#{ Totally Not Mainstream... (Headcanons) }

[anneapocalypse]

"why do you write/headcanon/see this character as bi" because I'm bi and I like them, next question.

"but there's a STEREOTYPE--" listen, the nature of bisexual stereotypes (and probably others, this is just my particular area of knowledge lol) is such that if you try to avoid every single one, you fall into only being allowed a very narrow specific type of bisexual character. And sorry, I'm not about that. I'd rather have a wider variety of bi characters, and that's going to mean that some of them are deviants, criminals, "too sexual," have too many canonical partners or not enough, or end up with a partner of the "wrong" gender at the end.

"well you're bisexual so I guess it's okay if you do it--" oof. listen. I understand the sentiment behind this, I really do. I know how frustrating certain things can be when they become trends. I absolutely get it. at the same time, I think it is important not simply to identify a problem, but to consider what it is we're asking people to do. what course of action are we suggesting. are we suggesting that queer people in fandom MUST out themselves before being allowed to publicly connect with or write about a character? I disagree with that fundamentally. I don't care how accustomed we've become to people including a detailed list of identities in their blog descriptions and social media profiles; that's a choice, not an obligation. no queer person owes you their identity. full stop. I certainly don't owe you mine, even if I've offered it in good faith.

I also think you're allowed to not like someone's headcanons, regardless of their identity. you can totally think their headcanons suck and not want to see them, and in that case I think the best thing to do in fandom (which is a mirror of the wider culture, and does not itself have the widespread cultural influence of mainstream mass media) is to unfollow them and block them. and then create art and stories about characters in the way that you want to see them, and be publicly excited about your ideas and what you've created.

I know that's an imperfect solution. most solutions are. I just don't see any variant of "You can only headcanon X if you're queer" that doesn't just lead to more queer creators getting harassed.

#fandom problems #please do note that I am talking about queer identities specifically #not all identities are analagous and i'm talking about a specific thing

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 3

Propaganda Under Cut

Joan Watson

How were BBC Sherlock shippers so rancid about a WOMAN who wasnt even in the SAME SHOW?????

Martin Freeman of BBC Sherlock insulted Elementary and specifically Lucy Liu in the press. He straight up called Lucy Liu a "dog" in an interview APPARENTLY as a joke, because calling female actors ugly is hilarious. Benedict Cumberbatch was more measured about it, but he still said he was cynical about Elementary because it would lose the "male friendship" dynamic, which of course Johnlock shippers used against Joan Watson fans. Even the lead BBC Sherlock actors got in on the yaoi victimization of Joan Watson... 😔

she wasn't even in the same SHOW as the yaoi I've been convinced she deserves to win the entire poll. I was a Johnlocker but I did watch the first season of Elementary and it was fine????? It was totally okay????? Especially in hindsight given how hard Sherlock season four flopped. Also Lucy Liu is a queen and deserved zero vitriol for *checks notes* playing a character???? A fucking fictional character???????? Oh my god we were all SO mean to this show and we (or at least I) thought it was like The Good Fight™️, like we were defending BBC Sherlock against copyright infringement and straightwashing and Jonny Lee Miller's bizarre scarf, (it wasn't a good scarf I do stand by that) but then Elementary didn't make Holmes and Watson a couple either???? And also it didn't insult its audience constantly etc etc we've all seen the Hbomberguy Sherlock is Garbage video. This is really long sorry hashtag justice for Joan Watson

Nyota Uhura

She's Spock's canon partner in AOS, and I get it because they're not a great couple, but she gets villianized in fic so much. They constantly make her an asshole (which totally has nothing to do with her being black /sarcasm) and abusive just for the crime of dating a man headcanoned as gay. And I mean, I think Spock is gay and her being a love interest was unnecessary but still! She's cool!

Oh my god so in the Star Trek reboot she’s Spock’s girlfriend and the fandom has no idea what to do with her??? Like she is ALWAYS either such a bitch or like the mom friend? And there is so much more to her character than that? But they always break down her character AND find a quick and easy way to break up her and Spock. I’m not even mad at that but at least treat their relationship with some weight instead of just being like ‘it never mattered’. People can love multiple people throughout the course of their lives. You know that right? Just because you loved someone before doesn’t make your new love any less special. And even headcanoning Spock as gay… you realize he doesn’t need to be attracted to Uhura for their relationship to have mattered, right? Even if he confused friendship for romantic attraction, him feeling such strong friendship and openly expressing it is so monumental for him!!! 

she's dating Spock, who people ship with Kirk, so fans have decided that it's horrible writing and "really, they're just defending her, the movies turned her into just a love interests," which is not at all true. The movies do so much more for her to the point that the fans who have only seen the movies think that the main characters are Kirk, Spock, and Uhura instead of the Kirk, Spock, McCoy of the original series. Also having a black women being shown as being desired and loved in mainstream media, particularly by one of the most popular characters of all time, is a good thing, not making her "just a love interest"

#round 3 #poll #joan watson #cbs elementary #elementary #nyota uhura #star trek #star trek aos

[jaskiersbard]

Fuck JK Rowling but it makes me so angry to think we could have had a complete Fantastic Beasts series with an autistic lead who isn’t a total stereotype, who is loveable, who has a love interest instead of just being infantilised…and instead we’re getting a seven season Harry Potter reboot/remake that no one asked for or wanted on HBO Max.

When I was going through the process of my autism diagnosis, feeling anxious and worried about what being diagnosed would mean, knowing that Newt Scamander - a character who is adored by so many in a major franchise - was being played as autistic helped me tremendously. I saw much of myself in Newt, and it made me feel seen that an autistic person like myself could be the hero, that Newt wasn’t a joke or stereotype. It was so important to me coming to terms with my diagnosis that a character I loved was like me and not limited by being autistic.

I’ve mentioned this before but on the opening day of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in the UK, there was a boy on the row in front of me. When Newt came onscreen, he started bouncing and flapping his hands excitedly - like me, he was autistic and saw himself represented on the big screen.

“But Luna Lovegood” - you know what, controversial but fuck your “but Luna Lovegood”. Her actress sided with the TERF, and Luna is NOT confirmed to be autistic, it’s just a popular fan headcanon. Meanwhile Newt Scamander has been confirmed by Eddie Redmayne (not JKR, fuck her) to be on the spectrum. I’m not saying she definitely isn’t because I can definitely see it, and it’s wonderful autistic people can relate, but I’m talking about a character who is intentionally written and portrayed as autistic instead of just fan headcanons.

What does having a love interest have to do with this? Believe it or not, this isn’t me just being a shipper: too often are autistic people infantilised, as if we can’t love other people or that people are incapable of loving us. But - as anyone following me most likely knows - Newt Scamander has a love interest, Porpentina “Tina” Goldstein, who he’s canonically married to in the future. They even have a grandson who is called Rolf and marries the aforementioned Luna.

In the three films, we only got a few scenes (and then JK Rowling cut Tina out because Katherine Waterston called her out on multiple occasions for being a transphobe) of Newtina but what we got showed that not only is Newt capable of forming a romantic attachment but also Tina clearly loves Newt as he is, quirks and all. She understood his odd compliment of “salamander eyes” because she knows his special interest is magical creatures and it’s his way of saying he adores her eyes. She read his book and genuinely made an effort to learn because she knew magical creatures were important to him, and we saw her grow from thinking he was writing an “extermination guide” to giving him the name for his book, “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them”. My girl Tina LOVES Newt for who he is and always has, and that’s beautiful.

Seeing an autistic person not only fall in love - he spends the whole of the 2nd and 3rd films lamenting on how beautiful she is, talking about her and with her picture in his pocket/suitcase - but also being loved for who they are is something so rarely seen and is so important.

I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say that the second and third Fantastic Beasts movies weren’t the greatest, by the way. I will agree to that. The first one seems like a damn masterpiece in comparison, even with its problems, but I’m still angry.

The fact that JK Rowling’s bigotry has contributed to losing this rare example of autistic representation in a major mainstream franchise is something no one talks about when discussing her actions, and it hurts that no one seems to care about canon autistic representation.

#this was prompted by me rewatching the first two films whilst sick last week #I tweeted this out last week but felt it relevant to post here #fantastic beasts and where to find them #newt scamander #eddie redmayne #autism #actually autistic #tina goldstein #porpentina goldstein #katherine waterston #newtina #fantastic beasts: the crimes of grindelwald #fantastic beasts: the secrets of dumbledore #newt x tina #anti jk rowling #anti jkr #radfems dni #terfs dni

[ursulanoodles]

Shane Headcanons pt. 1 (spoilers)

He’s a cuddler

Secretly enjoys being the little spoon

Secretly listens to sad country/folk music, but acts like he wouldn’t be caught dead doing so

Maybe the same thing with mainstream pop music, like Taylor Swift. I could definitely see him being a secret T Swift fan

Loves naps

Gives bear hugs

Super affectionate once he’s comfortable in a relationship

Will probably kiss your face off/squish you from cute aggression 

Resisted the idea at first, but unashamedly lets Jas paint his nails on the reg

Jas is the reason he dyes his hair purple because it’s her favorite color

Smokes a lot of weed for his anxiety, but doesn’t make it his personality

definitely buys it from Sam at work or Seb on Friday nights outside of the Stardrop

Is kind of friends with Sam and thinks he’s hilarious. They get up to all sorts of shenanigans at work when Shane isn’t in a bad mood or hungover.

They totally ride pallet jacks around the back room together

Was totally a punk/emo kid (clothing therapy anyone?)

Started drinking too much after Jas’ parents’ deaths, though he was probably a frequent drinker before that but it sent him over the edge

Their deaths hit him hard and he couldn’t take care of himself, let alone a kid– hence the reason he moved in with Marnie

Looks frumpy in his depression clothes, but smells like clean laundry and whatever body wash and deodorant he uses (I like to imagine like fir/pine/citrus scents)

A lot of people like to say he doesn’t shower, but I think it’s the opposite. I think he takes a lot of hot showers and is meticulous about smelling good because he’s socially anxious. Too depressed to buy new clothes, but not depressed enough to smell like shit.

Not a vegetarian, but sometimes avoids meat and tries not to eat chicken, especially if it’s a chicken he’s raised.

Has undiagnosed ADHD and/or autism. Definitely neurodivergent in one way or another. 

Soccer, chickens (birds in general if you’ve seen his summit scene), and Journey of the Prairie King are his special interests/hyperfixations. 

Hums to himself and whistles a lot when he’s working or walking to/from work if he’s not in a bad mood

Definitely talks/mutters to himself, especially if he’s angry or anxious

Loves soccer/played soccer in school (not American football)

His Tunnelers shirt looks more like a soccer jersey and I think there’s a glaringly obvious discrepancy between the gridball/Tunnelers that Alex refers to and the Tunnelers that Shane refers to

He has a soccer ball in his room ffs

Also, in his 10 heart even he yells “Goal!” not “Touchdown!”

#shane sdv #shane stardew valley #stardew shane #shane stardew #sdv shane #sdv headcanons #shane headcanons #stardew valley headcanons #okay that's all for now #I used a lot of these in my fic :3 #i just love this sad little chicken man #tumblr ruined the format #sorry

[specterthief]

relatedly to the post about female characters but far enough from the point that i don't want to derail it: queer headcanons and ships and fanfiction are great, but they aren't a total substitute for engaging with and supporting actual queer media, especially by queer creators, especially including historical + nonfiction + autobiographical work, especially stories that might make you a bit uncomfortable and make you confront real world bigotry or lived queer experiences that don't match your own

there's absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to see yourself in your faves, but trying to eke out tiny scraps of representation from super commercial mainstream media and only projecting on those characters while refusing to support the queer stories that smaller creatives are fighting (against worse and worse pushback) to get out there in the world, and frankly often treating the creators of queer art TERRIBLY for the tiniest possible "transgressions" in their work, is not actually meaningfully helping queer representation in media

the stories are out there, especially if you look into webcomics/self-published novels/indie games/etc. those creators need people's support and you really will benefit from opening your mind to a broader range of queer stories and experiences than AUs about marvel characters or whatever

#fandom bullshit

[concorp]

was reminded of something from early hermitblr that i think most people are completely unaware of nowadays. evil x/npc grian.

despite being a total crackship, npc grian never being canon to hermitcraft, it was arguably the most popular ship on mainstream hermitblr in its early days, as shipping the hermits themselves was still seen as taboo.

evil x/wormman also did exist, but wasn’t nearly as popular as there was a lot of differing headcanons and opinions on how separate a person wormman was from zed.

in general, npc grian really has disappeared from the the fandom zeitgeist nowadays. the last big popular thing i remember featuring him is the snapshot au, and that was in season 7.

anyways this is to say i think we should bring evil xisuma/npc grian back it was such an absolutely absurd ship.

#hermitcraft #talking #hermitblr history

[amerricanartwork]

Y’know, I have a funny story with the ship between Innocence and Pebbles.

@eggobuggo , my sister, was playing The Sims and made the iterators in her own humanised forms, including her version of Innocence and Wind, along with Moon, Pebbles, NSH and Suns, all with their own personalities and stuff. She set up a generic apartment, put the gang in, and just had fun making them do silly shenanigans together, while I sit and watched her play.

In particular, we headcanon NSH, Pebbles and Innocence as Gen 3s, the newer modes, and so she made them into teenagers, which, with a DLC, have a whole new host of features that are not in the base game. This includes getting crushes (which weirdly enough, young adults and adults cannot get).

But anyway, one day, later into the game (the gang basically all were in the high end of the friendship scale with each other), the notif board popped up that Innocence had gotten a crush on Pebbles. Unfortunately for her, NSH and Pebs were already being all flirty with each other (Ragequit is where it’s at for us), making Pebble basically keep her in the friendzone. Ngl, my heart went out to her :,) Especially so, because they were all sharing a room. (space was tight)

After that, I began thinking about it in context of it in-universe, and ngl, I came to quite liking it as a ship, especially since I see Innocence to be less… asshole-ish (?), I guess, than what the general fandom makes her out to be (I mean it’s understandable, we only see her to leak the pic of Pebbles condition and that’s it.). To me and Eggo, she’s much nicer unless you really piss her off, which then, her more cynical and gossipy side of her comes out. She was actually more of on the friends side with Pebble before the shit went down.

At the time, I thought “dang, it’s a shame I won’t be seeing anything of it since she’s so obscure.”. This was a couple months before I began seeing art of them on the main tag.

Soooo… I guess I’m somewhat of an og Milkshake (as is the fandom name) shipper???

Just, seeing you and others make art about them is almost surreal in a way, since the only reason I really considered them as a ship was cuz of a random event in a life sim game lol.

Also @eggobuggo, I hope you don’t mind me sharing the story. :)

Wow, that seems like quite the story! And I do agree, after witnessing something like that in a totally different game it must be pretty surreal to see the ship gaining popularity in the actual RW fandom now too! It's nice to get another seal of approval from an original Milkshake shipper!

For me, it's also a bit strange because it's something I've considered for a really long time as a lingering "oh, wouldn't it be cool if I could make this work?" idea. The obscurity and lack of content for UI to draw inspiration from, both canon and fanon, definitely added to these feelings and the difficulty of imagining a working portrayal of the ship, hence I've only recently felt confident enough about the relationship and UI as a character to act on it. So after Pura coined the ship name and made a lot more art of it, then other artists started expressing approval and even drawing it themselves, it almost feels like I'm watching the ship enter the mainstream (Tumblr) fandom consciousness in real time, which is honestly pretty cool, especially since it feels like I had a hand in it with that initial ask! And even if I wasn't the very first to consider it, I'll definitely continue supporting this ship!

For some other thoughts though, I totally agree on Innocence not being mean in reality, though for me she's not mean or gossipy at all and more so has a kind-of opposite major flaw that tends to cause bad things unintentionally. As much as I can understand interpreting the character as a genuinely mean person, I thought it'd be interesting to imagine that her leaking the rot simply caused others to perceive her as mean, not that she's that way in reality. After all, I don't think we ever see direct dialogue from Innocence in canon, and the only evidence I can find of her being mean is Wind's speculation on her motivations. I also took inspiration from @shkika's Innocence, but I just wanted to see if I could take those ideas further to create my own unique interpretation.

Also, it's actually pretty coincidental you're telling me this too, because in regards to what I've come up for my Milkshake portrayal, Innocence having an unrequited crush on Pebbles for a really long time is actually really important for both plot and character arc reasons! I've been developing my own take on the classic worm-off-the-string iterator AU idea with @hail-strom for like the past week or so and the ship as of now plays a decent role in that, but the unrequited crush acts as subtle, yet major context for Innocence's actions throughout, which in turn slowly influence Pebbles especially as he starts to reciprocate those feelings (much to his alarm)!

Anyway, thanks for sharing that with me, and thanks for giving me a chance to ramble about this ship more! I'm honestly so happy to see it growing, and all support counts!

#inbox #rain world #rw shipping #rw milkshake #rw trinkets #unparalleled innocence #rw ui

[twistedtummies2]

You…don’t know what it’s like to drown away,

In a puddle of shame.

And You…yes, You…

Made me INSANE!

But not anymore!

I’m in control!

I have the stage,

You can’t turn the page!

Now, do as you’re told!

(Encore! Hit the Beat, Boys!)

Focus on me!

I’ll be all that they see!

I’ll make ‘em sway!

No, can’t run away!

Now, All Eyes on Me!

All Eyes On, ALL EYES ON ME!

“All Eyes on Me,” Caleb Hyles (Cover)

----------------------------------------------------------

Unlike the other characters in this series, Eli’s inspiration doesn’t really have any songs to speak of. If you know what the lyrics/song above reference, then you’ll probably know a big part of why I chose it to represent Elias Inque and the Phantom Blot for my “OCs & Inspirations” series. This image of the bunch was made by @foalette.

Although he’s the third major OC I introduced, I actually had ideas of creating the character who would become Elias very early on, when I realized the whole concept of “Overblot” in Twisted Wonderland was a reference to one of my favorite unsung villains in Disney: the Phantom Blot. The Blot is a character who is typically only known to the most ardent Disney aficionados. This is mostly because his “mainstream” appearances are rather small: the character got started in Disney comics, and that’s where most of his best appearances are known. Over the years - much like another famous Mickey Mouse enemy, Pete - the Blot has been reimagined and reworked for various interpretations; he’s been a Vampire, a Dark Wizard, a Magic Thief, the list goes on.

When I decided to create an actual Phantom Blot character, I decided to use that sense of history to my advantage, by suggesting there had been MANY Phantom Blots over the centuries in the universe of Twisted Wonderland. (Ever since the revelation of actual “Blot Phantoms” in-canon universe, I now headcanon they must have gotten their name in homage to this legendary figure.) Elias is the official new Phantom Blot, who has taken on the mantle himself. I decided to mix elements of both the Classic version of the character - a shadowy and yet totally over-the-top masked supervillain, pictured here - with arguably the most famous incarnation of the character, the one found in the game “Epic Mickey,” where he’s depicted as a near-demonic ink monster who wishes to consume and destroy everything in his path. Elias’ theatricality, pride, and his identity as a dog demi (the Classic Blot is an anthropomorphic canine beneath his mask) all came from the former, while his inky powers and gluttonous/predatory appetite were in homage to the latter.

I haven’t had a chance to use Elias a whole lot, but I do really love my melodramatic dog boy. Along with elements from different takes of the Blot that have appeared over the years, I also injected a lot of myself, and of some people I know personally, into the character: Elias is sort of the ultimate “theatre kid,” in a lot of ways, and so it’s fun to play him because I can understand what makes him tick a little better than some of my other guys just right off the bat. 

Foalette did an AWESOME job. This is honestly even better than I expected it would be. I love the little hidden Easter Eggs in the background, and how the Blot is drawn almost like Elias’ shadow, and is made to look more threatening. Ironically, Eli himself was the thing that changed the least throughout the process…and for good reason. You can hardly improve on perfection. ;)

#disney #twisted wonderland #oc art #not my art #i'm not an artist #kink-related #but only peripherally #vore mentioned #oc #eli #elias #elias inque #phantom blot #mickey mouse #foalette #ocs & inspirations

[spider-xan]

I think one of the most interesting differences I've noticed between Dracula Daily readers versus the mainstream public regarding the novel is just how VASTLY different opinions on the characters are, though obviously, neither group is a monolith.

Many of us here on tumblr LOVE the human characters - or at least have strong feelings one way or another about them - and have written or read thousands of posts about them, whether it's casual meta, detailed literary criticism, headcanons, shitposting, appreciation posts, fanart, memes, etc. To us, these characters are interesting, complex, inspiring, frustrating, deeply moving, funny, etc.; Dracula himself is also loved in a love to hate him as a villain way, and we find him both terrifying and hilarious in turn, full of multitudes and ambiguity, but most people here don't really think of him as sexy, which is hilarious bc it's tumblr lol

But when you look at mainstream audiences outside of tumblr, it's very different - often the opposite, even. I keep running into the opinion over and over again that one of the biggest weaknesses of the novel is that the human characters fucking suck - that they're all boring, one note, have zero personality or character beyond 'doctor' and 'woman', don't do anything in the story, etc.; even Mina gets derided as flat and useless, unless she's a blank Dracula x Reader stand in, and if Van Helsing gets seen as interesting, it's often based on a total misreading of his character as a badass vampire hunter. The popular sentiment is that Dracula is the only interesting character in the novel, and the popular reading is of him as a suave and sexy mastermind who is the real protagonist - even the true hero - but with none of the funnier traits we enjoy here.

Part of the issue is that people with the means to adapt the novel for film, television, etc. fall into the latter group that sees the human characters as boring, possibly even villainous, while considering Dracula the protagonist, and then their adaptations that follow this line of thinking reinforce public opinions, so it's a vicious cycle; and that's how you also get situations where people think that the Coppola interpretations of the character are canon, and turn around and shit on the original novel for being 'wrong' or 'derivative', even though the novel is the original source material.

#dracula #dracula daily

[saltysultry]

Headcanon: Eddie’s an inexperienced lover

Okay, let me explain.

I just had this discussion with a mutual about Eddie, regarding his sexual history. And we came to the conclusion that this “kinky and very experienced” headcanon is, in our opinion, inconsistent with his character. Because, let’s consider the things we know about him:

Eddie’s a super-super senior (which no one in any decade ever considered attractive), a very obnoxious metal head who stands on tables to voice his loud disapproval of whatever’s mainstream, and is obsessed with DnD during a time when it wasn’t considered cool or trendy.

Would you think this guy was drowning in pussy? Nah. The show establishes that his overly confident persona is just surface-level. According to Dustin, his uncle Wayne, and from what we can glean with his interaction with Chrissy, it’s obvious Eddie is a total dork/softy on the inside and spends most of his time with his band/campaign than anywhere else, much less in bed with chicks, high school or college age.

And those suspicious stains on his mattress? I don’t think they were the result of any experience with another person, but the result of jerking himself to nudie magazines he stole from his uncle.

Eddie would be confident with the wooing, no question. But when it hypothetically got down to the dirty bits, he’d be nervous and very cautious, constantly making sure his partner is enjoying themselves with verbal confirmations. “Are you okay?” “Does that feel good?” “Should I keep going?” “You’re safe.”

Would he eventually build up an appetite for kinks? Yeah, probably, especially if it pleased his partner. But I think when we’re first introduced to him, Eddie’s maybe had one or two encounters total. I personally think he’s a virgin.

But anyways, I’d like to know y’all’s thoughts on this!

#joseph quinn #eddie munson #steddie #eddie munson x chrissy cunningham #stranger things

[imptwins]

The thing is right, even before I was fully into dark kink (or 'proship' if you wanna call it that) I still wrote things with problematic undertones. Everyone does. Even the most wholesome media properties have dark themes. Steven Universe has characters - protagonists, mind - using, manipulating, lying to each other. She-Ra, Gravity Falls, The Owl House, all the most celebrated modern 'cartoons that appeal to adults' kinda shows have this kind of stuff in them, not to even mention anime and plain ole live action shows/movies. But before, I masked it. I had characters do things that were out of character for them to avoid something that would actually fall under a category or - much worse - I portrayed things that technically were in that category but just told myself I was skirting the line enough that it wouldn't actually fall into it. Most properties do this. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who deals in mature themes - let alone outright porn - who hasn't ever depicted something that would most likely, without a 'headcanon' that there were negotiations beforehand, fall under a category of (sexual/)abuse, (sexual/)harassment, or simply rape. I've mentioned those tropes more than enough; a spur of the moment touch or kiss that one character is shocked about at first but realizes they like, mild blackmail, nagging, or duress played off as banter, the ever-popular Sleeping Beauty moments. Again, Steven Universe frequently depicts domestic abuse even from protagonists. I use SU as an example of this a lot because it was there for my whole 'arc' for problematic content; first being blind to it, then realizing the themes were there and feeling really conflicted and confronted, and then coming to appreciate that the show dealt with them in mature and realistic ways, that showed flawed people who made mistakes and weren't demonized for it, but were given the chance to learn and grow. Like I shouldn't have to point out how bad Pearl can be sometimes. A really big moment for me was when a close friend wound up triggered from one of my works, because they correctly pointed out that the consent in it was dubious at best. I wound up adding a dubcon CW, but I felt awful about it. Both because I'd hurt a friend and because that was what I'd written, without even really meaning to. It wasn't that I didn't understand consent, I knew that I was skirting the line when I wrote it. But I was so afraid of the tag, of the label. And as a result not only did I upset a friend, I also wrote something that wasn't as good as I could have. I shied away from it, when if I had have just embraced from the start that I was writing dubcon and actually leaned into it, there would've been more interesting and mature themes that I could have explored. Instead I tried to never quite cross the line, and it upset someone anyway. It should have been tagged from the start. But only ONE PERSON out of the like 30 people who read it took issue, because it personally triggered them. To be totally honest, I could have just ignored them, said 'one out of thirty must mean they're over-sensitive,' and went on with my day. I think this is what leads to SO MUCH mainstream work that has this kind of stuff in it. Someone doing something that by all rights qualifies as sexual assault, but just isn't tagged. Because people WILL just let them get away with doing it as long as they have some plausible deniability room that it wasn't really noncon or blackmail or abuse. But if they put the tag on? Now, people will simply call them a [accusation] without even really looking through their work. Those people probably wouldn't have ever been interested in the first place, but tagging it makes you a target. So, good job antis, you've created an atmosphere where people would rather not tag something and pretend it's not as dark as it is, or bypass tags, than just use them. Because you'll doxx and threaten people who conscientiously tag, and ignore works that straight up depict domestic abuse as long as it's coy about it, and pretend that's not what it is.

#proship #antiship #discourse #rant

[maphel-n-doodles]

Here me out! Here me out! Actor!Tobirama who plays small supporting roles here and there for part time. Then he got casted to a mainstream series where he portrays a sexy rogue prince *kinda like daemon Targaryen* which is a total opposite of his personality. No one knows because Tobirama doesn’t tell (to avoid spoilers leaking). And then suddenly Bam! the whole uchiha clan watch that trailer (Their world stop) and the series and then Uchiha Madara is in a rude awakening because he finds himself simping because Tobirama is so cool and badass riding a dragon lmao. (This not a request for fanart just sharing my anon headcanon lmao).

posting this like a guest article in the daily paper

#DHSJDYSJDHSJSHS #anon #madatobi #modern au #LMFAO THIS IS SO FUNNY THO

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 1

Propaganda Under Cut

Nyota Uhara

She's Spock's canon partner in AOS, and I get it because they're not a great couple, but she gets villianized in fic so much. They constantly make her an asshole (which totally has nothing to do with her being black /sarcasm) and abusive just for the crime of dating a man headcanoned as gay. And I mean, I think Spock is gay and her being a love interest was unnecessary but still! She's cool!

Oh my god so in the Star Trek reboot she’s Spock’s girlfriend and the fandom has no idea what to do with her??? Like she is ALWAYS either such a bitch or like the mom friend? And there is so much more to her character than that? But they always break down her character AND find a quick and easy way to break up her and Spock. I’m not even mad at that but at least treat their relationship with some weight instead of just being like ‘it never mattered’. People can love multiple people throughout the course of their lives. You know that right? Just because you loved someone before doesn’t make your new love any less special. And even headcanoning Spock as gay… you realize he doesn’t need to be attracted to Uhura for their relationship to have mattered, right? Even if he confused friendship for romantic attraction, him feeling such strong friendship and openly expressing it is so monumental for him!!! 

she's dating Spock, who people ship with Kirk, so fans have decided that it's horrible writing and "really, they're just defending her, the movies turned her into just a love interests," which is not at all true. The movies do so much more for her to the point that the fans who have only seen the movies think that the main characters are Kirk, Spock, and Uhura instead of the Kirk, Spock, McCoy of the original series. Also having a black women being shown as being desired and loved in mainstream media, particularly by one of the most popular characters of all time, is a good thing, not making her "just a love interest"

Keiko O'Brien

Certain People I Could Name insist on shipping her husband with the annoying twink doctor Julian Bashir because of the friendship they develop over the series. I maintain that O'Brien would never cheat on his wife, let alone with another man, and the response is often "they're in a polycule together!!!" which is even more out of character. Everyone please show my girl Keiko some more respect 😤

Wife of chief engineer Miles O'Brien, who is shipped with the chief medical officer, Julian Bashir. Show itself veered into misogyny regarding her and her marriage, manifesting as Miles constantly complaining about her and her encouraging him to go hang out with Julian and leave her and their daughter alone. Fandom responded to this by creating the "O'Brien polycule" including Keiko, Miles, Julian, and first officer Kira Nerys (who has another strange semi-romantic subplot with both O'Briens). Really, though, it just exists to have Julian/Miles without reckoning with Miles having to cheat to get there. I, too, was guilty of this in the past. Keiko had the potential to be a very interesting character (and started to be, early in the show) but it was never realized. She deserved better :(

keiko is a lovely lady and astrobotanist who had a whole romance with and married the more main character miles obrien but now frequently people sideline her to (semi-jokingly?) ship miles with his friend julian. she’s not the best written character and she deserved so much more from the narrative, but it still feels weird that the fan joke about her is always how much she is constantly encouraging her husband to cheat on her (which to be fair does happen a few times but not That much)

#poll #round 1 #nyota uhura #keiko o'brien #star trek

[vincepti0n]

i want to see aboriginal characters. ocs, mainstream etc

the only Australian rep we get in mainstream media is usually a white guy with a knife and i'm so tired of people outside of Australia thinking that all Australians are white British rejects.

Also i think the most actually Australian thing i've seen mainstream was Bluey and i think out of the entirety of bluey i have seen ONE person outside my social circle with an aboriginal headcanon. ONE.

and i think the only aboriginal character i can think of in mainstream media from the top of my head is Jasmine from total drama

#vince.txt #i know australia is the funny haha hell on earth country but pleeaaasseee #i do not know what else to tag this #was talking to one of my dear friends about this earlier and i think more people should be made aware of it idk

[psychewritesbs]

What do you think that made Jujutsu Kaisen different from any other shounen? Also, why do you think that most people said it's overated? I don't mean anything negative, just want to know your opinions on this. Thanks to you I started JJK manga and anime, and I love it (sorry as a new fan, at first I hesitate because of the negative stigmas that I found on fandom about this series).....

Also, why do you think that Gojo is a popular character?

First of all... I'm SORRY! I've literally been writing an answer to you for like for ever and ever 😭

It's just that I've been thinking long and hard about your ask because how do I objectively gush about what makes jjk amazing, when all sense of objectivity and normalcy walked out the door in 2020?

So I'll start by saying FUCKYES I don't know what fandom you found me through, but I LOVE hearing that you decided to give jjk a shot despite what other people might say about it. Most especially if you found that you love it.

I think that, for all of its flaws, jjk is still a wonderful story exploring deep truths about the human condition.

So I'm going to glaze on jjk like there's no tomorrow under the cut'o!

Glaaaaaaaaze....

Regarding the idea that most people think it's overrated: It's really simple... jjk is a very multilayered niche story.

By multilayered I mean that everything from a meathead battle shonen fan, to a brainiac "intellectual" who doesn't care for the battles that much, and everyone in between, will find something that they can enjoy in jjk.

✅ Canon/headcanon romance ✅ Battles ✅ Existentialism ✅ Amazing characters ✅ Spirituality and esoteric concepts ✅ Power scaling

The problem is that jjk is so mainstream because of this mass appeal, that it could never live up to everyone's expectations, nor it should. That is not to mention that the more popular it becomes, the more people who are simply not going to like jjk it will reach.

In the end, jjk is at its core a niche story published in a shonen magazine, catering to a very specific audience.

To me, for every person saying jjk is overrated, there's 9 people who love it. And maybe I can't back up my totally made up statistic with facts, but jjk wouldn't have 90 million copies in circulation if most people thought it is overrated--they just happen to be the loudest and I can't wait for them to stfu lol.

🤪...

So that's really it. jjk is so popular that it has gotten the attention of people who aren't going to like it for whatever reason they might have. Sometimes it's simply personal taste, and sometimes it's them missing the point. These are the people calling jjk overrated.

How do I know? Because when I heard all of the hype surrounding csm and how it was the second coming of manga Christ, I decided to read it and found it to be incredibly overrated. That doesn't make csm objectively bad, btw, it just mean I personally don't care for Fujimoto's writing or art.

What makes jjk different from other shonen?

What I want to say is that I'm wondering if there is an objective measure for what makes jjk different. I think the obvious answer is that jjk has successfully subverted tropes time and time again. But I think it actually goes much deeper than that.

I am not sure that I speak for everyone. But... like would I be me if I didn't turn this answer into an exploration of depth? It's just that for those of us who feel jjk in our bones and don't see it as yet another basic shonen story... I feel like jjk speaks deeply to our humanity.

Whether we are conscious of it or not, stories are carriers of subjective truth and experience. And jjk is moving and shaking the collective psyche because of what it's saying about our shared humanity.

The basic shonen recipe

(source)

The thing is that I started watching Jujutsu Kaisen because I had an expectation that a shonen story had a good chance of catching my attention.

I've seen a lot of anime, and a lot shonen anime to be more specific. So I went in assuming jjk would follow a specific recipe.

Light haired, yang/Sun archetype, happy go lucky with a single-minded determination to achieve something shonen mc who goes on a hero's journey, learns about himself, and powers up as a result of his journey...

Bonus points if he has a demon inside of him and joins a tight knit 3-man squad made up by dynamic personalities that is mentored by the strongest teacher.

That said, it is the way Gege has explored every single one of these tropes that has made jjk unique in my eyes. I particularly love that there is a certain intentionality to how jjk's characters express typical shonen character traits outside of the way the recipe is usually followed...

The result is the same... but the means and the journey in jjk are explored through an existential and psychological lens that is very grounded in our humanity (aka relatable).

I think more than being a battle shonen, jjk is an exploration of the sense of self first and foremost.

In that sense, jjk is an exploration on how the sense of self is shaped. Like the panel above setting the stage for one of the main themes in jjk: how facing the existential fear of death shapes the sense of self.

So to me jjk is intentional about asking deep questions about life, and telling stories about characters who ask the same questions and how they go about finding answers.

As such, jjk asks that we question the very foundation of our identity as we come face to face with how our expectations haven't matched up to the reality of the world around us...

Similarly, jjk asks that we consider the difference between choosing a life worth living true to what truly matters to us...

...and realizing a little bit too late that what we thought mattered was not as important...

jjk is saying there are consequences to your actions and face them you must even if it all feels bleak...

And to me, that's because Gege understands people on a very deep level. To the point that if you're a jjk fan and you feel moved by any of its characters, they move you deeply.

A lot of this is in the subtext, of course, so not everyone can understand these themes on an intellectual level, nor do they care for. And it doesn't matter if they do or not because jjk still shakes and moves so many people to the point that you have people who make a sport out of hating on it and spend hours complaining about it... like who has that much energy to focus on something they don't like 😭?

Anyway... if I had to say one thing that makes jjk unique, it is how it story tells--which is ironically the main complaint people have about it. Again... it's a niche story that has mass appeal.

I love Gege's writing because to me it isn't about his technical skill, but his vision and the topics he explores. As someone who's been consuming animanga for 25+ years, an author with a unique writing style and an interesting premise doesn't come often. Gege is that author for me.

Anyways... Gege probably didn't even think of any of that...

jjk is just another battle shonen.

About why people love Gojo

Honestly? I'm the wrong person to ask 😂. I haven't a clue. Maybe because he's a cute bishoen? And also the strongest?

No clue lol. Anyone want to chime in with why they love Gojo?

But I fully agree with this and saved it just for you lol 👇🏼

(source)

Thanks for dropping by anon! :)

#ask the mental gymnastics anime girl #god i love jujutsu kaisen

[tamelee]

Personally I don’t really get people who say they acknowledge Sasuke and Naruto’s romantic bond but still ship Sasuke with a woman�� Like, they saw that he was gay (he’s shown to not be attracted to women so he’s not bi) but kinda don’t care?

Actually I don’t really understand the whole shipping culture, or even mainstream fandom culture… I don’t know, I just don’t see the point in just making up content for pre-existing characters while completely destroying what made the characters unique in the first place by ignoring canon entirely (like crack-shipping). I get why people wouldn’t like everything about canon, it’s my case too, but if they don’t like anything about canon… Why are they here in the first place?

Nooo now I sound grumpy. I must be bothering you I’m so sorry 😭😭

Anyway, you’re amazing and I hope you know it 🥰

You don't sound grumpy to me dw 🫶

Well, I don't believe such ships have much to do with Canon either way. And I doubt all of them hate Canon per se, though some change 'Canon' to like Canon, which is funny. "This is my Canon." Yeah, not how it works, but ok- have your Canon your way ofc ┐(￣ヮ￣)┌

Side-note though, I don't think Sasuke even knows who Hinata is? 😆 It's as you say; crack-shipping. (I saw that giant/small-yaoi meme here on Tumblr again. No idea what it's called, and immediately thought; a yes, Sukuna and Levi. Kinda want to draw xD Makes no sense at all.) A lot of Headcanon is derived from personal... ideas/desires/inspiration or self-inserting reasons? (Isn't that exactly what 'x-reader' fics are?) Or even trend-posting. As much as characters are used to tell a story for the original author/creator (they're essentially tools), do fans use them to create new ideas. "Ah yes, we all know this character, let's create something around it simply because I want to." Which is completely fine, right? Look at rare pairs. And to be fair, a lot of content, fictional writing and art aren't even based on canon either. The closest thing through fan-work are Manga analyses or meta's, even panel redraws- stuff like that. People adapt 'canon' into fanwork through various degrees or sometimes ditch it altogether. Nsfw/spice is by default made up and entirely Headcanon :') (Though personality can be depicted in a way ig, through expression/behavior and whatnot.)

I totally get what you mean though, although I guess I'm caught up in fandom-culture now. Personally, I do like characters as 'canon' as possible, but it really depends. For some Animanga I don't really care. I think I ship pretty much all TR/BlueLock-characters for literally no reason, but I wouldn't claim it to be Canon in any way (˚☐˚! )/

However, I don't like it when Naruto and Sasuke's characters are butchered. Made-up context or not. The originals are so special to me and it's the reason why I'm a fan, though I don't mind too much in fics, depending on the story. I find it hard to feel the same when they've practically become someone's OC's with only the same name and design. I can't even read height/age-differences because I can't imagine it xD But anyway, this all includes "official" work made for financial/marketing reasons also- especially those damn novels. Those never have anything to do with canon, nor does it align with it. No matter how passionately people claim otherwise.

I'm only a tiny bit petty about it >< u&me grumpy 🤝 And aahhww I don't actually, you should see me sitting here in giant red Christmas socks and a glittery green sweater that's kinda itchy tbh. I don't really feel anything other than those glitters annoying me every 3 seconds... which reminds me I should change -.- anw thankyou <3

#asktamelee #fandom talk #shipping talk #btw I lost a bet #and I have to read a x-reader fic #is there... I dunno #one that is #okay'ish #I mean I'm very sure the authors are amazing #and write really well #but ykwim #pls not one that is too long ;-; #I've read one a while ago #where I was a little princess #and I had a bodyguard #amazing story #but omg did I get annoyed with myself #why DID I SAY THAT #wow