#this will be in my portrayal anyway but don't expect him to always be mean and if he's soft that's not unusual

[gemkun]

i think something that is misconstrued is that ratio is always seen as abrasive and harsh. yes , he is a people displeaser and he is unflinching in his candour but there should also be emphasis on how he informs in soft tones and with room for questions if need be , because he seeks to educate and spread knowledge to those less fortunate and to those who simply wish to expand on what they already know. just take a look at the messages he sends trailblazer. so , i don't think he should be viewed as a coarse figure but instead , he's someone who filters out the nonsense and puts forth the purified truth.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

saw speak no evil last night, which i really enjoyed! it proved to be my very favorite kind of stressful movie, i.e. a slowburn thriller where people go to a beautiful and remote location and then Things Go So Wrong! it reminded me a lot of other faves ex machina, men, 10 cloverfield lane, the menu, ready or not, the recent blink twice, etc.

just some thoughts about this movie (spoilers!)--

+ i really enjoyed all the gender role stuff going on in this one a whole bunch. this is, of course, a classic gothic romp in my eyes. therefore, watching the dad -- down on his luck, feeling emasculated by his female family and by life not favoring him as much as it was supposed to! -- get seduced by the alpha male andrew tate-y bs embodied by james mcavoy's character, like the dad was but a shrinking naive gothic heroine missing or even lusting after all the red flags, was SUCH a fun subversion to me. yes! yes!!!

+ every time that mackenzie davis's character tried to establish boundaries and they got run over and then she let it slide to be palatable, i viscerally FELT THAT. there was, of course, a big element of 'privileged people wanting to appear woke so they keep being boundlessly pityingly nice to the poor people', but even deeper than that, i think this was a great portrayal of how women in particular are expected to constantly accommodate and ignore their intuition. the bit with making her eat the goose. D: and it got worse!

+ i also really liked how in the big showdown, the mom and the kids were the ones who actually took out the enemies, and the dad was the only one without a 'kill' to his name. (though he did sacrifice himself by jumping off the roof, mirroring Accomplice Wife's self-sacrificial death!)

+ gosh, the dark implications re: Accomplice Wife's character were so harrowing - the victim becoming the abuser - and the fact that the little girl was being primed to follow in her footsteps ..... D:

+ i enjoyed that the kids were the ones who had the sort of Big Finding Bluebeard's Closet Of Dead Wives Reveal. (my bf pointed out that this is a bluebeard story, and it so is! my favorite!) that sort of ASOUE-y feeling of kids having to make it on their own because adults aren't a guaranteed source of safety. MAN, poor ant. :'( that kid had a HORRIBLE time. i really admire his persistence in keeping on fighting and trying to communicate.

+ i saw someone in the reddit discussion thread say that couple vs. couple is an underrated trope, and i agree! would love to see more of that in cinema.

+ love how the title operates both on the level of "this kid can speak no evil about what we do because we cut his tongue out" AND "don't ever say anything mean to people or you might hurt their feelings and what could possibly be worse than that (oh, this, i guess) 😬"

+ can't believe they did nick miller's favorite song cotton eyed joe so dirty like that. :( that scene honestly brought tears to my eyes from pure misery. the fact that some parents really do treat their kids like that ...................... (even if that wound up not being totally the situation in this particular movie). disgusting and heartbreaking.

+ the most a+ "eternal flame" use since gilmore girls.

+ after i watched the movie i read up on what the original film was like, and may i just say: that would have broken me psychologically in the movie theatre. thank god i didn't have to see that. THANK GOD! sometimes american optimism really works for me, honestly. if it's a gothic, then in the gothic, they've always got to make it out at the end!!! bruised and bloodied and haunted but still standing! so i'm really glad they did!

+ it honestly never occurred to me that people would thirst over james mcavoy in this movie, because he's so gross and horrible, but it takes all sorts to make a world, it turns out. the internet teaches me that every day!

+ anyway, i had a great time watching this! would definitely watch again! but gosh, was it a special kind of fun and stressful to watch it unfold the first time.

[skaruresonic]

So the latest discourse is that saying that Sonic isn't a hugger and his clingy behavior towards Shadow in Prime is proof of how much the fandom loves to complain about the smallest things. In fact, "yall say Sonic should be free but yall don't want him to do anything".

I find it fascinating. One, the language that implies that fans who say "no Sonic wouldn't do X because it's OOC" are actively stifling a person's freedom. My dudes, Sonic is a character, not a real person. Please don't conflate the two.

Second... this is the same fandom that has been crying for 10 years that Shadow is being written terribly. That now he's just Vegeta, that he's nothing like he used to be, that his Boom portrayal was a travesty, that his prickliness towards Sonic is completely wrong because he has always respected him, really, go play SA2 where he was at his peak!

Why is Shadow's perceived character defended so staunchly, but defending Sonic's character comes off as restricting the freedom of the very character?

It's as if Sonic, to these fans, simply doesn't have a personality in the first place. He can be whatever we want him to be. Shadow, on the other hand, can only be how he used to be in a game 20 years old now, because we loved that one.

So the latest discourse is that saying that Sonic isn't a hugger and his clingy behavior towards Shadow in Prime is proof of how much the fandom loves to complain about the smallest things. In fact, "yall say Sonic should be free but yall don't want him to do anything".

If we're gonna treat Sonic like he's a real person, it's only fair to respect his boundaries, no? Why should your desire to see him be cuddly supersede his boundaries? Would you do that to a real person?

Ofc the better retort would be "Sonic is a fictional character with an established character and you're misconstruing his love of freedom to suit your flanderization; pull your head out of your ass," but since this argument was made in bad faith, you gotta meet it where it lives.

People have been misinterpreting Sonic's whole attitude towards freedom to justify OOC non-game portrayals. First they insisted that Sonic has some dutiful love for the platonic ideal of freedom and that was why he always showed his enemies mercy. Now they're saying "you won't let Sonic do anything," as if fans are physically preventing poor third-party creators like Prime's showrunners from creating Peak Sonic(tm) by... criticizing Sonic's behavior after the fact. Because that's totally how reality works.

No, Patrick. Just because Sonic is "like the wind" doesn't mean any and all behavior is automatically in-character for him.

I suppose tomorrow's discourse will contend that Sega should let Sonic take the fattest rip off that bong because ST put a gag drawing of Classic smoking cigarettes on the break room door thirty years ago.

lol 420 blaze it

Anyway, if you look at the games, you'll find that Sonic isn't actually that touchy-feely. He rarely, if ever, hugs other people, but is typically the party being hugged instead. And he is usually portrayed as awkward or uncomfortable: he doesn't know what to do with his arms.

While some may argue that Frontiers!Sonic now feels "comfortable" enough to put a hand on Amy while she clings to him, he isn't... exactly reciprocating? He only seems to feel comfortable being glomped on when focusing on his other friends:

He's still not looking at Amy, he's looking at Tails lmao. More like he's just waiting for her to finish because he's come to expect getting glomped for long periods of time.

Whenever Sonic "touches" someone who initiates contact, he usually holds them at arm's length.

This is how he holds his best friend in the entire world, the second half of the Unbreakable Bond. If not even Tails is exempt from the junior prom dance rule, what makes folks think Sonic would act even chummier towards Shadow of all people?

Besides, I'm sure Game!Shadow's reaction to Sonic even attempting to hug him would be

---

Second... this is the same fandom that has been crying for 10 years that Shadow is being written terribly. That now he's just Vegeta, that he's nothing like he used to be, that his Boom portrayal was a travesty,

It's really bizarre. I swear this is the only fandom where the main characters' IC behavior is derided as OOC purely because it doesn't gel with the fanon fandom has built up in their heads. Mostly because we've fostered this environment of "the games suck" through a constant background radiation of disparagement, with such messages seeping through every pore of Sonic fan spaces as:

1.) "Sonic is inconsistent" 2.) "the series was never good" 3.) "the Sega-Sonic character design standard is too generic and cookie-cutter" 4.) "the games are incapable of being as complex or as deep as [insert spinoff media here]" 5.) "Sonic is a static character [and therefore that's bad]" 6.) "Sonic vs. Eggman is boring and routine" 7.) "game purists think the games and/or Sega can never be criticized."

that his prickliness towards Sonic is completely wrong because he has always respected him, really, go play SA2 where he was at his peak!

Thus, the conundrum of being an SA2 fan in a day and age where fewer and fewer who hype it up have proven they've played it, much less understand the game's themes. I get stuck between this rock and hard place of being just as tired of the overhype, yet being forced to admit over and over again that I acknowledge my favorite Sonic game it isn't nearly as unimpeachably Peak(tm) as everyone portrays it so people won't think I'm... for lack of a better term, the kind of SA2 fan who thinks SA2!Shadow is the GOAT. Battle!Shadow is the GOAT and nothing anybody says can change my mind. None of you fake-ass Shadows ever said anything nearly as metal as "This is the final voice of the last war machine," have you? I thought not

It can't be understated how much Gerald's brainwashing mitigates SA2!Shadow's portrayal. Although it doesn't completely invalidate the entire portrayal, it does beg questions of how much he was driven by forces outside his control.

While there are aspects of SA2!Shadow's character worth genuine analysis, people exaggerate his better qualities while ignoring or downplaying his less palatable traits (traits he displays in later portrayals as well), like the showboating and arrogance. And like I always say with Shadow, you can't cut him up into pieces like that. You have to accept the whole, rough edges and all.

It also doesn't escape my notice that SA2!Shadow advocates imply the only time Shadow ever had a "good" portrayal was before he underwent character development, which is another stereotype of us SA2 fans: that we perpetually huff nostalgia think the past is better simply for being the past.

Meanwhile, I've been saying for years that I would love for someone, anyone, to give Shadow something to do that has nothing to do with the ARK. That's why my first reaction upon hearing about SxS Gens was to headdesk. You have a character who's all about forging his own path and moving on, yet you're always sticking him in the same goddamn hamster wheel. Why.

---

Why is Shadow's perceived character defended so staunchly, but defending Sonic's character comes off as restricting the freedom of the very character?

It's as if Sonic, to these fans, simply doesn't have a personality in the first place. He can be whatever we want him to be. Shadow, on the other hand, can only be how he used to be in a game 20 years old now, because we loved that one.

Tbqh, I don't think it's fair to pit Sonic and Shadow against each other like that because the entire cast, really, is being gutted by a fandom that insists the games have nothing of substance to respect. God knows people make shit up for Shadow and claim it has canonical basis too. And, you know, sometimes they don't even bother to do that - they just make things up simply because they figure the tropes that are good enough for other franchises must be good enough for Sonic as well. Looking at you, "Shadow was tortured on the ARK."

Sonic, Shadow, Eggman, Rouge, Cream, Tails, Amy, Knuckles, Silver... Most, if not all, the core cast has it bad these days. And I don't think this fanonization is going to get any better unless there's a change in fandom culture. Not until people stop thinking of the games as inferior and game purists as the no-fun-allowed fiction police.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Saezuru 7

Title: Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai 7 (囀る鳥は羽ばたかない 7)

Author/Artist: Yoneda Kou

Shop: CD + Manga

Release Date: 2021/07/28

Cast:

Hatano Wataru + Shingaki Tarusuke

Okitsu Kazuyuki

Masuda Toshiki

Ookawa Tooru

Ueda Yuuji

Satou Takuya

Miyake Kenta

Ito Kentarou

Nara Tooru

Synopsis: Adaptation of the 7th volume of the series.

Review Proper

I'm not sure what's gonna end first: the series or my fucking life.

As much as I love Saezuru, it's gone on for so long that it's starting to get old literally and figuratively. You know, I wouldn't even be mad if Yoneda Kou ended the series by killing Yashiro off in 6. 7 is still well-written to a point and the BLCD did deserve to rank second AGAIN in chil-chil 2022, but I'm not sure about the future of this series (it wasn't nominated in 2023 tho which is one of the few good things about 2023's).

I say a lot of things, but I'm still invested in vol. 7 & 8.

I don't know who I'm jealous of, BUT THAT SHOULD BE ME! This scene is in vol 8, not 7, but I wanted to include it anyway.

I do agree that Saezuru portrayal of the whole yakuza deal is the realest 'cause happy endings over there are quite rare, but this isn't a novel that comes out in one go. Doesn't help that June is ass. I've heard from several friends who've read the latest releases that it feels like it's lost its way and that just makes me sad. I'm still hopeful tho.🤧

As I've already stated, this placed second in 2022's awards. I mean, it's Saezuru. Frontier doesn't spare a penny for it lmao. All the major characters are voiced, and they managed to bring the A-listers back again. Sometimes, I forget that Saezuru is actually based on a manga whenever I listen to the BLCDs 'cause the production is just that good.

Shingaki slayed as usual. I've said this many times before, but no matter how bad or how well he does in another role, he will always be Yashiro. I just came from Tsunaida and we're in the middle of a Rei event in Nu:carnival, so I would expect myself to adjust to Yashiro, but I didn't need any of that lmao. Yashiro is truly Shingaki's magnum opus. I'm not at all surprised that he placed 3rd best seiyuu for Yashiro. Deserved.

Speaking of Nu:carnival, I will forever be obsessed with Yashiro's relationship with the other characters aside from Doumeki. Nanahara's voiced by my one true love, Okitsu, but like Yashiro, I love him for his character and not his voice. It is nice having the other veterans in here with him, too. The slut trio is complete with Daddy Complex SatoTaku, Boss Ass Chaser Okitsu, and Damel in Distress Shingaki. #BLESS I want Kamiya to end up with Nanahara.

I haven't heard Wacchan in years HAHAHAHAHA. His Doumeki is still amazing as always. My issues with the story aside, I'm really looking forward to his "break" in vol. 8. EEEEEEE

Special mention to my Ryuuzaki and Miyake Kenta who made their comebacks here too. I missed him so much! LMAO

The BLCD is pretty accurate to the... magazine at least, but June does sell the translated tanko (fortunately). Like the previous installments, reading the manga while listening to the BLCD was so smooth because it was so accurate. Now 7 does end in a cliffhanger, so I don't really advise listening to it if you still don't have 8. But if cliffhangers aren't an issue for you, then break a leg!

[hildegardladyofbones]

Ooh ijust finished season 1 and here are all my thoguths. Do not expect coherency I went to sleep at 3am last night

Nothing good ever happened. I cannot remember a single good thing that happened that immediately didn't go to shit. I'm usually all for angst but at one point it will get tiring.

The writing itself was quite good, but something they sort of used as a crutch is pogo. Whenever a character came to a realization and was confused, pogo always came in like "I think I can explain". After one point it was just funny. Half of the plot wouldn't have happened if after reggie's death pogo had sat everyone down and caught everyone up to speed. The fucking apocalypse wouldn't have come.

Speaking of which- I knew from episode 6 onwards that they will fail. Not even for a second did I believe these fucktarts could be competent enough to stop the fucking apocalypse. I was right. I don't think this is a bad thing tho- I was kind of tired of guaranteed happy endings anyway. This wasn't a bad ending, because technically they all survived, but it wasn't certainly successful. It was just an ending.

Another thing I loved was Ben's character. I knew quite a lot about the show before watching it so I knew there was a brother who was dead already, but I didn’t expect to see him, which was nice. Its funny to think that there were times where all 7 siblings were together and didn't realize it. I also love the trope of a character speaking to voices/beings/ghosts that others can't see. It's always so fun

The acting was also a highlight. Obviously I love klaus and his actor's acting with all my heart, but I think the best performance was five's. First of all, his actor was really young, and young actors taking on a big role is always impressive. Secondly, his role was complicated. It wasn't a 13yo boy, it was a 13yo boy with 58 years of experience. And his portrayal of five really did that justice. Five is a hardened mean old man and I really appreciate the show not shying away from treating him like one. With shows like sherlock, where the protagonist is also a kind of a shitty person, I get the feeling we're supposed to look at that like a silly quirk, not an actual flaw. Did not get that feeling here at all. In fact, all of the characters are kind of bad people and I LOOVEEE that. Seriously. I fucking love it when people are people and do shitty things.

Oh yeah and another performance I loved was Grace's. Her role was unique as well, because it's difficult to portray someone who is not human (especially when the actor herself is human), but who is made to appear and act human. You're a human pretending to be a robot pretending to be a human.

Going back to the topic of this show not being scared of bad people and bad things- I really admire this show's audacity to casually send klaus to war. I love how it was shown. Like. We see klaus open the suitcase and disappear, and later in the episode he reappears shaking and clearly distraught. Okay. He saw something he shouldn't have. And then it turns out he spent 10 months in 1968 Vietnam. And they don't move on from it. I think other shows would've sent him to war for like a day at most and then moved on from it or turn it into a joke, especially considering how we we weren't shown that he went there, just that he got back from there. Ykwim? Like usually these things that are such major events in a character's life get shown, but here they didn't show it and I think that's genius because then you get the feeling of "lol where'd he go. Oh he went to war. Oh okay he's a bit traumatised. Oh shit. Oh SHIT-" you just sort of gradually start understanding the severity of what he experienced. And the others don't question it? Fucking love that. Like "Yeah, he's our brother. Yeah he went to war for 10 months in Vietnam :/ Yeah he's a traumatised war vet :/"

I also have to mention that everyone just accepted that five's girlfriend is a mannequin.

Uhh what else fuck I forgor

Oh yeah might be a controversial opinion, but I don't mind the "incest." First of all- it's fiction. But even then it's like the most ethical version of incest out there. They're both consenting adults with literally no age gap, they're not related in any way, and imho they were barely raised as siblings. Like yes they see eachother as siblings (like the 6 of them) but their mom was a robot and dad was barely a father. They didn't have a childhood. I don't necessarily ship any of the siblings together tho. I think they hate each other too much.

Another thing I noticed is that this show *loves* it's song montages. Ther wasn't a single episode where they randomly started playing a song where the lyrics didn't even fit the situation that much while they. Fight or something. I thought that was kinda funny. Unserious. Even.

Which brings me to my next point, which is how disconnected from reality this show is, superpowers set aside. The visuals are very illustration like and they make some really interesting choices. It's set in 2019 but no one has cell phones or modern cars. Reginald is apparently from the victorian era?? And the composition of some shots is also somewhat wes anderson-like. Which is to say I loved the visuals of this show. They understand that not everything had to make sense or be explained. More often than not audiences are willing to go along with most things as long as the show itself doesn't question it. People don't ask for explanation for things you haven't pointed out need an explanation. All their previous nannies looked very 1910s but I won't question it if the show won't mention it.

Coming back to the characters I think the ones I enjoyed the least were Luther and Diego because even though I get their motivations, I just personally don't like them all that much. As people not as characters. They're very believable as emotionally stuck manchildren. One of my favourites that I haven't already mentioned are Hazel and the handler btw. Hazel is just so loveable and sympathetic and the handler would punch me in the face so of course I love her. She's a woman with light hair and a smoking habit. That's all my type is tbh.

Anyway I think that's all for now. As a number rating I'd give this season a "misery is all that remains" out of ten because happiness only exists in fanfiction I guess. Feel free to send death threats over me justifying incest or whatever. Or just tell me your own opinions. Whatever the fuck. My head hurts.

👍

[crusherthedoctor]

I like how Sonic 06’s defenders and their arguments never conform or line up with one another, like each of them has a different interpretation and headcanon to the game’s plot and characters.

Some say the Time Travel works in X way, others say it works in Y way, and so on, even though it’s never outright stated in the game any of this, and their own theories have their share of inconsistencies and holes with what the game shows us. Then there are the ones who say Mephiles is a 400 IQ villain whose actions were all according to his masterful and sadistic plan (despite all the other characters becoming fucking dumbass for all the ass plot to happen), and there are ones who says he’s supposed to be a dumbass and a coward, even though Eggman in the end props him up like a master manipulator who trolled them all, so I’m not exactly sure if the game confirms this view.

There is never a consensus on what exactly is the case on these things and it’s so funny to me. Maybe someone could say that because the story is so complex, deep and masterful, one could draw many interpretations from it. Like, yeah, it’s totally not because everything in the story is poorly explained, established, shown and executed, making everyone have the chance to fill in the gaps with any kind of bullshit the game shows and establishes or even what it doesn’t show and establishes lol.

Surge might have dethroned him as my least favourite Sonic villain of all time (funny how it didn't really take that much effort beyond simply being as annoying as possible for my tastes...), but Leslie the Dark is still a shoddy result who similarly did not earn his fandom acclaim. Much like how my personal distaste for Frontiers doesn't mean I'm suddenly going to start fawning over '06, or any other game I consider too flawed to consider good in the unironic sense.

You can tell Mephiles was set up to be the ultimate mastermind, and that him failing to line up with that role was not intentional. Notice you'll get fans gushing over how brilliant he is, but once you point out the issues with him, then they'll switch gears and act as though his flaws were deliberately woven into his portrayal. Either that, or that you can't expect perfection from a Sonic story (which is hilarious since most fans make a big deal about how they care more about the story than the gameplay, to the point of excusing certain installments of their non-nitpick shortcomings if they find the story to be halfway decent). It's no different to claiming Scourge was always meant to be a parody, despite how he would frequently be presented as the biggest and baddest threat with no irony whatsoever: it's a lazy excuse to justify bad writing, and very obviously such.

The only reason you could give Mephiles for going out of his way to convince Silver to kill Sonic is that he couldn't do so himself for whatever reason... which goes out the window when he ends up doing the deed himself anyway. It's not like he was too busy either, since up to that point, he spent the rest of his time fooling around with Shadow in ways that didn't really contribute anything to his ultimate plan. Or that he could have teleported all the Chaos Emeralds to his destination from the start, since it turns out he can do that as well, with no reason provided in the game as to why he didn't do so beforehand. While you can write a villain whose indulgements might occasionally drift from their overall scheme, you need to be smart about it, and provide context that doesn't compromise the story's structure.

This is what happens when prioritizing cheap power level thrills overwrites the plotting. To my dismay, this would not be the last time it becomes an issue in a Sonic game. *looks at Frontiers' shortsighted milking of super forms*

The recent push to retcon '06 in general as secretly brilliant is always going to be an example of why I don't take a statement as gospel just because it's a popular one. Yes, '06 does have some moments worthy of praise, and some ideas did have potential, but that doesn't mean the final overall product is actually good. The humans still look uncanny. The world still leans too far into realism for realism's sake. The gameplay remains as broken as ever, and no amount of praise given to Project '06 will change that the original game remains broken. Elise's character being reevaluated and appreciated is nice, but she was still used poorly in the plot. Silver might be powerful, but on top of being made to piggyback off of Shadow's popularity (and the majority of his creative process being little more than "think Trunks"), he was ultimately portrayed as a total idiot, and the way they framed him beating Sonic was just as unearned as Mephiles' kill, and contributed to Sonic's poor treatment in the game as a whole. Do I even need to go on, given what game that nearly killed the franchise we're talking about?

It's frustrating for me because not only can I express fondness for a less than stellar product while also acknowledging its quality with no issue at all (I am fully trained in the ways of Enter the Dragonfly and its lip flapping muppet models), I also happen to love stories that deliberately keep some of the details ambiguous in a way that's satisfying and intriguing instead of coming off as a cop out. So for people to hold up '06 as an example of that offends me lol, especially after so many years of later games being beaten over the head because fans cried up and down about not settling for mediocrity.

So we won't settle for perceived mediocrity, but outright shit is fair game?

[krash-and-co]

wdym by the infantilisation of george? genuinely asking as I haven't rlly seen that myself ahah but could you elaborate/give some examples?

note: I edited this ask after posting bc i wasnt done and also didn't say stuff entirely the way I meant lmao. I probably got redundant but idek what I wrote anymore, also there's a tldr at the end.

oh hey !! yeah, something ive seen are karim's (specifically this version) autistic traits and how they were portrayed in his fanon. some people either reduce him to or focus his character heavily on his 'cute' or 'childish' autistic traits, and this kind of becomes his main identity. he's autistic, and his childishness is pounced on and multiplied by fandom, because they want him to be cute like autistics are. he's autistic, and therefore vulnerable and dependent. a baby, not as capable as Lucy and Lockwood, which is nowhere near true. see the problem? /gen not only is it an unrealistic depiction of autism, but it can make people uncomfortable and be harmful.

I will mention this is an unfortunately common thing both in general fandom and irl, not something I expect one post to change. I am just sharing thoughts here :] but anyways lol

yes we as autistics can be childish. yes it may even be cute to you. yes we may feel childish ourselves, comfortably so, and that's totally fine. but it's when our whole being is warped into that one stereotype it becomes a problem. it's when people forget the rest about us, and we're your fandom vessel for angst and fluff where cute tiktok autism is our whole personality and we're not really a person anymore but a little pet people coo over. objecitified. people want to embrace these 'dependant' characters and they mean well, but the treatment of autistic traits can be.... uncomfortable. because, I mean, where does that leave you if you share these same traits? you likely don't want to be treated in such a way; you know you aren't some child to be coddled. but these characters are, and it feels wrong.

in good portrayals of autism and its acceptance, we can have all our autistic traits-- yes even the cute ones you want to baby us over, and yes even the weird and negative ones youd rather ignore, and still be treated as an equal, like george is. we wont be coddled more than a neurotypical, not treated as lesser in maturity or awareness, or shoved in a box. lockwood and co is like that to George, which is wonderful. as is most of the fandom, which is even better.

however I have seen this in fics and hc posts most notably, and it's a glaring contrast compared to the most works, and I do wonder if others have noticed and it leaves them with a funny taste in their mouth too.

not to get all preachy on this fine Wednesday at 2 in the morning, though.

tl;dr: reducing an autistic person to vulnerability and a childish nature, with malevolent intentions or not, is harmful. george is capable and badass !!! and honestly? it makes me as an autistic uncomfortable, seeing people with my traits treated like that over them by fandom, even though they mean well. balance is key. not being a total freak over our cutie patootie autistic faces is also. <- /hj /silly

obligatory end message where I mention again this isn't something horribly common in this fandom around my side of tumblr, at least, but I have seen it and wanted to ask if 1) y'all noticed it with George too and 2) share thoughts lol

ty for the ask, always happy to clarify my posts for y'all !! :]

[theonethatyaks93]

A Discussion on Pinky's Sexuality/Gender (Day 3 of Pinky Week)

(Quick Note: Ahhh! Sorry about the delay on this! It's just that I've had a lot on my plate and with that new Pinky and The Brain trailer thing, I've been kind of stressed out. This is mostly because I've been trying to lower my expectations as far as they will go so I won't be disappointed or I'll be blown away. I just don't know what to think. Also, burnout is real. I'm making it all up this week, I promise!)

(Another note: I didn't expect this post to be delayed so much! Oh god! Anyways, the next few days will be a makeup week where I finally finish Pinky Week and get prepared for Brain Week coming up. This was supposed to come out last Wednesday, but I had absolutely no time! Also, I had to do a LOT of re-watching clips and research for this! Way more than I had thought. Sorry!!!)

Hi everyone and welcome to the third day of Pinky Week! For those who are just joining me, here's the gist of what's going on. Since there's going to be a new set of Pinky and The Brain shorts on Friday and Pinky's narfday was last Saturday, I decided to dedicate an entire week to talking about Pinky. Every day, I'll be making a new post about a different aspect of him, discussing things such as his character. I've already made a happy birthday and a more personal story about Pinky so go check those out. Ok, so let's begin today's discussion.

3/22/23 Discussing Pinky's Sexuality/Gender- Listen, most of this will just serve as possible headcanons/theories on events. I personally think that Pinky is pansexual and genderfluid; obviously not everyone will agree with me. This post is just a celebration on the things that I have noticed during the course of the reboot and spin-off series. I'll be tracing his evolution from loyal assistant to best friend to possible love interest for Brain. I will also be talking about how his gender identity transitioned from an interesting little joke to a realistic and admirable portrayal of a character who's not afraid to be himself. I am trying to cover as much ground as possible so let's give it a shot.

Pinky's Sexuality: Pansexual

What Does Being Pansexual Mean?: Pansexual can be defined as a romantic attraction to male, female, and nonbinary people; so basically, you like everyone. While seemingly not as common as being gay or bisexual, pansexual characters have been getting the respect and love they deserve.

Why Does Pinky Embody Pansexuality?: Pinky being pansexual has been tossed around as a kind of fan theory for a few years. Some people think that he's bisexual (like Brain) and some think he's just straight up gay (read below section for further information). However, I fall under the group that says he's pansexual because it fits his character the best. Pinky is the kind of mouse who would love just about everyone, no matter their gender or species. His kindness for anyone knows no bounds and though his heart gets constantly broken, he always gets back up again. Pinky is always determined to support Brain in everything he does, no matter how upset his friend makes him. His unbridled affection for Brain is honestly a pretty big giveaway to Pinky not being straight in the slightest.

Could Pinky be Just Gay?: This really depends on the person you ask. If you were a new fan of the series, only starting to watch during season 3 of the reboot, then yeah. Pinky is basically gay in those final ten episodes with him never mentioning a female love interest for the first time (I think) ever. It's insane. Also, he hints at his attraction to Brain in several ways such as dressing up alongside him in feminine clothing (he didn't have to do that) and even holding his hand tightly (much to Brain's surprise). He also does that little hand gesture at least five or six times and showcases his more extravagant personality. So, my conclusion is that if you were to only watch season 3 of the reboot then Pinky is nearly 100% gay. However, when you watch the rest of the franchise, this changes his sexuality to pansexual since he has a few female attractions earlier on.

Setting Things Up (Animaniacs 1993): Below is the first time Pinky gives Brain a compliment. It's from their debut episode "Win Big."

The first "gay stare" from the entire franchise in the episode "Where Rodents Dare."

Although we don't get too many Brinky moments from the earliest era of the mice's existence, we do get to see that even from the beginning, Pinky really cared for Brain in many ways. He gives his friend compliments, admires his work, and even tries his best to follow his plans, (though Pinky can get distracted easily). In "Win Big" Pinky gives a seemingly content reaction when Brain pulls him by the tail. "Where Rodents Dare" gives us the first official gay stare in the series, done by Pinky after Brain talks to him about the plan. Pinky is often seen acting in a very positive way around Brain, no matter what his friend says. While this was the point in the series where the two's relationship could only be seen as a partnership/acquaintanceship, Pinky still seems to call Brain his friends without hassle. Brain seems more reserved here and is often more brash when it comes to Pinky and his behavior.

Pinky Gets Flirty (Pinky and The Brain): Below is a screenshot from the infamous "colleague" line from episode "That Smarts"

Pinky doesn't know what to say to Brain on their "dinner date" in segment "Brain's Night Off."

This well-known frame from segment "Beach Blanket Brain" (which coincidently is paired with the previously mentioned segment).

A flirtatious line from "Brain Noir."

Pinky consoles a distraught Brain in episode "You'll Never Eat Food Pellets in This Town Again."

Pinky playing around with Brain from "Pinky's Plan."

Pinky in his adorable sweater from "Megalomaniacs Anonymous."

Pinky trying to save Brain from an avalanche in (one of my favorite episodes) "This Old Mouse."

Things began to escalate quickly after the mice got their own spin-off show. Pinky's more flirty tendencies and his relationship with Brain began to grow stronger and stronger. He showcases his feelings more often here as well. For example: when Brain calls Pinky his colleague, Pinky gets all giddy and he swoons a little. When Brain compliments Pinky after his mindless TV watching proves beneficial to the plan, Pinky tells Brain to stop it as Brain's making him feel all gooshy. This moment is complete with Pinky looking flustered and there's even a music swell to compliment the entire ordeal. Pinky is shown on multiple occasions to take great pleasure in flirting or teasing Brain, giggling often. His loyalty to his friend is also shown in excess. When Pinky sees that Brain is going to perish after an avalanche in episode "This Old Mouse", he goes all the way up north to find him. Pinky does manage to save Brain, not only proving his dedication to his companion, but convincing Brain that the future can in fact be changed. Pinky even says things like "I can't lose you again" and when Brain tries to get him to leave for his own safety, Pinky repeatedly denies doing so, wanting to save Brain. It's incredibly heart-warming. In episode "Broadway Malady" Pinky sings a song after he and Brain split-apart about how much he misses him (and Brain hears the entire song and begins crying!). Pinky even gets the entire world's supply of important musical critics to watch Brain's show, much to Brain's surprise. Pinky's dedication to Brain is admirable, and the bond the two share is precious in every single way. Pinky is always there to comfort Brain in his darkest hours. He also gives meaningful gifts to his best friend including the globe keychain from the Christmas episode. Even when Snowball tries to convince Pinky to join him, he remains loyal. Despite the many flaws in their relationship, Pinky truly believes that Brain is the most important mouse in his life and he would do anything for him.

Secret Intentions (Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain): Below is a picture of Pinky staring at Brain from "The Girl with Nothing Extra."

Pinky imagining him and Brain as a married couple! This is from my favorite PEaTB episode "Pinky's Dream House."

Despite being poorly received by fans, Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain gave us a few new, very obvious signs of Pinky's possible attraction to Brain. Though he has a gained a massive sassitiude, he still maintains most of his core character traits from the spin-off. The most obvious case of a romantic hint was in the segment "Pinky's Dream House." This gives us an extensive view at Pinky's desires, which include being a housewife to Brain and living a perfect life. He even goes on to sing a song about his dream (the song is really good and well written). This is one of the most ambiguously gay moments in the entire franchise; it's actually stunning that they managed to sneak this past network censors. Pinky wants this to happen, and it isn't a version of him that is female. It's just Pinky wanting to be a housewife to Brain in one of the sweetest segments from this mixed bag of a show. Pinky's wish does come true and he does get to live with Brain for a while, but it doesn't last. It's a darn shame too because it seemed like Brain was starting to enjoy this lifestyle as well. Aside from this, there are a few cute gay stares and a compliment or two on occasion. It's really admirable how Pinky's dream of being a housewife was taken very seriously, and that he still cares for Brain's needs no matter what.

A Troubling Conflict (the Brinky vs. Pinky x Phar Fignewton feud): Below is a picture of Pinky and Phar Fignewton (you get the idea of Brinky by this point).

Yeah, this was a thing. Back before the reboot was made and nearly everyone became a Brinky shipper, there was a small conflict within the fandom between two well-regarded ships. Brinky fans were just starting to migrate their way onto various internet platforms and the ship was gaining steam. However, there were a few people who stuck with the canon ship of Pinky x Phar Fignewton instead. Their reasoning was that the two were essentially "soulmates" with their designs being similar and their interactions all the more precious. For those who aren't aware, Phar Fignewton is a character that was introduced in the segment "Jockey for Position." She'd later appear as only a cameo in Pinky and The Brain segments "The Third Mouse" and "A Meticulous Analysis of History." She made her return in the movie Wakko's Wish, where she had a more extensive role as Pinky's love interest (or so we think). After this movie, she never appeared alongside the mice again, fading into the realm of obscure Animaniacs characters. A lot of people really liked this ship though and fanart made its way onto sites like DeviantArt. However, Pinky x Phar Fignewton fans would often denounce Brinky for interfering with their ship and Brinky fans would do the same to them. It was a giant mess. Unfortunately for the fans of the horse-mouse couple, their ship was laid to rest in non-canon during 2020 when the Animaniacs reboot came out, as she only appeared in a brief cameo. Pinky was now more focused on Brain and Brinky shippers rejoiced as the mice came close to being canon. Though many of us out there do ship Brinky, it's important to remember our fallen alternate ship and the cuteness it brought us. Brinky did win in the end, taking a lot of Pinky x Phar Fignewton shippers away from their previous ship and into a larger group of the fandom.

Put to the Side: (Reboot Season 1): Below is Pinky staring at Brain yet again from "Ex-Mousina" (I wanted to put the cute moment from "Future Brain" here but I think it's more suited to Brain rather than Pinky).

This adorable exchange from episode "Babysitter's Flub."

Here we are, the Animanics reboot. This is where Pinky's sexuality stops being questioned and instead becomes somewhat confirmed. Much to the delight of many people, Pinky's interactions with Brain become a lot less platonic as the series goes along; there are also less straight routes to fall down as well. However, things didn't kick into shape until later seasons. Cute Pinky and Brain moments were put to the side in exchange for focusing on re-introducing the mice to a modern audience in season one. There wasn't a complete non-existence as we got a few adorable stares and even a near-kiss (wait until we get to Brain Week to hear about that one!). The mice did have their fair share of gay scenes such as the X and O confusion bit from "Babysitter's Flub" and the ending of "Future Brain" where Pinky saves Brain from falling into a portal. Pinky's loyalty to Brain is stronger than ever, with Brain being the one that has to go through the test in his relationship with Pinky. Sure Pinky feels a twinge of jealousy when Brain essentially abandons him for a robot, but that ends up in complete disaster. While this season did a great job of re-establishing their relationship, Pinky's presence as a character had to be sacrificed. He barely has any major roles in these first segments, almost seeming like a side or background character at times. He still proves to have a close bond with Brain, always listening to his feelings and offering comfort. Luckily, better things were on the horizon.

New Developments: (Reboot Season 2): Below is a picture of an underrated embrace from "Narf Over Troubled Water."

An extremely popular moment from "Happy Narfday."

Pinky caught gay staring YET AGAIN in "Wakkiver Twist." (It never ends!)

Hand holding from episode "Narf Over Troubled Water." (This episode just has too many moments to count!)

This season managed to blow everyone's expectations out of the water. Not only did we get more undeniable moments of Pinky showcasing his possible feelings for Brain, but Brain seemed to recuperate those affections. Pinky was more used here, him having at least four times as many gay moments as he did in the previous season. He often lovingly gazes at Brain, gives him tight embraces, holds his hand, and even mentions attending a traffic light party and wearing yellow, seemingly implying that he doesn't entirely know what their is relationship at this point. The number of moments in season 2 that made people scream in delight are nearly impossible to count. Here are a few notable ones. In "Backwards Pinky", Pinky often makes vaguely flirtatious comments about Brain, to which Brain responds in annoyance. In "The Flawed Couple", Pinky is seen in the first pilot playing a housewife to Brain in a similar situation to "Pinky's Dream House." Pinky's loyalty to Brain comes full circle in "Run Pinky Run" where he would do anything to save his best friend. "Happy Narfday" probably has some of the most obvious interactions including Pinky calling Brain "darling", Pinky moving Brain around and holding his hand, and even an adorable hug at the segment's end. Pinky compliments Brain and makes pleasant statements to him in "Plight of Hand" and "Mouse Madness"; in the former, he even fights against his own hands in order to save Brain. "Narf Over Troubled Water" was probably the most famous episode when it came to Brinky moments. There was just so much to comprehend at once; it's extremely difficult to try and mark down it all. Pinky comforting Brain after he starts doubting himself, Pinky coming back for Brain after their split-up, and that ENTIRE ending sequence were the most noticeable. These moments were impactful to Pinky's character as they showed his displays of affection and kindness and that their co-dependent relationship was not only important but entirely necessary to the franchise.

Pinky's Sexuality Confirmed? (Reboot Season 3): Below is a picture of Pinky posing in a seductive manner while Brain watches in annoyance. From the segment "How The Brain Thieved Christmas."

A clip of Pinky kissing Brain from "Groundmouse Day!"

A picture of a picture of Pinky kissing Brain from "How to: Friendship."

Pinky holds Brain by the shoulders in an attempt to steady him. From "How The Brain Thieved Christmas."

Pinky after Brain mentions the current situation being "too romantic." He heavily implies that he thinks that he and Brain are also in a romantic situation. I'm not kidding! From segment "Royal Flush."

Pinky is so proud of Brain for taking over the world. From episode "Groundmouse Day."

Pinky touches Brain's image on the screen in an precious manner! From "How to: Friendship."

Pinky holds Brain's hand tightly after destroying AI Julia (the entire moment will be shown when we get to Brain Week!). From episode "All's Fair in Love and Door."

Season three had easily the most on-the-nose segments when it came to hints at Brinky. This is also the season that confirmed to a lot of people that Pinky was not straight. In fact, if you were only to watch this season and nothing else, Pinky could be considered gay. Not only does he never mention a female love interest but he seems to have taken his flirty and more romantic tendencies with Brain to another level. There is an intimate interaction between the mice in every single episode, whether it be settle or extremely suggestive and obvious. Pinky in particular starts to showcase his feelings in a more outrageous way. These moments are just precious. In the first few segments, Pinky is seen doing various things, including staring at Brain, rubbing his head when he gets stressed, touching Brain's image on a screen, envisioning Brain in the stars, making an adorable macaroni photo of him kissing Brain, implying that he thinks that he and Brain are having a romantic moment, relying on Brain to calm him down in a car, and resting his head on Brain's head. The second half of the season showcases Brain seemingly responding to these actions in a not so settle manner (at least from an audience perspective). From Pinky kissing Brain goodnight in one of the most hyped-up moments from the entire reboot to Pinky getting somewhat jealous and hurt when he sees that Brain was married to Julia in an alternate world, these precious scenes come in abundance. The final four episodes contain more development for Brain than Pinky, but they're still noteworthy. In "All's Fair in Love and Door", Pinky looks very surprised when Brain sacrifices himself to save Pinky from AI Julia. After Pinky saves Brain in the end, he even holds Brain's hand tightly, much to the latter's surprise. "How The Brain Thieves Christmas" was more of an exploration of Brain than Pinky, but the taller mouse has some fun moments. He poses "seductively" in front of Brain when modeling for the toy. Pinky gives Brain a meaningful gift: the thing he needed to take over the world. Pinky even says "love you!" to Brain in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment in the second part. The ending was also quite sweet with Pinky making a ton of gay stares and starting lots of embraces with Brain. In "International Mouse of Mystery", the whole song shows Pinky dropping essentially compliments towards his friend. Pinky also seemingly wants Brain to kiss him at one point, only for Brain to throw him away. Pinky is almost definitely at least some form of LGBTQ+ at this point, due to his relationship with Brain being very strong. Seeing these kinds of interactions between best friends, male best friends nonetheless, is interesting and unique. It makes their friendship/possible romantic relationship all the more special and this is why they have an extensive fanbase of people who really care for them.

Pinky is a Genderfluid Icon (An Overview from "Noah's Lark" to "International Mouse of Mystery"): Below is the very first time we see Pinky in a dress from segment "Noah's Lark" from the original Animaniacs.

Pinky in a dress inspired by the movie Gone With the Wind in episode "Brainie the Poo"

A collection of Pinky's many outfits from the Animaniacs reboot. These are from episodes "Mouse Congeniality", "Royal Flush", and "International Mouse of Mystery."

Pinky is honestly one of the most influential and important characters when it comes to gender identity and just being yourself, at least in the modern media. The running "joke" of him wearing dresses went from being a little gag in various episodes to being an actual part of his personality, revealing that it is something he enjoys quite a lot. And no one every belittles him for his decisions, especially Brain, who only gets annoyed with Pinky's actions rather than his appearance. In fact during some segments, Brain seems to have a reaction to Pinky's looks, especially in "Mouse Congeniality." While many characters characters have cross-dressed in old cartoon such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, they were usually to evade the capture of a foe. Pinky does this in a lot of plans, sometimes because he wants to, other times because it's necessary for the plan to work. He didn't have to dress up in "Royal Flush", but he chose to do so. That's amazing. He also doesn't dislike being referred to by she/her pronouns. At first, things didn't start out so revolutionary. Pinky's first time in a dress was in the Animaniacs segment "Noah's Lark." Rather than looking sophisticated, he looks like he's only wearing this as a disguise to go along with Brain's plan to sneak onto the ark. It's portrayed in a silly way, as if Pinky was forced to do this. He does this again in episode "Meet John Brain" when he tries to play the role of Brain's first lady. When the spin-off series was introduced, Pinky's feminine side was exposed in a more natural, less comical way. The dresses he wore were more elaborate, more colorful, and cuter. He'd be seen playing with lipstick in episode "Of Mouse and Man", showing that this was something he did for fun. After that, he can often be seen in dresses during various parody episodes, often playing the female character. He also posed as a female in episode "My Feldmans My Friends" alongside Brain as his spouse. However, in the song "The Really Great Dictator", Pinky is seen in a pink dress in what has become one of his most beloved appearances in dress. Not only does he not wear any makeup or wig for the very first time, but in the context of the song, Pinky didn't have to wear a dress at all. It was his personal decision, rather than one made by force. Despite wearing a ton of dresses, Pinky could rock the masculine wardrobe as well, being seen in suits, tuxedoes, sweaters, and swim trunks throughout the series. In Pinky, Elmyra, and The Brain, Pinky would add more outfits and looks to his collection including he (and Brain!) wearing lipstick and earrings, a Hansen inspired getup, and of course, the well-known headscarf and apron from "Pinky's Dream House" which was discussed earlier. Pinky in dresses would become a popular part of the fandom; however no one was prepared for the glory that would be given in the reboot, around 22 years after Pinky was last seen in feminine clothing.

The reboot would give us incredible moments when it came to Pinky as a character. He could finally be himself and showcase all his marvelous beauty. The first instance of Pinky in an outfit was in season 2 episode "The Flawed Couple" where Pinky is seen in typical housewife attire for a parody of the show The Honeymooners. His most iconic, popular, and recognizable dress was in the episode "Mouse Congeniality" where Pinky joins in a beauty pageant to help Brain in a plan for world domination. Pinky outfit here goes all out, even to the point where Brain is impressed with his work. Pinky is seen here in a blonde wig, has purple eye shadow, long eyelashes, lipstick, a pink dress with sash, long pink gloves, and high-heeled shoes. This is perhaps his most elaborate outfit to date, with him sporting a completely new and impressive appearance. He is also seen in a few alternate costumes including a bikini (finally!) and a baby costume (I don't know you guys). Pinky even manages to win the pageant, albeit not by vote. Him winning the pageant is a very heartfelt and genuinely happy moment. Pinky stating that he wanted to be the most beautiful human woman on the planet was so precious and sweet. It also offers a great look at Pinky, showing that cross-dressing is something he genuinely enjoys and wishes to do. Even though he doesn't wear another dress throughout the rest of the season, Pinky will sometimes randomly have eyelashes or act in a feminine manner. It's so adorable. In season 3, Pinky continues to push and break boundaries, blessing us with two new looks, though they are similar to his previous outfit in "Mouse Congeniality." In "Royal Flush", Pinky is wearing a red version of his previous dress along with purple long gloves, high heels, and another blonde wig. In a few scenes towards the beginning, Pinky has eyelashes. However as the segment continued along, those disappeared permanently, leaving him again without any makeup. He still looks incredible though. It's quite intriguing to see Pinky without makeup in a dress because that hasn't been seen since the 90's. His final outfit comes from the segment "International Mouse of Mystery", which has also gotten some attention after a frame from this cold-opening was leaked in early February 2023. This outfit contains elements of the previous two looks with Pinky wearing a red dress, though it's a darker shade, having dark purple eyeshadow, eyelashes, lipstick, high heels, and a red wig. It's really cute how he tries to play the Bond girl seen in a lot of spy films and he looks really good. Throughout, the entire song portion (Pinky has an angelic voice), Pinky is seen in his getup with Brain even "saving" him at one point. It's super cool that even though three different studious animated these episodes (Digital eMation, Titmouse, Saerom), the dresses and design remained consistent. Though it would've been nice to see Pinky get more dresses to wear, the ones he got proved to be good enough to leave an impact on the community. Every time Pinky is seen in a dress, he's treated with an enormous amount of respect and is showered with praise from all angles. He is a genderfluid icon, and can be inspiring to people in the ways he expresses himself in such a natural way. Even if this show is forgotten, there remains some hope that Pinky will be remembered as an important figure in the realm of gender identity and positivity.

Conclusion: Overall, Pinky exemplifies true greatness when it comes to representation in the LGBTQ+ community. Even though things started off in a nuanced manner, things began to become more obvious as the series went along. Pinky began to showcase his feminine side, wearing dresses and makeup for enjoyment. His apparent attraction to Brain becomes more exaggerated in the reboot. It's so wonderful to see this kind of character in our ever-changing world. Even though most of this involves things that haven't been outright confirmed, it's still important to look though all this change and growth. There are a lot of individuals out there who could and do latch onto Pinky, including myself. While he may seem like a surface-level mouse at first, if you take a deeper look, you may find that he's not as simple as he appears. I hope you took something from this, whether it be some random person on Tumblr charting Pinky's relationship with Brain and with his character growth, or a bit of information you never knew. I look forward to continuing Pinky Week in high spirits. I'll be focusing on specific moments of character development in the next three installments, so be prepared. Anyways, have a great day and/or night and I'll see you next time! Narf!

[itsjaywalkers]

hi laurie <3 how is your health? do you feel better?

there’s another big discourse about regulus character, what is ooc for him, what is not, was he right, did he deserve redemption or did he deserve to die as villain. you know, same old conversation, but it made me curious about your vision of his character! how do you view him in canon? do you think he was more morally dark than grey or more grey than dark? tell me everything please <3

hi lovely!! my health's fine, i'm completely recovered!! it was a tough week but i survived that stupid chest infection

oooooh u know i don't care about discourse but i love how u just brought it up to . turn it into a nice lil debate and ask about my portrayal of a character <333

we obviously don't get a lot about reg in canon but i think we get enough!! a couple of what could be core traits (since what we learn of him is all from sirius pov who's . quite biased) and some of his backstory!! so yes, he's kind of a blank slate of a character, which is incredibly fun when it comes to fanfiction but also . i truly believe there's a foundation here, even if a tiny unstable one yk??

anyways, to me, regulus is quite morally grey, but i don't think . he's more dark or more grey . the lovely kat (@messrsage) wrote a very interesting post about this a while ago, they talked about how the black brothers are both morally grey, and that sirius isn't more good or regulus more bad. they move up and down the spectrum, depending on who they keep as friends, on what influences them and their environment. i think the word kat used was morally fluid?? or something along those lines. and i absolutely agree!!

i don't believe sirius was better or inherently good. i just think that they had different responses for the same trauma. that they surrounded themselves by very different kinds of ppl. neither of them is in the right or in the wrong, yk?? they're both victims!! regulus thought that . obeying and listening to their parents and doing what he was told was the best course of action and there's nothing wrong with that

sirius implies that reg wasn't . capable of thinking on his own . that he was 'soft enough to believe them' (referring to their parents) which has always made me think that . despite reg definitely believing in blood supremacy and all that bullshit, at least for a while, it wasn't because he rationalised the whole thing all by himself and thought it was True and Right and Genuine, but that walburga and orion said this was how the world worked and he didn't think of questioning it. sirius did and look where that got him, right?? and besides, those are his parents, and despite how strict and cruel they can be sometimes, they love him, regulus knows they do, so why would they lie. i think he was comfortable, in a way, in the life that his parents made for him, and if not fighting back and agreeing with everything also stopped the abuse then even better

it's like the death eater thing. i'm sure his family had a lot to do with it!! and sure, it was also implied that reg had this weird nerdy fixation with voldemort, but i don't think that means . he was bad . voldemort was such a powerful wizard, and his family, or at least part of it, supported him and chose to follow him, so why wouldn't he find him interesting?? or even worthy of admiration?? he ended up betraying him and sacrificing himself the moment he realised what voldemort actually intended to do. besides, he was a fucking kid. people tend to forget that he was literally 16 when he joined the death eaters. and idk about u, but i was a fucking idiot at 16. not awful or anything, ofc, but i still did and said a lot of shit i'm not proud of, simply bc i didn't know better. but the thing is that i wasn't expected to!! bc again, i was just a kid!! doesn't excuse any of my mistakes, but i do think it's a fact that u gotta take into account when u try to judge someone

i think regulus wasn't a hero, but he wasn't a villain either. i think he was a terrified boy trying to survive. trying to make his family proud. and by the time he finally realised his mistake, it was too late. he still tried to fix his shit, and i think that matters. does that make him a good person?? nah, not really. but i think it makes him human

on a more surface level, my regulus is . proud . stubborn . spoiled . posh . mean in a non-targeted way, it's never personal to him (or not usually) and he's not trying to hurt anyone, it's just . a defence mechanism?? part of his personality, in a way. he isn't trying to be cruel on purpose. i think he's also a curious person, but it's a part of him he tends to ignore or supress, bc his parents don't like it. i think he's a follower and that he hates being the centre of attention, but at the same time, he's jealous of the way sirius seems to have everyone's eyes on him when he enters a room. he can be petty and resentful, but he's also shy and quiet and so very soft. it's a side of him that not a lot of ppl get to see, bc it's weak, but it's very much there, and i think that's the regulus that sirius knew most of his life. the regulus that he knew (or at least wanted to believe) was still there, which probably make him speak of him in such a . gentle way?? like yes, he called him an idiot but he has no qualms about cursing the rest of his family out, and he's pretty mean to all of them (with good reason) except andromeda and regulus. to me, that means he still loved his brother, and if sirius is still capable of . caring about regulus, at least to a certain degree, without even knowing about his change of heart . well . he couldn't have been that awful

there's also quite the debate about the kreacher thing, and whether reg was actually kind-hearted enough to believe and defend elves' rights or if it was simply the fact that it was kreacher, his house elf, and nothing else. personally, i don't think it matters that much. whatever his reason was, he still decided to betray voldermort over it, and tried to do the right thing, even tho the risk was High and he didn't know if he'd make it. that's what i believe says more about his character than what his exact tipping point was

and god i'm gonna shut up now, this turned out to be so ridiculously long i just . find regulus so interesting SORRY NONNIE😭

[magpiefngrl]

You know the square people use to decide what fics they’d take with them to a deserted island? I was thinking about it and I sat down and wondered what my top fics were from the HP fandom specifically. When I boiled it down from the hundreds I’ve read, 9 1/2 Days tied for first place with Heal Thyself by astolat. (Just after those two was The Miseducation of Draco Malfoy so I suppose you can tell that I love character development in fiction.)

What I love about your fic in particular though was that you didn’t shy away from the not-so-nice aspects of Draco’s personality, such as how he used to bully Neville or play tricks on Dobby. You addressed the more difficult aspects of his personality, implied strongly that it was in no small part, because of how he was raised, BUT at the same time, you did not reduce him to victimhood and I really really liked that.

A trope that comes up a lot in fiction (in general, not just fanfiction) is making a villainous character into a victim. It seems to be the fastest and easiest way to get the audience to root for them.

But that doesn’t always sit right with me, because sometimes it feels as if the writer is trying to get the audience to side with a particular character without any actual growth from that character. I think there’s a fine line here because an explanation for why a person is the way they are should not be used as a justification or an excuse for the harmful things they do.

That’s why I really really loved your fic. I loved that you used World War II and the Holocaust as a vehicle to help Draco address his own bigotry. That being lost in the world with Harry helped him to confront and struggle with the things he had taught to believe as opposed to what he was actually experiencing for himself. The romance between Harry and him was believable and breathtaking and didn’t take away from Draco’s journey. In all my years of reading, I’ve noticed that this is a very very hard balance to strike. One that even very successful, seasoned writers struggle with and you pulled off so gracefully! I’m in awe.

I’m sorry for the long comment and for rambling I just think you really need to know that your story was wonderful and I’m so glad, so thankful you wrote it.

Gosh. What a lovely and thoughtful ask 💗💗

I'm really happy to hear that you enjoy my fics, esp. 9 ½ Days, and I'm thrilled beyond words that you enjoyed the way the romance unfolded side-by-side with Draco's unlearning. It was indeed very hard for me to write a convincing romance which evolved little by little with Draco slowly changing at the same time. I banged my head on my desk so many times while writing the fic and it's a significant reason it took me 5 years to write.

I hear you re: Draco's growth and portrayal. One of my (many) pet peeves is fics portraying Draco as a victim who only got into the DE because he was being forced but in his heart he was an innocent baby. I find that this, besides being inaccurate, also strips Draco of all agency. It makes him nothing more than a puppet, which in turn makes him very boring. I find canon Draco fascinating. I like the idea that yes, he happily joined the magical equivalent of KKK and he used the equivalent of the n-word with abandon (while also being a bully and a rich toff that looked down his nose on people), and that later he saw some atrocities and realised the true meaning of belonging to a hate group. The cost of it. I imagine the enormity of his guilt and how hard he works in order to change himself, and all this is what makes him such a thrilling character. For me, anyway.

Heal Thyself deals with all this so well! I absolutely adore this fic. It blew me away when I read it. I kept pointing at the page and going "Yes! THIS!"

Look, I don't expect every single fic to make a song and dance about his redemption, sometimes a girl just wants to read a 3k PWP, you know? But when I come across a story where I can tell the author relishes in Draco's complexity, I sure do appreciate it.

I'm very pleased you liked the way I explored this side of him in the fic. Thank you for the very kind message! My fic being one of your desert island fics is so, so touching! I'm all emotional now 💗

[maedivae]

Book Peeta and Movie Peeta.

What key point or best qualities of Peeta's that lost in the movie adaptation?

What do you think about Josh Hutcherson portrayal of Peeta?

Thank you,

@curiouspeetamellark

I think Josh did the best he could've with what he got, he was an excellent cast. I find it a bit amusing that Cato and Gale's actors both read for Peeta and didn't get him, along with a bunch of other talented actors that some fans may prefer to Josh, but idk, Josh just truly seems perfect to me even if people may have wanted someone taller or blonde haired and blue eyed. It's the personality, you know. Josh has those extremely random talents and quirks that I feel like Peeta would have, like his squirrel calls, and he's well spoken.

Regardless, I kind of hate how the movies handle Peeta. Mostly a first movie problem, the cave scene makes him seem desperate and creepy. The infamous quote where he says he watched her walk home. It's not even remotely like him: Katniss reminds him of what he did for her by throwing her the bread, but he barely even remembers or cares about it in the book, brushing it off. Movie Peeta has it in his mind as he thinks about it a lot apparently, but it diminishes what he did because his initial kindness wasn't because he had a crush, it was just to help one of his classmates. Because he's just a good person and he doesn't expect anything in return, which Katniss struggles with. I don't know, it really seems to steer movie audiences in the direction of Peeta being a "nice guy" and expecting something back for the bare minimum.

The beginnings of his relationship to Katniss during training are also very watered down, Katniss hardly seems to react to him in the film compared to the book where she does sometimes laugh at his jokes or take his advice, to some extent.

He can't even keep his disability. Or show his falling out with Katniss. The first movie definitely still had time to have the end of the book adapted more closely and yet? I definitely believe the first one had a lot of missteps that were corrected as they went on.

A lot of his sarcasm and humor is gone, as well as his anger. While I woobify him to hell and back, he is able to be pissed off and jealous. In Catching Fire when he confronts Haymitch and Katniss for keeping things from him, for example, it reveals a lot of his feelings of being inferior which were kind of hinted at in the first book. It would just add a bit more complexity to him in the films.

Finally, this all irks me mostly because Peeta would not be treated poorly by an adaptation (or audiences) if he was a more traditional male action hero like Gale. They preserved most of Gale's scenes and even added another kiss with him and Katniss. His masculinity is always emphasized in his ability to protect and care for Katniss's family (which she does fine on her own).

Like, Peeta is no hunter and he chooses to take the high road in most confrontations. He seemingly has no survival skills (even if book readers know that's not true, I mean, he is more enduring to pain and suffering inflicted upon him than he is a killing machine) and he flourishes in social settings. He's outwardly emotional and feminine in the way Katniss describes him (using beautiful and pretty, emphasizing his eyelashes) and in his hobbies, his personality of being a homemaker, a gatherer. He's practically a damsel in distress at some points. The books do a fine job of never branding him as inferior to Katniss and Gale because of these things, but movie audiences and media still did it anyways in my opinion. Still do to this day.

He's seen as a weakling. But to tell you the truth, neither Katniss nor Gale would be able to recover from the torture he's endured. Not to the extent he did. That is where his strength lies. Any atrocity can be committed against him, but he can heal from it with time. And he doesn't even pursue any stereotypical sense of vengeance for the things done to him, nor does he wallow in his misery for more than is necessary. The same day he was cleared to go back home to 12, he was literally right there.

I feel bad for some movie only audiences that they never get him. But he's not for everybody, if you get it, you get it, if you don't you don't.

[actuallylorelaigilmore]

2023 Movie Journey #17: Elemental

elemental. i watched this one earlier this week with my family...and i'm finally caught up on movie reviews! which means i can now post new ones right after i see the movies. yay.

this movie's cast has some actors who i know, probably most notably a guy i enjoyed in jurassic world dominion. but much, much more importantly, the star of this movie is leah lewis, so even if i hadn't liked the movie overall i still would have had a great time watching it.

i fell immediately in love with leah lewis's portrayal of george when i started watching nancy drew this year. and i mean immediately--i was watching with somebody who loved bess the most, and i had seen so much ace on my tumblr dash that i knew i'd like him too, but george was still my favorite character by the time i finished the pilot. without even knowing how great and rewarding her season 1 arc would be, or how much depth she would eventually have beyond her introduction as 'grudge-holding black sheep nancy's boss,' i could just tell she was my type of fave.

and even after watching the whole first season of nancy drew, it wasn't until i was rewatching it to show it to @actuallylukedanes that i accidentally learned george was played by leah lewis...and that i already knew her! she was in the half of it! which i watched and reviewed in 2020, and loved so much that i've wanted to get other people to watch it ever since. i didn't connect her performances at all, but even my review back then raved about how she was what made the movie good.

so when i realized she was starring in this, i was thrilled. and what i love about her is that she's consistently the kind of actor who has a real presence: she makes her characters engaging and stands out in a big way for somebody still young (though she started acting as a kid, so i know she's not new just cuz she's newish to me). she's signed on to the matlock reboot with kathy bates and i don't expect to love that cbs show, but i am very excited to try it anyway.

as for the movie though: i couldn't help but spend the first half just hearing george, in all her lines. not in a distracting or bad way, but a nice familiar feeling. i suspect the goal with animated disney heroines is to not make them too distinctive, because there's kind of a 'friendly normal' sound to the modern ones regardless of the actress that means even when i can recognize who's speaking, they all sound a little more similar than i would ever say they do in live action work. (either that or it's just me not being able to differentiate as well in animation, which is certainly possible.)

anyway, i loved everything about her work in this; she was the reason i cried a few times. in my opinion that's always a mark of good work, making an impressive amount of connection with viewers using just your voice.

i also really liked her parents and wade, despite the movie's core conflict revolving around all of them--this movie did a good job of explaining who everybody was as things went along, in a more than superficial way, so that it was much easier to still like people when the Bad Times came because they made more sense and were more sympathetic. as family conflicts go, compared to encanto and turning red, this one was my favorite because of that. no matter how angry or disappointed her father got, or how much that affected ember, i could still sympathize with him too and believe that his love for her was more important than anything else.

now, i know this movie got mixed reviews (or possibly worse? i only saw vague headlines) but i'm not really sure why! the metaphor they used to tell the story about immigration and a diverse society was maybe more blunt than usual, but i don't think that's a bad thing. and while it did center on themes that disney movies cover a lot (family expectations, parental disappointment, feeling like a failure, being an outsider, etc)...there are reasons those themes pop up so much!

especially when pixar movies are trying to appeal to both kids and adult audiences, i think it makes total sense to keep coming back to the 'classics.' again, there were a lot of thematic similarities between encanto and turning red and this movie (despite their differences in the details) and i watched those other two--encanto more than once--but still cried just as easily when ember confessed to her dad that she was a bad daughter, and when they bowed to each other before she left. the wounds between us and our parents never really heal, i think, at least not for everybody. so this movie tugged at me by just representing those feelings well, and making me care about the characters.

and when it comes to caring about the characters, probably my favorite thing about the movie besides the cast was the way the plot genuinely surprised me. i expected a happy ending, because it's a disney movie. but based on the trailer, i didn't know what to expect between ember and wade beyond 'they meet and things happen.' and the movie does such a good job of setting up the world they live in and the rules they live by that i believed them.

so in the beginning, i figured they were going to become unexpected friends, and navigating that alone would be a challenge. in that story, presumably the happy ending would've been something like, she learns that wade is right and she doesn't have to stay with fire people and never interact with the rest of the world, and they get to have further adventures.

but then! it turns out that this movie is going for romance. weirdly, i don't expect that from disney movies--you'd think i would when they're the home of princess culture and everything, but i wasn't a 'princess meets her prince for a happy ending' kid. i grew up with disney classics but didn't imprint on any of them.

instead, i was a don bluth kid! singing music from an american tail is literally one of my earliest memories, and my animated love story growing up was anastasia. if i squint, i can kind of see overlap between that animated romcom and this one, in terms of traumatic family history and a guarded, feisty female lead who gets what she thought she wanted all along just as she's also fallen in love with someone whose difference threatens her new fulfilled goal.

i'm not saying the two movies are very alike, lol...a zombie sorcerer belongs nowhere in elemental, obviously. but they both treat their romances with less sentimental sweetness, more sparkage and sincerity. the flirting in this is cute, and i loved them more the further along we went.

but of course, there's still that pesky plot-established problem that makes them a doomed romance. so once it was clear that their dynamic was about falling in love, not just befriending the 'other'...then i honestly expected a bittersweet ending where friends is all they can be. because this is disney, not pushing daisies, and in a world where nobody seems to have invented the elemental version of saran wrap for characters to safely kiss through, what kind of future could they have?

i did not expect them to give us this story where the characters are all believable in how firmly they believe (or don't, in wade's case) that different elements can't mix, and then for the story to show us those differences being overcome. i mean, that theme isn't exactly a new one, love conquering all, but the differences were so much more concrete here--it was life or death for them! when the parental disapproval alone was almost enough to ruin their chances!

i suppose you could flip my reaction to this movie and look at it the opposite way, and complain that their ability in the end to do what the story all along told us couldn't be done made it a waste of time, like the stakes were fake even if they didn't know that. maybe if you predicted the ending from the beginning, it could have felt that way.

but i didn't have expectations for the ending. so while i was really hoping ember and wade could be together, i was prepared for the alternative, a more modest 'crossing the aisles' journey of discovery for them both that opened her world and future and allowed him into her life from a safe distance going forward. instead, their whole story was wonderful and i love them and i'm so glad that they get to be the odd couple they are in a very divided world.

one last fun (if also slightly vexing) thing about this movie is that while it does end, it leaves a lot open, too. and i wanted to get to see ember start her internship; i wanted to learn about their new life and if it goes well for them once they're out in the broader world. i guess i wasn't ready to say goodbye to them, really, is all.

but that was fun at least on the level of seeing this with my family--it meant that after it ended, we were discussing what a sequel could be about, and that segued into a discussion about whether ember and wade could have kids or if they'd have to adopt--and how cool it would be if them having kids would create new elements or something. i love that idea a lot.

and i enjoyed this movie a lot. it was super pretty, i liked most of the characters, and it was unexpected romcom fun. i'm officially rooting for pixar to make more love stories now.

[tacticalhimbo]

20-25 for the edgy oc asks— for phoebe and franklin cs OH my god?? love

[ ask meme ]

OOUHGHHH this is gonna be fun to answer as an otp thing for them!

i haven't written anything really for franklin himself, but my partner roleplays him and i love xyr portrayal of him so will be pulling from that (which, fun fact, is kinda where the idea of them as an oc/canon ship started from... but i love it sm i decided to separate it from just rp and make it a standalone thing teehee)

but anyway! below the cut bc i rambled about them... oops ^-^;

20. Does your OC have a tendency to get jealous? If so, how does this manifest?

phoebe does, and i think for her a lot of it stems from the fact attachment to others in general is a sensitive topic. she lost her parents, her brother jumped ship (and she has gotten over that, they're on good terms and she understands why he left los santos with his wife), and she really just. has nobody. so she does get worried when the few people she does genuinely attach herself to seemingly show signs of pulling back. it manifests as her withdrawing and becoming defensive of herself (expecting that withdraw and thus pushing the other party away).

franklin also seems like he does, and it's understandable in his case too. he's lost a lot of folk in his life, and those who are around are so stuck in a specific mindset that he feels ostracized for questioning it/trying to do something different with himself. ironically, they kind of deal with it in the same way. he gets upset and defensive, and he'll withdraw from the situation/the person(s) involved.

when it comes to their relationship, it does create tension and strain. understandably so. but a little time apart to cool off is often enough for them to wander back and talk things through.

21. Does your OC have any illnesses or disorders? How do they handle it?

phoebe has no physical illnesses, but she definitely has underlying mental health concerns due to discovering her parents after a break-in gone wrong. she tends to handle it by putting herself into adverse situations as one, they give her a chance to prove others (and namely, herself) wrong about a perceived lack of ability and two, they serve as a distraction. can't think about how shit you feel when you're being shot at!

as for franklin, i imagine they're pretty similar in that regard. he's seen a lot of things go on (and often, go wrong), that it's gotta weigh on him. it does weigh on him. we see that a lot in his dialogs with the other characters (and to himself). i don't remember if it's explicit or implied canon, but he has depression of some sort. as for handling it/coping with it, he does try to distance himself from things at times. but his conscience always gets the better of him, especially where people he cares about are involved (re: his shenanigans with lamar), and he gets roped back into things.

22. What character alignment would you consider your OC to be?

honestly they both have chaotic good energy.

phoebe i know for a fact is! she's not afraid to call bullshit as she sees it, and will often go against the societal norm to make things right (laws and regulations be damned)

franklin on the other hand, does fit that vibe but he's also less? energetic about it. i mean, he is depressed, so i don't blame him for that. but at the end of the day, he just wants things to be right. he could arguably also fit into true neutral territory, but i don't feel like he's really the "it is what it is" type.

23. What emotion is the hardest for your OC to process? How about express?

easy answer for both of them: vulnerability. a lot of it is kinda repeat from the jealousy question, but genuinely?

it is so hard for them both to process anything that puts them at a perceived disadvantage socially. they've been through it. they've lost a lot. they don't want to appear 'weak' because it only further ostracizes them from the crowds they find themselves in.

24. What is an alternative life path your OC might have gone down? How different would their life be if they'd made those decisions?

i feel like, in an alternate life, phoebe either would have become some sort of influence or done work with animals. her sense of style is so bold and specific, and she does love engaging with new trends and keeping atop of that. of course, that's also expensive, and it likely would have become a side thing to working with animals. she never had pets until patches (her neighbors' boxer that she adopted out from them), but after taking care of him? yeah. she could see herself doing that on a larger scale/long-term. it's actually a back-burner kind of headcanon i have for her that, between heists, she does volunteer at the los santos county animal shelter. her life would have been very different; a lot more stable, frankly.

with franklin, we do get to see a look into an alternate life through the online lore re: him becoming the owner of a celebrity solutions agency (though his work is… very similar to the work he did with michael and trevor; just he's not on the ground as much and it's a lot more planned out/clean). that said, if he truly were to have an alternative life path, i feel like it would have been something with automotive work. as sleazy as simeon's business is, franklin seemed like he genuinely enjoyed working with the cars and prepping them for purchase/showcase! if he never got involved with michael and the boys(tm), his life would have been so much different.

25. What is your favorite thing about your OC?

oh man…

my favorite thing about phoebe, besides her sense of style, is just how down-to-earth she is at the end of the day. like. she really is just some person when the job is said and done. most of the stuff i've written for her privately/through rp aren't even like… heist related. it's just her being within the boundaries of los santos and existing. she's met ramón (other oc) and chatted with him. she's done gun-for-hire work for laverne (oc), and subsequently sat and had lunch with her by the pier. her, candy, and faye (ocs) are best fucking friends. they always have girls nights out together at the vanilla unicorn and to the pier and up to blaine county to fuck around in the desert.

and my favorite thing about franklin is just how much he actually cares about people. he tries to hide it, but we can see time and time again that he genuinely wants what's best/safest for everyone. like. his relationship with lamar?? and the way he interacts with imani (gta online npc; daughter of one of his longer-term friends, pearlie)??? obsessed. he's so fucking… good. he's a good man. and he deserves the world.

then, as a bonus, my favorite thing about them/their relationship is how much they balance each other out. how they've become a safe space for one another, where (even if their psyches get the best of them) they can be vulnerable and wholly trusting about themselves, their thoughts, and their emotions. they fuck around and get into trouble, sure, and they have a lot of fun doing it...

but at the end of the day, their favorite thing to do is just exist together. turn on whatever shitty movie re-run is playing on the television, cuddle up on the couch, and just. exist. and i just think that's neat.

[trashexplorer]

BLCD Review: Old-fashioned Cupcake 2

Title: Old-fashion Cupcake with Capuccino (オールドファッションカップケーキwithカプチーノ)

Author/Artist: Sagan Sagan

Shop: CD + Manga

Release Date: 2021/12/22

Cast: Azakami Youhei x Okitsu Kazuyuki

Review Proper

What to say? Maybe it's the ADHD or the fact that I just came from two long BLCDs, but I'm always in a bad headspace when I listen to OFC. 😅 The second volume just went the second route of sequels: misunderstandings/insecurities featuring third-party appearances. I really get where Nozue-san's coming from and I'm not saying that his insecurities are invalid or whatever—it's just that he's the one who wanted to make their relationship low-key, but he was doing the worst job at it. 🙄And like what I've said in my review for volume 1, they don't have a big age gap, so this age gag with Nozue-san just annoys me. It doesn't help that they mention it every five pages or so. The more Sagan Sagan does it, the more Nozue-san's age sounds more like an excuse than a gag.

Yoneda Kou's spoiled me to the point that I can't accept anything less, it seems. 🤷Don't blame me for comparing, they also have a Togawa over there.

Anyway, that's enough of the plot.

Chil-chil 2023 was a lie. There is no way Okitsu placed fourth while Youhei placed 13th. If anything, they should be reversed—and that's coming from me, one of the biggest Okitsu whores on this site. But being an Okitsu simp also means I know how that man sounds like, and that man sounds awkward af in this tone. His Nozue-san is too slow and too light for him. Nozue-san does have moments where he'll explode in panic or anger, but considering how light and slow Okitsu's portrayal of him is, you would expect his explosions to be more on the lighter side, right? WRONG. HE GOES FULL JONATHAN JOESTAR TO DO IT LMAO

SUNLIGHT YELLOW OVERDRIVE!!!

I failed to mention in my first review that Nozue-san looks like Italy from Hetalia which is why I wanted NamiD for him... if he wasn't so problematic. Anyway, thankfully, we have a live-action. I very much prefer Kouhei Takeda over Okitsu as Nozue-san. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Youhei was the true MVP of this BLCD. I don't get how he placed so low. He was very stable, and his sex appeal shined throughout the CD. It kind of reminds me of Maeno's tbh. Chil-chil 2022 might've robbed him, but this man has earned his seat at the "tops you should look out for" table in my view. Congratulations!

The BLCD was pretty accurate to the manga. Read-alongs are indeed possible with it, but I will say that I had an issue with SuBLime's localization. For one thing, the second volume wasn't consistent with the first. Togawa calls Nozue-san "Mr. Nozue" in the first volume while he calls him "Nozue" in the second.😑I don't want to go on a long rant about honorifics, but when it comes to stories where age is an important factor, I am firm in my belief that the Japanese or a close English equivalent should be used. It's a Japanese story set in Japan; it's not your culture to localize. There, I said it.

Also,

Yes, we stan being redundant even when the original wasn't. 😌 I wouldn't be nit-picking if y'all just licensed Koi ga, SuBLime.

Still, please try supporting the official transla localization if you can. I can't say that the production was great because of Okitsu, but this actually placed fifth in the 2022 awards, so do with that info what you wish. If y'all want more office bl, then I shamelessly recommend Yoneda Kou's Doushitemo Furetakunai (Ishikawa Hideo x Nojima Kenji) and Soredemo, Yasashii Koi o Suru (Morikawa Toshiyuki x Nojima Hirofumi).

[recurring-polynya]

Writing/Art Update 5.7.2024

Remember last week, when I said I was going to try to finish one of my requests per week. Ha, ha, that was lies!

It's actually not as bad as it sounds--what happened was, I had picked out the next one I wanted to do, and in my mind, it was a nice little 2 scene vignette. But then, as I was working on it, it felt more like a whole-ass fanfic, and I decided to just lean into that. It's not going to be too long-- right now, it's outlined as 4 scenes, might go as long as six, if I decide I need a set change. It's 2800 words at the moment, which is 1 and a half of those two original scenes. I also did a bunch of planning. Writing it out has been a little slow, but not bad-slow. I've had to end up thinking about a bunch of things that I don't usually think about, but, like, that's part of the fun of it, right?

I am a little nervous posting a whole fanfic about characters who are not my blorbos. I mean, I love Renji and Rukia a whole lot and so my portrayal of them is going to be generally flattering and also I have a good sense of the audience because I am the audience. Do people want a fanfic about Kensei being Incredibly Divorced? We'll find out. (Who is he even divorced from? It's not Tousen. He honestly didn't think about Tousen that much, which is one of the things that's bothering him now. Possibly Soul Society in its entirety, except that he is somehow now back here. I dunno, he just has the energy of a guy who declares he's going to build an entire set of living room furniture to replace the ones he mysteriously doesn't have anymore.) Anyway, it's the same feeling I had the time I wrote an IkkaYumi fic, which then went on to be one of my most popular fics. That doesn't actually make me feel better, because if I think about that, it will just skew my expectations. I usually don't have to worry about this, because I throw stuff like this into my anthology stories, and the stats on those are meaningless. It doesn't matter! Only one person needs to like this, and that's the person who requested it!! (well. and me. I am having a good time.)

In art news, I completed two Hands tutorials that were going around Artist Tumblr last week. I forgot how hard it was to find tutorials that I can actually stand--I really struggled my way through, but in the end I drew some very good hands! Now, did this affect my brain in a way that it will affect my hand-drawing in a positive way going forward? Or was I just able to successfully follow along with the man on the screen. It remains to be seen. I need to do some drawing this week. I worry that I don't actually like drawing, actually, because it's always such an ordeal to make myself do it, but I'm sure it's just the fact that my executive function has been increasingly crumbling into dust over the last few years.

[rollercoasterwords]

i just want to say thank you so much for your post about even loving parents (and people) being homophobic bc this fandom lately is so so reductive towards those kinds of realistic portrayals, acting as if their creators are “wrong” when in actuality a majority of us live through these experiences and can find comfort in fiction that works thru them! as someone who grew up religious i ADORED your atyd sirius pov for exploring internalized homophobia so honestly. it made me feel seen and struck such a chord of truth. like yeah they’re wizards but also voldemort’s whole thing is hating people for things they have no control over so acting like inequality that doesn’t exist in the wizard world either is not the end-all solution some people think it is. anyway love you. ❤️

anon!!! thank u so much 💓

i think that parents post struck more of a chord than i was expecting it 2 strike lol like. i will say i think the majority of people in the fandom are like. normal abt letting fic writers write what they want etc but! it does suck that there is like. this small and annoyingly vocal portion of people who are just....really weird about homophobia in fanfiction lol.

like my post was specifically abt portrayals of parents but there does seem to be a vocal minority (although mostly not on tumblr thank god) who act as if choosing to write about homophobia when u could choose instead to write a fantasy world where it doesn't exist is like...morally depraved bc it's "unnecessary"

and i definitely got like. a lot of that sentiment when i was writing atydsp!! which is obviously just my personal interpretation of the character and not meant to be taken as anything more than that, but like--i'd always read sirius as a deeply closeted gay man with intense internalized homophobia in atyd, and that's part of why i wanted to write abt his character in the first place. for me it was incredibly meaningful to explore the story of a character raised in a homophobic environment by homophobic family, who struggles with internalized homophobia in ways that are messy and sometimes even hurt the people close to him. and it was honestly really disheartening to get so many comments along the lines of "ugh sirius is being so stupid and annoying" bc i was just like....this is all very real to me. and largely based on personal experience. and it sucks seeing people brush it off and go "but they're wizards why can't u just make him accept that he's gay!!!"

and it's also like. i understand why someone might not want to read about homophobia, and that's totally fine! u can seek out fics where queerness is totally accepted and filter out homophobia and do what's best for ur own mental health, y'know? but for me, personally, i actually tend to avoid stories where homophobia is just magically erased. and again, that's down to personal preference (i am by no means saying one type of story is better than the other; i think they are both equally valid + i'm glad both types exist in all their variety on ao3) but even if i'm reading about magical made-up universes, i think that like.....for me, so much of my experience as a queer person has been shaped by the homophobia of the world around me. and i'm not saying i think that's all that being queer is (of course it's not!!) and i'm not saying every queer person will feel the same (and like....if ur a queer person who's never really experienced homophobia in ur personal life then that's awesome!! happy 4 u!!), but that struggle has been such a fundamental part of my queer experience that i really have a hard time relating to characters who don't share it. reading about characters who never experience internalized homophobia and whose family + friends are totally accepting honestly just makes me feel worse bc it's so far removed from my own experience, whereas reading about characters who do have homophobic family/friends/environments/etc is actually something i'm able to find comfort in.

anyway this turned into a whole essay but!! i'm happy 2 hear that my post (+ my portrayal of sirius) resonated w u 💕 and i do think the majority of the fandom understands + is supportive of people exploring homophobia however they want in their fics; sometimes we just need 2 bitch a little bit on tumblr abt the annoying people who aren't lol