#those are (imo) really interesting things that do get explored sometimes

[major-comet]

The Best Red vs Blue Watch Order Guide Ever. Of All Time.

So. You want to watch Red vs Blue, huh? Maybe you read my long post about how it's so weirdly incredible yet impossible to recommend and now you want to give it a shot. Or maybe you have seen the show before, but it's been a long time and/or you didn't watch any of the mini-series or anything and want to give it another go. Either way, looking at a show with a 21 year history is kind of daunting, and you have no idea where to start.

Well luckily for you, I've done the work for you.

This watch guide will cover all 19 seasons of the main show, most of the mini-series, and some of the PSA's and other such bonus content. There will be links provided for where you can watch everything I talk about. This Google Drive (from reddit u/Exitity, unsure if they also have a tumblr) has all of the individual episode uploads, and most of the stuff I'm going to be talking about, although I'm trying to use YouTube links wherever I can. Any links will be colored in light blue for additional visibility.

Couple of quick things before we begin.

When possible, watch the individual episode uploads rather than the "complete" editions. The "Completes", while they may provide a more streamlined viewing experience by cutting out all of the bumpers and outros and such, accomplish this by cutting out a lot of jokes. RvB has a lot of jokes that happen during the fade to black at the end of an episode, and a lot of those get lost in the edits. There's also some things that just straight up get cut for seemingly no reason. Side note, the DvD/Blu-Ray versions seem perfectly fine, and honestly are even better to watch than the individual episodes if you have them. They're like a best of both worlds - adding some extra music and such (ESPECIALLY in the first 5 seasons) that really helps make a nice presentation of the show. If that's an option available to you, I recommend it. Otherwise, stick with the individual episodes.

At the end of each entry in the list, I may present a Side Quest section. This will include anything I feel you should watch that isn't necessarily canon, but helps add some extra life to the series. This may include some behind the scenes stuff or a selection of the PSA's and the non-canon mini-series. This stuff can be really great for building out the characters in a way that doesn't necessarily affect the greater story, and can especially be good for interactions between characters that maybe don't interact much in the main show. Anything I put in a Side Quest is strictly optional, but will add to your viewing experience. Obviously, there's a lot more bonus material than what I'm putting here. I'm just putting down some of the highlights. And if you end up liking the PSAs and such then just know: there's so much more for you to explore.

Early RvB is very much a product of it's time, and sometimes you'll get hit with a line that stops you dead in your tracks. Adult-oriented comedies can always be a minefield, and RVB's roots as a show made for Halo fans in 2003 definitely don't help. However, while this is the most common in the first five seasons, it never really stops being an issue. The purpose of this guide is simply for watch order, but if you have any specific trigger-related questions about any season of rvb please feel free to shoot me an ask or even a DM - i'm more than happy to help.

Okay, let's begin, breaking it down by arc.

The Blood Gulch Chronicles

You may hear people telling you to skip the first five seasons of the show and just pick up with Season 6. Those people are lying to you and do not have your best interests at heart. The first five seasons are pretty much strictly comedy, and from Season 6 onward the show starts to explore deeper themes and stories while still falling back on that comedic foundation. Skipping straight to the deeper stuff doesn't work very well IMO, because those five seasons are spent getting to know the characters we're going to be following for the rest of the show. The stuff that happens in Blood Gulch never stops being important - whether it's side characters showing back up again later on, or laying the foundation for a lot of the moments and story lines that make some of the later seasons so special.

Anyways, the watch order.

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Out of Mind - Mini-series

Season 5

Blood Gulch Side Quests

Tattoo Point/Counterpoint - Season 1 PSA

A Message to the Science Community - Season 2 PSA

Real Life VS. The Internet - Season 2 PSA

All of the deleted scenes, honestly, but This One in particular because asphodel and I quote it all the time.

The Outtakes/Bloopers - I'm not gonna put the link for these and the deleted scenes for every arc, but just know that you should watch them after every season/arc. There's some great stuff in there.

The Season 5 Alternate Endings

Either watch it Now, or after you watch the finale, but I highly recommend the 2003 Season 1 DVD Commentary. It's just Burnie (Church/Lopez/Vic) and Geoff (Grif), and it's really nice.

If you've ever watched any behind the scenes stuff for RvB or even rooster teeth as a whole, you have almost certainly seen This Clip, which is a behind the scenes of the voice recording for Grif and Simmons' lines in episode 1.

The Recollection

Recovery One - Mini-series

Season 6 - Reconstruction

Relocated - Mini-series

Season 7 - Recreation

Season 8 - Revelation

Recollection Side Quests

First! - Season 6 PSA

Small Rewards - Season 6 PSA

Rock the Vote and Rock the Veto - PSAs made to encourage RvB viewers to register to vote. Which at the time you could do on your xbox 360. These are here mostly as a "wtf" historical piece.

Halo-Ween - Season 7 PSA

Valentine's Day - Season 7 PSA

Fire Safety: Where There's Smoke... - Season 7 PSA. genuinely one of the best.

Holiday Plans - Mini-series

The Reach PSA series - Three parts total, only part one is linked.

Project Freelancer Saga

Season 9

Technically there's two mini-series that take place during Season 9 - being M.I.A. and Where There's a Will, There's a Wall. I really love them, and would recommend watching them after S9, but if you really want to roll into S10 you won't miss much. Weirdly there's a place later on that would be a great spot to circle back to these, but I'll save that for later.

Season 10

Project Freelancer Side Quests

This is a great spot to circle back to older side quests you may have skipped, btw.

The Season 10 Table Read BTS - Season 10 was the first time they ever did a full cast table read for the show, and it's cool to see a few snippets from it and hear the crew talk about it.

Matt Hullum Talks to Himself - watch this after M.I.A. it's a live table read of part of the script, with a focus on a conversation between Sarge and Doc (who have the same voice actor)

This 10 Year Retrospective that was put out around Season 10. Watching it now, knowing that they were about halfway through the lifespan of the show / company gives it a whole new perspective.

RT Oz - PSA

Remember Not to Forget and Voting Fever - PSAs made to promote the launch of Halo 4. Voting Fever is one of the Best Ever (and listen to the full version of That's How Voting Works afterwards!)

This Interview between Burnie and Trocadero talking about the music the band has done for the show. This playlist also has a bunch of other behind the scenes and other such bonus stuff from the DVDs and Blu-Rays, it's great to keep around.

The Chorus Trilogy

Season 11

The Chorus Journal Entries - Only three have fully machinimated versions, the last one is just the log entry. Bridges the gap between 11 and 12

Season 12

Season 13

Chorus Trilogy Side Quests

#1 Movie in the Galaxy - PSA

Getting Away From it All - PSA

#1 Movie in the Galaxy: 2 - PSA

Uh. I think the RvB Holiday Special goes here

Matt Hullum (Sarge) reading an excerpt from 50 Shades of Gray at a book signing.

Season 14 - Anthology

I get it: not everyone loves the Anthology format. I truly do recommend watching all of it at least once - or if you haven't in a long time. My only Side Quests are to say that this is the perfect time to go back to M.I.A. and WTAWTAW if you skipped them after season 9, and that if you skipped the #1 Movie In the Galaxy PSAs during Chorus, watch them now before the third one, which is in this season.

The Shisno Trilogy (seasons 15, 16, and 17)

Season 15

Season 16 - The Shisno Paradox

Season 17 - Singularity

Shisno Side Quests (this is taken from our survey data because it's been so long since I've watched much of any shisno-related stuff)

Hard Truths - PSA

Diversity - PSA

Cultural Appreciation - PSA

Lopez's Technical Guide to Empathy - PSA

Unreal Estate - PSA

Caboose's Guide to Finding Your Home - sequel to the Guide to Making Friends from season 14

RvB: Zero + Family Shatters

okay so here's the deal. If by this point, you're really just interested in the characters you've been watching for the past 17 seasons and not so much the story or anything - you may not get much from watching Zero. I do think it's interesting to watch, if only because I think it's got a lot of missed potential. Zero is not served well by being a season of RvB, I think I would have liked it a lot more if it were stand-alone, though that doesn't fix all of my issues with it. If you wanna jump straight to the series finale, you absolutely can. It's a pretty short watch, though, and I've heard that Family Shatters was better. I'll watch that one at some point.

Zero

Family Shatters - spinoff

Restoration

This is it! The series finale.

I'm not doing this with an other season (though I do recommend going back and watching all the teasers and trailers at some point), but before you watch the finale you should watch The First Trailer For It. I think it sets up the season really well, and helps make some of the rushed set-up exposition in Restoration make a little bit more sense. honestly this should just be considered the first scene of the finale. Then watch the finale, and then you are done with all of the main show of Red VS Blue. Go forth, and be free.

Final Side Quest

I'm putting anything that came out in the nebulous time between Zero and the finale in here. I'll come back and edit this once we find out what on earth is going to be on the Blu-Ray.

Offensive Driving

First Person Tutor

Moving Out

The Video RT Made to Announce Master Chief and Blood Gulch Were Coming To Fortnite. This played at the game awards and my soul almost left my body

This is also where I'll put QvsA, which is the Grimmons mini-series, though I haven't actually watched it myself yet. They're all on youtube.

My all-time favorite RvB fan edit - doesn't actually have any clips post-anthology, but I think the end is a great time to watch it.

If none of this makes sense, or you just have any questions at all - I am More than happy to help answer your queries. I hope this helps :) Also if any of the links are broken please let me know.

[gayferrari]

we as a community need to get more rpf-y about the fact that charles' girlfriend's name is alex

I see your vision. However EYE am more interested in the fact that in a certain light she looks like she and Carlos could be related.

Long answer: this ask sent me down a bit of a thought spiral about how F1 fandom in general deals with IRL significant others, as opposed to other sports RPF fandoms I've lurked in, so you get an actual essay, sorry.

I think it's interesting how F1 fic writers tend to just ignore irl partners, way more than other sports fandoms. You know how the tag “AU: no girlfriend / no wives” gets A Lot of mileage elsewhere? In F1 it's hardly ever used, because wags are simply excluded by default. The only ships that sometimes remember partners exist (include them or deliberately write around them) are ships involving guys like Seb or Nico whose relationships are a big part of their lives and are probably harder to just push to the side.

By contrast, the younger crop of drivers have a big social media presence that's almost impossible to ignore BUT does not include their actual irl partners because it's all work mandated PR, so these men's F1 personas make it very easy to paint them as single. Even if their broader public personas (outside of F1) are very high profile and often includes very public relationships and friendships — it's not like they keep their relationships lowkey, you know? But people just choose not to dig into those layers of lore, probably simply because the stuff we get through team PR videos and grill the grid already gives us a lot to work with.

IDK, I just find it fascinating! I bet many people don't even notice, but TO ME it's kinda glaring how often everyone in fic is single because imo it's such a fundamental component of the elite athlete lifestyle how these guys always have someone to come home to (and do some emotional labour for them). It doesn't have to be their actual irl girlfriends — many people draw the RPF line at including semi-famous partners, and that's a totally understandable stance — but there aren't even that many OC girlfriends. It is something that stands out to me compared to, idk, hockey RPF to make the most obvious comparison.

HAVING SAID ALL THAT. Yeah, I'd actually be very interested in more fics where Charles has a girlfriend. Again, it doesn't have to be a fictional version of his actual rl girlfriend, it can just be an OC with a different name. BUT, Charles's whole serial monogamy thing is actually a really big part of his personality that I think fandom misses out on, because HE is the one who's assigned the role of girlfriend in most ships he's involved in. You know, the omegafication of Charles... I get why it's a popular trend, I've written it myself and enjoy reading it. But I think there are interesting things to be done, characterisation wise, drawing on the fact that irl he's very much A Dude, and also a serious relationship kinda guy, and a very basic kinda straight guy who yearns for three children by age 35. Like... I think taking THAT kind of man and giving him a sexuality crisis is an avenue full of potential that the fandom could explore more.

tldr: I fully respect people's decision NOT to engage with significant others in RPF but also I think it has potential if you're inclined to go that way! so yea I agree RPF fandom could and should do more with Charles having a girlfriend even if people choose not to RPF *this* specific girlfriend.

[mecachrome]

What is the hype around jendo? I am trying to do research but I feel like they barely had any interactions?? Especially recently? Is there a primer or something cause I totally want to try to get into them!

OMGGGG well i wouldn't call myself a jendo expert or anything but i can briefly tell you why i like them!!! also soz for late reply 😭

tbh the very first thing that converted me was watching this interview forever ago because i remember being deeply intrigued by lando's demeanor + relative shyness + how hard he tried overall to appear Respectable and Mature in front of jense while answering his questions??? like the way jenson smiles at him during "are you happy?" "UMMM... kind of" wtheck T__T

jendo honestly have a lot of lore though! again i am not an expert but @cuthechicane has so many fantastic clips and gifsets if you're looking for interax that will rewire your brain chemistry ☝️ (the sheer giddinesssss of their miami interview 😭 also this is a classic moment). part of their thing is that they're both "somerset boys" (lando grew up in glastonbury / jenson is from frome) so that connection also kind of adds an extra layer to jenson having raced for mclaren / lando looking up to him and the general hero worship or cyclical nature of f1 that is palpable in their dynamic and a lot of other f1 agediff ships. ofc rossi was lando's real hero but... you know jenson is jenson

really though i think what i like most about jendo is how much jenson genuinely ADORES lando lmfao like their dynamic is so ridiculous but in a really absurdly sincere way!!! ofc it's super fun to go all in on the rancid age gap power imbalance vibes etc. and the way they flirt in public and fluster each other but jenson 100% RATES lando and hypes him up constantly to the point that it's almost embarrassing negl. lichr him going all in on lando like 4 hours ago... what's craziest to me is that he sincerely believes everyone else loves lando too like his brain can't comprehend the mere concept of someone not being obsessed with his favorite little british twink 😭 he's those innocent guys on reddit who still post comments like "lando is so nice it's impossible to hate him!!!" as if we're still in 2019 or something...... i want to live in that world

imo there's also an aspect to jendo where it's like...? jenson sees so much of himself in lando to the point of having preconceptions about lando's mentality that he projects onto him a bit which i think adds dimension to jenson's vulnerability but that goes into way more my own Meta and isn't really relevant to this post. but part of jenson's personality is that he is very charismatic and a natural speaker and also Usually Right so he loves to SAY shit and although he's not quite a nico-level professional shit stirrer he does kind of um... always speak like he knows something you don't. as evidenced by his time as lewis's teammate wherein he won the idgaf war by not acknowledging it going on in the first place. this is also why he and oscar should banter more because i feel like the comparisons between oscar and jenson are honestly so apt HLSDFH i have a jenson/oscar/lando post if that is of any interest

ok sorry i'm getting off-track but >>>all of that to me is why jendo is fun... jenson presents as very self-assured but if you do a psyche deep dive you realize he was quite sensitive growing up and Personally Victimized by briatore and has been quite open about his anxiety and the way f1 culture functioned at the time, and he's always been quite emotionally regulated but obviously there was... also a lot of glamour that accompanied that until later in his career LOL. so getting to explore those sides of him with a 20-something lando who very much mirrors him (self-reflective and sometimes overly critical and learning to live the "highly committed and industrious playboy" life) but also makes his façade crack in ways you don't often see is so fun & fascinating...!!! imo you can take them in a lot of different directions as a ship :3c

^ bonus bits i like from his book

[majycka]

hi quick random question, do you think Kyoto students and utahime especially her dynamic with Gojo could have been utilised a bit better in shibuya because they have potential if they were fleshed out.

what are your thoughts i just feel there could have been potential.

There certainly was a potential anon!

Reading this linkspooky anon ask, she said that the mechamuru traitor plot line could've been fleshed out more to point out the flaws of the school system(which gege isn't really interested in exploring) thus also allowing us to explore the differences between teacher Gojo and Utahime plus their kids. I agree with what the anon and she had to say so imma try to explain it further.

I know canon told us that Utahime was able to figure out the mole via process of elimination but if we were to really to draw out the traitor plot line, I can imagine Utahime, the investigator, digging deeper into the motive on why possible Mechamaru even considered doing it. She's an attentive teacher afterall so I wouldn't doubt she probably cares about why her kid ends up like that. In this way, we get to see the differences between how Gojo and Utahime treat their kids as well as how the school system using these kids as child soldiers affects them. Through this way, we get to see Gojo and Utahime interact more. I’d dare say that Utahime will probably call out the way how absent and “sink-or-swim” Gojo’s ways of teaching are. I mean, it does work for his students, but sometimes he ignores a crucial and obvious part that they are STILL kids.

That’s the whole point of Nanami’s care for Yuuji who’s originally under Gojo’s wing, and how Yuuji expressed that it’s Nanami underestimating his skills when in fact, Yuuji is STILL a child, and Nanami, as the adult, has to protect him.

Gojo is not too aware of this fact that they ARE still child soldiers because he is raised in the same system afterall. However, with Utahime’s caring, and doesn’t-take-any-bullshit-from-Gojo personality, there’s no doubt she’ll call the fuck out of him. 

Moving on to the actual students themselves, I actually like how Gege kept the Kyoto kids lowkey in this arc and when they showed up, they were a team (even Todo included with his help with Yuuji). I'd like it more if we were shown how the Kyoto kids navigated the culling game arc because the game could have forced Kyoto plus Tokyo to cooperate with each other. Maybe even under Utahime's wing because most of the adults got nerfed in Shibuya. Also, Kyoto kids offer the weaker pov things in the series, and I'm all out for underdog characters. There’s just lots of inner conflict going on when you’re in a world who favors the strong while the weak gets hammered down. 

Moreover, another thematic potential I can think for the kyoto-tokyo dynamic is sharing comradery on entering adulthood. This is somehow shown with Kamo & Maki vs Naoya fight, and imo, this fight is a good CANON example that "at the very verryyy least"  fulfilled the potential of the Kyoto-Tokyo dynamic.

More yapping under the cut cuz this is actually one of my fav fights in CG arc >.<

The goodwill event shows the battling philosophies of the schools, however it also shows how complementary they are..Kyoto wants to be understood in a lashing out way but Tokyo merely responded with callousness to it and has the "who cares what others think" mindset.

Nobara and Momo fight on misogyny

Mechamaru expressing his disability with panda

Megumi vs Kamo "We are the same"

Maki and Mai "why didn't you left the Zenin clan"

I mean Tokyo ain't wrong about their individualistic mindset but at the same time, it just sounded unsympathetic especially when all those kids are all in the SAME boat being child soldiers under the jjk ruthless system. Kyoto kids unhealthily lashes out but they aren't wrong about it either cuz it's a reality that they suffer a lot from this system. These openness of Kyoto Tech however did make them closer like mutamiwa and kyoto girls (mai, miwa, momo).

Overall, Tokyo needed the Kyoto comrade nature while at the same time Kyoto needed the independence of Tokyo kids and in that kamo-maki vs Naoya fight, it showed us how these philosophies made a great working teamwork for them...

Recap to that fight, Naoya shows up as a cursed spirit and boom maki has to deal with it now luckily Kamo is there to help. With the help of Kamo's teamwork, Maki was bought some time to recover (deal with those samurai and sumo duo) and boom defeat him. 

Kamo sympathised with Maki’s situation after the fight. Even back in the fight with Megumi, Kamo seems to be one trying to seek understanding from kids under the big clans because he kinda understands the pressure they are under. Despite barely interacting on screen, it's no wonder 100% Kamo backed up Maki. Moreover, what makes this fight pair up fulfilling is the parallels they have despite being different ends of the spectrum. They even opened up about their family problems, and this is coming from Maki who tends to keep to herself.

"Don’t fall in the same rut."

Maki opens up and give advice in communicating more to their family because Maki regretted not doing the same for their mom, and we cut to throwback of the Kamo’s mom was that she named him Noritoshi just to spite the Kamo clan.

I've seen criticism about this part. It's pretty shitty the mom named her kid practically Hitler,  abandoned the same kid, and expects the kid himself to come back, and I agree with the criticism. However, looking at it from a different angle, it's shown at the same time that jjk is a coming of age series, kids growing into adulthood aka shouldering the shit that adults have failed to do...

Adults can be shit at doing their job to their kids like what Kamo's mom did to Noritoshi. Like c'mon mom! you could have done your job as an adult and be the one to approach your kid or pull him out of the clan situation but no. Sometimes the Reality is fully accepting that parents are shitty sometimes and the kid of the situation has to push themselves to be mature and take over the adult's work, and as for Kamo, that is having to be the one to find his mother to find closure and from then on, he will be the one to decide what will be next.

[argonapricot]

People accusing Shin of having no personality/characterization to dunk on her is so annoying... First of all, it's totally fine and normal to like a Star Wars character who hasn't gotten a canon personality yet (i.e. Darth Maul in Phantom Menace) based on their design / story / performance / vibes. It's normal for mysterious characters to exist, and it's normal for people to like those characters. But we do actually already know some cool stuff about Shin; she does have A Characterization and A Story even when the show is holding back with her.

I agree that for now there are many unknowns about her, and fans are having to speculate about her while we wait for the show to fill in the gaps and give us canon answers. (I agree that it would be nice to know more of what the showrunners undoubtably know but have kept hidden so far, like any information about her backstory at all. I am sure they are planning to explore more backstory in the next season, but it's a huge shame just bc Ray Stevenson can no longer be part of that exploration :( )

However, the information we do have about her is totally sufficient to make her cool and interesting. Imo.

"Baylan Skoll's feral, ruthless apprentice, who has a padawan braid, who is dark side-y enough that she seems eager for violence but still asks 'like me?' when Baylan is talking about Ezra being a Jedi." like yeah sorry that's all I need I'm sold! Sorry!

Seeing her make this facial expression before her first duel/encounter ever with another padawan:

Is enough for me! That's already something really interesting to work with! Or the dynamic between her and Baylan in this specific moment

For one moment he just suddenly beams fondness/pride at her and she seems so intense and excited when she bows back, as she goes off to try to murder some people. Then she gets so visibly upset later when Sabine tells Ahsoka to go get the map, thwarting the assignment she was given here of holding off the both of them.

That's an exciting and interesting master-padawan dynamic! I am going to be interested in Baylan Skoll's padawan who has this dynamic with Baylan Skoll as a foil to Ahsoka's relationship with Anakin and u Cannot Stop Me.

Sometimes I like to look at an actor's performance and observe what they seem to be feeling. Sometimes I like to wonder about things that have not yet been revealed to the audience, I find that an interesting experience... I am sorry that u cannot appreciate her Sublime & Unique Vibes....

The way she acts when she fights is part of her characterization! As with everyone in this show, her fighting style is designed and choreographed to be expressive of her character. The way she moves is expressive. She's so aggressive and excited and alive when she fights. That's information about who she is! It's fun information!

Look at this. Look at how she reacts when Baylan tells her to go up against Ahsoka Tano's ex-apprentice.

I admit I cannot tell u with 100% certainty what she is canonically feeling in this moment, but whatever it is she is feeling it SO INTENSELY. The fact that she reacts like this is interesting information about her character, bc every single conceivable explanation for why she is emoting this way is interesting and cool!

She seems kinda excited. She seems to find it significant and momentous. That's fun. We don't know why she feels this way, but it's too late she is already interesting sorry

Sorry for observing the facial expressions that a character makes and learning things about them that way

It's annoying that the show hasn't taken the time to reveal more things about her yet I agree but why are you being mean 2 her... Having mysterious characters is normal Star Wars procedure :/

Like yes we all know this is not Andor, the writing is not always brimming with deft characterization, that's a shame, but that doesn't mean the show hasn't given us a lot of interesting canon building blocks to work with.

tl:dr this is a skill issue and I love her very much

It's honestly kind of funny coming from the silmarillion fandom... some people simply know how to appreciate cool and unique characters based on limited information.

[geostatonary]

What's the relationship between CMWGE, Nobilis, and Glitch? The bits of understanding I think I've picked up so far are that they're all (diceless?) ttrpgs and are in vaguely the same setting but at least one's setting is an AU of another one's? They sound really cool, but really confusing, but really cool despite and/or because of the really confusing, and continuing to just pick up the random bits that tumbl my way is Not Enough. Help?

Okay!

Let's talk a bit about publishing for background

In 1999, Jenna Moran (formerly R. Sean Borgstrom) published the first edition of Nobilis through Pharos Press, resulting in what is often called the "Little Pink Book". This was a small run, and it proved successful/interesting enough to get picked up by Hogshead Publishing in 2002, resulting in the second edition of Nobilis, which is often called the "Great White Book". This is the one a lot of people think about when they think "Nobilis", and really put it on the map in the tabletop gamer consciousness. In 2011, the third edition of Nobilis was released through EOS Press. There was a lot of drama involving the publishers and distributors for the last two editions but that's not relevant to your question. Also, a fourth edition is in the works.

Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine (CMWGE) was released in 2015 after a successful kickstarter, initially through EOS Press and then through Jenna's own efforts and the support of a generous benefactor due to her separating from EOS for some of the aforementioned publisher drama. Its technically a multimedia project that also has two associated novels, The Fable of the Swan (2012) and The Night-Bird's Feather (2022).

Finally, Glitch: A Story of the Not was self published in 2022 after another successful kickstarter. This is the most recent of her games within the collective game line, sometimes referred to as "gluubilis" or "the Ash Tree Engine".

Why'd you tell me all that?

So you'd have context for this.

Mechanically, each of these games represents a development on the preceeding works; every later game iterates and develops on the previous games and concepts. This looks something like this

1e/2e Nobilis > 3e Nobilis > CMWGE > Glitch/4e

in terms of major mechanical divisions and advancements.

All the systems are diceless and there's a lot we could say here, but probably the biggest single innovation would be the introduction of Arcs and Quests starting in CMWGE, providing a strong narrative xp framework for all the future games to engage with and be built around.

In terms of the setting, all the games except CMWGE take place on the Ash-Tree Earth in which the universe is a big tree in a cup of fire that's presently at war with the forces of the Void. Nobilis explores play as the Nobilis, individuals empowered by the rulers of Creation to defend it against the Excrucians, the representatives of the Void. Glitch flips this around and has you play as one of those Void beings who used to fight in the war, but is now abstaining from it for any number of reasons.

CMWGE takes place in a world that was drowned in a sort of ontological uncertainty called the Outside. It's set in a possible future where the war of Nobilis and Glitch doesn't reach a conclusive end, but rather the world was cast into an interregnum during which any number of things are possible and also you can have slice of life adventures and shit. None of that background is actually necessary to know to play CMWGE, but I think it's enriching and also it'll help explain some of the various otherwise insane things we the players and fans will say about it. Again, though, nothing actually like. Holds you to that if you wanna do something of your own. CMWGE is notable for being the most customizable of these systems by far.

What's next?

A couple recommendations!

First, I'd recommend reading some of these games! Glitch and Nobilis 3e are imo the most accessible of the game books + they're ones still in use, but CMWGE is also absolutely worth checking out; just be aware that it's handing you a toolbox, so there's a lot more big chunks of mechanics to work through. Honestly, don't be afraid to skip around these books and look at whatever catches your interest. They're very rewarding reads! If you want to read fiction, The Fable of the Swan and The Night-Bird's Feather are both also really good starting points.

Next, talk with people about them! The scene is kinda scattered, but you can still find people on tumblr, Twitter, and cohost at the very least who're talking about this stuff. There's also an official discord and an older fan discord (you can ask me for an invite to that one) where people are pretty active.

Also, just, try playing the games! A lot of the apparent complications are a lot easier to parse and understand when you actually see them in play, and they're fun games.

Finally, don't be afraid to keep asking questions! Given the chance, a lot of us won't shut up about these games, myself included.

[theworidentire]

The decision in TP to drop any interaction between Audrey and Coop was a bad one. I think that their dynamic is a great way to refract a lot of the themes of the show, and it has a lot to do with TP’s multiple ways of viewing “good people.” (Something I’ve been stewing about for a while— hopefully soon I can articulate some of those thoughts)

Anyway,

Audrey is a great character, and it makes perfect sense for her to be intrigued by/attracted to a kind, handsome older man. She’s also badly neglected, and models the ways of gaining power + autonomy + attention that she sees in front of her, something that puts her in danger and is in no way a good thing. I get that all the characters’ ages/the timelines are fucked so there’s some ambiguous wiggle room, but she’s a kid. A very smart and resourceful one who wants to be the mysterious and competent adult that others see as a person, but still.

She wants Coop something fierce, and gets herself into intense peril pursuing that. She's tenacious and smart and badly damaged, and a teenage girl who's ignored + allowed to do whatever she wants, which is a very potent combination.

And Coop is textually attracted to her: I think that that’s very important to understanding a lot of his character, and ignoring it does a disservice to a lot of what the show is saying. MLMT does a lot of heavy lifting to explain and explore a history of childhood sexual misuse + hypersexuality with him, but even in just the show canon I think it’s very apparent and easy to understand that he’s grappling with his attitudes and attraction towards women, and especially with his own past and traumas.

The scene where Audrey surprises him naked in bed had the potential to be the fulcrum moment in their relationship, imo. Cooper is visibly wrestling with his attraction to her— something he knows and expresses aloud would be very wrong to act on— and Audrey is in an extremely fragile state, for all that she was trying to be assertive and take control in a relationship with an older man (a cop, even).

When Cooper lets her down gently and says that what she needs is a friend, that’s a very powerful moment. This is the “adult men sexually abuse young girls” show, but their relationship in particular has been set up to be interesting and alluring— I don’t think that people are nuts for picking up on the very intentional tension. It’s there, you’re supposed to see it.

So when Cooper says that she needs a friend, he makes the right choice, something that he doesn’t have a great track record of doing.

It’s a really powerful thing, that surrounded by all of these men who choose wrongly, and do wrong intentionally, Cooper is maybe the only adult man in Audrey’s life who makes the choice to respect and protect her, and that’s profoundly compelling. Like, I get it if someone wants to take that in another direction.

(There’s a more specific point to be made about Audrey’s father very nearly sexually assaulting her, and another, older man who is into her consciously deciding not to act on that, but I’ll toss it around and try to express it later)

You can debate it all day— which can be interesting and enriching— but for him to enter into a relationship with her would have been a clear, gross abuse of his power, and followed the pattern set by all of the other monstrous men in the show.

TP makes its stance on adult men sleeping with teenage girls crystal clear, there’s no way that they would have had their main character— morally iffy though he can be sometimes— go to bed with the teenage peer of a murder victim and then be like “awesome!” Cooper would be a very different man if he acted on it.

Which, I think is one of those moments where you as the viewer are supposed to look past the aesthetics and how pretty both adult actors are, the same way we all need to look past the quality of the coffee to understand what happened to Laura: a federal agent in his 30s who picks up a rural, neglected teenage lover in the wake of a grisly sex crime + said teenager’s father is a major player in the crime ring that allowed that to happen, is not a good man. That is a real-life horror that follows the framework of the show, and I think that part of the original intention was to leave that avenue open for later in the series, but more on that later.

All that being said, he absolutely thinks about it. He’s very tempted. That’s something that I feel like a lot of people don’t want to admit, but he’s explicitly attracted to her. It’s a testament to his character, and an interesting mirror to his ultimate failure of courage, that he, mister "Give Yourself a Present," was able to recognize a desire as harmful and squash it.

He’s less interesting if you just wave your hand and say “oh, he never even thought about it!” He did. He totally thought about it, he considered it, and wrestled with it, and ultimately came out on top. That’s infinitely more interesting— and IMO fits in better with the backstory established for him— than the idea that he’s just too morally pure and untouchable.

Even so, he elects not to do something that will harm her, and chooses to be her friend instead, something that she badly needs. That scene easily could have transitioned them from a very unequal “will-she-won’t-he” to a friendship that would benefit both of them, and give the characters some more room to flex + explore the facets of their similarities/their links to Laura and what they share with her.

Cooper sees Audrey, instead of blindly buying into her adolescent facade, or just looking past her. Even many of the angles their scenes are shot with reinforce that. He doesn’t ignore her.

I think that all of that goes into making their relationship extremely compelling, and, in my opinion, totally dropping that relationship after a point was just shitty writing. The whole weight of his choice to be her friend and to do right by her + her choice to accept that disappears when the show just truncates that entire plot line and dynamic. She needed that friend, needed and accepted what he was willing to offer her! Not to get shuffled off to the side and into a somewhat baffling plot line

(And if the show had gone on longer, or gone a different direction, I think that that would have been the avenue they chose to hammer in to viewers that as sexy as it sounded to a teenager, this is a bad thing, and that Coop was letting hangovers from past trauma/abuse get the better of him— something that is also very thematically appropriate. In a S3 that never was, I think it’s likely that possessed Coop/his doppelgänger/whatever direction they would have gone in the 90s would have attacked or initiated a relationship with her. TPTR alludes to this, I think, with Mr. C’s fathering Richard.)

I understand that there were tensions on set, and actors/execs had very strong opinions, but I do think that the “okay ew that’s over now” way that the show chops off a major undercurrent is badly done, and that the show is poorer for it.

Anyway, that relationship is one that really bugs me in how it developed in the show. Let me be clear that this is absolutely not an anti-ship post: do as thou wilt, have fun whatever I’m not here to pick a fight, and I really don’t care what other people ship. What strangers want to do with two fictional characters isn’t really my business.

But I don’t think that people are making something out of nothing, there, even if I have a much different stance on it. I think I’ve made my opinion of that relationship as romantic pretty clear at this point, but I have eyes and understand when you’re supposed to pick up on tension between characters.

I think that many people try far too hard to pretend that something very explicitly onscreen isn’t there, because they don’t want to wrestle with the thornier parts of it. (For a show that centers around a child being raped and murdered by her father, a great many watchers get surprisingly precious about unpleasant or even gray subjects, it seems to me.)

But I think it’s a shame that one of the most interesting relationships in the show got cut off so severely, and it’s really interesting to think of how they might have followed through on the punch, had there been fewer disasters surrounding the series.

I went on a little longer than I meant to about the idea of the pair of them as a romantic item, and that’s not the major point of this. Really, it’s that I think both characters lost out on that could have developed into something really compelling, because the bones were there. The setup was very strong, and the scene I talked about above absolutely could have transitioned those two into something, anything, more narratively satisfying and interesting than what we got.

I really like both of them, and I think that there’s a tendency to swing wildly one way or the other with Audrey. She’s much more nuanced than I think a lot of people give her credit for (which in fairness is something that afflicts basically all of the teenage characters, not to mention dear Dale), and there’s a place to think about her in-between outright fetishism a la coquette blogs, and pretending like she has no agency or desire/that her neglect has no impact on what she wants and how badly she’s willing to fight to get it.

She’s a major character in the show for a while, and I don’t like it that A) her character gets sidelined so abruptly B) many people in fandom go out of their way to minimize her role in the story. She’s not even one of my big favorites, I just think that she gets a raw deal.

My favorite thing about the show is the deep and knotted relationships, and I think that there was a warm-up swing and a really big miss with this one.

[cherryys]

different anon but I agree with your assessment of the megumi finds out about his father subplot and it being a bad set up, and personally, I've never expected megumi to have any of those typical dad feelings like loving him in reality or hating gojo for it, but I did think the reveal could have been used as a gateway into megumi's feelings surrounding his father, the sale to the zenins, his position in the jujutsu world all that HE knows and just fleshing out that part of his character along with how he feels about gojo doing it even if those feelings aren't typical, but atp I think gojo should have just blurted it out when he was younger and just move on from there (just a glimpse into how megumi felt as a child after gojo came and went would've went hard lol) neither gojo or megumi seem like the types to share all of that in a conversation imo but I think their dynamic was done a disservice considering how unique their situation was with each other (mgm contracted when he was way younger than most, his dad fucked up the "strongest" not just physically, gojo probably being the only adult figure in his life is kind of crazy, etc) like it's funny and fucked at the same time that he can laugh at the absurdity of gojo's letter and his lack of interest in his dad despite being affected by his absence could be an interesting thing to expand on that sort of subverts expectations but that may be out of gege's interest #sad

I personally don't believe it has to serve a higher purpose in the story, and I do think gege's characters suffer a bit from a lack of fleshing out

ive talked about this in length in multiple posts but the biggest problem with how Megumi is handled is that we don't really get anything substantial about him in specific moments.

sure, we're given building blocks like in CH. 9 or CH. 58 about his mindset and ideals, but we're never really told how he feels in crucial moments, so it just makes him a surface-level character sometimes. his feelings about his dad could be inferred, but they're never really said out loud or explored upon. like you could probably say he feels abandoned by him, and he's hurt over that, and he carried that hurt and guilt throughout his entire life, and it might be true, but it's never acknowledged neither by the story nor by him. People sometimes say Megumi truly doesn't care about his dad and unfortunately the story reaffirms that view even when you see small, small glimpses of that abandonment seeping through his character. but it's just that. small glimpses. it's never elaborated on or explored.

his feelings to being sold to this shitty place, practically being defined by his technique since a young age, and given no agency on his life, are never explored, either. sure, we see a glimpse of it 266, and how he only wanted a simple life, but couldn't do that because of his Technique, but then it's never really explored beyond that, either. his relationship with his Technique is also something that should be elaborated on, since it defines him and you see him struggling with it and struggling with his self-worth relating to it, but he's never given closure on it, either.

and (arguably) the most debated topic about jjk apart from the sukuna v gojo fight, his feelings towards gojo. they could be assumed, but their relationship isn't explored beyond a surface-level statement or two thrown around, because we're never truly told what he feels about gojo, actually feels about him, not just "benefactor". compare that to something like yuuta and gojo, whose relationship had an entire movie dedicated to it. you know clearly what yuuta's feelings towards gojo are, and what gojo's feelings towards yuuta are. but you don't have that for megumi, who arguably should've been more important since, y'know, he's the deuteragonist, but instead we're given nothing. This letter could've been the best time to get megumi to talk about how he actually feels about gojo for once, but instead he just laughs. and it would've been great if I knew what the hell the laugh meant. is it about the fact gojo bothered to leave a note? about how ridiculous it is? about the info that his dad is dead? or is he laughing bc it seems so insignificant now compared to all that happened in shinjuku??? I don't know. gege silences megumi in what are supposed to be his most important moments. make him express any sort of feelings for once. this isn't even a criticism on megumi's naturally cold attitude, because despite it he does talk about his feelings (CH.9) but he's never given the space to express anything. in fact, he's never given the space to actually process anything that happens to him.

gojo could've literally told megumi right then and there when he was 6 that he killed him and it wouldn't have changed a single thing, but instead gege kept this plot point going as if it'll have any sort of payoff. (it didn't.)

and my biggest gripe so far, right now, after the showdown. his behavior is irritating me to no end. He literally went through the worst time of his entire life, his sister is dead, mentor is dead, his friends were hurt trying to save him, and he looks as if he just woke up from a nap. he doesn't process anything that happened to him in the showdown, nor do we see him do so. it's as if it didn't even happen. as if him getting posessed didn't even matter, when it in fact flipped his world upside down. and I'm like, okay, what was the point of getting him posessed then if he won't gain anything from it?? that's the problem, gege never lets him express his emotions or actually feel them. like, tsumiki's death had such a profound effect on his soul, yet we are never shown what he actually feels about her or about her death, and by actually feels, I don't mean the obvious grief, but like, actually process her death. that post-battle scene would've been the perfect time for him to finally talk about how he feels towards tsumiki's death when he's given the time and space to process it it rather than in the bath when he was forced to drown in his own grief without ever coming to terms with it, but it's as if it didn't even happen. that time could've also been used for him to express how he feels about gojo, or about his friends risking his lives for him, or hell, getting posessed. I want him to acknowledge that he literally had his autonomy and agency stolen away from him and that someone else piloted his body for a month like some sort of sick joke. but nope, it's never treated as if it's a thing that happened, they just shrug it off.

not to mention in 266. the chapter is about megumi, but it's not really about megumi, yknow? we are never shown what he actually felt in that month of being posessed, or how he felt when Yuuji finally said those words to him that made him resist the bath. yeah he fought back so obviously he chose to live, but also, what does that mean for him? what does he feel like in this moment? what did he feel like before? what did yuuji's words make him feel? gege sure as hell won't tell us.

I have many other gripes with the way megumi's character is treated but I feel like this is enough whining for one ask LOL sorry it got so long

[kyogre-blue]

Played about 2.5 hours of Wuthering Waves tonight. I was hoping to unlock the dailies, but I only made it to Union level 4, which I think is too low, but whatever.

My impressions are fairly mixed, but given how many gachas I've now started and dropped pretty much immediately, WW is doing quite well for itself.

I have to say tho that I deeply pity it for how much it will be compared to Genshin.

For positives, I think WW has a rather solid opening section. I focused on the main story to advance the Union level faster, but it seems like you get your main tutorials out of the way fairly quickly and can go and explore from there. Given the complaints I have about being railroaded in other games, that's nice.

Additionally, I think the story is nice if unremarkable. It's paced better than Genshin early parts imo, which were ridiculously rushed, and it benefits from having multiple characters who talk to each other and have different personalities. Yangyang, Chixia and Baizhi invite the harem jokes, but they are a friend group who decide to look after this amnesiac they found. They frame it as a combination of responsibility and friendliness, which I think works. Aside from that, yes, the game certainly leans into the MC being someone super special and important, but it's treated as an actual mystery and the current driving point of the narrative. Plus, the male MC is rather cute, so I can forgive a lot.

Compared to a whole bunch of other gachas, I am actually mildly interested in seeing where this is all going.

For the neutral points, WW actually has a fairly different tone and vibe than Genshin. The colors are more muted, the music is notably less upbeat, and there is a vaguely scifi aesthetic underlying the setting. It also has a lot more... what I read as Chinese cultural influences. You do start in the China region, but there's also stuff like the goofy gourd gadgets everyone has. I have a general impression of what mythological thing is being referenced, but it really does come off as goofy. However, those details are kinda... cute? narm-charm? I guess, when you consider that it's a Chinese developer. It also just has a different flavor from the most common settings, which is always a nice change.

For the negatives, I think the game does lack a few points of polish compared to Genshin. The movement controls feel kinda floaty, the designs (especially the adult female ones) are just not as competent or appealing, the proportions on the models look a bit off at times, and there are even minor bugs, with stuff like dialogue boxes being unable to fit all the lines of text (with no log feature in the scenes themselves), the auto advance moving too quickly and cutting off voice lines and sometimes even making it impossible to read the text fast enough, some awkward visual elements, textures loading kinda poorly, etc.

All of those are very small details and I'm not going to stop because of them, but they do create a certain impression in accumulation.

Examples:

The bottom of the image was also the bottom of the screen. A line or two of the text is just invisible, and this happens quite often.

Weirdly sized and spaced apostrophes.

Bad spacing on the wishing menus.

Weirdly poor textures on this guy. This happens once in a while. There are also very obvious cases of pop in that can get quite distracting during story scenes.

For the spacing stuff, I do play in windowed mode, but like... that's an option they give you. It shouldn't be like this.

All that aside, I'm going to continue for at least a while, though I plan to take it very casually, maybe even as a non-wishing account. The exploration and story can probably be cleared even with welfares... I hope.

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

Hello, can I ask what do you mean "in canon it's impossible for Sherlock to settle down with a woman"? Like, as a fan of Holmes and always read the books since middle school, I'm kinda confuse here, I don't mean anything negative. Sorry, do you think Poirot (from Agatha Christie) is also queer?

Maybe because I grew up with very religious mother and lived in anti-LGBTQ country, I'm kinda slow in picking up subtext. Like until now I'm still kinda confuse with my friend who have ships from any fandoms (but I still love to hear and read her headcanons or fics about those characters)....

I really agree with you, I've seen many Holmes' adaptations (cartoon, tv series, manga) but Yuumori is clearly the closest to Doyle's works. Do you think the mangaka also love to read Holmes' books?

Story time! (Welcome to "Hyper answers asks like an old lady going on an hour long barely-on-topic tangent at the slightest prompting.)

I totally get where you're coming from, I was raised in like...knockoff Southern Baptist churches. Growing up, homosexuality was presented to me as a sexual perversion incapable of involving real love. It's kind of silly, but it's true: a ship was a big part of changing that for me. I read Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle as a teenager, and Kurogane and Fai had something that was inescapably romantic and beautiful but never strictly sexual (tho the potential is certainly there). Between that and an online community of LGBTQ+ adults who were incredibly patient and kind towards me even when I was suuuuper ignorant, I started to open up towards queer relationships as...well, just relationships. Relationships that can encompass sex and also encompass love and friendship and communication and partnership and all those other things I'd been taught were exclusive to monogamous straight people. And then, even as terrified as I was, I was eventually able to face the fact that I'd always had crushes on girls just as often as crushes on guys. So yeah, there's a reason Kurofai is my ship of all ships, the actual One True Pairing for me. Because it cracked open a door just enough that I could slowly lever it open the rest of the way. There seem to be quite a lot of anecdotes like this: women enjoying BL/mlm ships is often seen as fetishy (which can certainly be part of it) but for some reason I can't fully articulate it also seems to sometimes be a means for girls and women to explore their own not-straightness.

ANYWAY. SHERLOCK HOLMES. Tbh I'm not gonna go too in-depth because I would bet good money that there are a bunch of scholarly articles on Holmes' queerness. People have probably done their doctorate theses on this! Much smarter and more well-read folks than I have already covered the topic. For me, it really boils down to: he never outright expresses sexual or romantic interest in anyone (we must resist the urge to assume his respect for Irene Adler is romantic just because he is a man and she is a woman). He's almost certainly on the asexual spectrum. But when he does exhibit symptoms one might associate with romantic and/or sexual interest (particularly romantic, imo), it's always towards men (usually Watson, of course). For example, notable flirt John Watson saying that Holmes blushes at his compliments the way a girl does is...suggestive.

The whole thing is complicated by Watson being (in my opinion at least) an unreliable and sometimes downright petty narrator. He keeps going on spiels about Holmes being cold and heartless, only to turn around and describe him greeting his friends warmly and being emotionally moved by music and baby-talking puppies and charming old ladies. It makes Watson sometimes come across as one of those allo people who are so unable to conceive of a life without romantic and/or sexual desire that they start dehumanizing those who don't experience it. Alternatively and maybe more charitably, he just has a big ol' crush on Holmes, is understandably alarmed by it given the time period, and gets bitchy and defensive when he feels it might not be reciprocated.

But ultimately...do I think Arthur Conan Doyle sat down at a desk in the late 19th century/early 20th century and was like "I am going to write some ace queer representation for the tumblr girlies (gn)"? Obviously not. 😅 I do think he might have set out to create a character who very deliberately did not need to have the otherwise almost obligatory straight romantic side-plot. Holmes is never in any way set up as having a life headed towards marriage and children, in spite of how typical that was for the time. The companionship he does express a need and desire for comes in the form of another man. He's "lost without [his] Boswell." He sneakily buys Watson's practice out from under him so he'll be free to move back in and go on more adventures with him. He threatens violence when Watson is hurt. Etc etc. I think it's very fair to interpret it all through a queer lens, the quibble would be more in whether that queerness ever manifests sexually.

I definitely think the Yuumori creators have not only read ACD but also other fiction based on the stories, possibly even including some very old pastiches like this one. I love how seemingly nerdy they are about it haha! The series is full of easter eggs and callouts to other Holmesian works.

As for Poirot, I know very little about the character beyond a few episodes of the show I watched as a young'un, but that is not the mustache of a straight man (I'm joking I'm joking I have absolutely no opinion on that one! 🤣)

Thanks for the ask, and for actually reading this ramble if you got this far! 😅

[cyberdragoninfinity]

👀 would you care to talk about the symbolism of the other yugioh rivals

SMILES. i would love to. i cant speak for revolver or the bridge rivals yet and i havent seen enough arc-v to have a solid grasp on declan's symbolism yet but i will talk a little about the spinoff rivals i do know pretty well

as a sidenote, like. ok so Kaiba's main motifs and 'symbolism' is...well. centered around Blue-Eyes and dragons in general mostly, of course. And he kind of has those weird disease/virus and mild clown motifs that show up a little in his cards, and those are all plenty cool and they work for what seto kaiba needs to be! but imo that doesn't really get nearly as expanded upon either in the show itself or otherwise in official yugioh What Have You, compared to the guys who came later. i didnt have a good spot to say this otherwise so it's going here lol of course thats just my opinion on the matter

Chazz: anyway, so something I notice is explored a bit more with the spinoff rivals is that they'll have these motifs that actually get extended into their archetypes in the actual tcg, and it's so SO cool to see. Chazz/Manjoume has his whole iconic thunder motif of course, and he also gets that little s2 stint with the Society of Light giving him a brief Bright Distressing White motif and BOTH OF THOSE. HAVE BEEN INVOKED WITH ARMED DRAGON LV 10 CARDS

i really especially love Armed Dragon Thunder Lv. 10-- its whole effect is the Manjoume Thunder chant!!! IT'S DOING THE POSE. IT'S SO FUN.

and of course also Chazz is a character very tied to the symbolism of "weak" duel monsters, of "weak" decks, one-star monsters and the Ojamas especially, and that in general is such a fun spin on a yugioh rival. we do a complete 180 from Guy Tied Almost Exclusively to Very Powerful Dragon to Guy So Symbolically Correlated With Weak Monsters He Dresses Up as One in His Last (and one of his best) Duels. peace and love on planet finding strength in the unremarkable

Jack: ok so Jack is an interesting one. He's very symbolically tied to being the 'King' and to underworldly draconic hellfire imagery [which in of itself is really cool, and I think there's some very interesting dichotomy in there with how Jack's tied with a fiery hellish dragon motif but Yusei's tied to a cosmic heavenly dragon motif...i really love Jack and Yusei as narrative counterparts.] But the thing is, in the same vein Jack's tied deeply to Burning Soul-- the issue is 5D's also very clearly puts forward that the Burning Soul iconography is also tied (and in large part originated) with the Legendary Signer...who is. an indigenous brown South American guy.

And they. gave it to one of the arguably whitest Yugioh characters. Erm. 🥴 classic yugioh racially questionable moments !This is what I mean when I say the spinoff rivals have far more interesting symbolism to me--sometimes the interest is out of uhhhh not great narrative handling!! Gives even more to chew on.

Shark: yeah Shark is the one that makes me insane. There's no way to talk about him and his symbolism without getting into deep Zexal Spoilers, so. Be mindful of that. I'm gonna talk about him and Kite under the cut

ok so Shark is like the goddamn yugioh rival symbolism rivalry gold rush. You trip into the Reginald Ryoga "Shark" Kamishiro Kastle motifs and symbolism well and youre falling for ten thousand years. You cant talk about him without having to get into him also being Nasch, and then you have to talk about the Barian Emperors, and that second you get into that is the second you get sandblasted with some of the most insane symbolism yugioh writers have every cooked up.

There is so much goddamn demonology imagery and motif and symbolism jammed into the Barians I will be here all day getting into it. NOT EVEN GETTING INTO THE BUDDHISM INFLUENCE TOO. You cannot convince me that the Barian Emperors aren't supposed to correlate with the Seven Princes of Hell, alongside their deeply implied Seven Deadly Sin symbolism (and the Ursa Major symbolism too of course--it's what they get their names from!) To me I think Nasch is supposed to be tied to Leviathan especially, being an aquatic-based monster, but he could also correlate to Lucifer, playing on the pop cultural idea of Lucifer being the leader of Hell (and in demonology, typically associated with pride...pretty big trait of Shark's!)

That's just me barely scratching the surface with him. He's got the demonology symbolism, and Ursa Major motif, and seven deadly sins symbolism, and the sea predator symbolism and motif, and the royalty symbolism (good god his DUB SURNAME IS FUCKING KASTLE. THE PALER PART OF HIS HAIR LOOKS LIKE A CROWN.) And also all the insane numerology symbolism Zexal is leaking out the ears with. he's the fucking best. Why did they make this 14 year old so jampacked with this shit. it RULES.

Kite: it's so neat that Zexal has two rivals effectively. ANYWAY. Kite doesn't have as much 'oh my god it keeps going. it keeps going. oh holy shit' tier symbolism as whatever going on with Shark but he's got some stuff going on; I think it's especially cool that he and Mizar/Mizael have this "light vs. time" motif going on with their dragons, a Galaxy-Eyes arms race based on the speed of light. In general Kite's really associated with light, in the the very scientific sense, be it the way his jacket turns white when he duels, his Photon-filled deck, HELL even literally the way his eyes get damaged and his vision suffers is arguably tied to it, and it rocks. I feel like Kite is (esp since Zexal is supposed to parallel DM in a lot of ways) really the rival meant to parallel Kaiba the most, even down to having a dragon ace monster based around something bright (white dragon, photon dragon,) but I think they really took the time to expand on that inherent symbolism and show it off in even more ways narratively than we see with Kaiba. it's just cool the more i think about it the more i really like what they did with kite.

[0cta9on]

Hoya there bud, pray that things ease up over there😚, got quite a number of ask/tell so I will be doing it all in one ask

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🗨️1. Question: What are you looking for in creating complex characters and relationships that you want in a story? Is it like how character A personality could click together with character B (Like Intimidated looking but klutz girl get couple up with compose looking but a teasing guy)🤔

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🗨️2. Comment: Just saying, you making me go down bad for Eunha🥵, When she's in Gfriend, I only see her as a cute idol that's all but ever seen their Viviz debut, Gyaattt daym she's hot 🔥 the epitome of both cute and sexy combine into one person👌🗿

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🗨️3. Comment: I really enjoy your blurb of Eunha, sometimes a blurb (as short as a couple of paragraphs and short dialogue) already satisfies me. Kinda reminds me of this, NSFW Tag game: sex positions: https://ggidolsmuts.tumblr.com/post/655847569294049280/nsfw-so-you-lost-a-bet-and-posted-that-you-wanted

💫Just for fun hehehe: You walk upon your housemate with an unintended morning wood, How would you start your day?

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🗨️4. Comment: Here is Minji contagious laugh

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSFW3GRot/

Such a ethereal and cuddly girl to have that contrasting laugh was phenomenal 🤣, Watching minji clip always reminded me of your work, Just imagine Yuno amused shocking face after experiencing first hand her really genuine laugh 🤭

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🪶To end this off, and yet again, I am truly thankful for your time and energy and attention on my humble messages, you probably got a lot on your tab already but I really appreciate every moment of it. Hope my long ass message doesn't pressure you🥲 cya✌️

Hello mikeylo!! Thanks for the asks!! Will probably be a bit long, so I'll put a divider here :) (Listen to Pat Pat by Eunha :)))) )

I think it really comes down to my lack of planning. For smuts at least, I think of scenarios first instead of relationships, so I end up worrying about if the characters are interesting enough or if the entire story is focused too much on the sex. There was actually an ask that caps had where they started out with interesting pieces of dialogue first and built the story off of that, which I wanna try in the future as it looks very interesting and makes for better character development and interactions (evident in all of caps' works tbh). A little bit of a spoiler but one of the things I'm working on has a throuple in it and I could easily write a bunch of hot n trashy threesome sex, but I thought it would be better if I explored how each person interacts with each other outside of sex and potential issues that could arise from feelings like jealousy or favoritism.

2. EXACTLY, Eunha has always been the epitome of cute and sexy imo. Even though Gfriend mainly did "cute" concepts, there were still a lot of times where Eunha was just naturally sexy. I'll leave a couple pics here to prove it :)

omg I remember going absolutely feral when she first did the bloom performance. And all of Eunha's Mago outfits are so GOOD gah damn.

3. I'm glad you enjoyed it :) I'm still looking for a perfect story to write about Eunha, anything less than perfection is a disservice to my girl. I remember reading those NSFW tag games when I was just a reader and it's a bit unfortunate I was too late to do them myself, they seem like fun to write. Anywho, here's another little blurb;

After a night full of drinking and partying, you're at the part you hate the most - waking up with a hangover. You stumble into your living room wearing nothing but your boxers and see your roommate, Eunha, sitting on the couch with a bowl of cereal in her lap. At this point, Eunha is used to you walking around in your boxers; what she's not used to, however, is your massive morning wood bulging through the fabric. Seeing you in your pitiful state, she decides to lend you a hand - more accurately, a mouth - and pulls your waistband down, taking as much of your cock into her mouth as she can. The sensation of her lips sucking your length is enough to make you forget about the pain in your head, and before you know it, you're shooting your cum down her throat. As you catch your breath, you can't help but think how lucky you are to have such a helpful roommate.

4. Omg I love her laugh so much, she's so cute I can't :,) There may or may not have been a time where I listened to her "I Love You 3000" cover on loop... Anyways, I cannot wait to write more cute shit for UD, thanks for the inspo, it helps a lot :))

[enchantra35]

Reflections on V4 & V5 of RWBY by a first time watcher

(Lengthy post ahead)

Hi, it's be again, back on my bullshit. First of all, I'd like to say that I didn’t expect my first post to get that much attention LOL. I'd like to clarify (again) two points:

First, I agree with most people's explanations. I didn't mean to sound like I was accusing fans for not thinking that bumbleby would become canon. My intention was to point out to some earlier hints, and I realize now that I could have used some better phrasing. As I explained elsewhere, when rwby aired, I was too young to know anything about the state of queer representation in media at the time. Now of course I know better, although I never got to experience that kind of anxiety - at least, not to that extent. My second point is that I was mostly referring towards homophobes and incels who were trying to persuade shippers that bumbleby wasn't happening, and not to fans who couldn't be certain due to the overall circumstances.

With that said, the aim of this post is mainly to discuss some things I've noticed while watching volumes 4 & 5. There wasn't much I wished to comment on after finishing v4 as I found it very transitional, so I decided to do one unified post for both volumes, especially since someone suggested to watch these volumes as one. Let me now get to the main points I'd like to mention.

-Edit: I forgot one of the most important motifs imo; the moon. I noticed how each volume it looks bit by bit more ruined, showing how the world below is also falling it chaos and society as it is known is destroyed. Also, it's eventual (potential) complete destruction will make the nights darker, symbolizing the triumph of evil. I love subtle details like that.

- Ozpin's and Crow's dynamic really reminds me of Dumbledore and Snape. Ozpin in particular reminds me very much of Dumbledore - and I definitely don't mean that as a good thing. Although he clearly has good intentions and he's a "good guy" per se, sometimes it feels like he's using his students as sacrificial lamps for the greater good. Personally, I'm not exactly font of the idea of pushing the fate of the world onto the shoulders of a bunch of teenagers. Oscar is still a KID and all he's ever known is how to be a farmer and suddenly he's sharing a body with one of the smartest and most powerful people to ever walk the earth and their fates are suddenly intertwined. That's so insane. And on top of everything, Ozpin isn't 100% honest with him. I'm glad that Yang confronts him about keeping secrets. I will give it to him however that he's honest enough to admit his mistakes.

-Raven is probably one of the most fascinating characters. Can't say whether I like her or hate her, but there are so many layers to touch upon. It's interesting how she's constantly trying to prove to others - and essentially to the viewers as well - that she's cruel, smart and calculating (and she definitely is all those things) and that she doesn't care about trifle things, but ultimately she fails, as it is evident by the end of volume 5. She does care about Yang (although she has a very strange way of showing it) and her tribe most of all. She's also smart enough to see Ozpin's shortcomings.

- I liked how they explored Yang's trauma from loosing her arm and how she copes with the loss. "A part of me is lost" is such a powerful statement and it points to how everything has changed, but Yang accepts it.

-At the same time, that girl has no chill with that prosthetic arm. She straight up dismantles it off her shoulder just to win the wrestling against Nora (and later on to elude Mercury. I bet that if anyone asked her to give them a hand, she would just toss it on their feet then laugh her ass out. She's so silly, I love her.

-With that said, I wish they could have explored a little bit more of Jaune's trauma, but still I think we see well enough how Pyrrha's death has affected him. But why the FUCK did they have to give him more trauma in order to unlock his semblance? Another of his friends almost dies before his eyes, give that boy a break, good Lord.

- Ren and Nora 👀. I love me some good childhood bestdriends to potential lovers. Their background is so tragic but there's something about then growing up together that makes me feel things. I love their dynamic and I think it's pretty hilarious (collected, quiet guy and loud, silly, powerful girl). It was nice how they gained some catharsis when they finally killed that monster. And the symbolism when they hid under similar building where Nora tried to calm Ren down? Literal tears.

-"I was struck by a lighting and I lived. What a Wednesday" GIRL WHAT, LMAO

- I really enjoyed Blake's and Sun's dynamic, whether someone sees them romantically or platonically (for me personally it's the latter, but that's besides the point). Sun has always been a great friend, and although he can be really annoying sometimes, he is there for Blake and he's able to make her see things clearly and persuade her that isolating herself isn't a good thing. I feel like without him around, things for the Belladonnas would have been very different. He's a bit of a himbo, but I love him.

-The angsty Bees got me really well this season. Yang's anger is definitely justifiable and she has every right to be upset.

-"What if I wanted her to be here for me?" BITCH-

-Weiss pulling the "what's that supposed to mean?" every time the Bees are being angsty will forever be funny to me. The OG Beekeeper.

-That said, I think that she explains Blake's point of view really well and I liked how she reached out to Yang although "they aren't that close" (her words, not mine) and seeks to comfort her.

-Did I say that I hate Weiss's family? (Except maybe Winter, but the rest can go burn in hell). I'm GLAD Weiss realizes that ream RWBY is her true family. You love to see a good found family trope.

-Genuinely CANNOT stand the Bees this season /j. Blake seeing her team again and the only person she calls out for is Yang? And Yang's puppy eyes when she sees Blake again? WHY ARE YOU GAY?

-One of the funniest lines was when Crow was like "How can six children make so many noise while having dinner?", like BUDDY, you just answered your question. Tired uncle Crow for the win.

[lifesver]

GET TO KNOW THE MUN !

what made you pick up the muse you have ? : my friend typecasted my muse type when the victims concept art was announced. just immediately pointed out the horror jock like yep. that'll be the one u like. and then i played the tcsm beta back in may me and rae started wildly theorycrafting.... and well my demons have been winning since. i love a jock who is kind of fail but trying his best like you got me there.

is there anything you really enjoy writing ? : i'm a creep i'm a weirdo i love exploring horror and the many themes that can coexist in it. ig i like to kind of examine trauma and the healing process through the lens of the slasher genre, as well as where horror and love coincide as themes. i think there is underrepresentation in just....... letting slasher final kids have some kind of healing arc, or letting their story continue in general? seeing them before and after the things that happen to them? and i can't always do it but i do also like to kind of dive down into slasher horror and light gore and just practicing writing dynamic action scenes and what a character's thought process is like during those kinds of moments. i love an opportunity to be mean to my blorbo

is there anything you don't like to write ? : probably just anything needlessly like... melodramatic between characters? i have no interest in plots like genuine jealousy and love triangles and interpersonal shit like that, mostly because i write horror and there are so many more interesting things to focus on imo? and because not enough slasher content casts seem like they actually care about each other lmaooo. is this a callout post about gun.'s take on the friend group? perhaps.

how do you come up with your headcanons ? : dude i just receive the prophecies and act like im on twitter tossing my every stupid thought into the void.

do you write in silence or listen to music ? : tbh i usually write either in silence or in a deranged third way (writing between games of overwatch) my adhd sometimes demands that i am doing several things at the same time and sometimes i can sit down at the coffee shop put on some instrumentals and just slam some replies in

do you plan your replies or wing them ? : hmmm a bit of both? i usually have to start by winging it, which usually involves me dropping in whatever reaction dialogue immediately comes to me. kind of work around that, save and close the draft, and then think about the reply a bit until i eventually know where i'm going with it LOL

do you enjoy shipping ? : i do with friends! i'm not actually a huge like... ships person in a general fandom sense and i rarely feel any particular way until something is compelling to me in fanon, but i can ship most things if it's with a writing partner i like! simply ask rae we will be creating ships 0 people are thinking about shout out leland/connie tcsm tommy/jenny f13 and jake/adam dbd. i also usually go hard on the slowburn, and that's just like, personal comfort for getting to know my muse and my writing partner's muse, but also just think slowburn rules

what's your alias / name ? : kels.

zodiac sign ? : pisces sun, gemini moon, aries rising.

Birthday? : march 20th!

favorite color ? : a sort of pastel pink-lilac

favorite song ? : feel that it must be go your own way / fleetwood mac

last movie you watched ? : oh jesus i fear it was hellraiser: revelations

last show you watched ? : icr if it was an episode of goosebumps or true detective tbh

last song you listened to ? : putting the dog to sleep by the antlers....

favorite food ? : veggie burritos probably. or honestly like. just a really good bagel cream cheese LMFAO

favorite season ? : spring (:

do you have a tumblr best friend ? : rae and i have been in and out of these trenches for years i fear

TAGGED BY : @solarisgod thank u!!! mwah mwah <3

TAGGING : all my fellas

[kourota]

i’d just like to say that i’m currently reading your shinbaku fic and thoroughly LOVING it!!

do you have any tips on staying motivated and coming up with plot points for long fics? i really wanna write a mha fic but always struggle with ideas after the first few chapters

oh man, thank you so much!!! it makes me so happy to know that you're enjoying the story! (i think i read some of your comments in my inbox but i just got back from a study trip so i haven't had the time to check it yet aksjnskj)

honestly, my shinbaku fic just spiralled out of control because i got possessed by the plot, but i can totally give you the techniques i used to flesh it out and write it all down!

coming up with plot points

sometimes all you have is a vibe, or like one hyper-specific scene you want to write, and you want to turn it into a long-fic, or at least a decent story with a start, an end, and a middle.

what i like to do is answer three very important questions:

where is my character in the beginning?

where are they in the ending?

how long do they need to get there?

like with tcuyeh (the fic i wrote), this would be the answer to those questions:

shinsou is a stranger to bakugou

shinsou and bakugou become lovers

since they're both introverts who take time to open up to each other, and since their lives are structured around tight circles, it's gonna take a LONG time for them to go from strangers, to friends, and then to lovers. therefore, the story needs a LOT of situations to be written

and that's how you create the necessity for the plot. when you understand WHY you need to write the story, it'll give you an approximate idea of the length of the story, along with the number of plot points you might want to come up with!

coming to the plot points: it's never easy to figure out how many of them the story needs. some stories are nice to read because there's just one thing going on (sets a calmer, more relaxed pace) and others are interesting because of the chaos of so many things happening at once (a breakneck pace can be thrilling and exciting). so it's up to you to decide what kind of a pace/vibe you want going for your story!!

anyways, there's a couple of ways to increase the number of plot points in your story! (ik, it took me so long to get here aksjdnksj sorry but i felt the need to explain everything first haha) hopefully, these will help you get started!!!

introducing characters: great way to create plots, because you'll have to determine three things: the relationship with the protagonist; the type of character (foil, static, stock, etc); and their significance to the plot (what are they doing?). and answering those questions can give you ideas like:

a character who helps the oblivious protagonist realize things

a character who hurts the protagonist and serves as a catalyst for character development

a character who influences the protagonist so profoundly that their entire perspective is changed

a character who exists for the sole purpose of chaos (a MUST for comedy stories imo lmao)

background relationships: platonic, romantic, w/e you want it to be, it's always fun to include background relationships! they may not be the main focus of the story, but writing situations for them or thinking about that pairing can help you find ideas to write your main story, like:

who is your MC's best friend? any other childhood friends they had? what about friends they had a falling out with?

a random stranger who interacts with your MC only once, but that encounter changes the way your MC thinks

family relationships can go the wholesome route or the drama route, and it's a great way to explore characters

mentor/mentee relationships are just top tier in every media but ESPECIALLY bnha

when you establish relationships like these, you'll get ideas for various situations you might want to include! and then you can take your time to work these into the plot!!!

character building: honestly, this is my favourite way to get plot points, because it helps me break down my characters, find their dreams, try and get a sense of their "voice" (narration style + thoughts). and when you understand your character, you can get ideas (from both canon and headcanons) for what kind of situations you want to write them into.

determining what kind of a conflict you want your character to have can go a long way into coming up with plot points.

for example, in tcuyeh, i gave shinsou the conflict of wanting to be a hero, but his past keeps stopping him from helping someone out. throughout the story, he slowly unlearns those behaviours, and finally overcomes his past in the climax, where he "achieves" his character development.

of course, every story doesn't need character development, but if it's your jam, you should definitely explore your character by finding out their: likes, dislikes, motivations, obsessions, outlook on life, etc etc, because you'll be surprised by the amount of ideas you'll get by asking yourself these questions!!

tropes lists: tumblr has a TON of tropes for almost every possible dynamic, and those prompts DEFINITELY help you get ideas of your own, or take a popular trope and give it a twist! it doesn't matter, because sometimes you KNOW those tropes and ideas, but you just can't remember them. or maybe what you do remember doesn't fit into the story you want to write

no worries, though! tropes can help you get ideas for certain scenarios you want to write, and trying to fit those scenarios into your story will definitely give you ideas for the plot!

for example: maybe you want the characters to share a bed. why are they doing it? how did they end up in the same room? how will the bed-sharing impact their relationship? will it change anything? why is there only one bed? are they close enough to warrant bed sharing? etc etc haha

x

one thing to remember, though, is that no matter how many plot points you come up with, what matters most is whether YOU want to write those scenes or not!!! you don't HAVE to include mind-boggling, revolutionary plotlines for a story to be good! it can just be a collage of things you wanted to write/read, all arranged in a somewhat coherent manner!

and that is how you'll actually stay motivated for long fics!!

staying motivated

take it from the slowest writer alive, writing longfic can be EXHAUSTING, especially if you have a lot going on in life. motivation can be so hard, even more so if you don't have an end in sight,,, which is why i find it extremely important to figure out the end of the story even before i start writing

having an end is good. it's a realistic goal, and it'll help you plan accordingly. doesn't matter if you write sequentially, or if you're like me, writing random ass scenes and then trying to fit them into the plot. when you know how your story ends, you won't feel so lost and overwhelmed. and the end doesn't have to be anything COOL, you know? it could just be something simple like "and they got together" or "and they all survived" or "and they became a family" etc etc.

now, once you've figured out the end, and then the beginning, you can do all the plotting in the middle however you want. bullet points, mood boards, playlists,,, there's no wrong tool to use to help you write your story. so here's a couple of tips to stay motivated:

getting an audience: posting can be counterproductive since engagement on unfinished fics depends on luck, but you could also find someone, maybe a friend, who is willing to read through your stories as you write. it honestly helped me finish my longfics, knowing that even if nobody reads it, at least my bestie (or future me) will enjoy it. the comments and feedback are LIFESAVERS when it comes to motivation. honestly if you can't find a reader, just find someone who will ramble along with you about the characters/plot! it's super helpful i swear

writing things you like: while this may seem obvious, it's also very, very true. honestly, i've had times where i only got through writing a chapter because there's a silly little joke in there that got me excited to write it out. so, include a smol treat in each chapter/scene, which is completely self indulgent and makes you kick your feet and roll around the floor in giddiness!!!

setting targets: this may not work for everyone, but i tried to give myself realistic goals like,,, finishing this chapter in 2 weeks, and stuff like that. it keeps me from forgetting about my story, which means i end up thinking about it and writing it more often!!! ofc, life often got in the way, but i always got back to my story no matter what, so yeah!!

overcoming the 4 chapter limit: i've always found it difficult to continue a story after the 4 chapter mark. like, nothing feels right anymore, and i wonder, why tf am i even writing this story. DO NOT LISTEN TO THAT VOICE!!! even if you end up writing bullet points for the 5th chapter, just do it!! push through!!! do not think about anything, just write! and then after pushing through 2 chapters of hell, suddenly it becomes easier. idk if this is universal or just me, but yeah akjnskdjfnkj

no more blank pages: sometimes an empty page can make you freeze up, or feel like you have to write the most perfect thing ever, so i like to drop a list of bullet points onto the page, detailing a brief summary of what's going to happen (could just be a line lmao, like "midoriya breaks his bones,,, again,,," ) or just straight up make memes about the chapter (i have done it before and i swear it is so fun lmfao) so it helps you get started on the writing part sooner!!!

daydreaming to music: no, seriously, when you can't write at all, just listen to music and imagine your characters doing something that couldn't possibly be a part of the story (like an epic boss fight or like a dance battle lmao). take a break from the plot, and just explore things creatively!!! it'll definitely help reset your brain, and then you'll be fresh to continue writing.

and remember!! if all you focus on is trying to get the story done, you won't be able to enjoy the process of creating it! you're not just a reader here: you're actively writing the story, and planning a whole lot of things, which takes time and energy! so don't push yourself too much, and let yourself have fun! throw in some inside jokes! make it as self indulgent as possible! there's no need to be coherent either, just write whatever nonsense sparks joy!!!

aaaaaaaahhhh i hope that's gonna be helpful lmao. if you still have any doubts, feel free to ask away! and thank you once again for reading my silly little story and loving it!!! i hope you have a wonderful day <3 <3 <3

[myopicry]

I've recently been thinking about online aesthetics (basically glorified trends imo) and how I've noticed that they're mostly - not completely, but still very noticeabley - "aimed" at women. I'm thinking of "clean girls" and "pilates princesses" and "mob wives" and even as far back as the late 2010s vsco or soft girl. I'm also thinking about big/popular aesthetics without the word "girl" in them, like cottage core for example (an aesthetic I'm often described to have and do enjoy without necessarily actively trying to incorporate it into my life). Sure, no one is stopping a guy from being cottage core, but they're so obviously more aimed at women. (ex: the makeup or feminine clothing often at the centre of some of these aesthetics (although I firmly believe clothes and makeup =/= gender/sexe), the overwhelming usage of pictures of young women in mood boards, the female demographic which interacts with the aesthetic by a huge margin etc)

I don't think it's a bad thing in itself, but we all know by now how often aesthetics have become very centered around consumerism and can encourage harmful beauty standards, so it's interesting to me how coincidentally these very aesthetics often target women and have mainly women engaging with them. Maybe some food for thought?

BTW, when I talk about aesthetics being "aimed at" women, I'm mostly talking about the ones with the word "girl" in them (ex clean girl) since it's literally in the name and those ones often are especially consumerism centered and tend to get big thanks to tiktok or Instagram beauty/fashion/lifestyle influencers. I don't believe that all aesthetics, or even most of them, are carefully designed and spread by malicious corporations or something to prey on women. But nonetheless there is still an undeniable target audience I believe.

~🪼

jellyfish anon I swear you are in my brain sometimes because as someone who has fallen down the aesthetics wiki rabbit hole and the gender wiki rabbit hole I do in fact think about this and know a little too much about the fact these extensive wikis exist at all lmao

honestly, this topic could absolutely be the start of a research paper, as I'm sure that the history of tying femininity/womanhood to consumerism has actually been a complex trend that reflects the changing social position of women as a class over time. something about the "performance" present in the gender stereotype associated with being female. something about how men are allowed to exist without thinking how they look to others, how women are more scrutinized for the way they present. something how women's identities are tied to appearances first. maybe even something on how social media exacerbates this by adding yet another layer. a digital one, to the performance. actually, this reminds me of an interesting sort of topic to ruminate on, the performative nature of femininity and how that changes the way we even think about ourselves and identity, how we are almost trained to present ourselves for others before thinking about what we actually want for ourselves! I remember when I was first really thinking about the topic of aesthetics and femininity, I really wished I could find more opinion/analysis on the topic more than just "this aesthetic is weird and here's why" or "all aesthetics are fine and that's good" because it is a very branching subject with so much scholarly potential, but the avenues where I got my research was primarily video essays (unfortunately) and those were pretty simplistic in analysis. this ask is a good reminder that I should revisit the search for that kind of thing now that I'm (hopefully) better at research and finding more diverse bodies of work discussing this kind of stuff. obscure medium blogs and wordpress sites here I come! I am also definitely going to chew on this subject a bit now that I'm reminded of it. maybe write something once I feel like I have more of a concrete thesis in mind to explore? very fun stuff though.

keep these asks coming not only are they well written but they are an amazing start to some social analysis and discussion! literally I have been deprived of my usual rambly overthinking in the last week so it is nice to find myself here once again :)