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skrunksthatwunk · 1 year

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your thoughts on goromi and kazumi? :3c

ok sorry it took me a day to respond it's because when i saw this (and periodically afterwards when i remembered this ask) i legitimately just (out loud, late at night) went

GOD. FUCK. GOD I LOVE WOMEN!!!!!!!!! I LOVE WOMEN I LOVE WOMEN I LOVE WOMEN!!!!!!!!!!! AND I LOVE MY GENDERQUEERS AND I LOVE MY TRANSVESTITES AND MY TRANS PEOPLE AND MY DRAG ARTISTS I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!

because i didn't know how to verbalize this image that appeared immediately in my mind but which i also had to make myself

literally any of those interpretations of goromi and/or kazumi are incredible gorgeous scrumptious. i was gonna end it there but i gotta reiterate some things actually oh my god i love them so so much

i figured out i was genderfluid right before i first played kiwami so goromi literally changed my brain chemistry

like i don't think i CAN put it into words how much goromi means to me. she's incredible. what the fans have done with her is incredible. i never finished it but i was planning on making a massive post on my relationship with gender and goromi and what she means to me but i can sum it up. im gonna (numbered) list some needs and then talk about how goromi hits each one. (so like 1-4 (general) then 1-4 (goromi))

i have never encountered nor heard of a genderfluid character within canon media. not even a character that uses multiple pronouns. the closest situation to it are shapeshifters, and even then their other genders are more like disguises than "openly same person just different gender/expression", so it doesn't scratch that itch for me and i never really related to them much, nor to even the occasional fictional nonbinary person. i didn't really relate much to transmasc people and their experiences either. honestly, the stuff that grabbed me most were transfem stories, which i didn't understand because im afab (turns out im transfem AND transmasc. i know that's unconventional but you're just gonna have to trust me on it bc im not elaborating rn <3). it's not as if i don't have transmasc-typical experiences or feelings, but it's like. it's different. hell my genderfluidity doesn't even present very much like what I've seen from other ppl. what the fuck. so basically no man is an island except for me okay.

when i go into media expecting queer rep, i tend to be underwhelmed by it. im not sure why exactly, but i tend to enjoy non-canon stuff more for whatever reason, even as i yearn for actual representation. the result of this is that the rep i tend to be most affected by is stuff i stumble into on accident, canon or not, so my expectations/feelings develop more naturally. it's not an exact science, but it's there.

(i think some of the aforementioned issue also comes from the ways rep is done. like maybe they're sapphic, but they're usually both cis and gender conforming (not even gay-looking femme either, like. cishet normie style. hallmark type gay, for lack of a better term) and neurotypical, so their experiences are vastly different from mine. i just tend to latch onto them less than I'd like (i imagine this goes even more for poc because oh my god is (western) sapphic . media like. very very white). basically, i lack investment in them because they lack the texture i need to get a foothold in it)

one of the main problems i have faced as a genderfluid person is a lack of direction in regards to transition. I've never seen it talked about but there's no way for me to ever get a body i am going to be consistently satisfied with, given current technology. the best i can do is try to straddle several common gender demands and compromise between them. if i want to cut my hair, i have to live with it tomorrow, when it might give me dysphoria. if i take hormones, it'll be slow to take and slow to stop. surgery is permanent. it's not that there's no solutions, but i just. can't be the person i want to be at all given moments, or even most of them, because doing anything at all takes from something else. and so when the closest thing we have to genderfluid rep is shapeshifters, it doesn't feel like rep to me because it's a completely unattainable fantasy, and one that disregards one of the primary issues i face given my identity, one I've never seen represented

I've never seen a character that a significant amount of people headcanon as any kind of genderfluid or multigender. i don't really know that many people with such identities either. so even within fandom spaces, where queerness can be more evident/daring, it's a rare thing to see, and never reoccurs within the same character much

im not gonna lie i just really like majima in general okay. and kiwami hyped me up so hard on its queercoding so any little thing got me howling and crying and pointing vigorously.

speaking of which i FUCKING LOVED YAKUZA back then (still do <3) but i literally knew no one who played it and didn't engage with it online other than scrounging pinterest (which was rough but also shoutout to that comment on a majima post that was like "so there's this he/she 😳" you literally actually changed my life and also made me soo so much more transgender. lime it was already there but it got multiplied. thank you i would actually kiss you in real life mwah) so like any queer rep that's good or close enough is gonna rock my world. I'd already talked to rina (that sapphic hostess) and kiryu saying gay rights and her talking about her actual issues was fucking. i cried actual tears over that man it meant a lot to me. not the point rn though

okay i think that's enough. here's how goromi engages with these points

look idk what it is but goromi FUCKS gender wise. big scary gruff nasty yakuza man in the streets, absolute BABE in the sheets. she's gender nonconforming as fuck and she's. god i love her. she's so interesting, the way she's both a disguise and fully just majima for real in a way the other disguises aren't. like she puts so much more design and thought and personality into goromi's clothes when she coulda just gone to party city and grabbed Hostess #1 y'know? she's the same person, but her mannerisms change in ways i relate to. it's intentional and it's not intentional and i love her she's complicated and again gnc femininity is actually super my jam apparently so that's it that's the itch scratched. more in point 4

full disclosure i technically knew about goromi beforehand and was very prepared to fall in love with her, like heart racing clearing my schedule kinda prepared, and i wasn't disappointed. i wasn't expecting it to be like... so good, y'know? like i got my hopes up, i just was kinda also bracing for something queerphobic to happen (which can happen, but it didn't for me), and instead the encounter was really affirming and tender and wonderful and romantic and i really fucking liked it ok. maybe she wasn't supposed to be more than a gag character, i don't know. but there's a lot of genuineness in what she says and how she acts. she feels real, she makes sense like this, and im not alone in seeing that significance. and people took it and ran with it beautifully, because they found something meaningful in that (see 5)

it helps that i was already really invested in majima as a character. he has a LOT of texture and frankly this series can't write or treat its women well so like. we'll make one i guess (transes your fave). a lot of female characters (and a lot of mainstream queer ones as well) tend to be kinda sanitized in certain ways, or just don't have a lot of room for personality elements that could be divisive or non-marketable, if that makes sense. they can't be "ugly" or "annoying" or "cruel" or "gross" or "bitchy" or anything else. my favorite female characters are ones that are allowed to be weird and unpalatable!!! they're wonderful!!!! let women be shnarsty 2k23. and goromi is anything but bland <3

this one's big. goromi has to wake up tomorrow and be a patriarch. she has to keep her men in line. for all the confidence and glamor of the butterfly of the night, she's gotta take it all off tomorrow. maybe when she's not ready for it. maybe she can't do all the stuff she want to with her presentation because of her job, or because she's predominantly guypilled, or whatever. a lot of it for me comes down to her goatee. it's not just that she's gender nonconforming (though that reading is in and of itself deeply refreshing), it's also that she may face some of the limitations in expression that i do, in a way I've never seen expressed before. she has to pick and choose. is she gonna want that goatee tomorrow? is it worth it to shave it off only to feel weird without it? is it worth the time it takes to grow it back? she's no shapeshifter, and it can very well cause her problems. but she still radiates beauty and confidence, y'know? i love her :)

this one's really important too. i have never seen so many people see my (often OUR) experiences in a character like this before. she's WIDELY headcanoned as bigender, genderfluid, etc, and people love her so much. i am not alone in loving her for very gender specific reasons, and the fan content I've seen really resonates so much with me. sometimes when im down I'll just... dig through goromi content. she's a great pick me up, even when her stories aren't completely happy. the myriad ways people interpret her and her identity and how/when it came to be, the self discovery, the confidence, the insecurity, the compromise, the vulnerability!!! the GENDER. (god the outfits they put her in. stop im already dead. im so endeared to her you have no idea. but you probably do and THATS the magic, baby) i have found solace and camaraderie and belonging in people's content of/for her, and im not alone. seeing that passion and excitement is so profound to me, even more so than it usually is with art and community and fan spaces (which is already a lot). when i mentioned i was making a "what goromi means to me as a genderfluid person" post (the one that got scrapped oops lol), someone responded saying they, as a bigender person, also really loved goromi for that. it meant a lot to me to see. genderqueer readings of goromi are obviously not universal and there's for sure transphobia within the rgg fandom, but I've never seen such a large force of people united in not just a trans interpretation, but a genderqueer AND genderweird interpretation. WE THE GENDERFUCKS LOVE HER IS THE POINT

not much to say here besides: this is why marginalized rep matters in all media (rather than just designated gay zones), because seeing it grow/appear in media that means a lot to you makes you feel like you're being seen as a fan. you matter and are a part of that world. i think it especially makes sense as part of a big/long running franchise as well, as a part of adapting to a changing society and an acknowledgement of past gaps and work to correct it. it's also good to get a wide variety of voices and experience portrayed, and that's easier when more people are doing it.

related to above but this one's short but it's one thing to have a side character in an rgg game be queer and accepted, and it's another for a main character to be so queercoded, and accepted within canon, at that. i think that's part of why people care so much about how mine's lines and story are translated and depicted, as well, though that's another tangent for another time

umm other goromi points speed round

number one i have SUCH a big lllllllesbian crush on her oh my god. i love womne. two the visual art these people make of her is insane. like they UNLEASH. three the fan writing surrounding her is also so good mwah thanks y'all four i watch the goromi all answers somewhat frequently fun fact about me five if any character is getting a shrine in my house it's her. kiryu's a second. i need to see this woman all the time im not fucking around six her voice is soooo pretty to me seven why did they put her in the worst lighting in her intro. not important she serves always but that was really strange like she's pretty don't be scared of it. embrace it seven 80s goromi content drives me insane I've posted about it before but it's so fuckinf good eight t4t kazumaji is always going to be incredible and flavors where goromi exist are impeccable. same for saemaji. equality nine i love how she screeches and cackles and wears "gaudy" clothing i love how instead of trying to be the "perfect woman" she's like fuck it im gonna be myself it's like that post about that trans guy who wants to be one of those men who's house has a bunch of disassembled cars in its yard just loving the mundane and the unconventional or unconsidered elements of gender because it feels so good to explore that even if others take it for granted ten HARUKA + AUNT GOROMI CONTENT >>>>>>>!!!!!!!! eleven i love women and i love queens and i love queers uhhh i think that's most of it for now

kazumi time

i also love women. i love kazumi. i love her so so much. much like goromi there's a handful of ways to interpret her identity-wise and they're all fantastic.

something I've noticed about the series while trying to scheme up sapphic/"genderbend" (i mean it's? not the most accurate term but it's as close as i can get. "sexbend but they're cis" is i guess also it but like. they don't have to be cis? anyway) content for these characters is that a lot of the ways they live their lives and express themselves are very tied to a particular kind of masculinity. so like, take kiryu. kiryu's pretty gender conforming, and his job is to be a big strong man who protects the weak. he's expressed feeling pressure due to gendered expectations before. how would one go about an "everyone knows she's a woman + transphobia is not relevant (i.e. a cis woman kiryu or i guess just. really early transition kiryu? idk)" version of her? because she would not have these same expectations living as and being seen by the world + the yakuza as a woman, right? is she gender conforming, or gnc? is she butch or nah, i guess. and i think majima's relationship to goromi has some overlap, with like,, how he is only able to do yakuza things as a man and fun girly stuff as a woman, how she's an outlet/persona (or everyone just thinks she is).

this is to say that people seeing goromi (as she's allowed some wiggle room by being both more mischievous/deceptive and queercoded in a more feminine way) and seeing her and kiryu's dynamic and going oh bitch. it's makeover time and pulling him in is GREAT because it's fun and hrngh women sexyhot but also fascinating in regards to like,, how kiryu as a character relates to gender. I've seen a few interpretations (namely @squishylemonbubbles ) that view kazumi as a sort of way to put the sword and shield down and just... be. be taken care of, even. to be softer in ways she can't be as a man due to her environment. and i LOVE that shit. and then some people are like idk she's a bad bitch though let her have some gender too and that's ALSO GREAT. i like it when people explore her with goromi as a guide/catalyst, though i think it'd be cool to have her do things a little more independently of goromi/majima/kazumaji stuff just for the sake of it. i love her. people should draw/write about her way way way more often and maybe just exclusively from now on and i think maybe I'll be satisfied. i should do that too

bonus thought: we should do this for way more yakuza characters. you're telling me NO ONE has done saejima yet. I've never seen her. no daigo no akiyama no ichiban etc (i was gonna say nishiki but i actually HAVE seen hostess nishiki..... once... <3). c'mon. t-boy swag/drag king haruka also has a lot of potential but i think ppl never do it partially because there's no women in this series so like. endangered species

anyway im not kidding i actually was derailed for a while just going OUHOUUUGHHH I LOVE WOMEN when i first got this and it was a delight getting to answer this, thank you x (also sorry it was so long? anyway im gonna edit this and link to some of my goromi and kazumi content, of which there is too little, because i love them so so so so much. ok bye)

(ok here's some of my goromi and/or kazumi posts. some of them are old and im not proud of them all anymore but that's okay. they may not much but they're honest work. in approximate most recent -> least recent order)

NEW and referenced in i think the tags of this post: 80s goromi kazumaji disco meet cute (meet ugly? tbd)

misc doodles ft 80s goromi AND girlboss nishitani

goromi pink truck dialogue

squishy's kazumi design 1 (ft goromi and haruka)

squishy's kazumi design 2 (but it's just kazumaji this time)

she was a boy and he ate. worms

screaming into the void about drawing kazumi

^^similar but for goromi (actually im redrawing this atm bc i never posted it)

80s goromi text post

another goromi wip i didn't finish oops lmao

wigless goromi wigless goromi

goromi kiryu post-fight printcircle

misc goromis

aunt goromi

unfinished wip teaser i was super confident about and then never finished oops lol anyway it's more goromi

#thanks for the ask!!#i love women #rgg #ryu ga gotoku #kazumi #goromi #i didnt really edit this so i hope it makes sense sorry #just remembered i got distracted redrawing some old doodles of goromi earlier. effervescent timing #ok i think im done for now. might come back to add other ppl's life changing cream of the goromi crop content but i gtg to bed #honk shoo honk shoo and all that

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craw-dacious · 7 months

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Review of the making of the map by fox_pitch

I'm new to marauders, this is the second fic I've read.

Summary: I liked this fic, a lot. It was a fun read and I really liked the progression of both Wolfstar and James/Lili (is it Jilly? I can’t remember). A bit less angsty than what I usually read and some parts felt underbaked, but the author kept my attention INCREDIBLY. I stayed up about four hours later than I usually do binge reading this. Very good.

SPOILERS BELOW BEWARE BEWARE

Since chapters are shorter ill do bigger recaps infrequently throughout, but still little chapter notes

Chapter one

YES THEY’RE NOT GAY YET

Cannot wait to see this unfold <3333

Aw they’re so cute, definitely a wolf star focus

I hope this goes through seventh year so I can see James and lily play out

Chapter two

Why did I not process its the first day of term thats wild and crazy

Ok so lily still is buddies with Snape which tracks timeline wise I guess

Do they pants him at the end of the fifth or sixth year I can’t remember

I am confused on the lily dynamic tbh what does she think of the group

Chapter three

This one kinda ate, im liking the short chapters I get more invested in each part of the story

Obviously I know they’re not just gonna kill off Peter, but him dying in the shack did cross my mind

I wonder when lupin gets the potion stuff

Chapter four

MURDER MYSTORY??? HOW FUN

I hope remus gets over himself soon how was Sirius supposed to know how intense the situation was bruh

Blanket statement that I apologize for all shitty teenage boy behavior they need to chill

Chapter five

Calling him inbred is hilarious Im liking remus’s pov

Hes gay James stop

Literally he’s gonna go be ur wingman be happy

Good chapter very chill

RECAP FIRST FIVE CHAPTERS

I like the silliness thats been in this so far. I am NOT liking that remus and Sirius aren’t talking to each other. Is it a narrative device? Absolutely. But I despise it so much.

I think Sirius’ characterization is very good so far, I’m surprised they haven’t fleshed out the Regulus stuff more yet. Hopefully will get his pov soon

God I hope this is a save reggie fic cmon

I really hope this passage is the one to honey dukes.

Im sure the plots about to pick up more since they’re actually making the map

Chapter six

If I was lily I would’ve folded so fucking fast bruh

Like I know he’s annoying but like he’s cute, and likes her so much, and is clearly like progressive what is the problem

Anyway, sirius needs to chill if he wants to be gay

Chapter seven

Closet time closet time its time to be emotional in the closetttt

Calling him a cat is funny

Sirius is my fave because he’s also like a fixer upper with issues but he’s not EVILL he just has trauma

And he actually wants to be the best version of himself yk (unlike some dumb ass fucking bitches I know)

Chapter eight

SHE DID NOT JUST CRUCIO HIM

Cradling his head

Sirius licking him

God can marlene just fucking kill herself please

Chapter nine

Honestly there is no world in which I wouldnt feel awkward with my friends jokingly offering to kiss me as a form of like emotional comfort like thats not normal

Like my best friend gave me a big hug after I broke up with my ex she’s not gonna go “oh haha idk what else to do other than make out with you lol lol.” Sirius what the fuck

Anyway I love to see the lily and James bonding but I can tell it makes remus feel lonelier

Wonder if we’re gonna get Peter development at all

Chapter ten

I dont even want to write uodates anymore because im liking the fic too much

Hes so stressed abt being gay I thought he already knew he was gay bruh Sirius is clueless obvi

Chapter 11

JUMPSCARE FANART BAD BAD FANART ITS TERRIBLE

Love how the maps coming together

This is not going over well with Sirius im sure

Ok so bed making out

Im so fucking horny I need to make out with someone STAT

Preferably someone with a penis bc it confirms they like me but tbh I don’t give a shit

Its 1:12 am

So it did go over well with Sirius. I expected some internalized homophobia or something but he’s actually being chill for once

OKAYYYYYYY RECAP TO CHAPTER TWENTY ONE 💋💋💋

so i got so engrossed in the story that i forgot to write my chapter notes

but so far i feel fantastic about it

LOVE LILY AND JAMES' DYNAMIC ITS SO GOOD

the regulus thing is making me want to kms. i have like no hope for reg redemption bc the fic isn't long enough, and i feel like all that happens will be the murder mystery and MAYBE gay shit

sirius was SO STUPID with marlene like clearly remus has some issues with being open and you need to like discuss,, not make out with some other bitch

also them both being bi is not what i expected? feel like remus should be gay

peters character is... interesting. why are they friends with him. also he has bo gryffy qualities wtf.

Recap AGAIN but not done yet

Ok, the wormhole shit is interesting. Poor elves.

I wonder what happened to them, is this the in between place or whatever?

They’re being too romantic on the battlefield you gotta lock in guys

Also I thought an avada grazing you killed you no matter what

Also Sirius fully used crucio and nobody like cared other than remus. Like no commentary

WHERE’S JAMES BRUH

Hilarious. Peak comedy. Coming back to life and IMMEDIATELY kissing Lily. Her being grossed out. Literally perfect.

Ok the introduction of the OOTP, seems good.

Honestly really like what I’ve seen in the fic, but it’s a bit TOO silly for my tastes. I need more angst.

Like obviously I want Remus and Sirius to be openly gay and in love but it was too easy in this fic, like with Destiel its always SUCH an issue lmao.

TOTAL RECAP:

I liked this fic, a lot. It was a fun read and I really liked the progression of both Wolfstar and James/Lili (is it Jilly? I can’t remember)

I do feel like it was a little too light at times, there wasn’t a whole lot of grey area morally, and a lot of big issues weren’t fully fleshed out. I wish they’d dived into Regulus more, and Snape. I wish they’d addressed Sirius’ use of the Cruiciatus curse, and I wish they’d address Dumbledores failings more directly

Werewolf shit was fantastic to read, the angst, the fear, the violence, the drama. I thought the transformations were excellently done and I really enjoyed the progression of them figuring out the roaming/playing

Hogsmeade passage shut off? Strange.

I did not enjoy that I cannot be sure they are safe. That’s a benefit of post-hog warts fic, if its truly marauders James and Lily often don’t die.

Overall very happy fic. I did love the aggressive use of drunkness as a plot device, I liked Lily’s characterization for the most part, and it was pretty addicting in the middle.

I thought Characterization was good, not fantastic but definitely good. Peter threw me, not very likable. It’s hard to do him correctly and have him add worth to the story, but I just did not like him the whole time, and I felt like Remus and Sirius both didn’t care for him and found him annoying.

7.5/10 <3

My rankings are not supposed to be biased. Horrible shitty fic would get like a one, something readable but bad would get a fourish. Most fics that I read will be around 7-9 simply because I sort by Kudos and get recs from misuss so they’re better quality to begin with.

Great light silly read, with just enough depth to keep it interesting. I could see myself re-reading this fic once I get to know the marauders better.

Also, I do not like the fanart in this fic but I'm sure that's not universal. The artist is credited within the fic but I'd like to tag them here just to acknoledge the hard work that went into it. I checked them out and ADORE some of their other work, this one was just not to my liking. They have some percy jackson shit up that EATS.

@komodokai on instagram

#marauders #fic reviews #fic rec #wolfstar #gay shit #remus lupin #james potter #peter pettigrew #lily evans #sirius black #regulus black #jily #wolfstar fic #fanart i dont like #but im a fanart hater 99% of the time #let me actually link the artist i almost forgot to do that

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mejomonster · 1 year

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I just watched unintentional love story ep 2:

Our sculptor is absolutely gay, I suspect heartbreak or rejection or cruel father or Something in his past and that's why he went into hiding. That's Definitely part of why he doesn't date or want to be flirted with

Cafe owner is gay too and that may be one of a few reasons him and sculptor talk

I'm sorry main guy. I love you. You look like Chimon and Yu Liang from Hikaru No Go, you act like Shi Guang, you're very cute. But my dude... when you go "I hope you don't have a girlfriend, I'm a guy but I'm still swooning for you right now~" bitch that is some Zhao Yunlan bisexual flirting maybe be self aware??? I get it, your job is on the rocks and you're hyper stressed, I wouldn't think clearly either. Also I knew I was bi since my teens so I get it's gotta be hard for you not even knowing yet but. My dude. That is PLAYBOOK obvious bisexual flirting. That is the Manual. That's Jack Harkness Zhao Yunlan shit. Oh my god LISTEN TO YOURSELF. Sculptor in that fucking car, just mentally: HE REALLY FUCKING SAID THAT! HE SAID THATTTTT. THEN THE DUDE NO HOMOS ME WITH "HAHA BUT IM A GUY?" IM GONNA EXPLODE WHAT THE FUCK. (It's okay sculptor.. look, he may be losing his job, he is just REALLY not thinking clearly, I know what he just did was SO fucking much)

Main guy is like if Yu Liang and Shi Guang from Hikaru No Go had a child. Both in looks and temperment. He's insistent, intense, brave (and a bit zoned out as he's too focused on WHATEVER mission he's set his mind to). Super cute. I deeply desire his optimism and fighting spirit as I do NOT have his amount personally lol. But on the flipside, he's naive and easily manipulated by those in power so like.. thats gonna crash in his face eventually.

Secretly I love that sculptor is rich. I keep thinking about this analysis I read, about how in romantic media the trope of "horrificly violent scary mob boss falls for the girl" is possibly desired, in part, because it's like this fantasy idea. Of the threats in the world NOT hurting you, of having a "tiger on a leash." Instead of these worldly dangers hurting you, they do anything to protect you, you are For Once not in danger and are in fact in control of threats. I think there was some merit to that idea of it appealing, and I think the romance trope of "rich lover falls for protagonist" also kind of taps into that. We have our lead guy in this, losing his job and at the mercy of a corporation who sees him as disposable and a scapegoat and doesn't care if they ruin his life. And he (is presumably going to) fall for a sculptor from a rich family, with fame and talent he can even afford to hide from the world as a recluse, who's got a car and a shop and friends who own businesses (coffee shop owner). And its like the sculptor love interest in a way is like that "rich power" ideal but HIS (eventually). His lover, within his "control" and someone who wouldn't hurt him, in comparison to the job that uses him up and manipulates him and throws him away. I think while its Not central to the plot, that kind of trope in romance may be appealing for similar reasons to the mob boss love interest, the war lord love interest, etc. (And we see it on the rise lately, although it's Always been a big one lol: GAP the series gl, Step by Step brand new show, A Boss and a Babe, Never Let Me Go an action romance take on it). I just... that analysis I Still think about, it made some interesting points...

I love rhe tension each episode ends on

I love the guy with tattoos?

Main guy radiates Such disaster bi energy AND naturally flirts with all the men around him baby boy dude PLEASE get a moment of calm and look in a mirror. All the queer men around you are absolutely fucking Baffled

I am so invested in tattoo guy and coffee shop guy GIVE ME SCENES WITH THEMMMMM

I like when art is treated idk as like... accessible? For all this guy is a famous sculptor, he teaches classes anyone can take, he values the things main guy makes just for the sake of the creating it. It reminds me of the scene in Not Me with Dan and Yok, and Yok admiring Dan's art even though Dan is NOT an art student and couldn't afford to pursue a degree in art as it wasn't "practical" as so many of us have been through. And how Yok said all art is valuable, the different perspectives of each individual artist is valuable. And I really agree with that. I think art and it's diversity and it being made by all the kinds of people who do it is SO Valuable. So I like that in this show, although a smaller focus so far, there's a distinct lack of gatekeeping what's art and what's valuable. Yes, famous sculptors art is of course a more refined long practiced craft. But he values all his students works and wants to fire them in a special way, he gives them all advice and cares and appreciates what they make. They do not have to be Trained For Years to make things he finds valuable. And I personally appreciate that.

I just am really liking the vibe of this show

It's gonna be FUN ANGST FALLOUT when our manipulating part timer protagonist gets found out for the spying thing lol

#unintentional love story #lb

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soboredimadeatumbl · 2 years

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This is bittersweet but not even in a decent way and, not gonna lie, im pissed.

Im happy for Cleo, and Kaleb, im happy Josie went to Belgium even if the fact that there was no closure with Finch is at least questionable- Finch wasnt just a rebound, she was important to Josie and they really cared for each other and Finch was a huge support for Josie to come to terms with herself and her darkness, you wont be able to convince me she wasnt important enough to Josie to at the very least get a letter or something-, im happy Caroline is finally in charge like she should have been from the beggining, im happy Jed and Ben didnt get added to the long of list of bury your gays. There were moments in there that made me smile.

But, dude. Wtf.

Landon is to be forever in Limbo. Shut up. Him saying he finally has a home and somewhere to belong is such a slap in characters face too. He did find a home in the Salvatore School! He found a home with his friends, with his found family. He belonged, and having him say that is just a cheap try at making this decision less cruel.

And Jed. They had him loudly explaining to Ben that being a wolf was a part of him, that he didnt view it as a curse, that he liked that part of himself and his pack and being an alpha and they then? just?? take it from him??? What the actual fuck. The disrespect. Yeah, they didnt bury the gays, they just assasinated the character and backed away from what Jed had grown to be in a way that doesnt make logical sense in story and trusted that giving him a happy ending with Ben was enough. And its not. Im really happy to see them happy together, but its not.

MG got reduced to only Lizzie. He might as well not have developed at all through the seasons. He doesnt even get time with his friends in the end, no matter how close he and Kaleb were, no matter that he actually had other things going on apart from getting with Lizzie.

Which brings me to Lizzie. I know this was the end. I know they really really liked mizzie and wanted them to be endgame. This still didnt work. It still didnt make actual sense. They backtracked Lizzies development for it. They backtracked MGs development fot it. They even backtracked the progression of plot fot it. It feels out of character and it suffers for it.

And what the fuck was Alarics ending? Do they realize that just because they have the other characters say in universe how amazing Alaric has been thats not enough for the audience? At this point do they care?

Im not pissed about Jen not being there, even if i wanted her there. They didnt get renewed, and we all knew that meant there would be loose ends that they couldnt possibly tie together in time, and we were okay with that. But this wasnt it. This was throwing the progression of the story out the window in favor of putting their favorite characters and dinamics front and center one last time even if that meant screwing almost everything else. This was screwing the characters they didnt truly care for and adding insult to injury by having the story and the characters themself act like it made sense. Landon in limbo didnt make sense even if he said it did. Mizzie didnt make sense just because Lizzie and MG confessed their love for each other. You dont make the plot work, you just piss off the audience cause we see what youre doing.

And generally id say write the story you want to write. But this is show. This is the 4th season. You have an audience, and you know it. Youve expressed that you care about said audience too, even if it was just to keep people invested. If you respected the audience like you said, this wouldnt just be about the story you want, with all your self indulgence and preferences for one character or another. But it was. Cause you dont actually care for the audience. Or logic, apparently.

I will remember the good. I just wish there wasnt so much bad too, in the very end of this series i honestly enjoyed.

#legacies #legacies season 4 #legacies 4x20 #cleo #kaleb #josie saltzman #penelope park #finch #caroline forbes #landon kirby #hope mikaelson #jed tien #ben prometheus #mg #milton greasley #lizzie saltzman

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bluelockednyx · 2 years

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thoughts on lunasae? u have them listed in your pairings, i was wondering if u could elaborate on them more specifically. i'm still conflicted on the pair myself. sometimes, i think it'd be a cute and funny ship that id love to see more content for. other times, it feels like it'd be wayy too draining to put anyone in a relationship with luna (probably just my own personal biases speaking though. it's tiring to deal with people who are so… backhanded. but i feel sae would probably handle his personality better since he doesnt really seem to take shit passively). i can see them as a couple… but like, one that's gonna break up in the future? or just a relationship where they just have the occasional hookup or sumn? idk, thats why im so interested on what u may have to say abt it. im also curious as to why u may like it over something like shidousae

An ask for my other shipping log in Blue Lock!!!!

As always, a ton of rambling, so it's behind the read more.

On Shidou / Sae: they're on the lower end of my ship interest ranking, simply because there’s nothing in their interactions that particularly compel me towards them (those superbly gay lines to each other aside), and there’s not much of Shidou’s character design that interest me. My initial impression of him was some sort of spoof on the gyaruo subculture, and it really hasn’t changed much, hypersexualisation included. If there’s more stuff between them, or more development of either of them in the future I might get more invested, but for now I think that Lunasae could have a far more interesting dynamic and narrative, even if the authors don’t take it to where I think they could.

I get why you say that Luna is possibly tiring to deal with in a relationship. The way he talked to Rin? Not everyone can accept that kind of sarcasm and way of talking. But there’s quite a bit more to his character, even in his very, very brief appearance in the manga. It could really just be me overthinking things as usual, but I don’t think so. There’s some subtlety both in his character design and depiction that suggests that he is a character that has been given a fair bit of thought by the authors, so I’m running off of that. This is gonna be a little all over the place, so bear with me.

As a very, very minor character, there’s not much screen time for Luna, but there’s a ton of stuff we can extrapolate from his very brief appearance.

His interactions with Rin in the vs World 5 miniarc is really fun from a writing perspective. On the surface and in a quick skim through, the impression that he gives off is that he’s sarcastic and rude, but his actions with Rin in the mini arc tell a different story. He first deescalated Rin’s provocations (to Rin’s benefit, might I add) and neatly keeps Dada, Pablo and Adam from Rin after that by turning Rin’s attention, and Rin’s ire, onto himself. And how does he do it? By talking about Sae, praising Sae, even, to Rin’s face and saying he’s looking forward to see how Rin does.

During the match he gives Rin valid criticism and points out his weaknesses, and towards the end after Isagi and co. have given up on winning the match, while Rin is still trying to win, he even goes so far as to say he’ll face Rin sincerely. After he scores the last goal, he immediately reassures them as well, reminding them that this is an evaluation, and that they were never expected to win. He even tells them (foreshadows?) to meet in an official match next time. All in all, I think Luna has a sharp tongue on the surface, but he’s also pretty subtly caring with a certain level of emotional maturity and astuteness at handling conflict. Also seems to be a bit offbeat, judging by how Loki had to point out that he was being rude for him to apparently notice it.

I’m gonna dive a little more into meta about character design, since there really is so little we have about him in the story right now.

I’m going to start off with his name: Leonardo Luna. Luna was the part that really jumped out at me first, because one of the most common uses of Sae’s given name, the Japanese kanji, is to describe nights and shine, e.g. 冴えた夜、冴え輝く, both of which well, can be easily linked to the moon, thus Luna. The moon shines brightest in a clear night, after all. :D

For Leonardo, the meaning is lion-heart, and there’s a ton of positive connotations with the name of course, mostly to do with bravery, but I also like the implied meaning of a lion at the head of its pride, caring for the cubs and its pride members etc.

Then Leonardo’s nickname: the Noble of Real Madrid. Probably something in there about how he’s probably noble-hearted, tying into his given name, but there could also be something about Leonardo being a Madrileño and perhaps a legacy player of sorts, with older family who had made names for themselves in the sport too.

I’ve said before that I like them as an asshole x asshole ship, though in all fairness that’s pretty much all of the Blue Lock characters and ships. Just thinking of the both of them being judgy assholes together is hilarious to me, along the veins of Sae outright insulting someone to their face and meaning it, then Luna at first seeming to come to the other person’s face, then delivers another backhand insult way worse than Sae’s without intending to be rude is a comedy bit for me.

From what little we’ve seen of Luna, he seems to be a little fond of teasing people. Maybe a bit fond of leading people around the nose, with the way he played against Rin that time. I think that Sae is okay with that. Sae doesn’t give Shidou a hard time for any of it in the U20 match, even going along with it, somewhat. The only time he got pissed was when Shidou leapt onto his back without permission after Shidou got his second goal. When Oliver outmaneuvered him, Sae too, went along with it and continued playing in the match.

I think they both appreciate the hard truth, and have a pretty level-headed view of things overall (arguably you can’t get far in competitive sports without being able to do that, but y’know). Leonardo certainly doesn’t hesitate to say that he believes a Spanish guy could win in sumo more easily than Japan could win the World Cup in football, and its the same poor opinion that Sae himself has about Japanese football. They’re both also pretty decent at guiding/giving advice to others – I’d even say that Leonardo and Sae had some parallels to each other when they were with Rin and Shidou in the World 5 miniarc + U20 arc respectively, talking about Rin and Shidou’s weaknesses and how they needed to get better.

They’re both also more subtle with how they care for people, and we can see it in how they treat Rin. I just talked about how Luna looked out for Rin in the World 5 miniarc, but Sae is similar too. I’ve talked about how Sae treated Rin badly, but he’s still mostly a good brother to Rin: he didn’t scold Rin when Rin interrupted his match when they were children, he played and pushed Rin to be better with him, before he went to Madrid he was worried about how Rin would do without him since it’s implied Rin has never played without him up till that point. He would have ditched the U20 match after seeing Rin score, even saying that he has ‘seen what he wanted to see’, which strongly implies he just wanted to see Rin doing well with the Blue Lock project. He also thinks very highly of Rin’s capabilities, and his word choice shows as much when he talks about Isagi to Rin at the end of the U20 match (RIP Rin for not understanding the subtlety and having better insight to Sae’s thoughts).

Luna mentioned Sae specifically to Rin. It could be simply a minor detail more to distract Rin than anything, but I’m inclined to think that Luna has watched, or maybe trained a bit with Sae before despite the age gap. It’s not unlikely, since Sae is one of the best young talents around within Real’s Youth system. Clubs try to train up their own people irl and move them up if they have potential. There’s probably some level of regard he has for Sae there. On a more speculative note: I wonder if the authors are implying that Luna took the part-time job with Blue Lock because he was interested in Sae’s interest. Sae cancelled his return flight to Spain just to observe the Blue Lock project. It would have made some buzz in Real, especially if Sae is a core figure of Real’s youth team and that well-regarded, which I believe he is.

Also, Luna’s a world-class player, I can’t imagine Sae considering his butt as unattractive lmao.

Beyond that, I think Luna could be a fantastic foil to Sae, if the authors take it that way. Given the name etymology I discussed above, it would be amazing to have their stories paralleling each others: Leonardo, as a true blue Madrileño, growing up and achieving international success in his hometown and home team, vs the struggles that Sae had to go through while living out the basic immigrant story: of searching for greener pastures overseas to fulfill his dream, the hardships from living in a very different culture etc. Potentially quite a bit of drama, such as microaggressions, racism + bullying, the need to work twice as hard to prove himself to get at the same starting point others already are, the child exploitation that exists behind the whole sports youth system; basically a side commentary of a ton of social issues, which, again, I kind of doubt they’ll dive deeply into. It’s a bit too heavy, I think, for your average shonen sports manga, but who knows.

Then there’s the whole bit of the career paths both have chosen and are succeeding in: Luna as a world-class forward, and Sae as a genius midfielder part of the current generation's world-level players. There’s a fair amount of conflict and, well, story that could be in there too. We have nothing yet about the full reasoning behind Sae’s decision to change his dream, so *shrug* imagination, here I come.

Also I wonder why all the forwards Sae's been shown to play with, besides Rin, are blonde. Hmm?? Hinting at something, Kaneshiro-sensei??? Does Sae have A Type beyond the butts???

On the shippier side, I do believe they can have a pretty easygoing dynamic going on between them. A lot of easy banter, not quite like Shidou and Sae's conversations in the U20, but similar. They both definitely like the high life too, and I wouldn't put it past them to be the type who'd have super expensive dates and have them on a whim too, like, idk, a spur-of-the-moment trip to Paris or something.

And there's the typical drama involved with an age-gap relationship, plus the side dishes of navigating an interracial relationship, and a queer one, in a pretty homophobic environment overall. Especially when you remember that Sae himself is a perfectionist. It's an excellent bedrock for all sorts of character and ship dynamic explorations. All fun stuff to explore and think about.

TLDR; I like their individual aesthetics. I like what we’ve seen of their individual personalities. I like the potential they could have, both their commonalities and their differences. There’s a lot of story that could be there between them, and I have a ton of fun imagining dumb shippy and not-so-shippy stuff between them. So that’s why I ship Lunasae.

#niki answers asks #lunasae #tqvm for this ask i've been dying to talk about their narrative potential in-series #shippy or not they can be INTERESTING #and that's enough for me

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bumblyburg · 1 year

Text

ted lasso finale thoughts

Need the richmond women's team spinoff NOW!!!!!!!!!!! And it better have LESBIANS i swear to god!!!!!!!

As always the strongest part of this ep was the team dynamics. Roy joining the diamond dogs. Isaac with the penalty kick!!!! The fucking dance sequence callback T^T theres no place like afc richmond <3 Them winning the match but losing the whole thing was a good balance of success vs realism. I didn't know enough about football to predict it beforehand LOL but that probably worked in my favor bc i genuinely didnt know whether they would win or lose. Rebecca and ted's friendship was heartwarming as always. I was living in fear that they'd become a couple even though i knew that wasn't what the writers were going for, so I probably need to rewatch to fully enjoy it.

Tedependent lost RIP. it would have made sense but at the same time im kinda glad they didn't, at least this season. trent was still very much a side character and i just don't think the story beats were there for tedtrent endgame. the story would have had to been constructed differently, or it would need another season. I also liked how the main focus was ted & rebecca's friendship rather than either of their romantic relationships. I love a good romance but its not what this story is about.

Thats part of the reason why the dutchman return felt cheap to me lol. Sorry rebecca im always rooting for you but i just wasn't feeling it. Another part of that is probably because Ted and Trent had a much stronger foundation and we still didn't get to see even their friendship develop as much as i would have liked. Maybe ive been spoiled by all the trent this season idk. but i was just hoping for a little more. After all, it's not lost on me that we only got one confirmed gay couple at the end (we don't even know anything about Michael!!! Ugh sorry Im a michael hater he's so boring.)

Speaking of boring, I simply do not care about ted's family. So him moving back was... not really compelling for me. like none of the kansas characters are fleshed out at all. i wish they had done something more interesting with them so i could actually get invested. There was something there with michelle dating their couples therapist, but it ended up falling flat imo. Also Michelle being a teacher is a total copout, I would have preferred if she had an unexpected job that revealed a new side to her. Give her a personality outside of being a wife/mother/caretaker please and thank you.

I did like how Royjamie was left openended!!! thats the ship i care most abt and i knew it wasnt going to *actually* happen so im satisfied with what we got. I am in the (im assuming) minority of royjamie enjoyers that is against roykeeleyjamie. This episode really hammered it in why roy and jamie are not good for keeley LOL, but the signs have been there all along. Keeley needs to be her own boss for a bit! Roy and jamie are just not at her maturity level (lovingly), and they've got some misogyny to work through.

(I need to think on it more, but I'm pretty sure that I liked the way this episode/season handled the Roy And Jamie Are Lowkey Sexist subplot. Like the whole fighting over a woman thing is soooo trite atp, and i still dont know how i feel about them physically fighting over her or whatever. but the story was realistic about how these asshole male footballers are going to have some weird views about women, while still shutting that down those views. like not even giving them the time of day. Keeley literally shoos them out without a word LMAO. So idk need to think about it more but at least keeley didnt end up with either of them).

Hey you know who DOES deserve each other.... and makes each other better people, as represented by their football training arc.... the student is the teacher and the teacher is the student etc etc…… Anyways royjamie is real TO ME!!! (And brett goldstein and phil dunster, number one royjamie warriors. phil dunster wrote royjamie smut I will never get over that)

Overall im sad to see ted lasso go. i think i need to sit with all 3 seasons a bit more before forming my full opinion, but s1 will always have my heart. Mostly because evil jamie and evil rebecca are so so fun to watch.

#The most important takeaway from this post is the bit about the lesbians. in case you couldnt tell #This is also more for me to process more than anything else lol #ted lasso s3 #ted lasso spoilers #ted lasso

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freak60000 · 2 years

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tell me abt the characters PEASE their relationships seem so interesting

this ask is old too but oh m GOD. i’m gonna talk about the relationships actualy but there’s so many relationships in this game like SOO many i’m not gonna do all of them here but i’m gonna do some i like. hold on tight and bear with me because i’m autistic and i know how to use it. i’m not doing them all but anyone can send another ask if they wan tto know more ^_^

also this ask made me REALLY happy i just want you to know HEHEE. 💖💖💖💖💖i love talking about my blorbos sosososoo much so this made me giggle and kick my feet while typing u know

okay. okay. i don’t even know where to start so i’ll get the ones im not too invested in out of the way. crypto and caustic HATE EACHOTHER. they are both going under fake identities and they both know it. but ALSO. crypto and caustic are stepbrothers. caustic is the biological son of mystik, an old woman who adopted crypto when he was younger. however crypto and caustic never met (i don’t think) when they were young so they didn’t actually Know this for a very long time until SOMEONEEE (me. pathfinder) literally just Guessed that since their mothers went by similar names that they were the same person. and then i just said bye and FUCKING LEFTTTTT. it was really funny they were both like. …………… see below:

ok next is uhh bloodhound and fuse. fuse joined the games and after a hard journey for the two of them bloodhound became fond of him. he comforted them throughout their journey trying to find themself and blaming themself for their home’s loss and destruction. the voice actors and like half the community ship them really hard so that’s cute i guess. idk if i’d call that canon though but they definitely are SUPER cute when they talk to one another

fuse and maggie OH BOY. OH BOY they were like Besties since they were little little kids. pretty much siblings. almost their WHOLE story is explained with this sfto though if you wanna watch that instead of me explaining. but yeah they hate each other now because fuse Left her and the already diminishing planet of Salvo to fend for themselves, basically selling them off to the syndicate. so yeah fuse is kind of a dick so maggie is furious with him (rightfully)

awwww rampart and mirage awww. they’re so cute. what started off as a bickering friendship between the two blossomed into soemthing mirage could Only define as a sibling bond, reminding him of his brothers (which he had lost). they’re siblings they’re found family and they’re so funny together their relationship makes me cry a little bit in a funny way and a sad way i love them. see below:

crypto and mirage HAHAAAAAA they have this like really gay frienemy thing going on it’s so funny. crypto called him old man and mirage called him kid when they first met even though crypto is literally older than him (there was speculation that he’s like… 28 or soemthing though but idk if that’s true or not) but yeah they’re silly

mirage and pathfinder YAYYYYYYY me and my bestie!!!! it started off as me just being like. annoying to him but then he started to like me and tolerate me and then we became besties. short and sweet but i (canonically and in-game) call him my best boyfriend so. you could say it’s a little Bit Gay but that’s up to you 😋 he loves me even if i’m a little bit silly (this is the same dynamic with wraith but she isn’t as mean to me HEHE) here’s a thing he wrote me after giving me a ton of flowers to cheer me up YAYY:

wattson and caustic ohhh boy. this one’s confusing. father-daughter like bond at first, caustic really admired her work in the science field and she appreciated his admiration. then that bond formed but caustic tried some shady shit in broken ghost because wattson started becoming besties with crypto and wattson REALLY didn’t like that so they like… weren’t friends anymore? and he did some more shady shit and she like electrocuted him and i guess that worked because now he’s like a sad puppy when he talks to her. so yeah idk what happened HAHAH.

last but not least me (pathfinder) and ash. yayyyy. i don’t liek talking about this one because i don’t like the way i was written here but i’ll give you the gist. i foudn her in the dumpster after she was put together and like. saved her i guess because she got rebuilt after. and then she moved in with me and i had a little girlcrush on her for a while (it was one of those “you’re a girl and you’re my friend, so you’re my girlfriend!” things) but she wasn’t interested (the way they wrote me was a little creepy :((( ) and she left. but she joined the games a couple seasons later and i apparently still haven’t let it go because i still. yeah. but yeah after she left i was depressed for like an entire season until my best friend mirage cheered me up ^_^ yay

#viper zach and talbot don’t look at the second paragraph‼️trigger #OKAYYY i might just do another one if u send another ask asking for it because if i did them all at once we’d be here for hours so YEA #ap*x l*gends #ily ily i love talking about my guys sooo much AHHHHG.

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creacherkeeper · 2 years

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happy sleepover saturday luka!!! all even numbers for the dnd asks go tf off bestie!!! (maxwell for character q's) :)))

omg thank u my boy

(dm)

2. What is your NPC creation like?

i mostly create npcs to fill a needed role in the story, decide on some basic traits that fits or contradicts that roll, and then they flesh themselves out from there. my npcs tend to get a mind of their own very quickly so i have to do very little work

4. What's your favorite part of DMing?

creating characters or lore or scenes to Target Players i just love knowing whats going to drive them insane and then doing that on purpose as much as possible

6. Plot or character focused?

as a dm, very plot focused tbh. but i like to, as much as i can, create my plot around the pcs and players. lost has become more character driven because of choices the players have made and scenes they want to run

8. Do you prefer world or character creation?

for lost, ive actually been enjoying both fairly equally? im usually such a character bitch but making the world FOR the players & pcs and coming up with lore that will be interesting to them and tailoring it all to a wild west setting has been really fun and interesting. and my players have already started making secondary characters to explore and flesh out the world more so i guess its working!!!

(player)

10. How do you come up with characters?

i am VERY mechanics driven when it comes to pcs. i usually come up with class/subclass/multiclass first, then as i build the sheet try to figure out what kind of person they are based on the mechanical choices im making. personality and backstory usually come from that, but sometimes i do start with a basic concept or theme. i knew erley was a cowboy paladin, bo was going to be a ranger at a national park, and maxwell was an adhd mad scientist. but for example i decided that my new short shot character solare is very [redacted] because he has a +20 in [redacted]

12. What's your favorite part of playing DND?

when the other players are all really invested in the story and each others characters. like yeah we made all this up and we care so much!!! fuck yes!!! love getting emo about our little guys

14. Do you like to player characters with family?

i do!!!! i did notice a trend in my main game pcs of Only Children With MessyTM Relationships With Their Parents and we simply. arent going to examine that <3

16. Do you have any archetypes you tend to play?

not really? ive played a freakish amount of pcs at this point so they tend to be all over the place. i do love a Sad Boi tho <3

18. Do you prep for sessions?

daydreaming :))))) but thats it

(for maxwell)

20. Is your character religious?

he is!!!! he's a follower of burnlow, the god of fire, lightning, creation, and destruction. he truly does believe himself to be gods specialist little boy <3 im still trying to decide how/why he became a cleric though, waiting for my dm to help me flesh that out :) (i also decided the erley curse CANNOT continue so i gave max a +13 to religion)

22. How do they feel about the rest of the party?

he hasn't met them yet! but i do imagine it's going to be like "hello i am your new annoying gay best friend and you are Stuck with me as i have imprinted on you like a baby duck". maxwell doesnt really. have boundaries. he might have to work on those <3

24. If they were the god of anything, what would they be the god of?

self-expression

26. What kind of music would they like?

tbh prob like heavy metal and screamo. he would love welcome to the jungle by guns n roses

28. What would they do if they were betrayed?

smash everything with his big hammer <3 bonk

30. What are their thoughts on justice? (highly specific now)

that bad people get whats coming to them and most people are bad people which is why the world is so fucked up and violent

32. If they were on GBBO, what kind of contestant would they be?

would burn literally everything he baked either on purpose bc he claims it tastes better that way or because he was talking to the hosts or other contestants and forgot to set a timer. he would be kicked out very early but would be a meme-ified fan favorite

34. What would their thoughts on the fall of Rome be?

that empires deserve to fall and things would be better if everyone just kept each other in check

#thank youuuuuuuuu #lost township #maxwell tag

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thesuperiorlokiseries · 2 years

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(1/2) You guys have renewed some of the hope I had lost in storytelling and people taking stories and characters like this seriously (thanks Marvel, Disney). The more time that passes and the more I hear people praising the Show in one breath and either ignoring or dismissing or sneering at Loki's characterization in Thor 1/Avengers/Thor 2 in the next breath, I can't help but feel that the Loki we got in those three films was a happy accident almost. Because it's obvious that outside of our

(2/3) outside of our (apparently) small corner of the fandom nobody actually cares about him or what he went through or that characterization, and it's disheartening. It just feels, every time I am reminded of the absolute retcon Loki's character went through and people just going along with it and the assholes who have shown just blatant disrespect and maliciousness towards him and his fandom get rewarded, (3/3) it feels like the universe is saying, "This thing that you have become so deeply emotionally invested in, and that you love, and you connect with on a fundamental level, this thing that has given you comfort and has been a source of strength and identity for years, yeah this thing is actually garbage and if you like it then you're wrong." It's just super hard so the fact that you're doing this project is amazing and... thank you. (okay im done)

Thank you so much for the support, sorry that it took us this long to answer, and by the gods do we all feel you. All I can really say, though is this: welcome to the hellscape that is late-stage capitalism.

There are a thousand tumblr posts that talk about this in detail and in multiple different contexts, but it probably cannot be illustrated any more poignantly than with the Loki Series: what we're getting in the name of movies/shows aren't stories, but content, and shitty content at that. Disney and the MCU simply do not care about character arcs or narratives - the sole motive that keeps them churning out project after soulless project is how much money they can squeeze out of each. And since it's the MCU - the most popular film franchise out there, and owned by Disney on top - they can and do pay critics to praise their trash relentlessly, and even if they didn't, there's always going to be far too many people blindly willing to eat up whatever garbage they produce.

They knew how massive and dedicated Loki's fanbase is, they knew exactly how willing far too many fans were to accept even the barest scraps of Loki content, and they knew exactly what to do to keep us willing to watch it - the sheer amount of manipulation that occurred in the trailers and the interviews is frankly insane, and most certainly very, very deliberate. Moreover, Loki is a queer, heavily-other coded, abused character whose most dedicated fanbase consists of women, queer people, neurodivergent people, and other minority groups - it is not a new phenomenon that showrunners actively go out of their way to sabotage characters whose fanbases don't consist primarily of NT cishet men, and are we really surprised the megacorporation still funding Florida's Don't Say Gay bill might torture, dehumanize, and humiliate a queer character on his own show?

In retrospect, it's ridiculous that so many of us - me included, I will admit - actually hoped that the MCU of all possible franchises might give us a decent show about a queer, traumatized, othered victim of abuse who's always represented deviance and rebellion against the status quo. Nobody could have expected the Larry Show to be this nightmarish, but a decent Loki Series... realistically wasn't going to happen in the hellscape that was the year of our lord 2021, not one made by Disney.

Of course, this isn't nearly limited to Disney - Amazon's recent Rings of Power series immediately comes to mind. The Peter Jackson movies had their flaws, but the LOTR fandom almost unanimously loves them because it's evident how much care was poured into the project. The Amazon series, though? HAH.

So while the universe isn't telling us anything, Disney - and Amazon and Netflix and every other corporation you can think of, really - and their bootlickers most certainly are. "Oh, so you want characters and narratives that represent and resonate with you? You want arcs that are satisfying and meaningful? You're dissatisfied with consuming and paying for our garbage content and actually want something that's fulfilling and impactful and made out of any motive beyond relentless profit? Hah, lol no."

Does that mean that they're right?

Hell no. What we all desire and deserve are not products but stories - ones where character arcs and themes actually matter, ones with messages and characters that truly resonate with us, ones crafted and told with love - because stories have connected us all since way before the dawn of human civilization, because stories are inherently a part of humanity, and because capitalism has no right to destroy that, especially not the story of the god of them.

This project is, and always will be, a gigantic fuck you to them all.

#not the superior loki series #the superior loki asks #loki series rewrite project #loki

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andoqin · 2 years

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Shows I’ve watched 2021 pt 3

Well finally I’ve reached the shows I watched this year and actually enjoyed. Huzzah!! I can’t even do a best 10 shows this year, because at the moment I don’t even have 10 shows that would make the rank. 2021 was fucking *dire*.

I told sunset about you - Thai drama does coming of age and gay love story with a truly cinematic feel. The actors knock it out of the park and the way it’s shot gives it that feeling that you have when you think back on your first love, all the ups and downs and all the intense emotions you felt. Truly a show that stunned me and promises good things for thai (bl) dramas. It was still set in high school but it approached the feelings from a very different angle and used production values and great directing and writing to get you invested with the cahracters that many Thai BLs never even dream about. 9/10

Word Of Honor - the show that took over tumblr and danmei fandom at the beginning of this year to the point that it was probably a catalyst for a harsh crackdown for all BLs to come. The censoring after the fact was so noticeable that fans were still able to glean the original dialogues at points and while some of the acting wasn’t really up to par and the plot suffered the great romance of Zu Zhi Shu and Wen Ke Xing was always the focal point and always really well acted. Gong Jun delivered his best role to date and ZZH got to get away from his previous stoic roles that had him pretty type cast. Of course it all went to hell in the summer but ah well. 8.5/10 rationally (10/10 emotionally)

Run On - A show that manages to be low stakes and yet it knows how to make those low stakes really connect with you as a viewer because its slice of life feel actually feels like it could be part of your life (okay I don’t actually know that many rich people... nor do I want to). We got to see Shin Se Kyung shine in her role as Mi Joo who knows her worth and what she wants from her life. Short King Im Si Wan gets to be not her knight in shining armor but the one who does see her and see how great she is without asking her to compromise in any way. Then you have the great surrounding cast who are all dealing with being adults in a world like ours and just doing the best they can. I also really loved listening to Mi Joo talk about her subtitling work and how much she loves it. It’s so nice to see someone who has a career they’re proud of and that they enjoy. 9/10

The Rebel Princess - Zhou Yi Wei continues his assault on my heart whenever he appears. He’s such an incredibly versatile actor whose magnetism just leaps off the screen. It was a real delight to see him and Zhang Zi Yi be the power couple they both deserve to be, who never doubted each other and always stood strong. I do think most of the side characters also delivered their parts as the story needed them to, but some of the plot elements got to be tedious (Wanru and Zitan come to mind), but in the end the show gave A’Wu and Xiao Qi the ending they (and we) deserved. 8.5/10

Kieta Hatsukoi - A FUCKING DELIGHT. A mistaken identity leads to a false confession that turns out to be a true confession once Aoki truly discovers his disaster bisexual potential. It is unmistakably a manga adaption, but it manages to read that fine line between being super twee and catching your heart strings, mostly because Aoki, Ida and their friends are just genuinely good kids that you want to be happy. Maybe it was this hellscape of a year that made me check it out and fall in love with it but it came at the right time since I hadn’t really enjoyed a drama in a long time and this really did get me. 9/10

Utsukushii Kare - If Kieta Hatsukoi is sunshine and puppies, Utsukushii Kare is abandoned dogs and creepers and I mean that in the best way. Both Hira and Kiyoi are fucking weirdos in their ways and maybe Hira is more obviously a weirdo, but what I really appreciate about the show is that it shows how they both crave something from the other. Kiyoi is *not* unaffected by Hira’s obvious adoration, but Hira has to acknowledge that Kiyoi is more than just his “god”. But man that finale, that was fucking great. They both have that shouty argument that dramas sometimes like to do and that I slurp up with a spoon because for these two it works because they’re not people who express their feelings in more ~conventional ways. AND THAT SCENE at the theater/bar thingy, where Kiyoi’s face gets so *vulnerable* when Hira sucks on his finger (okay so writing it out sounds weird but man the way it’s shot and acted and edited is a++++) and then Hira fucks it up again and Kiyoi’s walls snap all the way up once again. Mmmmh good stuff. 10/10 no notes!

Beyond Evil - Ahhhh the last show I really enjoyed before I went into a drama funk because I enjoyed fucking *nothing*. The mystery was a bit eh, but well, I’m fucking weak to Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Gu acting their pants off (each other) and I’m kinda glad the mystery got a twist in the middle so it didnt feel like the police was completely idiotic. I mean not that the police work *wasn’t* iffy at best but sometimes the script is just elevated by Shin Ha Kyun and Yeo Jin Gu going off on each other... hehehe. Anyway infantile jokes aside their chemistry was fucking a+ and I wish i could have seen more of that kind of energy this year. 8.5/10

7!!! dramas I finished and enjoyed! 7!!! out of over ca 40 i tried this year. God, I pray to the drama gods that 2022 will treat me kinder!

#beyond evil #kieta hatsukoi #i told sunset about you #word of honor #utsukushii kare #the rebel princess #run on #a year in review #fuck 2021 #jdrama #kdrama #cdrama #thaidrama

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helisol · 3 years

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dude im not sure you will get it after reading this either, but you Can read it now

okay so first of all do not expect me to adhere to rules of grammar or Proper capitalisation, I am writing from the heart

so it’s been said before by other people but if Quark and Odo didnt look like the aliens that they are but instead like two regular prettybois the fandom would do cartwheels over their dynamic and Not call them a crack ship. because really, their dynamic fucking SLAPS and I’m here to tell you Why.

their surface-level dynamic is “Respected and Talented Security Chief and Cunning Immoral Businessman who are in Love but pretend not to be” and that's just an off-brand version of enemies to lovers! which is excellent and for some people that’s all you really need to get invested in a ship.

but some people look at it and go “Hm, no, that’s not enough. I mean, they work as friends but it doesn’t really have to be romantic.” and to that I say you are Absolutely Valid, not everything has to be romantic.

it just so happens that these two fuckers have one of the most compelling romance stories ever, and it’d be a shame not to explore it.

so before I dive into the internalised homophobia and repression, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Quark as a character.

because if you have brainworms like me you can kind of see that its an honest to god greek tragedy.

this guy comes from a race of people where being kind, ethical and fair is considered Abnormal and Horrifying. and I’m not gonna call Quark out of all people kind, ethical or fair but,,,

you ever notice how he’s A Much Better Person Than Pretty Much All Other Ferengi?

dont get me wrong, Quark is still a bastard, but every once in a while his True Character shines through. and I say True Character because guys,,, the way he behaves around other people is an Act. he’s pretending to be something he’s not.

he has to try so hard to be a good ferengi it’s honestly painful to watch at times. because he is a SHIT ferengi!

he loves his friends- because that's what the ds9 crew are. they’re his friends! and it makes him miserable because that's not! normal! for a ferengi!

let’s compare Quark and Rom for a second.

Quark reeks of self loathing because a lot of the time he just Doesn’t act like a ferengi is supposed to, and this drives a lot of conflict in the show. he knows how a ferengi should act, it’s just that he can’t!! fucking!! do it!! but he still tries and tries to fit into that mold, which straight up ruins his life on multiple occasions.

Rom is also not a Model Ferengi, but he lives without hating himself. and it’s mostly because he doesn’t care about how a ferengi Should act, he’s loved and cared for even when everybody knows that he’s a shit ferengi! because his non-ferengi-ness works to his benefit. it encourages and highlights his abilities as an engineer. the success and love he finds make it easy for him to be content with his true self. Unlike Quark, who doesn’t get unconditional love from anyone.

its so!! tragic!! because you can see what Quark is really like!! his true self!! he’s a nice guy who cares for people!

its right there all the time and it's so blatantly obvious. especially in episodes like “Body Parts”, “Bar Association”, “The Way Of The Warrior” and “Ferengi Love Songs”

his own wiki page literally calls him “a compassionate and generous man by ferengi standards” which pretty much translates to “not really a good ferengi”.

anyway so Quark is a tragic figure or whatever but we’re actually here for the REPRESSED! HOMOSEXUAL! TENDENCIES! that he and Odo both exhibit.

with characters like garak you don’t really need to have brainrot to pick up on those tendencies, because that was something andrew robinson chose to do, on purpose.

and to be fair, Quark wasn’t intended to be Any kind of representation, not even by the actor. I’m just pointing out that he Does look and act and talk like a little gayman.

I will admit that he is Painfully Straight in the text of the show, but on a meta level he’s just. a dude who has a serious case of repressing his real personality. and taking it a step further- he also represses his feelings towards another man.

and that man is Odo.

a few things on him:

Odo is literally desperate to be a person. unlike Quark, who at least has the comfort of belonging to a society of people with a set of rules and expectations, Odo has never met anyone or anything like him in all his years of life.

like, we all know Odo basically grew up in a lab, right?

with people who didn’t know anything about him. who he was so unalike that they literally called him “Nothing”

but he still learned to look and talk and act like them (because if he didn’t he’d feel *pain* which is very fucked up by the way?)

so we know for a fact that Odo wants to be recognised as a person- which is why he tries really hard to conform to the ideals of the society that raised him. instead of exploring his nature as a shape shifter he maintains a humanoid form, picks up a job and creates an entire personality around what he wants to be seen as. but not what he really is.

and that's the thing that causes all the conflict between Quark and Odo. the type of person odo wants to be seen as is the polar opposite of whatever the fuck quark wants to be seen as.

In the same way that Quark acts like a Normal Ferengi, Odo acts like a Normal Security Officer. and in a cruel twist of fate, the Ferengi happens to be the antithesis of the Security Officer.

If you only look at them as the things they act like, and not the things they are, you might say they’re way too different to like each other, right?

but,,, if you think about the fact that they’re both putting on this act,,, this performance of idealised versions of themselves,,, you can see that they are The Same. They Are Both Gay Repressed Loser Aliens Who Try To Act Like Things That They Aren’t!

Imagine you’re Odo.

Imagine that you’re Nothing, because you’re not like anything anyone has ever seen- and because you are Nothing you don’t fall in love with anyone for years and years. since who could love something that isn’t like them at all?

But then one day this Thing shows up in your path and you just hate it. Because it’s not like anything *you* have ever seen. It’s disorderly and looks grotesque and it’s criminal to boot.

It’s all the things you learned would make a “Bad Person” It’s everything you aspire not to be, because if you were any of those things you would BE PUNISHED.

But the trouble is, eventually he’s not an “it” anymore, he’s “Quark” and you see him every day of your miserable little life because you live on the same damn station in space and it’s hard to avoid each other.

He also happens to be one of the only things in your life that are constant. He will never leave because he is stubborn and greedy and you just *hate him so much* that you’re convinced he must be doing all of it to spite you. And yet you also can’t seem to leave him alone.

So Odo Must Hate Quark. everything else is a non sequitur for him. he can’t not hate Quark.

because Quark is, and i’m sincerely sorry to apply christian fucking imagery to this, The Forbidden Fruit.

If he liked quark he’d admit some kind of moral failing. it would be the end of his act. but on the other hand...it might be a good thing, because at least he could have quark.

but Odo can never go through with biting into this apple because the consequences are horrifying to him. he could never have quark because, according to his performance, he would Never like quark to begin with.

and here’s a take for you: Odo's Brand Of Internalised Homophobia Doesn't Stem From Heteronormativity. It Stems From The Fact That He Was Kind Of Assigned Asexual At Birth.

and the show sort of alludes to this, for real! not just subtext! canon! except the writers used the wrong person.

because instead of Odo having these Forbidden Feelings for Quark he has them for,,, Kira.

but since this is My Quodo Manifesto you’ll understand that i am 100% willing to just toss that part of canon out the airlock.

so Odo does canonically have that mindset of “no one could ever love me” for decades he repressed any and all feelings of love to avoid getting hurt. in the show he breaks this cycle of repression when he takes a chance and enters a relationship with Kira. yay?

but we all know that aint it chief. and part of the reason why That Ship Ain’t It is the fact that Quark is Right There. and he is simply the more interesting choice for odo.

he and Odo literally share the same problem and have weird intertwined character arcs! they are both dreadfully afraid of not conforming to the ideal versions of themselves, so they reject everything that could challenge their Performance!

on some fucked up level they hate each other *and* themselves individually. and this hatred makes them reject parts of their real identities for the sake of protecting their image. which. yknow. in gay people. is internalised homophobia!

so you can see that they’re both repressing A Lot even if you view them as Friends, but the most important thing in this kind of romantic dynamic is usually,,, when the characters *stop* repressing.

and the thing is. the thing that Kills Me with these two. They Never Get That Moment. Thats Why You Need The Brainrot To See Them As Romantic.

The Ascent gives us an example of what happens when they both take their act too far. I mean, who could forget “Fascist!” and “Fraud!” That is what odo thinks of quark’s performance and vice versa, but we don’t really hear them adress the fact that they *are* playing these roles to a ridiculous extent.

We also never get an example of what would happen if they dropped their act instead of over-performing it. or rather we don’t get to see both of them drop it.

And the reason why we never get that moment is because there’s this one key difference between Quark and Odo.

Quark knows that he’s constantly repressing his true nature and his feelings for odo. We pretty much hear him say so in the iconic root beer scene in Way Of The Warrior. he knows that he’s not a good ferengi but he keeps up his act.

So quark is aware enough to feel that sweet sweet self loathing. But Odo isnt self loathing as much as he is just self sabotaging.

and this subtle difference between them is why, at the very end of the show, we get “That man loves me, can’t you see? It was written all over his back!”

this moment is quark dropping his act and asking odo to do the same. he wants to hear a genuine Goodbye from him because they have known each other for Decades and they are Friends. but odo is so unable to express the feelings he’s been repressing all these years. that he self sabotages again and just walks away.

even though this is like. very anticlimactic. considering I just spent 2000 words talking about how Odo and Quark are Most Certainly Gay For Each Other.

The fact that their ending is so Weird is the reason why quodo is so engaging and appealing to me? especially post-canon quodo.

like, the amount of “what if’s” this ship has are Astounding.

What if either of them had dropped their act a little sooner? What if they both did, for just a moment, and it was the straw that breaks the camels back?

What if Odo comes back after a few years? What if Quark comes to get him?

What if, in that moment in the finale where Quark drops his act, Odo had returned the gesture? What if Gag-Reel Quodo Kiss.gif Real?

with the depth that I read into their relationship, those what ifs are really fun to think about.

anyway its 1 am and i’m not an english major so literary analysis is not like, my strong suit. plus most of this was written in a late night screaming session with a friend who has the exact same opinions as me. i just think aliens hot and in love. thats all.

#the SOUND of my HEAD hitting my DESK with TERMINAL VELOCITY #quodo #star trek

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