#yes i was reading reddit theories again why do you ask

[eriexplosion]

I'm still thinking on Crosshair's arc and why I think a redemptive death wouldn't make sense for him even though it's what several people are predicting, and part of it is still that Cody's words to him, the thing that cracked the glass, was about living with your choices. But also its that I think Crosshair has been passively suicidal for a while now.

In Return to Kamino, after he lays everything on the table to convince the batch to come with him and it doesn't work? He aims his gun at Hunter, but didn't shoot. It's a split second but come on I think we all know he could have shot first. I think he expected Hunter to shoot him. But I don't think he expected Hunter to have the gun set to stun because he wakes up seemingly completely surprised to still be alive.

A couple times in the escape he lingers in place, like he's considering just staying behind and only choosing not to because, frankly, drowning is a shitty way to die. When it comes time to leave he tells them he's staying behind... on a platform with no supplies no shelter no anything. Crosshair is an idiot at times but he's not that stupid, he's fully aware he's taking a course that could kill him.

And in his latesr episode, he shoots a superior officer to avenge Mayday and again seems quite surprised that after it all he wakes up alive.

Do I think Crosshair wants to die? Not exactly. When it seems imminent he's not exactly a fan, but when faced with blaster fire instead of drowning or strangling, I don't think he cares terribly much if he lives. I think he's making choices that intentionally put him in a place where something could kill him.

A death for him wouldn't feel like a noble choice or a fitting end to his arc, it would feel like a man that didn't seem to particularly value his life in the first place, or at the very least not his own dignity considering the shit he lets the Empire get away with, continuing to not particularly value himself all that highly. It wouldn't feel like a closed character arc it would just feel like a win for depression.

[chaostroberry1]

Hey just tell us if you're uncomfortable writing the same character again cuz this is akward-😭 (I'M LAUGHINH SO HARD HELPP)

Erm so pookie.. a smut (optional) Beelzebub x Dom!M!Reader where we're basically the Arché Odin trying to revives but ended up falling in love with our little fly which leads to Odin's anger nah cus imagine sacrificing your whole life and preparing a massive Ragnarok against humanity just for the primordial God to be obsessed with your own new found enemy.

Imagine Adamas' and Buddha's face tho 👀

THERE'S JUST SO MANY PEOPLE ASKED FOR HIM— I'M SO SORRY TO BE ONE OF THEM, please ignore this if you're uncomfortable rllyy😭

I went on reddit to read all the theories about arché and damn that was fire. I like this idea a lot 😍 💕 I accept!

Beelzebub × Dom!male!primordial god! reader.

I researched abt the term 'arché' and abt Odin and why he trying to revive broski. So I'll use up all my knowledge on it since I read ROR with an empty head. 😭

The room was full of heavy pounding, cries and moans echoing throughout the huge space. It's been nearly three hours since you guys got into it.

"haaaa...lord (m/n)...." Whimpers came from the mouth of the god, his voice barely audible from the loudness of pounding. You've been switching him into different positions, one of which was a cowgirl position, the one you both are doing currently. His butthole was sucking your cock so greedily, and you he knew that he'd be left with a huge gape after all this was over.

His cries grew louder when you sped up, to a faster pace, having him squint his eyes in pleasure. Tears rolling down his cheeks when you continued to pound his virgin hole.

It's been so long, you don't know how long, but you knew that a lot of time has passed ever since you were dead long ago. But you had been resurrected by Odin, brought back to life, with the purpose of.....what was his purpose? What did he even want from you? Well, you didn't really care. He can't lay a finger on you now.

Odin had expected you to listen to him when he finished ragnarok. But, you suddenly woke up, way too soon. This led to you walking out, and ready to kill. You defied orders, you were not something to be fucked with. That's for sure.

Anyone who entered within your aura's range would feel your sense of authority. Making them know to keep quiet when passing your way, not really like they live long enough to pass by you anyway. But you found out about a certain fighter named Beelzebub, who's match caught your eye. He was powerful, yes, but you were oddly attracted to him.

You? A primordial god. A primordial GOD. Falling for a lower being? Disgusting, that's what others would say. But who were they to tell you what to do? They weren't on your rank. They can't even open their mouth in your presence.

You approached Beelzebub when he was treating his wounds, eyeing him like prey.

"lord of the flies.... Beelzebub, yes?" He looked at you with suspicion, replying harshly. "Who are you?"

He thought you were just someone who wanted to mess with him. Possibly calling him names, or giving sly remarks to get him riled up. But no, you were different.

"that is no way to talk to someone. don't you think? You should be lowering your head in my presence."

He scoffed in annoyance, who was this jerk? Why were you talking to him like that, even after knowing who he was? His thoughts were immediately interrupted when you spoke again.

"it seems you aren't aware of who I am. Lord (m/n). The one and only arché."

Your statement caught him off guard, his heart sinking. There's no way. There couldn't be a way that you were revived so soon—there was still so much time left.

A primordial god was standing right before his very eyes. Staring at him with longing.

"what...? You were already.. resurrected?"

"that's right, pretty insect. Like I said, the one and only."

You must've have been bluffing. There's no way. Did Buddha know about this too? Or was he the first one you approached. His face remained calm when you talk about how much you took an interest in him, an dhow you loved his fight with Nikola Tesla. His head was a mess right now for you to be talking to him like this.

That was until you scratched the bottom of his chin, like he was some stray cat. And he couldn't do anything, because he knew that something bad would happen if he were to defy a being with such divine status. More diving than any god at that.

"say...are you free later? No. I'll just get to the point. I wanna take you as my spouse...you are so beautiful."

He stayed quiet when you held his hand and dragged him around the place, like a child with it's new doll. You were used to acting neutral towards matters, but when it came to wanting something...you couldn't help but overdo yourself. You have destroyed everything on your path when what you wanted wasn't given to you. That's why you were so used to all the good treatment from those afraid to rebel against you. Even the gods were afraid, and knew that you were a threat to them if they ever angered you. Which is why you lived in peace. Before you rested for a long time, soon awakened by Odin.

You brought Beelzebub to some place you deemed fitted for your activities. It was okay if it was outdoors, it's not really like anyone would dare interrupt your session together. Even if they tried, they wouldn't wake up to see another day.

Adamas was walking around, his usual expression on his face before he saw you dragging Beelzebub around. He wanted to call after the lord of the flies, before a sudden dread shook him to his core. The aura that came from you was deadly, and stepping inside it made him feel like at any moment, his head would be cut off. He stayed silent when he saw your eyes narrow, piercing into his own as if it was a good enough warning for him not to interfere.

You loved to bother Beelzebub, it was so fun, there was no point denying it. And he just sits there and takes it so good. You didn't take it to 2/3rd base just yet though. You knew better than that. But you were going to get to it at some point with him.

Imagine how flabbergasted adamas would look when he saw you pounding Beelzebub like it was your last day on earth to tickle your pickle. Outdoors too bro?? Are you okay?? Then we have Buddha, who would just randomly walk in like

"man...these old geezers just won't leave me alone... I want some more of that candy-"

Before he walks in on Beelzebub face contorted in pleasure from how good you were at it. Just bc you were a 'few' years older didn't mean you were slow in these things. You stopped aging when you were around 18-19. So you were specifically still in your youth. Forever in your youth. Which was a bad thing for some.

I bet Buddha just walks out with a "jeez sorry man. y'all shouldn't even be doing this in public-" slowly disappearing after shutting the door. Beelzebub's primal cries echoing out the doors. I think it's best if Buddha just puts a little "do not enter" sign...yeah, that's a good idea.

Bro Odin would be so pissed when he found out you were fucking around with his newfound enemy. He set up the Ragnarok and everything else, just for this moment. Only to find you sticking your pickle into a container...(That being Beelzebub) But hey what could he do? He just has to wait patiently till you were ready to listen to him. Even though you probably weren't.

Continuing to you shifting into another position with your newfound sweetheart, you put him on all fours, before coming in and out of his destroyed bussy. You liked this. You wanted to make up for all that lost time that you missed out on. And you knew exactly how.

"baby I'll cum now okay? Just fill you up nice and good.."

You growled before thrusting inside faster, his moans growing hoarse from how much he'd been at it. It was an addicting feeling that he could get used to. And he started to love it. "(M/n)...lord (m/n) ooh, fuck that's good! Fuck that's sooo good~!"

He cried when you pumped his cock, while still destroying him from the back, taking it out and spilling all that cum on his back. Flipping him again and continuing to fuck him. Your cock tip was so swollen and overused but you liked it that way. You'll fuck and fuck allll day. Make him take it good, just for you.

You took your cock out, before inserting two fingers inside. Receiving a gasp of pleasure when you started fingerfucking him mercilessly. Using his hole like a personal cum dumpster to play and mess with. Before he could cum, you slid your cock back in, licking your fingers before cumming hard into his hole. Filling him to the brim with just seed. Breeding sessions were always so good.

Such a tease you were. Randomly groping his ass or rubbing your bulge on his leg, knowing he wanted it too. But spare some love towards adamas who was in the middle of talking to Beelzebub before witnessing you do such a thing.

The poor guy didn't ask for this, he never wanted to see two gods sexually teasing each other in front of his naked eyes....

[utilitycaster]

Hi! Hope you don’t mind me asking but, I’ve seen you comment about a “fjord moon” theory every so often in your tags, and I’m quite curious what’s it about? I don’t think I’ve ever heard about it, is it something more prevalent in twitter spaces?

It started in Reddit spaces but it had a moment within the fandom at large during Campaign 2, especially after a YouTube video surfaced shortly after the campaign had come back from hiatus in August 2020. It hasn't come up lately since Campaign 3's plot pretty thoroughly debunked it, which wasn't necessary for reasons I will cover below.

I talked about how stupid it was at the time, and will do so again but I don't feel like looking back through my archives to find that post, so: the idea was that Fjord was from Ruidus. I call it a theory because its creators called it a theory but it was really just a lot of incoherent yelling that unfortunately happened to fall into the hands of a prolific and popular but talentless video maker and was boosted by a prolific and popular but deeply stupid figure on CR Twitter.

You can read it here but in short he basis was that Fjord was actually a Spelljammer Space Orc (Scro; yes this is just Orcs backwards; Spelljammer is not exactly the most brilliant of concepts) because he was intelligent and walked upright, ignoring that Spelljammer was, at the time, from D&D 2e only which can generously be described as "wicked racist in the depiction of orcs". Not that 5e is not without its foibles, but it had largely 86-ed the worst of the racism that pervaded earlier orc depictions. Also Garthok pre-dated Fjord and was a half-orc with the same intelligence, but what are facts to an idiot. So anyway this guy working off a deeply racist older concept for orcs spun this into a wild conspiracy theory involving the fact that Travis likes Dragonball Z; something about the film Spaceballs (as far as I know Travis has said absolutely nothing about this, this is just that the Mel Brooks Star Wars parody and my personal childhood favorite Spaceballs exists I think?) and various other random pulls from science fiction media. This guy asked a question at a panel and mistook the cast looking at him like he had lost the plot as a sign he was onto something. Somehow, people listened to him.

Here's the thing about theorycraft. It is more important, in writing a theory, that you base it on evidence than that you get it correct. Any dipshit can guess and any lucky dipshit can guess correctly, but if you show that you can't structure an argument for beans, anyone who can structure an argument for beans will rightfully look at you and say "well, they predicted something once, but that's a fucking fluke because they're a fucking joke." Theories should explain something that needs explanation (Fjord having an INT of 14 and the name Fjord and being an orphan does not). They should not solely rest on things the cast likes or things that merely exist in-world and certainly not from Spaceballs and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the connection of which to Critical Role in that Reddit post is not explained, ever.

To give some examples of good, mediocre, and bad but at least not nearly that bad theorycraft: the theory that Ashton was a meteor that was around early in C3 is in my mind not very good, but at least it fits within Exandria canon and explained something about Ashton needing explanation at the time. The theory that The Emissary is the source of the stasis bubbles is in my mind a very good one explaining several key mysteries (source of stasis bubbles; why Erathis sent him rather than coming himself). The theory that Bor'Dor was a dog was fucking stupid and made no sense nor did it explain anything that needed explanation (and also wildly misjudged how border collies behave) but did at least not say "also, the TV show Lassie...exists in our reality, and this is evidence" The Fjord Moon Theory is maybe the stupidest and worst CR theory I've seen in my entire life, and it's up there for fandom theories over all. I get that it was August 2020 and I don't begrudge people who were very bored and scared from joking about it while not taking it seriously, but I do begrudge those who did take it seriously because like, come on.

Anyway, I bring it up in tags sometimes because many of the worst C3 takes on Twitter that make it to me via "can you fucking believe this" screenshots in the groupchat are either started or propagated by Former Moon Theory People.

[verysium]

i assume that you listen to the weeknd sooo may i ask for a quick the weeknd song associations w bllk characters perhaps? if possible. i like the way you think of each character and im curios if we have a common perspective at some point

😭 if you mention abel in any ask to me, there is no way it's going to be quick and easy. this took me like a week to process and even longer to formulate my answer. it's difficult to assign just one song to each character because the discography is just so versatile, so there may be some overlap.

THE TOWN

this song is basically kaiser if he left someone in his past prior to joining bastard münchen in his rise to fame. i envision a reader who was with him during the early years of his career (maybe as childhood friends), and he abandoned them when his big breakthrough finally came.

"you did many things / that i liked, that i liked" the covert narcissism here was the selling point. now i'm not saying kaiser is a pathological narcissist, but the way he thinks inherently revolves around himself. he only likes people because they have something he likes. you have to possess something he actually wants before he even bats an eyelash at you. and even when you do get into his good graces, it's conditional. in other words, kaiser's buddy-buddy system is entirely based on value. how much value are you going to provide him, and how long is that value going to last? hence why he's so obsessed with isagi because our little blueberry sprout protagonist has both the novelty and adaptability kaiser desires.

"you made me feel so good / before i left on the road" i know this sounds like some shit a frat boy would spew, but here me out. i think the reason why half the fandom absolutely bashes kaiser's character is because his actions come off as emotionally immature. making arrogant claims with nothing to back them up? having no personal boundaries? manhandling other people? projecting his own insecurities in the form of jealousy? that sounds a lot like some of the male specimens i've seen in today's society, particularly those who make podcasts for a living. kaiser is not a hot bad boy. he's just pure jerk in some cases, and a tragic backstory is not going to justify those actions. but to apply that to a romantic relationship? some of y'all are not ready to hear this, but kaiser is not going to make a good boyfriend. he would most definitely use you.

"you deserve your name / on a crown, on a throne" if there's one thing you should know about kaiser, it's that he will find a way to pay homage to his past, even if it wasn't a good time for him. so despite the way he absolutely ghosted you years ago, he will find a way to enshrine your existence within his. i have a running theory that kaiser's tattoos are actually for the girl he left back at home. he'd probably get your name inked on his knuckles or something.

"but i remember on the bathroom floor / 'fore i went on tour / like you said we couldn't do it again / cause you had a thing with some other man" i've read a lot of fics where kaiser has a possessive meltdown whenever reader finds someone else after their break-up, or even just the reddit theories that kaiser will flip out when ness finally leaves him. i'm going to add my own take on this. yes, kaiser will freak out but only after a long stage of denial. at first, he's going to be unfazed because there's no way you'd actually leave him. and even if you did find another man, you would inevitably come crawling back to him. in his mind, the fact that you two should be together is about as debatable as defying the laws as physics. which is to say, there is no debate.

"now that i heard you're single /...i'll give you something to live for" mr. steal your girl is back. kaiser may be rash and impulsive in his everyday life, but his patience is limitless when it comes to biding his time against his enemies. you're finally big enough to eat, yoichi...does that ring any bells? he will literally wait just so he can see your new relationship crash and burn. and when it finally does, he will swoop in during your time of emotional need and make you co-dependent on him. this man has the self-seeking opportunism of a whole vulture committee.

"and it feels so priceless to me / that you're always free" ok but this double entendre??? like priceless as in you're valuable to the point you're free from anyone's definition of value. but also priceless in the way you're worth nothing, and people can have you for free. this is literally kaiser in any relationship where the other party overcompensates for him. i'm going to use ness as an example. i think kaiser knows how much ness is willing to do for him, and he appreciates it (he better lol) since ness is one of the only people he can actually get along with. but at the same time, the fact that ness would literally do anything for kaiser is also the reason why kaiser takes him for granted. given the large supply of admiration and support, it's only logical that the demand for it should wane. the key to keeping kaiser's attention is scarcity. you can't be too distant from him, but you can't be too close either. if you're right in the optimal middle, then you're scarce, and all scarce things are rare and, subsequently, valuable.

PRAY FOR ME

this song could work for so many characters, but i'm going to go with noel noa because i haven't talked about him much. he fits into this model for "the strongest" character (akin to gojo in jjk or "the little giant" in haikyuu!!) this mentor/role model archetype is incredibly significant in the protagonist's journey to the top. noa is isagi's primary motivation and presumably his greatest obstacle if he were ever to become the #1 player in the world. the tragic aspect to this archetype is that we often aren't given the full picture for these characters. their internal consciousness is eclipsed in some way because the story is written from the perspective of the protagonist. noa grew up in the slums of france, but the manga doesn't actually focus on any of the struggles he had to face. all of that is implied and sometimes even expected. his strength (or at least the image of his strength) becomes everything, and he can't afford to lose any of it. i think that's the saddest part about any character considered the strongest. they push themselves to the top but simultaneously back themselves into a corner.

"if i'm gon' die for you / if i'm gon' kill for you / then i'll spill this blood for you" i know noa's peers like to shit on him for being so serious all the time, but when you're raised in the kind of environment where everything has been against you from day one, the survival mentality is literally ingrained in you. a lot of his advice to isagi is centered around this idea of eliminating any wishful thinking. he can't count on anything that isn't certain. so if he's going to have to make a sacrifice, it has to be worth it. i think that's also why noa doesn't relate to any of the other world class players. he isn't driven by greed or fame or popularity. the egoist mindset doesn't arise from his own personal ambitions. it's simply how he's learned to live life from a young age.

"my heart don't skip a beat, even when hard times bumps the needle" noa is solid. like rock solid, 10 on a mohs hardness scale. but more than solid, he's incredibly sharp in his focus. he specifically tells isagi not to try and play god because he's seen so many other players try to do that and fail. they get caught up in what their goal could mean: victory, prestige, grandeur, control over others. but to noa, a goal is simply a goal. he doesn't care if this is a win or a loss for his team. he doesn't care if this will put him at rivalry with others. all he needs to do is figure out the most efficient way to get a black-and-white ball through the net. and he's so goddamn good at this. he's mastered it to the point he can focus on what he desires right now in this moment and block out everything else as unnecessary noise. hence, he doesn't get overwhelmed by external pressures. everything about him, even his ego, is intrinsic. and that's what makes him the best.

i'm running out of room, so i'm just gonna list the next few below:

starboy: i've seen this song being assigned to either rin or kaiser, but now that i re-evaluate it, i think the self-deprecative and bitter tone fits sae best.

call out my name: reo listened to this the day nagi left him. i was there, so this is a reliable primary source. it is his breakup song.

heartless: i would assign this one to sae. the melody, the vibe, not so much the lyrics. the overall impression just fits him. i don't know how to explain it.

the hills: this song suits barou, and you cannot tell me otherwise. i'm gonna blast this every time he makes an entrance in the manga.

lost in the fire: this is oliver's pre-game anthem. he's not actually as cool as the song implies, but he likes to think he is.

don't break my heart: this is rin when he's acting butt-hurt. his first big heartbreak was from a 180-cm redhead who drinks salted kombucha every morning and has ugly shorn-off bangs.

die for you: honestly this song was made for the children of divorce who grew up with a messed up conception of love and avoidant attachment style, so obviously i'm going to assign this one to hiori.

too late: kaiser plays this from his stereo while he sips on a martini and contemplates self-destruction. he recognizes that he was in the wrong, but is he actually going to apologize? hell no.

moth to a flame: this is isagi being the homewrecker he is. he's not innocent enough to be completely pardoned. i would classify him as either chaotic good or lawful neutral.

gasoline: niko would suit this song cus he can be somewhat nihilistic if he wants to be. also because i headcanon him as someone with a disorderly sleep schedule.

the morning: uh....honestly idk. this one stumped me. it's giving that one barou backshot where he was training shirtless. but it also reminds me of that one kaiser panel with his 300,000,000 salary.

sidewalks: kunigami plays this song while working out. he is the og grinder. started from the bottom and clawed his way up to the top.

how do i make you love me? ness plays this while doodling in his "operation make kaiser fall in love with me" notebook.

less than zero: this is kira after isagi ousted him from popularity. not much else to say.

[tiphprince]

The Iceberg of Snape and Dumbledore's Scheming

If you prefer to read this on reddit, here's a link to the post.

This theory initally came from this simple observation: it makes no sense for Snape to be the referee of Harry's second Quidditch match.

In total, the text gives us directly 3 reasons, all from different point of views. For the teachers and the students, Snape is a petty bastard who wants to prevent Gryffindor from winning. For Harry, Snape is a murderous bastard who wants to kill him. For Quirrell, Snape is an interfering bastard who wants to protect Harry. This last reason is the one that we are given at the end, and that we accept as truth. It seems logical to us both in the plot of PS as Snape being a red herring, and the plot of the whole series, with Snape having always been there behind the scene to protect Harry in honor of Lily's memory.

From Snape's point of view however, this makes no sense.

"Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn’t do it again. Funny, really ... he needn’t have bothered. I couldn’t do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he did make himself unpopular ... and what a waste of time, when after all that, I’m going to kill you tonight." - Quirrell

First, why would Snape be in a better position to help Harry while in the literal middle of a Quidditch match? He'd have to pay attention to everything happening, not just Harry, even if just to avoid being injured or killed himself, which nearly happened twice in the span of about 5 minutes. He wouldn't be able to focus nearly as much on counter spells, let alone keep an eye on Quirrell.

Second, Dumbledore's presence at the game. Even if Quirrell/Voldemort had made another attempt with Dumbledore there, I don't see how Snape could have done much from up there than Dumbledore wouldn't be able to do with spells.

So, my theory is, what if Snape wasn't there to protect Harry, but as another red herring, this time for Quirrell?

It gets a bit complicated here, as we have to keep track of the timeline and what everyone knows or doesn't know, so please bear with me.

I won't go into all the detailed explanations of Dumbledore's plot with the Philosopher's Stone, and the protections, many others have done it way better than I could, but the basic idea is this: Dumbledore knows Quirrell is working with or for Voldemort in some capacity, he orchestrated pretty much everything that happened in the first book, and asked Snape to keep an eye on Quirrell for him.

Quirrell however, doesn't know what exactly it is that Dumbledore knows. Quirrell knows that Snape suspects him, that he knows he's after the Stone, and that Quirrell made one attempt on Harry's life. What Quirrell does not know however, if whether or not Snape told all of this to Dumbledore.

Nothing, to Quirrell, indicates that Dumbledore knows about everything, or at least knows who is behind the events. After all, if he knew, why not have Quirrell fired/imprisoned, why not confront him, like Snape does?

To show this further, Dumbledore even asks Quirrell to help set up one of the protections for the Stone. This alone shows that Dumbledore must trust Quirrell, and so that Snape and Dumbledore are not working closely together, or else Snape would have told him. Snape being a referee even with Dumbledore present reinforces that idea.

In fact, to go even deeper, Snape is the one who looks the most guilty out of everyone involved.

"Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn’t he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st- stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?" - Quirrell

What if Quirrell's plan was to also use Snape as a scapegoat, the one Dumbledore would be focused on. After all, we we saw it in the book, no one looks more guilty than Snape. This would explain why Dumbledore would attend a Quidditch match, which isn't something he usually does, to... keep an eye on Snape, who would be in close proximity to Harry during a highly dangerous sports game.

From Dumbledore and Snape's point of view, this is what they are counting on. Give Quirrell a false sense of security, that the one person he fears doesn't suspect him personally, not anymore than anyone else at least, and allows the rest of Dumbledore's plans to go as smoothly as possible.

In this book, Snape is a red herring for Harry, for Quirrell, for Dumbledore, and of course, the reader.

[callmegaith]

just a curious question. As someone who has been in the fanbase for a long time, do you feel like the fanbase has changed over the years? If yes, then for better or worse? And also do you feel like you've popularized Jackalope among the fanbase in your time making art for it?

Thank you for what I'm sure will be an insightful answer

Oooh interesting ask!

Long read ahead!!

Well, I've been with the fanbase for what's gonna be my 6th year now. I would say at the start I mostly kept to myself so I didn't engage a lot with others. I got into the games after playing Hotel and took my time learning all the lore. After that, I mostly just talked about RL with my close friend and bestie. After a while we both started making fanart which really wasn't anything significant on my end. I was a nobody and still kept mostly to myself. I have made friends in the fanbase tho, some who I'm still friends with today. The fanbase was small but dedicated. (Obviously smaller than now)

Then my friend and I created our own community for Rusty Lake that we managed and were mods on and kept it going and growing for 2 years, which allowed me to meet more people. Everyone mostly liked sharing their art and theories, and that's when I started getting a better view at the fanbase as a whole. They were SERIOUS about their lore and theories. Lots of people didn't accept other people's headcanons and fought back and forth on it, everything had to be lore correct yada yada yada. Also shipping was a HUGE NO NO. People fuckin hated shipping RL characters.

And then Paradox happened and idk why but something in the fanbase shifted after Paradox. It was a volcano erupting and then going back to sleep. It got bad before it became good, but I wasn't there a lot during this period as I decided to take a hiatus when things got to their boiling point.

Through the entirety of 2020 I was gone, and then I came back for a while to draw my silly son and check on the games, since there was nothing interesting ( FOR ME ) at the time, I left again. Same thing in 2022. And then 2023 the brainrot returned HARD and though there was still nothing interesting going on with the current games (again, FOR ME) I still played them all and went back to reclaim my throne as David Eilander's # 1 fan. By that time, I've really bettered my art skills and I was way more confident in sharing my art openly to other platforms like Reddit, where it was a great success. It also allowed me to meet with the fanbase again and BY GOD IT CHANGED. Everyone is a lot nicer now for SURE. Everyone is way more respectful and discuss their lore and theories in a civil manner. No more gatekeeping. It was BEAUTIFUL. And I guess that's what made me stay this time around.

So yea, fanbase was bad, now is good.

As for Jackalope, I feel like it's more popular outside of Rusty Lake than inside the fanbase. Most of the people who like my Jackalope art don't even know what Rusty Lake is. While in the fanbase I think it feels big simply because I keep it contained within my community, and since it's just a group of familiar people sharing their work about one topic, it feels big. But in the larger scope of the fanbase? I don't think so, no. I think Jackalope is just enjoyed by a few of us who bounce ideas off one another. I make art that inspires someone to write a song or a story, and then I see their work based on my work and get inspired and make something based of what they made, so on and so forth.

And this time around I also tried to introduce my dynamic for Dale and David very differently than the times before. I approached the fanbase with a slow burn idea and a comic to make it interesting. And people were surprisingly open to the idea of them, not necessarily as a ship, but just that they deserve to meet again and make amends.

Jackalope is a small ship, but it's a ship that inspired a lot of amazing things and honestly? Got a lot of people in my community interested in the game.

Hope you enjoy this long text, anon xD and I hope it was as insightful as you hoped

[behindtheireyes]

First off since this is my first time back on the desktop site in ages I feel the need to say how much I hate the changes that were made. If I wanted to see a website that's like Twitter, it will always be Twitter for me not this fucking X bullshit, I'd log onto my Twitter! Which I never do because I hate the fucking layout!

Also since I'm going to be on here a bit more often, in theory at least, I will not take sides in anything or be involved with drama. I will interact with anyone I connect with or can deal with my slow as fuck ass :P

I also want to thank the two people who have been there for me to talk to about this but I will not tag them because, again, not taking sides. You both know who you are and I appreciate you both more than you'll ever realize <3

Now it's time for an explanation as to why I've been in a shit head space since the end of July which I will put under a read more for those that aren't interested.

On July 30th I was at work and got pulled into the office to talk with my Store Manager, she had a few papers in hand and asked me to sit down. The day before she'd received an email about corporate restructuring and I was being told my full time position with the company was eliminated. I was completely thrown for a loop since I had been working at another store for a few days a week as of the week of July 9th and had only spoken to my district manager a few days prior about what needed to be fixed at the store I was helping. Everything had seemed good when we spoke so I was pretty shaken up by this news.

I was told I could continue on doing my job as part time making $9.75 an hour or take a severance deal and collect unemployment. I of course said I needed to think about it since it was a big decision going from 36-40 hours a week at $16.85/hr down to god knows how many hours at a shit wage. My SM, who was bawling like a baby along with me at this news btw, said she understood but FUCKING CORPORATE wanted an answer by Friday July 28th. The date this conversation was happening? Wednesday July 26th.

Yes, you read that right, Two whole days to make a huge decision and if I didn't give them one in time I was forfeiting my severance and it would be considered voluntary job abandonment so no unemployment for me! Also if I chose the deal I couldn't take any time off, use any of my PTO or sick time, or even call off because it would be considered voluntary job abandonment and I wouldn't get unemployment or my severance.

This happened company wide with even some assistant managers losing their jobs and being offered a similar deal. I will gladly send links to the Reddit subs talking about this if anyone wants to see exactly the fuckery this company is putting its loyal people through. I had almost three weeks of paid vacation and about two days of sick time built up that I lost.

I would have also been with the company for ten years in November and I worked through the worst of Covid being treated like shit by the customers for trying to enforce the company's and CDC's rules. I was also a manager for 7 or so of those almost ten years.

Then on August 1st I had a surgery consultation for a health issue only to be told it's worse that they thought and I would need a procedure that would land me in the hospital for a week with a TWO month recovery time. Thankfully my health insurance, as crappy as it is, is independent from my job so I'm not losing it but whose going to hire someone whose going to have to go out on medical leave in a couple of months? This wouldn't have been a problem before, you know sick time and PTO for the win, but now it is. I know my boss would gladly hire me back after I recovered but it's going to be at a shitty wage with shitty hours.

So do I put my health aside and risk my issue getting worse and try to find another job right away or hope my former company doesn't screw me over anymore and lets me collect until I'm fully recovered?

Thankfully, I won't be homeless but that's another issue for another day.

I'm not looking for sympathy, monetary help, or anything like that. I just felt like I owed the wonderful people I interact with here a proper explanation of to why I've been more out of it than normal.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Love,

Barb

[mingying]

[spoilers] hospital playlist s2 ep 11; ikjun/songhwa

I can’t believe this finally happened. And it happened in arguably the best ways possible for us IkSong shippers. As usual, this post is just basically my own thoughts and opinion of the episode and my interpretation of things - feel free to disagree, and I hope you enjoy reading this musing of mine!

22 years later, finally they found each other again <3

TL;DR: Everything happens for a reason and we have finally reached the rainbow end <3

Let’s begin by addressing the ER scene, but before that, I would like to point out that since Ep 10, Songhwa has been shown to be somewhat forgetful and a klutz - in Ep 10, she was searching for her socks and insisted that she wore them for her rounds. She also seemed to have forgotten to take off her surgical cap until Seonbin pointed it out to her.

In Ep 11, the episode starts off with Songhwa leaving her handbag in Ikjun’s office, and subsequently her handphone, followed by her handbag in the car again. This is not a dementia arc, guys (haha) but I genuinely think that this is her mind being occupied by her newly realised feelings for Ikjun that her normally composed self had started to crumble (and that’s entirely ok!). Another interpretation of this scene could be that unintentionally and subconsciously, she just wanted to remain in the hospital knowing Ikjun may return to collect his gift later.

Can I also point out her sixth sense in this scene? When she peered out of her window and heard the sound of ambulance, followed immediately by Dr Bong calling, she looked disturbed. Normally, she would have answered her calls immediately without hesitation but this time you could tell that she frowned and waited for maybe 2 seconds before answering Dr Bong. Well, never messed with a woman’s intuition I guess!

The ER Scene. Gosh. I actually have a lot of things to say about this. I know some people do not like this trope and that it is a typical trigger for characters to realise their feelings. But, I’d have to say that ShinLee did not intend for this scene to be a trigger of Songhwa realising that she likes Ikjun.

Because she already knows and had realised, somewhere around Ep 8-9 but more obviously 9, that she does like him as a man (all over again). If anything, this ER scene was meant to give Songhwa that one last push to confess, otherwise she may end up regretting not to. Another reason why I felt this scene was necessary was that Songhwa has been too comfortable in Ikjun’s constant presence by her side -- perhaps she has been wanting to confess but still lack the courage to and she didn’t think she needed to act on it rightaway because Ikjun would always be there by her side.

Gosh, the way she rushed to Ikjun and didn’t even hear Dr Bong trying to report to her that he actually wasn’t in such a terrible state. The way she slipped her hand in his and was so gentle in her questions - you can really just tell that she was trying her best not to crumble.

(side note: Jeon Mido, your acting was truly stellar during this scene. That suppressed professionalism vs personal feelings. I really felt her worry and regret in this entire scene. I loved it so much)

Now, why do I firmly believe that Songhwa already intends to confess to Ikjun eventually? Other than the fact that Songhwa herself confirmed during her confession that “I should have told you that I liked you”, it’s because of the Gift that she has given him for his birthday. It’s a cap, and initially we don’t think much of it until the flashback sequence showed and we realised that, a cap was what 99z Songhwa wanted to give to Ikjun but never did because he had turned her down for dinner and lied that he has a blind date.

Present day Songhwa gifting Ikjun a cap can be interpreted as her having let go of the hurt he had caused her in the past and that she was willing to try, again.

Interestingly, I’d like to also point out that the 99z flashback in this episode was truly necessary for us to understand Songhwa’s aversion to ‘Sad Sea’ and why she has rejected Ikjun in the first episode. 99z Songhwa didn’t give up when Ikjun stood her up for her birthday but mustered the courage to confess to him - she tried twice too, asking if he really has to go on that blind date that evening and couldn’t he go another time? Ikjun, in that scene, was playing Sad Sea. 

I would like to apologise to Ep 7 Songhwa because I had been frustrated with her then, but now that everything has been rolled out beautifully, I do not blame her at all for her hesitancy and year long passiveness. Ikjun kinda deserved it after breaking her heart twice (HA!) and remember this shot of Ikjun in Ep 7? 

I now interpret this scene as him realising that he knew Songhwa’s reasons of rejecting him. Because there was no way he didn’t know that Songhwa had liked him in the 99z, and he was perhaps regretting turning her down for dinner that day during his birthday. He knew he had a chance with her then but blew it, and that is perhaps why he never faltered in making Songhwa happy now. Not that he expects anything in return, but perhaps he wanted to make up for the indirect hurt he had caused her.

Bab Meokja had been something initiated by Songhwa back then. And now, it is a treat he gives himself -- I really do think that is the reason why he keeps asking Songhwa out for meals in the present time, because Ikjun probably wanted to indrectly make up for what happened in 99z.

Let’s move on to another great scene! The card game scene!

For some, it may seem to be a random scene but for me, I saw it in a different way and I’m glad Kfans and some users on Twitter pointed out this theory as well. 

As you all know, the card game IkSong was playing was “Bluff/Cheat”. Here, you could see that Ikjun could read Songhwa so well that he knows when she would lie. But Songhwa on the other hand, could not read Ikjun as well -- and this is further affirmed by Songhwa’s confession when she said “If your feelings for me haven’t changed,”. This is beautiful because it makes Ikjun’s expression during the confession scene even more sense -- a user on reddit pointed out that his expression at that time wasn’t more of a “omg she likes me after all”, it was more of a “she has realised her feelings for me,” and I think that’s absolutely beautiful. He even nodded subtlely a few times as Songhwa struggled to get her confession out, as if encouraging her and saying “you can do it, just a bit more”. 

Back to the card game - Ikjun even threw down a 9 Hearts - which I believe is a metaphor of his feelings for her, steady and still unwavering. 

(Bonus note: I absolutely love how Iksun caught on to them being lovey dovey at once and Junwan’s expression catching them was HILARIOUS)

On to my next scene which was absolute favourite.

Songhwa had finished a difficult/challenging surgery, and out of excitement (she even skipped omg whipped girlie), she called Ikjun first to convey the good news to him. Her tone here really depicts a difference in how she talks to Ikjun before. This scene alone tells you that Songhwa has pretty much fallen for Ikjun again and I love love love that finally she has someone she would want to immediately call to share her good news with! 

And the best part? Our best boy Lee Ikjun never went to Changwon. Instead, he waited for her for probably hours (it was bright day when they said goodbye, but night when Songhwa returned to her office) and even told her straight that he has to see her before he leaves because of how worried she had been before. Good lord find me a man like Ikjun please? 

image cr: iksongarchives @ twitter

This entire shot, with I Knew I Love playing in the background pretty much hits. It is in this exact moment that Songhwa has probably made up her mind to confess for real, that she wasn’t going to waste another second because I am sooo sure she would have ran to hug him if not because of their status at that moment. I love this scene so much. It is the personification of the lyrics of I Knew I Love, which goes “I called you out of habit today and you answered warmly, you make me the happiest in the whole wide world, I love you so much”.

And finally. 

Finally.

*takes a deep breath*

SONGHWA CONFESSED!!!!!!!!

AND THEY KISSED!!!! UNDER THE RAIN!!! 

The whole directing of this scene, with the slow camera panning into them - Ikjun was restless, probably breaking into cold sweats (he commented it was cold) while Songhwa was nervous and trying to muster enough courage to confess (she commented it was really hot). I held my breath for so long I felt like I was about to faint I swear to god.

Songhwa looked legit terrified that Ikjun was going to reject her man, and it all makes sense why after we got the 99z flashback this episode. 

And Ikjun, he really waited for her cues. Even after she was done confessing, he looked at her and waited for her to look at him back before he went “I’ll give you my answer”. And it was only after Songhwa nodded in fear and anticipation, that he swooped in to kiss her!!!!!

Songhwa definitely also leaned in first before Ikjun pulled her closer. She wanted this just as much as he did and it showed through their first kiss. Gosh I’m still shaking just thinking about how perfect that entire sequence and kiss was. They really went all out for it (yes I believe there was tongue involved) rather than soft and gentle. 22 years of suppressed yearning and feelings really popped out in that kiss alone and I am so blessed to have been a part of their beautiful journey.

And now, with only one episode left, we are finally able to see IkSong as a couple and on dates. I have a feeling Songhwa would be the clingy gf man, judging from the Preview keke. I cannot wait to see the rest of the boys finding out, and for sure, I cannot wait to see how their dynamics would change now as lovers rather than just best friends. I do think their transition would be seamless, only that now, they get to do what other lovers could.

This post is so long but I felt the need to address another matter that I have seen roaming around the internet. Apparently, some people are annoyed that Songhwa was ‘forced to change her mind’ and that we cannot accept her ‘No’ in ep 1. I would humbly and respectfully disagree on this point. Songhwa’s ‘No’ in ep 1 was not a “I don’t like you therefore I am rejecting you”. It was more of a “I do not know how to sort out my feelings yet, and am not ready to revisit the past, so it is best not to tamper with it”. 

Songhwa did not change her mind overnight or weeks. It took her one year and a few months. She has had all that time to weighs her decisions again and properly thought out how she wanted to bring forward her relationship with Ikjun. She was not forced.

She may have said that she liked being single in S1, but she has never been averse to love. In fact, she is always encouraging other people to go for it. I for one, am single and absolutely enjoying it. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to ever change my mind if I find someone worthy enough to share my space and happiness with. I like being single now because guys around me are idiots and I’d rather save myself that headache LOL.

Her conscious decision to accept Ikjun now does not and will never invalidate her decision to reject him back then - in fact, it goes to show that as human beings, we constantly undergo character growth and our minds are often changed to suit the present circumstances. 

ShinLee did not portray Songhwa in that light where ‘women needs to say yes if a guy treats her right’. Ikjun did all of those things for her without expecting anything in return. He never once crossed the line and never once forced Songhwa into accepting his love for her. Songhwa said yes because she likes Ikjun and is now ready to move their relationship to that of romantic. It is as simple as that.

And one last point to make is that Songhwa being in a relationship does not in any way invalidate that she is a strong and independent woman. Please do not associate the relationship status of a woman to her being ‘strong/independent’. A woman in a relationship and a woman not being a relationship are still BOTH strong AND independent. Love is a universal element in life, why deprive a person of it simply because she’s portrayed to be a “strong” female character? If that love brings her greater joy and ardent happiness, why stop her from enriching her life further?

Anyway. I digress. 

If you made it until the end of this ridiculously long post, thank you. I hope it was an enjoyable read! Till Ep 12!

[tempenensis]

Halo! Here's a reddit link to information and research papers about onmyodo consolidated by other people and a link to an overview. Tried to summarize below bits and pieces that may be relevant to jjk (and which I tried to understand to the best of my abilities :P )

I think this will be the last time I write such a long-ass ask again, my apologies

About cursed spirits and mono

Court onmyojis in Heian used divination to find out the cause of things like curses, strange events (kaii), natural disasters, illness, why your dog is barking at a seemingly empty spot (answer: Megumi's divine dog is barking back) and so on. Strange events were referred to as mokke (物怪) or mono no satoshi (もノノサトシ) and believed to be omens of calamity that were caused by mono or "things" which could be anything like the curses of gods or something from the Imperial mausoleums. Furthermore, during the rule of Emperor Kanmu from end of Nara to early Heian, the Ritsuryo system of government began to crumble as imperial rule changed hands and political victims were feared as onryō (怨霊) that caused disease or death to the Emperor's nearest relatives (but not the Emperor himself). The fear of strange phenomena spread through the aristocrats and became commonplace. Onymojis were believed to be able to deal with the curse of mono as well (otherwise it's off to the chopping board for their jobs (and lives) they go, chop chop). And so the Imperial Court funded them to perform quelling rituals and ceremonies to appease gods, clear away damages by insects, pray for harvests and prevent the spread of epidemics (which ironically was exacerbated by the court's overspending and large-scale deforestation but that's another story). For individual cases like the spirits of living persons (ikiryō or ikisudama), or spirits of dead people (akuryō, ryō, onryō, shiryō or bōkon), onmyojis might determine that spiritual energy or evil spirits (mono no ke) was the cause but mikkyō genja (験者) or ritualists were the ones to subdue it by incantations. JJK cursed spirits resemble mono no ke in that they cannot be seen and may harm humans. Whereas jujutsu sorcerers are more like genja ritualists (complete with flashy kamehameha bombs) (and besides being cursed).

Lifespan rituals

The most popular theory for Sukuna's fixation with Megumi has already been covered by this blog owner with additional info on the Ten Divine Treasures. Another theory is that Sukuna could have been aiming for a higher level of enlightenment. Besides the Shinto-Buddhism angle, Onmyodo also has its own set of rituals concerning life and death. Onmyodo is basically a system of divination and techniques that focuses on worldly benefits and has no vision of the world after death. The rituals were instead based on the Chinese beliefs in honmyō (本命), Zokushō (属星) or the realm of the dead (冥界) and by the end of Heian, there were more than forty Onmyodo rituals to pray for the individual health and longevity of aristocrats (commoners: eat the rich 👎). For the terms honmyō and Zokushō, the closest meaning I can give without being too horribly misleading would be the life/destiny that you are born with according to your birth year, zodiac, constellation and so on. The most popular ritual was Taizan Fukun sai (泰山府君祭), which originated around the beginning of the tenth century and was closely associated with Abe no Seimei (yes that guy you keep seeing in anime). Taizan Fukun (泰山府君) is the lord of the eastern peak of Mt. Tai in China, a deity that summons the spirits of the dead and administers the lengthening and shortening of human lifespans. Twelve deities of the realm of the dead including Taizan Fukun were involved in this ritual. It was implemented on every honmyō day, but also as needed for illness, childbirth, natural disasters, and strange events. Media adaptations often depict Abe no Seimei (or other onmyojis) using the ritual for resurrection or reincarnation 😅 e.g. Tokyo Ravens, Shaman King, Onmyoji (2001). I don't think Gege will go for the same cliché trope for Sukuna but it's still interesting to know.

Seimei and Dōman (Gojo and Getou)

Anyone who knows about the folklores of Abe no Seimei 安倍 晴明 would be familiar with his eternal rival, Dōman 道満. Like Gojo who's the strongest jujutsu sorcerer, Seimei was the leading onmyoji specialist of his time. His position as the Kurōdo-dokoro onmyōji (highest-ranking onmyoji), legendary reputation and long lifespan lent to the notion that he had mystical powers due to being born from a human father and a kitsune mother. During Heian, Onmyodo referred to the organization of onmyojis under the control of high-ranking people of the same profession (kinda like the JJK elders) rather than the system of beliefs known today. Onmyōji with official status like Abe no Seimei would be kanjin onmyōji (官人陰陽師) or official onmyōji. Non-official onmyojis would include hōshi onmyōji (法師陰陽師) or priest onmyōji, who had the appearance of Buddhist priests (like how Getou was dressed as a cult leader), and presumably the control of the Onmyōdō did not extend to them. Official onmyōji, under the strict supervision of their superiors, would not have been permitted to have any connection with criminal acts such as curses. Instead, the Heian nobility turned to hoshi-onmyojis like Dōman to lay curses on their political rivals. There were many incidents involving curses within aristocratic society in Seimei’s time, and in a majority of cases the curses were placed by hōshi-onmyōji. Dōman himself had been spotted visiting a noblewoman, Takashina no Mitsuko, who employed hōshi-onmyōji to put a curse on several prominent political figures. Getou: "Let's curse each other... to our hearts' content!"

War onmyojis (and questioning of Gege's probable naming sense)

The Sengoku era treated court onmyojis poorly (ceremonies were expensive to fund). Warrior onmyodo being more practical (divining auspicious days for battle/forming alliances and exorcising evil spirits) became prominent instead. Academies that taught Confucian studies with divination and medicine as part of the curriculum flourished and the most famous was Ashikaga Gakkō (足利学校) (not as modern as Tokyo Jujutsu High though). Like Nanami and co. who became professional sorcerers, many of its students went to the battlefield as diviners and doctors. When peace returned during Tokugawa Ieyasu's rule, a few practitioners thrived by attaching themselves to powerful men. One would be Tenkai (天海) and another Kanshitsu Genkitsu, head of the Ashikaga Gakko. Being Ieyasu's bff, a temple Fushimi Enkoji (伏見円光寺) modeled after Ashikaga was built and Kanshitsu appointed as its head. Ieyasu also sponsored Kanshitsu's Fushimiban (伏見版), a publication project printed with wooden blocks. I'm definitely reaching here for Tengen and Fushiguro but I do wonder if Gege ever chanced upon those names.

🦆A Tail of Many Kamos: 鴨川, 下鴨, 鴨, 加茂, 賀茂 🦆

鴨川 - the Kamo river northeast of the Heian capital (modern Kyoto)

下鴨 - the Shimogamo Shrine (下鴨神社), a Shinto shrine dedicated to the Kamo family of kami

鴨 - the clan associated with the Kamo shrines and the famous poet-priest Kamo no Chōmei (鴨 長明) who witnessed the end of Heian. Also Bucephala albeola.

加茂 - Kamo no matsuri (加茂祭) or Aoi no matsuri (葵祭), an annual festival of Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine and one of the three major festivals in Kyoto, also one of the three big jujutsu clans (加茂家) in JJK. It's funny that Gege would choose a name with the same pronunciation as a real-life historic clan, which brings to the next point.

賀茂 - the formal name of the Shimogamo Shrine (賀茂御祖神社), also a once-prominent Heian Onmyoji family that died out during the Sengoku era. Thereafter, the Tsuchimikado (former Abe clan) took over their hereditary duties of keeping the calendar. Abe no Seimei's teacher was the astrology scholar (tenmon hakase 天文博士) Kamo no Yasunori (賀茂保憲). Could Kenjaku be based on Abe no Seimei as well?

The Musical Exorcist

The rock-n-roll grandpa, Gakuganji, might be based on the lesser known lute-priests called biwa-hoshi (琵琶法師) or zatō (座頭). Their musical style is referred to as heikyoku (平曲), which literally means "heike music". Accompanied by their mōsō-biwa (盲僧琵琶), the often-blind lay priests would chant Buddhist mantras, placate earth deities, perform spirit pacification chinkon (鎮魂) of vengeful spirits including onryō, communicate with the dead (Principal Yaga 😢), purify defilements haraikikyomeru (祓い清め) and border rites kyōkai girei (境界儀礼) that expel malign forces. The thesis "From Heike to Nomori no kagami" suggests that the musical practices and theories of Heike correlate with Yin-Yang principles. Which I will not further expound bcos I haz zero music theory knowledge and also this ask is far too long 😛 Hopefully Gakuganji will not remain blind to the less-than-holy intentions of the jujutsu higher-ups as the story continues.

Hello, lore anon! Thank you for compiling another stellar read!

Aaw, you'll be missed, but it's fine. Just do things and drop by if you feel like it.

Yes, onmyodo has a large influence on Japanese pop culture. Numerous manga takes their inspiration from onmyodo, jjk only one of them. Onmyouji had a very large political influence in the court. They were also a legit government position, literally civil servants back in the day.

The legend of Abe no Seimei and his rival Ashiya Douman is also famous. Abe no Seimei was said to be born from a kitsune (fox spirit) mother and human father, so he is often thought to not be fully human, hence his supernatural ability. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these characters is inspired by either Seimei or Douman; Sukuna, Kenjaku, or Tengen.

Kamo, yes, it seems that Gege actually takes the name of the clan. The fanbook said that Kamo clan arised to influence during the heyday of Heian period, the Golden age of Jujutsu. While it's lesser known, Kamo family is quite a legend too alongside Abe no Seimei in onmyoudou. As you said, Kamo no Tadayuki and his son Kamo no Yasunori has been known to teach Abe no Seimei.

[b612sunsets]

Ahhh I’m happy to see someone else loving The Devil Judge - it truly is amazing 😭😭🖤✨ I love Yo-Han and Ga-on’s relationship I swear let them be destructive together!

I hate waiting for new episodes so please tell me one of your theories, it can be about anything! 🥰

Right?! I love it so much, it's really good to have our lilttle fam getting bigger, can't wait until it airs on Netflix, we will have even more people going crazy about it in here! (at least I hope it will become a Netflix series after the show ends like Beyon Evil - another love of mine) and yes, lawful husbands can be destructive together but only to the bad people pls 🥺

It's tough waiting for new episodes every weekend and at the same time I wish for it not to end so soon. It hasn't finished but I already want Jisung and Jinyoung in a second season or working together in another drama. Their chemistry on screen is too good to stop there

About the theories, there's a few I saw on reddit/twitter and I make my own based on it and after watching every episode, but I think it's too early to talk about them. However, since you requested it, there's some that come to mind as interesting enough to mention.

The fire and the story behind it narrated by Yohan

1- Some people think Yohan did start the fire because he found out about the dirty politicians real intentions and decided to destroy them all in the same place before Isaac could donate the money bc he is "a devil" and capable of that since he was a kid as told by the priest with the school incident and the nanny with the maid and dog thing. side note: not for pranking some kids who bullied him because that's all it seems like, right? But in terms of observing, thinking strategically and being one step ahead when needing to punish the whole classroom who wronged him even as young as he was and feeling satisfied while watching the result and staying out of it. A type of mentality probably encouraged by Isaac and the books he gave him to read, unlike a regular kid who would just fight back or endure it. And we still have to see if it really was Yohan that contributed to the maid's death or if it was something/someone else and the nanny thinks it was him.

They think that Elijah even saw him in front of the door right before the fire started and smiled at him instead of smiling at her parents, like she did in the gates of the cathedral in the previous scene, so that's why she hates him so much now because she can remember seeing him as the responsible for it. But Yohan didn't intend to kill/hurt Isaac and the rest of the family, thinking he could save them or something, and felt guilty that he couldn't do so. Some even said that Yohan delayed too much in trying to save them after entering the church and seeing Elijah getting her legs hurt, that it may have been shock but why would he remember everything and everyone so clearly if he was in shock?

It's a good theory but I have my own remarks: why wouldn't he tell Isaac about the politicians himself if he knew the dirty about them then? They had a close relationship and Isaac gave him books about punishment and everything, it wasn't like Isaac was too naive and wouldn't believe his half-brother. He wouldn't have donated if Yohan told him. "Oh he was being the devil and finding a way to punish them instead of just letting is slide and not donating" still, Yohan wouldn't risk Isaac and Elijah with such a dangerous plan if he could avoid having Isaac and Elijah at all in the destruction scene by telling Isaac about it. It could have been shock and Yohan wanting to look and commit to mind everyone's face in that day responsible for hurting his niece and not caring about anyone else but themselves, pushing him away and delaying his attempt to get to them in time, leaving Isaac and the family behind (after they almost donated them their money) and things like that. So he can avenge them now, like he did in the school with the kids. That's why as soon as he could, he canceled the donation in the most easy way by saying his brother wasn't sane enough to make that decision before dying.

There's also the theories about Isaac being the insane/evil one, which wouldn't surprise me because I've considered it since episode 3 but at the same time I'll not be touching that topic now and I don't know if I ever will unless proven otherwise in some other episode

2- The other theory I have and saw people discussing (the one I'm most inclined to believe because I'm Yohan biased but again it's too soon to be sure) is that the story Yohan narrated is mostly if not completely true and he experiences extreme guilt for not coming back and saving Isaac when the church collapsed on him, as seen in the character introduction by tvN translated in this tweet that we now know it's about Isaac:

The last words Yohan said to Isaac was that he was going to come back for him, so he experiences nightmares like the flashbacks we saw in episode 1 and that's why we don't see any scene of Isaac in the middle of the church after the fire staring at Yohan or during the fire and turning to stare directly at Yohan when he narrates it. Because they're dreams and his guilty conscience and he remembers them when looking at Gaon. The flashback of Yohan kneeling down and touching Isaac with Elijah's bear close to him could be after he got Elijah out from there and he went back to put the bear next to him kinda like a "Sorry for not coming back in time", a reassurance that his daughter for whom he died for is safe and will always stay with him, a "Goodbye". He wouldn't just let Isaac's body lying there, he would go back even if it was too late.

Another thing is that when Yohan is showing Gaon his scar after telling the story, there's a book fallen at his feet. I think it was the thing that fell when Yohan standed up from the table and choked Gaon (trying hard not to comment on that choking scene as a 🔥 Gahan moment for our delight and imagination bc that's not the point right now lol)

This is the book:

And the first page of this book says "Never again will a single story be told as though it's the only one." - John Berger

I searched about it and it can mean that never again will a story be told as if it's the only one that matters. It could also mean that never again will a story be so encompassing of the elements it tackles that no other story need be written about these elements. A story has many perspectives that cannot be understood by just a single viewpoint. Isn't that what this kdrama is all about?

One of the translations of what Yohan said after Gaon left was:

But there's also another version:

The meaning of what he said changes a bit depending on which translation is more accurate, more so when we add the book quote to the equation.

Kim Gaon and his connection to Kang Yohan

People think Gaon could be Isaac's relative in some way or just a look alike (I think it's just a look alike to contribute to Yohan's obsession/curiosity and their proximity from the start, that's why no one really comments on it, not even Gaon when he sees Isaac's picture). Dear God, let them not be related because it would make shipping our lawful husbands really strange, to say the least.

What I'd like to say and almost everyone is forgetting is that in the tvN character introduction we already have Gaon's past and know he wasn't always a goody two shoes, the man was a juvenile delinquent and can even fight (the rebellious phase he said he made the tattoo in episode 3?). He too sought revenge for his parents when he was 16 because they committed suicide after losing their money and being deceived by multi-level con artists posing as social service workers. But the teacher and Soohyun were able to hold him back.

Yohan's father could be one of the reasons for their death. He was a loan shark and might have lend them money after they lost it all and it caused them to have a great debt, that's why Yohan did a thorough research on Gaon and was interested in him (not only because he resembled his half-brother). They shared one enemy in common and maybe even a place (churches, Yohan's father tended to confess his sins in a church when his debtors killed themselves). Or Yohan might have researched about him at the time he knew Gaon was chosen to be the associate judge sitting on his left side instead of way before, because it's important to Yohan to know who he is dealing with and the dirty of their past if they have any. And then Yohan discovered everything and saw his picture and resemblance to Isaac.

The thing is: they have the same distrust/repulsion of powerful people who deceive the world and had a painful loss because of that. Both of them think they have the other exactly where they want but they get more confused about what it is that they really want from the other and get closer (as said in the summary of episode 5 that tvN released) while figuring it out. They will come to an understanding and probably join forces at some point. We saw it in the end of episode 4, the scene of episode 5 when Gaon says he can understand Yohan's pain but can't trust him if he doesn't tell him everything and then Yohan says Gaon needs to decide if he will get in his way or stay by his side. Gaon might go back to his rebellious days and stay with Yohan to seek revenge together while distancing himself from Soohyun and Jungho who prevented him from doing so

And that's about it! Thank you for your ask and hope my answer is satisfying enough! 💙 The hardest but also most awesome part is having to wait to see.

[onewomancitadel]

Was the aura-bond idea inspired by the one Reylo had? Or did you come up with it and only notice the similarities later? It's a cool way to tie into another one of your ships, especially since it's plausible in-universe.

It's reaaaaaaaaaally awkward getting an ask about Reylo when I have new followers, but let's rip off the bandaid anyway. (Don't worry Lar, you're wonderful).

If there's anybody who followed me today who doesn't like Reylo, I won't ask any questions if you decide to unfollow. There might be a post about it on here eventually anyway, I just don't really post about it anymore. I think it's only fair that you make sure to curate your fandom experience - that's also a standard policy on my blog, come and go as you please. (:

Anyway, that aside.

Well, it's not specific to Reylo and it sort of is. I love psychic bonds but generally the trope of enemies having to spend time together without hurting each other, and also ideas about transcendental contact beyond their respective stations.

Being that I'm a TFA Reylo (am I bragging? Is this bragging? Yes, I've decided it is), so before the Force bond became canon in TLJ, a lot of us were all already on board with the Force bond because of Ohtze's essay about it, and a few others - a very popular meta writer who wrote incredible stuff was harrassed until she deleted her blog so those posts are unfortunately gone. If you look at the date on Ohtze's post, you'll notice it was only a couple of weeks after TFA's release.

It was probably one of my favourite fandom experiences ever, being right about TLJ. Forget theory posts on Reddit, Reylo Tumblrinas already knew what they were doing.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, is that there was a canon precedent in SW canon for a Force bond - namely, the romantic connection of Revan and Bastila there that you can see - and we also know that probably the only concrete thing planned in the Sequel Trilogy, other than Lucas' initial concepts for it (like isolated, cynic recluse Luke), was Reylo. So, they had some idea where they were going with that, and also it's known that Rian Johnson is a fan of KOTOR, lol.

But there are also other ships I've shipped that have this sort of stuff, and I'm not trying to say I'm copying Reylo, but sort of that this is a general idea that interests me and it's why Reylo was so precious to me (one of many). With another ship I was into, there was the sense that they could see/interact with one another in their dreams - and even separated, caught glimpses of each other. Unfortunately, it's relatively rare... that is, enemies-to-lovers, or lovers-to-enemies, etc., which also happens to involve mystical, magical, transcendental forces...

which are also kind of slightly, not really slightly, but overtly, metaphorical for compassion. It's a very Campbellian idea (which is why it's appropriate to SW), because I think he was interested in the metaphysics of compassion and empathy - and in fiction you can literally realise that, in a way. But embedded within that are all of my favourite tropes about enemies-to-lovers.

Pic to break up the text, now I kind of want Boss Undercover Cinder Fall.

Because what interests me in particular isn't really hatred - though that is one of them - but moreso the idea that this is a type of contact/compassion that is BEYOND ANYTHING. Beyond who they are, who they're supposed to be, what they're supposed to do, whom they're supposed to love, where they think they should be going... this compassion and love defies all things, it carries all things, and it's the scariest/hardest thing and it's also the most immediately correct thing, it's the most powerful

These are really compelling themes, particularly once read in the context of a villainess who wants power to never be hurt again and a hero who thought he had it all figured out.

So all of the aforementioned can be represented by a psychic bond. How and where and why you do it will always look different. If you look at Alina and the Darkling's bond, it's not a good thing - because The Gris/ha Trilogy is textually confused, it is metaphorically messed up, but he comes to represent her lust for power. His bed is a cold comfort, their metaphysical contact is actually a bad thing. More reasons I don't like those books and I don't like that ship at all. (I can elaborate more, but basically the books are so textually confused and misuse a lot of their source materials, and I also find the books honestly sexist).

I hate Alina and the Darkling's example, but I just used that for the purposes of demonstrating it will always seem a bit different. Rey and Ben's, of course, is cinematic, and the kinds of ideas you can convey with that is different to text - for instance, when they're finally onscreen together, it's also when they finally physically touch and he's witnessed her deepest, darkest fears. That carries a different sense of poignancy.

Wait... this isn't Reylo.

Anyway, I loved Reylo in particular because of the bond and what it represented, and it's a real shame the third film never really capitalised on its potential beyond its use for... fighting?

But circling around to R/WBY: an Aura bond is already an idea in the show, it's the imprisonment Oscar experiences with Oz. In their case, that is a transition into adulthood for Oscar - it's thrust on him, like the hero's journey - and Oz's is a reincarnating curse post-divorce with his ex-wife.

So now you see where the Reverse Salem/Ozma stuff comes into play, because the differences between Oz's bond and Jaune/Cinder's bond are actually pretty significant, which you can see I do... attempt at going into.

1. They both chose it

2. It's a product of Jaune's Semblance (an expression of his soul) and Cinder's Dark Curse (all of her pain means something), not anything to do with the Brother gods. It's a moment of intense beauty amidst intense ugliness

3. They both... continue to choose it

4. Cinder (Salem analogue structurally) is the one bonded to Jaune (Oz analogue structurally), so it's not Ozma reincarnating forever with other, random people (who are 'like him'). It's a symbolic healing of their split and what they wrought on the world together

And I'm actually sort of stoked with how well it lined up. Reverse Salem/Ozma was part of the reason I first started shipping it, because I love poetic storytelling, I love stuff being healed, and it is FRANKLY INCREDIBLE to me I'd ever get anything remotely as good as Reylo ever again. Reylo ticks all of the boxes I'm completely and totally obsessed with, and then somehow Knightfall goes beyond that!?!?!!?!?!!??!!?!!? I mean, the distinction with Knightfall is that its canonicity is still arguably in the air, whereas Reylo was the true canon ship of ST, but I'm speaking just in terms of fandom experience.

So, I would say overall that I've always loved psychic bonds (I can think of a very early enemies-to-lovers ship that involved tangential stuff too, it's a pattern for me), I love what they represent metaphorically, I love all of the stuff you can do with it - seeing each other when they're vulnerable... funny hijinks, perhaps - and so yeah, Reylo inspired me, but it's textually grounded in R/WBY too, and even works for Reverse Salem/Ozma, not just in a metaphorical way. It's actually a 'thing' that where if Salem experiences Ozma's grief, and vice versa, they can come to know each other better and heal and confront the real conflict.

Also like, I think I've said it before, but I also wanted The Distance Which Fools the Skimming Eye to explore all the stuff I haven't seen necessarily explored in other psychically bonded enemies-to-lovers. The context of Knightfall really changes things too, compared to Reylo and my other ships, so that's a lot of fun. I also really just like that because R/WBY is so fairytale-grounded and emotionally earnest, it feels textually/canonically appropriate to really lean into the mystical elements, whereas I feel like with SW canon certain audiences are resolutely distinterested in Campbell (or Jung, as he's used in TLJ).

That's one of the many reasons I love writing it. I hope my answer isn't too long, but I did actually experience grief early on being like, 'Am I making Knightfall something it isn't?' or 'Am I just copying Reylo?' when I realised that no, it's actually very canonically appropriate, and it's something I was always interested in - pre-canon Reylo Force bond.

And idk, I make jokes to myself about Cinder and Jaune accidentally getting married in Vegas.

[masterhandss]

‘My Next Life as A Villainess’ Anime is over...

SO WHAT NOW???

A lot of us are disappointed that Katarina’s adventures are finally over, and a lot of us are gonna miss watching the wacky hi-jinks of our dense villainess. I’ve seen a lot of people say that they will stop posting or paying attention to hamefura after the anime ends, and while I might be the same to some extent, I just want to say that there are still a lot of hamefura things to look forward to after the anime ends!

These are actually some very obvious things to look forward to, but you know I’d still like to share them so you can use them to fill the hole in your heart that the anime left behind.

-------

Edit: (9/30/20) I added stuff, as well as a cut for all yall who says my posts are too long qwq

The Manga

Hamefura still has an on-going manga that is currently in Chapter 3 of the Light Novels! A lot of you already read it, and understand that it can get frustrating when there’s a lack of updates on the english side of things, but if you’re really curious, you can go over and check out the JP releases every month so you can have an idea of whats to come for the manga :DD (The fan translation of ENG Chapter 26 came out a few days ago so you know it’s not dead!!)

I’d recommend reading the english translation on Mangadex, since most translation groups officially upload their translation on there. 

The Spin-off (Hametsuo/Bakarina Alter)

It deserves it’s own category for just how unique it is in terms of its reception in the western crowd. I know a lot of people probably read it, but I guess people barely talk about because it’s not really that far into it’s premise yet. 

I just can’t stop recommending this manga to people (despite not going where I thought it’d be) because of how good the art-style is and how much promise it has. It updates monthly, which I know is a long wait, but it does pay off when you see the quality of everything. Plus it’s just fun to imagine how hamefura would go if it followed the typical “villainess otome isekai” format.

I actually love talking about hametsuo, so maybe my posts are woth the look ;; w ;;

The Light Novels

credits to @sparckle-art​ for the scans!

I’m happy to read that a lot of people are gonna go switch and buy the light novels after the anime ends! By the time the anime ends, the Vol. 6 of the LN would release a week later, acting kind of like a replacement of what is supposed to be a new episode for that week.

The fan-translated version of the web novel is available online, up until half of Vol. 4, but I still recommend buying the books on bookwalker (i don’t know if the sale is still there, but I’d recommend picking up the book regardless!). If reading the fan translation piqued your interest, then playing for the books would definitely worth your money if you ask me! 

An increase of sales might show them that there’s interest for this light novel, and might make them translate the JP novels even faster! (or maybe i’m just too impatient to wait 2-3 months for Volume 7 dshfjsfgs who knows?)

My only warning is that the tone really does shift post-arc 1 (Fortune Lover I) so if you’re looking for harem hijinks, from spoilers I’ve seen I think there would less of that and more of world building. (ps. please stop asking me where to read it ;;-;;)

Edit: Volume 8 is coming out in a few months, with Volume 9 probably being released at either Jan or Feb next year, then after that it’ll be a yearly update

StoryMe Otome Game

credit to the hamefura reddit discord for the screenshots!

I’m surprised a lot of people doesn’t know about the StoryMe game, despite it updating every week alongside the anime. Just kidding I didn’t either lol, I actually found about this thanks to the hamefura reddit discord server! StoryMe is a choose-your-own-adventure otome game, kind of like those “Episodes” or “Chapters” game that gets recommended on Youtube a lot. 

It’s still in japanese, which is probably why not a lot of people knows of it yet, but it seems like you can play as Katarina and romance anyone from the entire harem (yes, the girls too), so keep you eyes peeled for if ever it gets an english translation!

It’s basically the bluray Fortune Lover game with the DVDs, but instead of Maria, you actually get to play as Katarina!

(I’ll make a separate post for this later, maybe)

Edit: The game just came out in English in September 16, and just spat out a 11-episode update at September 30

tldr: go play it, it has 19 episodes out right now

Katarina’s Farm

It’s a newly announced mobile game with a web trial version that centers around playing as Katarina, trying to earn money and points for expanding your farm land, planting more expensive plants and getting the other members of the harem to join you! It’s a 2D pixel game that seems like it wouldnt take too much time to play (you can get the first 4 characters within 30 minutes of gameplay, but that might be adjusted in the mobile version) so I understand if it might not interest some people, but that’s still something to look forward to!

I made another post about it so check out the link to the web version here!

The Bluray Otome Game

While I can’t say this for certain, but maybe if there was ever an official english bluray release, it might include the Fortune Lover Male Capture Target Routes that are included in the game. Maybe someone will play it and translate it even! It would interesting to see how different the boys are, and give us further appreciation for Katarina’s influence and changes!

There’s a preview for a CG in Keith’s Route, which comes with the second bluray (no pv for Geordo ;; w ;;)

Edit: All the boy’s routes are out in Japanese

We don’t know if they’ll ever be released in English though, so hopefully someone translates them at least ;;w;;

The Manga and Yuri Anthology

Missing the hilarious and heartwarming antics of Katarina and her harem? Then you should check out the Manga Anthology (that has just been been translated in its entirety). It’s 14 chapters of absolute hilarity!

There’s also a Yuri Anthology, featuring the 4 girls of the harem! If you’re looking for more of that then, it’s an absolute recommendation!

Spin-off Visual Novel

Edit: They recently just announced a spinoff visual novel! It takes place after the Fortune Lover 1 Arc and features sexy pirates hgsjhgsdf

It’s just recently announced so there’s not a lot of info besides the company making it (it’s Otomate) and the fact that it’s gonna be an all new Bakarina adventure uwu

Bakarina Radio

I heard there’s a Bakarina Radio too, featurning the VAs of the anime cast. 

I don’t know if its a regular thing or a one time thing, but its still worth checkin out!

https//twitter.com/hamehura/status/1309831738525278209

The Second Season of the Anime

I seriously wasn’t expecting another season, considering how different the next arc is, but I’m happy nonetheless for more Bakarina! I hope this motivates the fans to continue supporting the series, as a bigger reaction will definitely lead to more content for us to enjoy! I have a theory about S2, which I think is worth the read :3c

Other Otome Isekais

There’s a lot of other Villainess Otome Isekai’s that are worth the read, and a lot of them as just as interesting as hamefura, despite the lack of a harem (from deep rooted revenge to hilarious and crazy villainess, there’s a lot!) The quickest recommendation I can give is just looking up “Akuyaku” and “Villainess” on Mangadex (do both btw they dont have the same results), but theres a lot that doesn’t get recommended so do your research! I swear it’s worth your time!

Anyways, I hope any of these fill the hole that the hamefura anime will leave in our hearts as we wait for season 2! (sorry for repeating the same line again hdsfgdjhsfg) Feel free to add anything like fanfic recommendations and artists, as I can’t cover everything on my own, as those really help provide hamefura fans with content :DD

[robotslenderman]

Someone on Reddit was asking why labels were important and I went into a whole goddamn essay because my Vyvanse is kicking in.

TLDR - Labels are important for communication. Without communication, we are isolated. Sexuality is so fundamental to our experiences as human beings that being able to describe those experiences succinctly can mean the difference between feeling isolated and feeling connected. Also sneering at ace people for microlabels dismisses the asexual experience as so unimportant that we SHOULDN'T be able to describe our exact experience of it, when discussing asexuality often requires these labels because of how varied and complicated the asexual experience is.

I've been waffling on the fence about microlabels but I've decided that no, microlabels aren't overthinking it, for the reasons I discuss below. In the past I've reblogged things saying that microlabels are about isolation instead of connection, that further dividing our sexuality into smaller and smaller boxes creates increasingly exclusive clubs.

I no longer believe that. I believe it does the opposite. I believe that being in touch with your sexuality just as much as you need to helps you connect to others even outside your microlabel, not just within it, because then it makes it clearer to everyone involved what experiences you have in common and makes it easier to set aside the ones you don't.

You don't understand how important labels are until you've struggled without one. It's human nature to use language to describe our experiences, and when we don't have the language to do so it is stressful and isolating. Because language is how we connect to other people, so when we can't use easy language to summarise our experiences, it becomes isolating.

My personal experience - I struggled with my asexuality for years, even before I began to realise that I was asexual. Even once I started letting myself admit it, I didn't feel that the word "asexual" was enough. Sure, I could explain to people "I'm asexual and don't want to have sex, but I love sex in theory and in novels and I love reading about romance and daydreaming about them, but don't want a relationship." That's a very specific type of asexuality that people don't think of when they hear "asexual". People hear "asexual" and think "doesn't like sex."

But people use labels because others don't want to stick around and listen to your dissertation on what your sexuality actually is, they want bite sized information as soon as possible and sometimes YOU want to describe who you are without spending a ton of time explaining it. It's not just because I want to understand myself, it's because I want other people to, too, and labels is how we communicate. It's the fundamentals of how language works. Labels are so important that they consist of two entire grammatical categories - adjectives and nouns.

So when I found out about aegosexuality? I was like "oh thank god, I'm not a broken asexual, I'm this specific TYPE of asexual."

Most people haven't heard of aegosexuality. I used to actually roll my eyes at microlabels like that, thinking it was needlessly self absorbed and pretentious. But now I get it. Now I have the ABILITY to summarise my experiences in one word, and it turns out that having that ability to use language efficiently to describe myself has brought me quite a significant amount of peace. Because when I tell people I'm asexual, they often have a certain idea in their heads of what asexuality is, and I don't fit under most of that. Many asexuals don't, because asexuality is the most complicated sexuality there is.

But god is it fucking exhausting to say "I'm asexual" and then have to hold a fucking Q and A session about how I'm asexual and yes, I really am asexual even though I'm not adhering to someone else's idea of what asexuality is. By knowing I'm aegosexual, I can say, "oh, you're thinking of X type of asexuality, which is when you experience Y. I'm aegosexual, which means that I still get horny and love sex in fiction, but I don't personally want to experience it, unlike X type of sexuality which doesn't like sex at ALL."

And then people get it! They don't get "I'm asexual, but different." That just makes them think I'm not actually asexual, or that I'm an allo in denial who needs therapy to be "fixed". They get "I'm asexual, but this specific type of asexuality that has a name." People respond to names. People respond to labels. They GET labels, even ones they haven't heard of, even ones they roll their eyes at because they think we're over thinking it because they assume that because their sexuality is so fucking simple, everyone else's must be too.

I still tell people I'm asexual because a lot of the time my type of asexuality isn't actually important. Actually, most of the time I tell them I'm queer and leave it vague because queer is a wonderful umbrella word and my sexuality isn't anyone's business. For me, "queer" is often enough because it communicates that my experience isn't a straight one, and that's usually all people need to know.

But having that label just on *hand* that describes my experiences, and having the option to use it to people who do know what it means, and being able to hand it to people who are lost like I used to be lost -

That's powerful. It's important. It *matters*.

It's not like needing a label for yourself because you prefer pineapple on pizza, this is sexuality, this is the kind of thing that makes or breaks your experiences with other human beings. When you're straight your sexuality is so simple and easy that you don't even need to think about it. You're straight. That's easy. And as homosexuality becomes more accepted I'm seeing baby gays start to take that attitude as well because they're gay and as homosexuality becomes less stigmatised, it's allowed to become more simple.

But other sexualities don't have that luxury.

Bisexuality and pansexuality are more complicated because often people experience a split attraction model, or they don't have equal attraction to different genders and they're not fully comfortable describing themselves as bi or pan because again, people hear "bisexual" or "pansexual" and assume that you experience the same amount of attraction to different genders and it's important to be able to communicate to people that no, you don't. The whole point of using a word is so that the other people understand you - if they don't understand the word, they don't understand YOU. So I think bisexuality and pansexuality is also a spectrum in that there's different types of both depending on how your attraction works, and that it would help bi and pan people to have more specific words - using bisexual and pansexual as an umbrella term much like queer and asexual - to allow them to better communicate their experiences.

And asexuality is, I think, the most complicated sexuality of all. It's based not just on who you're attracted to, like other sexualities, but if you're attracted at ALL. No other sexuality has a footnote attached of "but this one likes sex" or "this one doesn't like sex" or "this one is indifferent to sex". Even bisexuality and pansexuality don't. It also has the contradictory feature of involving some level of attraction - demisexuals and grey aces experience attraction! Just only under specific circumstances. The split attraction model is also much more significant; whereas some bisexual people are explicitly homo- or heteroromantic, many asexuals are not aromantic, and many aromantic people are not asexual. This is far more common with us.

It's also the ONLY sexuality where the split attraction communities are actively hostile to each other. Aromantic people have lately been slinging a lot of shit at asexual people because in their need to be told apart from us (I say "us" even though I'm aromantic myself because I'm also asexual), some have gone to the extreme of showing outright hostility to asexual people and show offence for being associated with us at all. When I thought that I was bi, for example, I NEVER saw this kind of shit between homoromantic bis, heteroromantic bis and biromantic bis. Only the asexual and aromantic community has this hostility.

I respect that aros don't want people to mistake them for asexual people and that's important for the same reasons I've been discussing in this entire essay, but here I'm referring to outright hostility aimed AT asexuals because of other people's failures to understand them. "Aromanticism isn't the same as asexuality" is not hostility. Treating asexual people like garbage - or even aroace people because they dare to exist as asexual AND aromantic - is hostility. This hostility is rising.

So asexuality is deeply complicated, and when you have completed concepts, you need simple labels to communicate that. And frankly - allos don't fucking get it. Bi and pan people do to a certain level, but their sexuality, while more complicated than being gay or straight, is still not as complicated as asexuality. That's not a bad thing, having a more complicated sexuality doesn't make us superior, nor is complication the same thing as depth. Other sexualities are not shallow for lacking the same level of complication, nor should they be taken less seriously.

But it does mean each sexuality has nuance to it that you can't understand without being that sexuality, and it's vital not to fall into the same trap straight people do that your experience of sexuality applies to everyone else, of assuming that because your sexuality isn't complicated to you that it must be the same for everyone else or we're overthinking it. And it's important for us to be able to succinctly sum up our sexuality so that we can share our experiences.

People who've never faced that don't understand how important it is to feel connected to people by being able to efficiently describe yourself. To use language is to connect, to use language and labels is to communicate. Without that, it's an isolating experience, simply because people do not fucking want to hear you bring out a PowerPoint presentation to talk about yourself when they just want one word. And when you're talking about something that defines your human experience, that makes your ability to communicate it THE difference between being isolated and disconnected, and feeling human.

Having different levels of labels helps, too. Sure, I'm aegosexual, but even if most people knew what that meant, most of the time it's completely fucking irrelevant. Most of the time all I need to do is say I'm queer - because I'm communicating that my experience isn't a straight one (or a cis one, if you're queer because of your gender). Sometimes I need to say I'm aroace, or just asexual, because that's what the conversation calls for. It's only when discussing asexuality itself that I actually need to say I'm aegosexual - but that's important, too.

Discussion of asexuality is no less important than being able to say I'm ace, or that I'm queer, and a lot of allos think that distinguishing yourself from straight people is important, that distinguishing yourself from non straight people is important, but asexuality itself is so unimportant that we're not allowed to distinguish ourselves among each other. And that's just another form of aphobia. It doesn't mean that we're going "ew, we're not THOSE asexuals" like I've been seeing in the arosexual community lately, it's being able to say "this is my experience of asexuality, so I'm viewing our discussion through THIS lens, whereas you might not."

And it's so fucking typical that allos think that that shouldn't be important to us. I regret ever thinking the same.

At the end of the day, we need language. It describes our experiences, and without being able to describe those experiences, we are isolated. We need language and labels to connect.

[pinkys-plan]

The Search for the Baby

Buckle up because this is a long one. There'll be a tl;dr at the end, so feel free to skip past my riveting story if you so please.

So, my dear friends, I am on a quest.

Recently, I happened upon a tiktok user (Gosh, aka @ alluropinionsrirrelevant) asking for help finding a toy they owned as a child. You can find that video here but for those of you for whom that is not an option, the description is as follows:

It was made from 2003-2008. Exact year unsure.

It was a cartoonish baby, sitting, who was wearing a propeller hat (without the cap part. Like a propeller beanie)

It would cry and vibrate, and its pacifier was a button that calmed it down when pressed

It had a microphone in the stomach so you could talk to it to soothe it

The arms were loose and could move around freely

In the comments were some extra pointers, as they told people who made suggestions which ones were incorrect. For example, it was definitely not a Cry Baby doll, nor was it any kind of realistic looking baby doll.

In a second tiktok, they state that this baby was not really a doll per se, but was an entirely plastic figure that could fit on the palm of your hand.

Most importantly, however, they were absolutely certain that it looked EXACTLY like the picture they drew.

At this point, my interest was piqued. I am an incredibly stubborn person and I enjoy, more than many things, being right. I also enjoy helping people because who doesn’t get a kick out of seeing others smile?

I decided not that I would have a little go at finding the baby, but that I was going to find it no matter what. 100%. I would not rest until I had solved this mystery.

So, off I went to google. I searched so many terms and I very quickly understood why so many people thought it was a Cry Baby. It looked very similar to the Cry Baby dolls I was seeing (as pictured, hopefully below)

But, over the years, I’ve had many memories of things that people have insisted were wrong about but turned out to be totally right, so I wasn’t going to let the internet tell this poor soul that they were wrong and that this was what it was. Gosh says it looks exactly like the one they drew? Then it looks exactly like the one they drew and I was not going to cease until I could find one that matched it far beyond a reasonable doubt.

I found a few contenders. For example:

This little fucker seemed similar enough. Entirely hard plastic? Check. Similar position? Check. Electronic? I think so. Probably cried too, by the looks of it. But there were obviously holes in this theory - no propeller hat, no microphone hole on the stomach, no free movement in the arms, plus there was a bottle that surely Gosh would have mentioned if the real baby was supposed to have one. So, not it.

This carried on for a while, finding things that were sort of similar but not quite, then discarding them because they weren’t close enough for me to be satisfied.

Then I typed the words ‘baby figure toy 2003’. This got me nothing. Then I added a sneaky little ‘electronic’ on the end and didn’t even have to scroll down.

Right there, on the right hand side of my screen, was the baby. There was no question about it, this was it. There’s no point going through all of the things that were the same because this little chunk of plastic was the spitting image of the one Gosh drew.

I went to the site, looking for a name, and that is when I found...

...nothing. I’d found the baby on an auction site and it was literally just labelled ‘baby doll’ in Spanish. The seller didn’t know the name of this thing. I then reverse image searched it to see if any more were around. Nothing.

I left a comment on the original tiktok, telling them the good news and the bad news, relaying that yes, it did exist, they weren’t making it up, that it was yellow and purple, with little ‘G’s on the feet and it was made in 2003 by Sega and Hasbro but that I couldn’t give a name for it. I also sent a picture on Instagram bc apparently you can’t sent pictures though tiktok dms??

Anyway, I pressed on.

Sega and Hasbro are huge, so a toy made by both companies must have some kind of documentation somewhere, right?

Wrong.

No matter what I searched, there was nothing. I couldn’t find the name of the toy, other pictures of the toy, any kind of box or advertising for the toy. Nothing. Zero. Zilch.

The only thing I did find was a blue version with different hair. It was on Reddit and the poster had put up the picture in hopes of finding the answers that I, too, was looking for.

I could have left it there but, as I said before, I’m stubborn as all hell when I want to be, especially when I’m procrastinating, so I had all the time in the world to identify this little plastic child.

I searched high and low, through Sega and Hasbro toy archive sites. I eventually found this Sega toy timeline graphic, which I thought was going to be the jackpot:

But was actually sort of useless because when I scrolled to 2003, as you can see, there’s nothing there. It says that year is listed somewhere else. 

Okay, so just go there, right? Wrong again, because when is anything easy?

I go through a whole bunch of these long exchange reports, or whatever they were, that allegedly contain the list of toys Sega produced in 2003 (I’m not entirely as knowledgeable about Japanese stock exchanges as I apparently need to be) and, once again, nothing.

I try to find toy catalogues from 2003. I went on the wayback machine for Argos in 2003. This was all to no avail, but eventually, I found a tiny lead.

On the 2003 version of the Sega Toys Japanese website, there was a toy called プチベビ (which google translated as ‘Petit baby’). By no means was this the exact toy but it was very similar. It had the same body type, with the same moveable arms and microphone bellybutton. The head was different, just a plain face without the pacifier, and these infants were not bright yellow or blue and were also dressed in little animal onesies.

Okay, so was this like the Japanese version of the toy? Possibly. Probably.

Other than that, I have nothing. I’m still going through the 2003 Hasbro site but that’s probably a dead end.

So, dear friends, I am now turning to you for help. If you owned this little yellow and purple baby (or the blue one), knew anyone who owned it, or know anything about it, please talk to me. If you have the box still or the pamphlet that may have come with it, please reach out. If you have access to toyshop catalogues from 2003-2004, or just any catalogue from that time from a store that may sell toys, please get in touch.

I’m really hoping this post gets around because I’m immensely intrigued by this toy and why it has seemingly been lost to the void, so I’m desperate for answers.

An extra tiny lead on the name is that the line of toy might be ‘Gaga’ or something of the sort, which Gosh recalls it may have been called, and makes sense with the ‘G’ that is on both toys.

TL;DR:

(ID: Wanted poster with a photo of the Baby. Below the photo, the text reads: ‘Looking for any information about this toy. Do you have one? Do you remember its name? Do you still have the packaging/any information that came with it? Please share!’)

[nerv0usm3chanic]

CORRUPTION

Chapters: 1 || 2 || 3 || 4

--

((NOTE - This is an introduction to a new PERMANENT AU feature exclusive to nerv0usm3chanic. Please see further, generalized information regarding this AU here: X

Be advised that each of these chapters are VERY LONG. The full content will be tucked under a read more after a brief introduction segment.

DO NOT REBLOG.))

--

Vivi frowned as she spotted Arthur perusing the shelves of Tome Tomb. He wasn’t often in here except when meeting up with Vivi for hanging out later...which, now that she thought about it, hadn’t happened in quite some time. The blue-haired woman made a mental note to invite Arthur and Lewis over for one of their terrible movie nights before heading over to talk to the blond.

“Hey Artie!” The blond jumped at her sudden greeting, his hand over his now racing heart as it registered who it was that spoke to him. “Oh jeeze! I’m sorry for spooking you, Arthur.” She couldn’t help but let a small giggle.

“N-no worries, I’m fine.” Arthur assured her, taking a deep breath, “I um...I was just looking up some things here.” He gestured to the shelf, a series of books on it and many of which hopefully containing his desired topic. Vivi peered over, tilting her head and quirking an eyebrow.

“These are all about ghosts and magic...ooh! Did you hear a rumor about something spooky?” She was getting excited now, “Are you researching for a case, Artie?” Her eyes sparked with her excitement. With a nervous swallow, Arthur nodded slightly, scratching at the back of his head.

“Uh, y-yeah, you caught me.” He coughed, “I heard some rumors of ghosts causing some magical energy fluxes and-”

“Ooh! So exciting! I’ll have to get with you on this later after work!” Vivi clasped her hands around his and practically bounced in place. Just as suddenly, she bounded away to continue her workday and Arthur sighed. Thankfully, he got away without further questions, but he hated the idea of having to explain exactly why he was researching this topic. He’d have to take a rain check if she were to invite him anywhere.

--

“Is this everything?” The shopkeeper asked in a calm, neutral drawl. Arthur nodded silently, drumming his fingers - both the metallic and flesh and bone - on the counter as Duet collected the first of the three books. A blightly-colored eyebrow quirks and the mysterious person looked at Arthur meaningfully. “Are you sure?”

“U-uhm...I think so?” Arthur quailed, glancing sideways as he saw Vivi pass by with a cart of books to be out away. With worrying amber eyes, Arthur begged Duet to stay quiet about his purchases. They too glanced at Vivi before setting the book down with a soft sigh and giving Arthur a serious look.

“Something is off about you, Kingsmen. And I don’t like it.” They commented in a hushed tone, sure to keep their conversation between Arthur and them alone. Their implication was deeply ominous and Arthur shrank at the connotations. Duet relaxed slightly, easing their dark tone and casually checking out the books Arthur had selected as if nothing had been said. After a moment, Duet looked to the blond again.

“You are...researching...yes?” They offered a much more sensitive tone, prompting Arthur to nod and sigh in some relief. “Perhaps there is someone...I can recommend to you.” And with another subtle gesture, Arthur saw a flash of gold from Duet’s sleeve. He blinked as the shopkeeper slipped the thing in between random pages in one of the larger books.

“Was that a...a card?” Arthur asked as Duet finished ringing up the books. They didn’t answer, just placed the books into a plastic bag and looked to Arthur again.

“That will be $43.23.” Duet’s flat expression indicated they had no interest in continuing. Them making a directed glance over Arthur’s shoulder was enough to say why: Vivi was nearby. Arthur nodded, pulling out his wallet and retrieving the necessary funds.

“Thank you.” Arthur nodded, passing a $50 bill and taking his bag of books. He had no need for the small amount of change, especially if Duet’s lead pointed him in the right direction.

--

“This is it?” Arthur asked himself later that evening, looking at the gilded card and with the large book in his lap. There wasn’t anything even written on the card, just a golden embossed moon and beneath it, the words ‘qui petit auxilium’. Arthur didn’t know what it meant and he frowned angrily as he flung the card off to the side. He pouted further when the card spun gracefully and made a smooth landing on his nightstand. “How am I supposed to get help with this stupid spirit if I can’t get a straight answer?”

‘I can hear you, boy.’ The spirit snarled in his head.

“I know you can.” Arthur growled back, turning to the book for help and turning pages to look at the index. The blond proceeded to read from a selected section, investigating all he could from what little there actually was on ghosts and their affects on people.

Pages upon pages on skeptical theory, a chapter on the effects of those under possession - or assumed so - and a handful of paragraphs on magical side effects. None of which described lightning or electricity. There was a small section on hearing the voice of the spirit that plagued, though it was played down shortly after with most victims actually being mentally-ill. Arthur grew frustrated. Hearing that voice constantly tease and taunt him, a spirit that made electricity fly from his hands at the most inconvenient times, and the constant strain and worry...

With an exhausted sigh, Arthur shut the book, using the attached ribbon as a bookmark. He set the book on his nightstand and flopped onto his mattress...before looking to the card once again. Metal fingers reached out, taking the slip of thick paper and turning it carefully. The moon glinted bright in the lamplight as it turned and again the words showed bright.

“Qui petit auxilium...I wonder what that means?” Arthur whispered, weariness beginning to weigh on his eyelids. ‘I just...I just wish I could find something...someone to help me.’ With that thought, the blond curled onto his side, ignoring the devious hums of the other voice in his skull.

--

Despite his doubts, Arthur continued his research, both through the books he purchased and online. He even created a new throwaway Reddit account to search for advice and ideas on how to deal with things. Most if it was hooey and there were a lot of folks going to him to sell their ‘holistic’ home remedies for his ‘condition’. With a sigh, Arthur closed his laptop and rubbed at his tired eyes, bags growing darker each day.

He was the definition of exhausted. By this point it had been more than a year since his possession and he still hadn’t gotten used to the meddling voice in his head or the electrical surges that liked to flow around his metal arm. Arthur scowled at the appendage.

“You were supposed to help me feel normal again.” The mechanic growled at the inanimate arm as it laid peacefully beside his computer.

‘Normal was never an option after you and your friends stepped into my trap.’ The blond ground his teeth a moment before aggressively pushing back from his desk. He needed a walk. Arthur said as much when Lucan asked where he was going.

“Awrigh’ lad...bu’ Ah got dinner cookin’ righ’ now. If ye want it warm an’ fresh, be back in a half hour, okay?” Lucan asked. Arthur gave a tired grunt of ascent and loudly closed the apartment door behind him. The dark-haired Kingsmen looked to his father in concern. Arthur was rarely this moody, even in his teenage rebellious phase and it worried his family.

--

There was a flash of gold in the bright moonlight as Arhur played with the strange card over and around his fingers. The nights were chill and even walks at 6:30 pm were lit by streetlamps and moonbeams. Arthur liked going for walks at night. Fewer people to run into, to talk to about how poorly and pale he was getting, to look at his arm and feel sorry for him. Amber eyes narrowed at the thought.

He’d seen the pitying looks all three of his friends gave him...and he understood why, but it hurt to see them think anything poorly of him because of his still-new disability. He wanted to be normal again. He wanted to have never gone into that cave. He wanted Vivi and Lewis to have listened to him and his bad feelings. He wanted to...to...he sighed in defeat, looking to the card Duet had given him as he walked past a series of old houses in the nicer neighborhood on the outskirts of Tempo.

Research led to only dead ends...to all but one question he had.

“Qui petit auxilium...help to those who ask for it.” A nice sentiment...but ultimately useless if he didn’t know who to ask for help. His only clue was the golden moon that seemed to glow full under the light of the pale white moon above his head. Funny...they both seemed to match at this phase. Arthur hummed idly as he thought about it and looked up.

“A shooting star...” He murmured, coming to a stop in front of another old pseudo-Victorian-style house, the walls covered in ivy and all of the windows dark with some boarded up and others curtained off. He watched the meteorite sail in a surprisingly long trail across the sky. Before it vanished, he closed his eyes and sighed out softly:

“I wish I could find answers...I need help. Who do I go to?” He opened his eyes to see the meteorite had gone. “...please?” For once...the spirit in his head was silent. Arthur felt its presence, but heard nothing. That in itself was remarkable. On another outlet of breath and a soft nod, Arthur turned his head from the sky and turned to make his way back home...when he heard a loud creaking from his right.

Startled, Arthur whipped his head towards the previously-abandoned house. The door was opened and a bright light poured forth, golden and warm and beckoning. The blond didn’t even notice the soft pulse of magic from the card in his hand as he cautiously made his way through the front gate and approached the front porch. He didn’t even notice that the windows remained dark and empty of all life.

The entity in his mind was suspiciously quiet as he set foot on the creaky wood and carefully approached the door.

“Hello? Hello, is anyone home?” Arthur called out, hopeful to gain the homeowner’s attention as he poked his head inside. “I think your door lock may be...broken...” Words trailed off as Arthur took in the sight before him: a comfortable entryway complete with classically ornate wallpaper and decorations given gold trim to compliment their warm tones. He stepped further inside, fascinated to explore more.

Arthur came across a sitting room with the back of a large wooden chair facing him, a fire dancing merrily in its hearth. He sucked in a cautious breath when he noticed a dark-skinned elbow resting on one of the arms and a draping golden cloth pooling at the front of the chair.

“A-ah um...ex-excuse me for intruding...” Arthur started, pausing to swallow nervously. “I-I um...I actually was walking by and your d-door seemed to creak open on it’s own. I’m...I’m not sure, but I think your lock may be broken. I just wanted to let you know, just so you’re not surprised...by intruders...like me.” Oh, he could have done this so much better. Waiting at the front door and knocking would have been a much nicer way to alert the homeowner of this issue.

“I appreciate your concern, but you needn’t worry. I will be just fine.” There was a flutter of nerves in Arthur at the low, feminine tone. Internally, he was both intrigued and frightened by the energy he could feel exuding from around the woman in the chair. Then suddenly he was more frightened when - in the corner of his periphery - he saw the door lazily creak shut and click securely in place.

“Come around so I may see you.” A soft request that rang as a command through Arthur’s rattled skull as she raised one hand to beckon him forward. He nodded despite the fact that she couldn’t see it and carefully made his way around the armchair before finally seeing the commanding woman who owned this obviously magical home.

She was quite the opposite of who he expected to be living in a decrepit-looking house. Shimmering golden locks were tied back neatly, held back by a pearly comb while the rest spilled gracefully around and over her mostly bare shoulders. Arthur blinked at the shimmery golden dress she wore, something he estimated to be worth five or more months of his earnings at Kingsmen Mechanics and she wore it like a second skin with how confident and relaxed she was in her seat. His eyes briefly assessed her arms - obviously strong with muscle, but still lithe and feminine with their bearer’s grace - before he met her gaze.

Arthur swallowed at the bright glow that emanated from her eyes. A firm gaze that studied him with obvious wary scrutiny and a touch of irritation that carried to the slight downturn of the corner of her dark and light contrasting lips...Arthur averted his eyes to her shoulder as the homeowner assessed the mechanic.

“You asked for help...for a problem you cannot resolve by typical means.” A statement, not a question, but Arthur nodded anyway. There was a beat and then the woman let out a soft breath, so soft that Arthur was sure a mouse couldn’t have been quieter. “You wouldn’t be inside this building if you weren’t in genuine need. Take a seat and tell me what plagues you.” Arthur looked to the matching armchair beside hers as she gestured her other hand towards it.

“Th-thank you...” Arthur says gently, nodding to the woman and taking his seat. Once comfortable, Arthur begins to spin his tale.

That was the night he met Luna, the Witch of Secrets...

--

Chapters: 1 || 2 || 3 || 4

[crestfallercanyon]

Copyright, Fanfiction, and Fanart

(For the original discussion I posted in Reddit, click here. Also, there's a lot of debate in the comments about different perspectives on this that's really interesting! I recommend giving it a read if you're interested in other perspectives).

This post is about copyright. A little bit about what it is, what it means to the fanfiction writer, and also, why sometimes fanart gets special treatment in being able to monetize their art as compared to fanfiction.

There's been a lot going around lately about fanfic writers wanting to profit off of their fanfics, and this is a bit of a "fyi" on why you really really shouldn't try.

Just to get the ball rolling: you should not make money off of fanfiction. At least not off of anything you've written that is not currently public domain. It is illegal.

[This is not a statement of whether it will eventually be right or wrong to make money off of fanfiction, or whether in theory it should or shouldn't be allowed. It is, however, stating that as of right now, do not try to make money out of fanfiction, both for your safety, and the safety of the fanfiction community as a whole].

There are reasons for this, and I think it's worth explaining for those who don't know (or at least providing one articulated reason). For those who do, well, maybe you have differing opinions. Some of this isn't based on opinion, though, just for reference. Some of this is the fact of how things work (particularly in United States law).

Fanfiction, in its plainest description, is writing in someone else's idea. Someone else's idea that is copyrighted the moment it is written in a fixed (tangible) medium. That means the moment something is written on a napkin, it can be put under copyright. The moment it is recorded in a voice memo, it's under copyright. It just has to be out of your head in some way.

Now, of course, napkins and little voice memos may be disputed. For the most part though, if the medium has fanfiction about it, the medium is large enough that the source of the idea can be pinpointed without dispute.

Copyright protects the originator of the idea's idea from being stolen by other people. It ensures that the owner of the idea is the one who reaps the benefits of their creation. It is akin to a patent for ideas. That is why there is also a point where copyright disappears and the idea becomes public domain. That's another deal for another time.

[for clarity: parodies, critiques, and educational purposes are not treated as a breach of copyright for a variety of reasons. That is why the New York Times can make money on book reviews, for example, or why you can see things like Vampires Suck or SNL mocking Twilight].

Also for clarity, unlike trademark, there is no "use it or lose it" requirement. There is, however, a "protect it or lose it" requirement. Some creators are more dedicated in this protecting of copyright than others.

Fanfiction used to be far more contested than it was now. Decades ago, archiveofourown wasn't possible. The fact of the matter is, fanfiction is a privilege that was hard won. Which means that every time there is someone who attempts to make money off of fanfiction, that privilege is put at risk of being taken away. Don't believe me? There are authors who have made a hard stipulation against fanfiction, and -- you may correct me if I'm mistaken -- Fanfiction.net doesn't allow you to post those fanfiction using those author's books.

Which also, this isn't me bashing on those authors. They have every right to protect their idea.

The concerns authors have with fanfiction is, for the most part, twofold.

One: they will have profits lost due to other people in the world of their original works, even though it was their idea in the first place. There isn't just market competition in their genre that they have to fight against, it's competition in their own idea.

To explain, it's similar to the fact that you can have a new pizza restaurant to add to the market, but you can't call it Dominoes and steal their recipe and claim it as your own because it has little additions and flourishes. At that point, you are not only benefitting from the fact that Dominoes is an established name people may confuse your pizza with, but you are stealing profits that would be going to Dominoes pizza. Copyright protects not only the owner of the idea, but also the consumers who are trying to find the originator of the idea.

Two: if enough people begin to make money off of their own idea, their claim over their own idea starts to diminish. This not only lowers the amount of profit they can make on this idea, but also diminishes their control over their own idea.

The concept that I think of that's comparable to this is adverse possession of property (squatter's rights, for example). If enough people sit on another's property for extended periods of time and do nothing about it, eventually that property isn't theirs anymore. They lost control over it, they can't make money off of it, the value of their own property goes down because that space is gone.

So that's copyright. That's why fanfic writers cannot make money off of fanfiction. It's literally stealing, and is unfair to the original creator.

Now, many people ask, why don't fan artists get the same flak? Why can they make money off of making art based on an idea that wasn't their own?

And the answer may not be satisfying, but it's the truth: fan art is never going to be as policed as fanfiction because it works much more like free promotion for people's original ideas.

(There's an argument that fanfiction is also free promotion, but it's not nearly as effective as fan art -- same logic that goes into why advertisements for products are more visual than wordy.)

Think about it. Original creators love fan art. Video game creators post it on their websites, streamers make it stickers for their twitch services, authors pin it to boards and put it on tumblr and twitter and instagram.

Art takes seconds to process. A picture being worth a thousand words is debatable, but the processing time of a picture over a thousand words makes a picture that much more effective if you want quick access. People see it and go "ooh, what is that?" and then try to find what the artist is referencing. Then they stumble upon original creator's idea and are like "oh, now I'm interested!". They go to the original creator's idea and consume the original creator's works.

Yes, fanfic readers do read fandom blind sometimes, and sometimes fanfiction can spur people to go to the original creator's work, but it's less likely. At least for me, personally, I read a fanfic of someone and I'm inclined to go to that fanfic author's page -- not the original creator's things (now, the original creator's idea is why I'm in that fandom often in the first place, but, you get my drift).

(side note, someone made a very good comment on the reddit post -- they love fan art until they don't. Look to all the artists who initially made baby yoda merch on etsy only to have Disney go after them -- again because the individual artists at that point are taking profits away from the company).

Furthermore, unlike fanfiction, fan art doesn't (usually) give the impression that there's an attempted improvement upon the original creator's idea. (Not to say that every piece of fanfiction is stating that there's a flaw with the original work, but) a lot of fanfiction does stem from corrections, wish fulfillment, etc. Fanfiction is often the act of taking what people wish they could see in an original creation's idea and bringing it to life.

Fan art doesn't necessarily do that. They may just be painting a scene that occurred in the original work. They may just be drawing up their idea of what a character looks like. They're creating alternative visuals to the original work, but they're (generally) not adding plot bunnies or changing the story into something that people may end up enjoying more.

Now, there are artists who make aus and things like that, but again, it's the fact that people look at a picture and then move on. People don't stare at a picture as long as it takes for them to read a fanfic. The time taken away from the original creator's idea is not nearly as long from art alone. And time is money.

In short, fan art is free advertising that often doesn't divert consumer interest away from the original idea. Fanfiction doesn't operate as free advertising and often does divert consumer interest away from the original idea. That's why fan art is not going to get the stink eye from original creators, where fanficiton often does.

And again, original creators have the right to protect their idea as they see fit within the bounds of copyright.

Remember, the original creators of the works that we all love to write fanfiction about put a lot of heart and soul into making their ideas. Many creators who have fanfiction followings are not the big conglomerates with oodles of money to spare. They are just diehard lovers of creating, just like everyone here. Which is why the protection of their ideas is important and absolutely valid. I love writing fanfiction, but fanfiction needs to be honoring the original material, not screwing it over.

Thus, the main lesson from this? Fanfiction and fan art are not the same, and do not operate similarly. Thus, though fan art can make money off of their creations without getting policed, fanfiction writers I implore you: Do not attempt to make money off of fanfiction. You put the entire community of fanfiction writers at risk of having their past time taken away from them every time you do.

(I am saying this including kofi and patreon. Do not try to make money on fanfic through kofi and patreon. There may be a legal loophole there, but you don't want to find out by getting a cease and desist letter that your legal loophole via patreon and kofi didn't work --- furthermore, you put kofi, patreon, and potentially archiveofourown/ff.net at risk, then, too).

For now, fanfiction is a labor of love that can only receive a profit of love. Please do not try to get paid for your fanfiction. Protect the fanfiction community.

Thanks for reading!