasons to keep going and walking without thinking too much about what to do next. Well shit. When you think about it... It also makes sense.

Last point. This made me laugh more than the others. It was two comments under the same critic : It went a bit like this.

1st "I fully agree. I think they should talk more. They don't open up enough, and too much is happening."

2nd " I agree, They talk way too much, I want things to advance. Even back in c1 they had this problem. I skipped all the roleplay parts to get to the combat and big events." (like wtf bud)

Finally this is just to say I absolutely think that critics is necessary to a healthy fandom, and I don't mind that. Not only that but there is also something i can respect about them, even the dumb ones ; it seems more and more realise and admits, that this is fully subjective ; That they don't like all of it, but that they are also part of the problem themselves. I respect that, and I'm happy to see more and more realise it instead of outright saying it's just "bad and terrible, and not what it was".

Honeslty, personally, as long as the cast is having fun at the table, I am too.

(sorry if there are some mistakes in there I am both a fast typer and a non native english speaker)

[strangertheories]

I'm not surprised people are blowing up your Ask box. You didn't just say not all Mlevens are stupid. You blew up on the Anons who were just trying to explain to you why Bylers might be irritated and sick of constantly getting called slurs. You don't even know who sent you those asks, so how can you say they're condescending to Mlevens and that they bully them?

Firstly, the anons were in response to this post. And yes, I am going to say they are condescending because to me, that is how they came across, and they came into my ask box. They were talking down to me and saying I was only playing nice for having the opinions that I do. They also said that the majority of Mleven shippers are homophobes who use homophobic slurs and are rooted in bigotry so you're just calling out stupidity when you doubt the intelligence of all Mleven shippers and also gay Mike is the better and more valid interpretation than bi Mike. So maybe they didn't mean to and I struggle with tone sometimes, but it felt condescending.

S5 has not come out yet. Byler is not canon yet. It's weird to say anyone who disagrees with you is stupid and/or homophobic. I have a few Mleven mutuals who I follow for other reasons and I don't think that they ship it because they're stupid or even that they're not critical of the show. The ship has a lot of cute moments, so I understand why someone likes it even if I don't. Plus, I literally say in my original post that I'm only going to publicly disagree with these takes if they make the fandom unsafe or are in my asks, so it's not like they didn't know.

You can critique Mleven and not be condescending. If you scroll through the anti mleven tag on my blog, hopefully that is how I come across when I critique it. But I go after the show, not the shippers, unless they're making this fandom unsafe, being a homophobe or in my ask box, in which case I will call out the individual who said that. Sorry, I just feel like the enemy of the Byler fandom should be the homophobes in the fandom but because Byler is so set in people's minds, it can feel like erasure not to ship it. But it's set in your mind. After S5 and if Mike is confirmed to be gay, then I'd agree.

And I get that people are annoyed by Byler hatred. It's crap, I get a lot of it as I'm quite vocal about loving the ship. But being harassed doesn't excuse making the Byler tag a very hostile place. And I'm not even talking about Mleven shippers. If you agree with all the popular theories, you might not realise this but it's scary to have a take different to any of the popular ones on this tag (birthday gate, gay Mike, Edward Creel) because even if it is on your own blog and you haven't mentioned anyone, you get a flood of asks from people telling you that you're stupid or watching the show wrong.

So yeah, my patience has reached an end. And my ask box since I made that post just kinda confirmed that for me. I love this fandom. I think most people are nice and respectful. But I'm not going to pretend the Byler tag is not incredibly hostile and intimidating and that some of you guys can be quite toxic. It makes sense, it's a huge fandom so of course there will be infighting, but we can disagree without just insulting people or talking down to them. Ok, that's my final post on the situation for a while.

[shizukateal]

Do you think the characters designed by Ume Aoki in the Madokaverse suffer from same face syndrome? Back in my Reddit days, I asked the r/mendrawingwomen subreddit what they thought of the girls in both the original anime and the Madokaverse, and they said that the Ume Aoki characters were victims of that syndrome, even the Holy Quintet. Tbh while a lot of Ume Aoki designed characters do share the same face but not all of them, I think the quintet have distinctive enough faces to tell each other apart.

I mean... yeah, but also... Ugh, you opened the gates to a rant.

See, "same face syndrome" is one of those Internet Media Criticisms™️ that gets flattened into a label you can put on something to make it seem like you do have a point against it, even when the label itself is the most surface-level take you can think of. And applying it to Madoka feels particularly shallow when 90% of anime does the same, but oftentimes even worse. Hell, even anime that portrays more nuanced humans tends to have a base for what attractive, lead-type people look like (think One Piece, Cowboy Bebop, or Gurren Lagann).

That's not to say that I am a fan of this fact. As someone who has been irrevocably influenced by Steven Universe in her artstyle, I find a lot of appeal in media that goes out of its way to not only have very distinct faces but also bodytypes within its cast. But while I don't necessarily want to defend it, that doesn't mean that pointing out Same Face Syndrome as gotcha to call an aesthetic "bad" and leaving it at that counts as valid, insightful criticism.

Like ok, you know Sword Art Online? The anime world's favorite dead horse to beat? Absolute shit of a show, no one should watch it. All the women that are part of the cardboard protagonist's harem have the same plastic figurine body and face, only in different colors and bust size. The most unique variation among them is that 1 (one) of them has freckles, and she is the loser friendzoned one that is clearly meant to not be as appealing as the others, including the pedo and incest baits.

HOWEVER. Individually, all of the character designs ARE appealing. The colors are good, the line art and the ratio of detail are balanced, the hairstyles make sense even if they have some flair of exaggeration and I am sorry to be the one to say this, but the outfits are excellent -at least for the seasons I regrettably watched-, with a clearly defined aesthetic that makes sense, and all the girls have different outfits and just... it looks good, I'm sorry! Have you seen the character designs in other harem anime?

Now, that doesn't make all of that other stuff I said above any less true, nor does it mean that Same Face Syndrome is justified so long as it's pretty*. It just means that for all its flaws, at least SAO put some effort in that area. It was never going to be an effort that would allow for, say, a fat woman to be part of the harem -although no self respecting woman would ever want that- or anything else that would deviate from that base, but the effort was made nonetheless; and as much as I don't like SAO, ignoring the things it does right just to needlessly berate it a little more is disrespectful to the staff members who actually PUT IN THE WORK towards delivering a good product. And it's also, you know, just a bad, counterproductive attitude in general! It's on the same vein as cancelling any piece of media for being "problematic" regardless of how minimum the offense. It's petty spite trying to disguise itself as righteousness.

Now, FINALLY going back to Madoka, YES, Ume Aoki also has a base. And it is fine not to like it. It's fine to want more variety beyond tereme or tsurime eyes, or to just straight-up not like this artstyle where even the adults have this weird big baby-head-and-face above their mostly realistically proportioned bodies. But good media criticism comes from meeting it at its own terms.

I have talked about how good the character designs are individually -and can probably even say more if I have the chance-. I have talked about how well they work as a group. On a general artstyle sense the contrast between the moe cutseyiness but with mostly grounded anatomy works well for the tonal shift, and the animators did well at drawing sad and shocked expressions that don't take the audience out of the action just because it's happening to ridiculously cute girls, at least in my opinion. Everyone is just simple enough to have silhouette that can be replicated with general ease, while being just detailed enough to be memorable. Save for Madoka herself, who is deliberately styled to look archetypical, no other characters in anime look quite like the holy quintet, even taking the clichés they represent into account. I have seen blonde, sisterly anime women with big boobs, but none of them really look like Mami. Same with tomboyish best friends, or fiery redheads, or standoffish, mysterious cool rival girls, none of them have what Sayaka, Kyoko, and Homura have.

My point is YES, PMMM has same face syndrome, but it's fallacious to undermine Ume Aoki's artstyle by ganging on that fact alone. Every piece of media has problems that contribute to a wider net, which means that we can't really interact with anything "pure". Before you dismiss something you really gotta ask what the magnitude of its flaw is: is the same face syndrome here a stain that overshadows everything else, is it one amongst other problems that make the character designs unappealing, or is it just something that is ultimately minimal but should still be taken into account because of how it contributes to a general issue?

*This being said, it is not a failing of moral character to like an artstyle with same face syndrome because you find that base appealing. I mean, like... there's better things to do and worse issues to resolve, right? We all acknowledge that?