#my boring meta

[cuddlytogas]

So I accidentally almost got into an argument on Twitter, and now I'm thinking about bad historical costuming tropes. Specifically, Action Hero Leather Pants.

See, I was light-heartedly pointing out the inaccuracies of the costumes in Black Sails, and someone came out of the woodwork to defend the show. The misunderstanding was that they thought I was dismissing the show just for its costumes, which I wasn't - I was simply pointing out that it can't entirely care about material history (meaning specifically physical objects/culture) if it treats its clothes like that.

But this person was slightly offended on behalf of their show - especially, quote, "And from a fan of OFMD, no less!" Which got me thinking - it's true! I can abide a lot more historical costuming inaccuracy from Our Flag than I can Black Sails or Vikings. And I don't think it's just because one has my blorbos in it. But really, when it comes down to it...

What is the difference between this and this?

Here's the thing. Leather pants in period dramas isn't new. You've got your Vikings, Tudors, Outlander, Pirates of the Caribbean, Once Upon a Time, Will, The Musketeers, even Shakespeare in Love - they love to shove people in leather and call it a day. But where does this come from?

Obviously we have the modern connotations. Modern leather clothes developed in a few subcultures: cowboys drew on Native American clothing. (Allegedly. This is a little beyond my purview, I haven't seen any solid evidence, and it sounds like the kind of fact that people repeat a lot but is based on an assumption. I wouldn't know, though.) Leather was used in some WWI and II uniforms.

But the big boom came in the mid-C20th in motorcycle, punk/goth, and gay subcultures, all intertwined with each other and the above. Motorcyclists wear leather as practical protective gear, and it gets picked up by rock and punk artists as a symbol of counterculture, and transferred to movie designs. It gets wrapped up in gay and kink communities, with even more countercultural and taboo meanings. By the late C20th, leather has entered mainstream fashion, but it still carries those references to goths, punks, BDSM, and motorbike gangs, to James Dean, Marlon Brando, and Mick Jagger. This is whence we get our Spikes and Dave Listers in 1980s/90s media, bad boys and working-class punks.

And some of the above "historical" design choices clearly build on these meanings. William Shakespeare is dressed in a black leather doublet to evoke the swaggering bad boy artist heartthrob, probably down on his luck. So is Kit Marlowe.

But the associations get a little fuzzier after that. Hook, with his eyeliner and jewellery, sure. King Henry, yeah, I see it. It's hideously ahistorical, but sure. But what about Jamie and Will and Ragnar, in their browns and shabby, battle-ready chic? Well, here we get the other strain of Bad Period Drama Leather.

See, designers like to point to history, but it's just not true. Leather armour, especially in the western/European world, is very, very rare, and not just because it decays faster than metal. (Yes, even in ancient Greece/Rome, despite many articles claiming that as the start of the leather armour trend!) It simply wasn't used a lot, because it's frankly useless at defending the body compared to metal. Leather was used as a backing for some splint armour pieces, and for belts, sheathes, and buckles, but it simply wasn't worn like the costumes above. It's heavy, uncomfortable, and hard to repair - it's simply not practical for a garment when you have perfectly comfortable, insulating, and widely available linen, wool, and cotton!

As far as I can see, the real influence on leather in period dramas is fantasy. Fantasy media has proliferated the idea of leather armour as the lightweight choice for rangers, elves, and rogues, a natural, quiet, flexible material, less flashy or restrictive than metal. And it is cheaper for a costume department to make, and easier for an actor to wear on set. It's in Dungeons and Dragons and Lord of the Rings, King Arthur, Runescape, and World of Warcraft.

And I think this is how we get to characters like Ragnar and Vane. This idea of leather as practical gear and light armour, it's fantasy, but it has this lineage, behind which sits cowboy chaps and bomber/flight jackets. It's usually brown compared to the punk bad boy's black, less shiny, and more often piecemeal or decorated. In fact, there's a great distinction between the two Period Leather Modes within the same piece of media: Robin Hood (2006)! Compare the brooding, fascist-coded villain Guy of Gisborne with the shabby, bow-wielding, forest-dwelling Robin:

So, back to the original question: What's the difference between Charles Vane in Black Sails, and Edward Teach in Our Flag Means Death?

Simply put, it's intention. There is nothing intentional about Vane's leather in Black Sails. It's not the only leather in the show, and it only says what all shabby period leather says, relying on the same tropes as fantasy armour: he's a bad boy and a fighter in workaday leather, poor, flexible, and practical. None of these connotations are based in reality or history, and they've been done countless times before. It's boring design, neither historically accurate nor particularly creative, but much the same as all the other shabby chic fighters on our screens. He has a broad lineage in Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean and such, but that's it.

In Our Flag, however, the lineage is much, much more intentional. Ed is a direct homage to Mad Max, the costuming in which is both practical (Max is an ex-cop and road warrior), and draws on punk and kink designs to evoke a counterculture gone mad to the point of social breakdown, exploiting the thrill of the taboo to frighten and titillate the audience.

In particular, Ed is styled after Max in the second movie, having lost his family, been badly injured, and watched the world turn into an apocalypse. He's a broken man, withdrawn, violent, and deliberately cutting himself off from others to avoid getting hurt again. The plot of Mad Max 2 is him learning to open up and help others, making himself vulnerable to more loss, but more human in the process.

This ties directly into the themes of Our Flag - it's a deliberate intertext. Ed's emotional journey is also one from isolation and pain to vulnerability, community, and love. Mad Max (intentionally and unintentionally) explores themes of masculinity, violence, and power, while Max has become simplified in the popular imagination as a stoic, badass action hero rather than the more complex character he is, struggling with loss and humanity. Similarly, Our Flag explores masculinity, both textually (Stede is trying to build a less abusive pirate culture) and metatextually (the show champions complex, banal, and tender masculinities, especially when we're used to only seeing pirates in either gritty action movies or childish comedies).

Our Flag also draws on the specific countercultures of motorcycles, rockers, and gay/BDSM culture in its design and themes. Naturally, in such a queer show, one can't help but make the connection between leather pirates and leather daddies, and the design certainly nods at this, with its vests and studs. I always think about this guy, with his flat cap so reminiscient of gay leather fashions.

More overtly, though, Blackbeard and his crew are styled as both violent gangsters and countercultural rockstars. They rove the seas like a bikie gang, free and violent, and are seen as icons, bad boys and celebrities. Other pirates revere Blackbeard and wish they could be on his crew, while civilians are awed by his reputation, desperate for juicy, gory details.

This isn't all of why I like the costuming in Our Flag Means Death (especially season 1). Stede's outfits are by no means accurate, but they're a lot more accurate than most pirate media, and they're bright and colourful, with accurate and delightful silks, lace, velvets, and brocades, and lovely, puffy skirts on his jackets. Many of the Revenge crew wear recognisable sailor's trousers, and practical but bright, varied gear that easily conveys personality and flair. There is a surprising dedication to little details, like changing Ed's trousers to fall-fronts for a historical feel, Izzy's puffy sleeves, the handmade fringe on Lucius's red jacket, or the increasing absurdity of navy uniform cuffs between Nigel and Chauncey.

A really big one is the fact that they don't shy away from historical footwear! In almost every example above, we see the period drama's obsession with putting men in skinny jeans and bucket-top boots, but not only does Stede wear his little red-heeled shoes with stockings, but most of his crew, and the ordinary people of Barbados, wear low boots or pumps, and even rough, masculine characters like Pete wear knee breeches and bright colours. It's inaccurate, but at least it's a new kind of inaccuracy, that builds much more on actual historical fashions, and eschews the shortcuts of other, grittier period dramas in favour of colour and personality.

But also. At least it fucking says something with its leather.

#everyone say 'thank you togas' for not including a long tangent about evil rimmer in red dwarf 5x05 #Our Flag Means Death #Togas does meta #and yes these principles DO fall apart slightly in s2 and i DON'T like those costumes as much #don't get me wrong they're fun and gorgeous - but generally a bit less deep and more inaccurate. so. :( #I'm not sure this really says anything new about Our Flag but I just needed to get my thoughts out #i hate hate hate Gritty Period Drama costumes they're so boring and so ugly and so wrong #god bless OFMD for using more than 3 muted colours and actually putting men in heels (and not as a shorthand for rich/foppish villainy) <3 #looking at that Tudors still is insane like they really will go to any lengths to not make men feel like they've got bare legs XD #image descriptions in alt text #and yes i DID just sink about two hours into those so you'd better appreciate them

[vaxxman]

whats so fun about the vaccinator (vacc slander)?

You come to my blog and disrespect me like that.

Have some vaccinator propaganda.

Some textless panels that I enjoyed drawing and rambling about the vaccinator medigun under the cut.

Surprise, it's only medic.

I am not saying the vaccinator is not absolutely broken, I 100% feel dirty using it against a badly coordinated team, hence I wouldn't mind if it received a nerf in the future.

A lot of people analyse the vaccinator as only useful against a badly coordinated enemy team, but I think it's much better as a weapon for when your own team sucks ass has bad synergy, since any form of uber is pretty much wasted on everyone (if you can even build enough charge). To compensate for everyone's mistakes, just make sure they stay alive long enough to capture points and push the cart. Everyone will automatically stay with you, and soon you'll have a nice meat shield of 4 people swarming around you. You know it's working, when there's suddenly 3 demoknights and a spy after you.

I love micromanaging my resistance bubbles, and I love micromanaging my team without them noticing that I'm doing it. Pressing the R-button to rotate through resistances feels like such a much more engaging contribution to the battles your patients are fighting.

Vaccinator is busted, but absolutely not boring.

And to close this rambling, here's my fav video about the vaccinator:

#team fortress 2 #tf2 #tf2 medic #tf2 heavy #tf2 scout #tf2 sniper #tf2 soldier #I would also like to place a disclaimer here: I am absolutely not good at this game #In no way is what this comic here shows meta knowledge #I just haven't seen a lot of people point out the positive sides of the vaccinator #which are: It's objectively the most engaging medigun and genuinely fun to use #People will complain about how playing medic is boring but the same people discourage the use of the vaccinator #If I see anyone try to spew hate about my opinion on this gun I'm blocking you fr

[qprstobin]

I'm gonna be frank, Eddie just does not give me the impression that he was bullied all that much in high school to me. Especially as he got older, like he was the school drug dealer, he was not getting beat up by the same jocks who were going to be buying from him later that week. It just doesn't make sense to me!

I'm not saying he was never bullied at all (personally I think he was probably bullied by the people in his grade in like middle school, but leant more into the satanic image by the time he got to high school (which is when the satanic panic wouldve been starting) and people became more afraid to mess with him or it stopped when BS started dealing) or that people can't headcanon and project onto pm. It's fandom, do what you want lol. I've just gotten to the point where fics lose me whenever they claim Tommy/Steve/Jason was going around beating the shit out of him or shoving him in the halls every week or the like. Eddie just does not give the impression that he is scared of the jocks normally. He looks down on them and thinks he's better than them! He taunts them openly in front of everyone and pontificates on table tops.

I think if you take it in that context too, it makes the town turning on him more sinister? Like obviously, satanic panic was only growing at that point, and it was within the last year or two they started pointing at metal and D&D as recruiting centers for satanic cults. (Eddie also like an asshole is walking around with a satanic symbol on his jacket - peak edgy teen in the middle of a moral outcry.) But while people might've been afraid of him, and most definitely talked about him behind his back, that's worlds away from mob violence. The change was startling, even if Eddie might be able to see it on the horizon.

Idk to me that's more of what the hunt the freak line was about. The knowledge that they could turn on you and would if you gave them a reason (or if you want to go with the Eddie is closeted interpretation - if he got outed). I think he probably has been called the freak for a while but honestly I think he's proud of it at this point.

Obviously all of this is up to interpretation, I guess I've just gotten to the point where a lot of the popular fanon interpretation doesn't feel like Eddie to me anymore

#eddie munson #st meta #fandom wank #i guess #also like i said if you interpret it that way like i do think eddie is queer (bi specifically) but like lol not really the point of the post #also i just know someone eventually is gonna call me a tommy apologist #like lol nah i just think tommy is too much of a pussy to beat someone up #that boy has not punched someone in his life #also ngl uncomfortable ghat its a constant point of contention in steddie fics that steve or steves friends used to bully eddie #like no i dont want that in my ship fic #eddie #also i just want a more confident eddie #one who has had shit happen to him and is pretty fucking weird but owns it #and isnt a sad boy who is constantly beat up all the time #thats boring!

[spiderpussinc]

Just a reminder since im seeing a lot of people who don't regularly read comics get tripped up on things: the Spider-man 2099 (1992) comics are NOT canon!

And this isnt due to a recent change or anything. As soon as it ended (with multiple characters dying, things being destroyed) the character of miguel went on to be retconned and reworked multiple times by his own original writer (who was dissatisfied with the state of things) and OTHER writers (who thought They could fix it).

Case in point; one of the first series after the shelving of the 2099 universe featured Miguel's 1992 timeline being quite literally *stopped* on its tracks during the first week -- before any of the other events could happen -- and had him walk out of it to join a multiverse group called the Exiles. His 2014 series reboot by the original writer also ignores 90% of the events of that series, like keeping his mom and tyler stone alive etc. Separate oneshots focused on Miguel during a few marvel events also pretty much focused on the concept of trying to reboot and fix the 2099 universe so these events "were not set in stone" or "could be changed at any time" -- and this isn't by mistake.

Miguel's latest appearance (in yet another reboot oneshot series) seems to be based on his movie visual but with 0 ties to the previous series or references to atsv itself, since at the time the movie wasnt out yet. They just wanted people to know they'd be trying again (yet again!), and it remains to be seen what will be done next.

The 2099 comics are not canon to ATSV. They are barely relevant to marvel comics. The 2099 comics, starting all the way up with the original 1992 one, are littered with all manner of racist stereotypes and cultural mishandling on part of the white author, that aged pretty badly pretty quickly. Marvel is trying to pretend they didn't happen. Miguel's 2014 comics briefly, and insistently, also tried to pass him off as a white man (he was called "Mike" for a period) which was backpedalled when it didn't work.

*You are not obligated to read these comics to understand ATSV Miguel.* ATSV Miguel was created in collaboration with actual latinos to have his own, separate, improved story. (A few interviews have stated his characterization stems from Oscar Isaac's experience as a Cuban Exile) He is visually distinct and the artbook implies his 2099 universe is built from the ground up, set apart from the comics as well.

This isn't new. Miles from the ITSV movie is also completely removed from his original universe (where among other things, his mother gets killed by venom and the avengers are assholes) which is a long way of saying TL;DR --

Don't worry about wading through Miguel's garbage if you don't want to. Half of the people and events in these books have had no effect or staying impact on canon, they are snapped out of existence at will. And absolutely don't let anyone guilt you into reading these comics to prove "you're a real fan" when the MOVIE ITSELF does not give a shit lol

#across the spiderverse #atsv #miguel ohara #miguel o'hara #spiderman 2099 #atsv miguel #marvel comics #my spider stuff #oscar isaac #itsv #into the spiderverse #spider man: across the spider verse #ON THE CONDITION HIS CHARACTER NOT BE BORING #Aka oscar is a real one. btw #long post #long reads #miles morales #atsv miles #meta tag

[lenaellsi]

It's so interesting that in every single minisode, Aziraphale really is like...the POV character, for lack of a better term.

While we start Job with Crowley alone with the goats for a brief minute, the rest of the episode stays firmly with Aziraphale. We see him in Heaven, discussing the pact between God and Satan with Muriel and the archangels. We see his outrage, his confusion, his guilt. But we never see Crowley receiving his orders from Hell. We know only as much as Aziraphale does about the reasons for Crowley's actions--we don't know that Crowley has saved the goats and is planning on saving the kids until Aziraphale figures it out.

Obviously, the Edinburgh plot line centers Aziraphale's perspective as well, going so far as to have him narrate his thoughts and feelings in the form of a diary entry. We know why he's doing what he's doing, how deep in Heaven's rhetoric he is, and we get his very limited perspective on what happened to Crowley at the end--"that was the last I was to see of Crowley for quite some time." Again, Crowley's perspective on the story as well as what happens to him after it remains a little bit of a mystery, but Aziraphale's thoughts are front and center the whole time.

And 1941. Nothing about 1941 makes sense unless you know exactly what's going on in Aziraphale's head. That's why we get the shot of his face at the beginning, after Crowley hands him the books and walks away--it's saying, look! Aziraphale is in love! This is the story of the night he realized it! And Crowley doesn't know! And while we stick with both Crowley and Aziraphale that whole night, the audience can clearly see the motivation behind all of Aziraphale's actions, because we're in on his secret. We're sharing his headspace in a way we just aren't with Crowley.

But the narrative also plays with that, because in all of these stories, there's a level of "oh honey no" that we're supposed to be feeling with Aziraphale. We see him struggling with God's cruelty in Job, with his fear of falling after he defies the plan, and how it shakes his faith in Heaven, an institution the audience already knows to be corrupt. (Like S1). We see him talk about "the virtues of poverty" and inadvertently cause harm both to humans and to Crowley in his pursuit of Heaven's ideals, all while we are screaming at him to stop. (Like S2). But in 1941 (magic show aside), the audience and Aziraphale are finally on the same page! Yes, you love Crowley! Yes, you can trust Crowley!! Yes, shades of gray!!! Good job, Aziraphale!!!! (...S3?)

Idk what it means, really. I just think it's interesting that we're being offered such a close perspective of Aziraphale's thought process in the flashbacks. Obviously it has to do with priming the audience for his decision in 2x06, but I hope it's also a little preview of what's to come for him in S3.

What this means for Crowley is a different post.

#good omens #good omens meta #aziraphale #barely. i am typing this out on my lunch break because i am so. so bored.

[psalmsofpsychosis]

not gonna lie homos and homies, there's something incredibly, incredibly depressing about Batmanverse and the concept of Batjokes in particular, and it's not the murder murder stab stab death plots.

It's the collective unmentioned canon agreement around these characters never being able to escape the confinements of their narrative.

they get pushed to the very edges of their predefined thresholds, they toe the lines of their stories, they poke it and probe it and sometimes even flirt with the possibility of crossing the bounds of their narratives, but they never break throught the structure. they never go over the line, always sorta of wiggling in place; batjokes in particular is the most enticing and intriguing stagnant 85+ years story i have ever seen.

There are unspoken rules around who Batman is, what he will and will not do, and those rules are rarely questioned, if ever. No matter what he does, he cannot be in love with a man, and he cannot ever love Joker in particular. He cannot experience mental and emotional peace. he cannot kill and he cannot show sincere emotional vulnurability, he cannot experience his love in an open and unashamed way. His narrative thresholds confine him to a socially sanctioned image that is meant to be familiar and tangible to the average straight dude, and it's quite frankly exhausting to witness. Whatever happens to Batman's story, he never arrives at physical emotional or mental peace and on a foundational level his tale never changes, not really. You can almost feel it when he constantly bumps into this unspoken narrative rules and stops in his tracks, each and every goddamn time, for 85+ years. It's like a keyed up nutcracker toy soldier bumping into a wall, stumble back two steps, bump into the walls, stumble back two steps, bumpt into the wall,

As someone who loves stories that love to question their own narrative points and break through them and do something different, staring at Batmanverse comics for too long at a time lowkey feels heartbreaking, nothing ever truly changes in this bitch.

#i guess what i'm saying is; there a tree in this garden and every season it sheds its leaves and the leaves change color etc etc etc #and when i talk about getting bored of tales told of this tree peeps are like ''but look at all the colors in the leaves! it even sheds the #what more variety would you want?!'' #and i'm like. you know there's more to a tree than its fucking leaves right. RIGHT. #you know a tree changed in its entire trunk and branches and root reach and the way it communicates with other trees RIGHT #like. a tree naturally undergoes so many subtly substantial changes during the seasons #and i'm tired of being given colorful leaves and being told that i should be satisfied with the supposed artstyle and plot trinket variety #in Batman stories. #this shit is substantially stagnant *YEET* #jokes aside though; this is why i can only consume a little bit of Batman media at a time before i get bored out of my mind. #every other story is the same thing. #Batman #Batman meta #Batjokes #Batjokes meta

[hauntedpearl]

s12 destiel from dean's perspective is explanation enough for why dean is sooooo insane after that season. like.

- first he almost kills himself for the greater good or whatever and has to come to terms with like. dying. on purpose. and then he is given the gift of life but before he can be like yay! i can go home! his mom is back from the dead??? and his brother is missing???

- then his mom leaves him bc she wants to figure out who she is and even tho he's like a 38 yo man it fucks w him a lot understandably.

-they get arrested and put in SOLITARY for a while and when they finally get out and meet cas again (at which point dean has once again come to terms with dying for the greater good but also mostly his mom and brother this time), he KILLS THE REAPER THEY MADE THE DEAL WITH AND GETS ALL EMOTIONAL??? after which he proceeds to fuck off bc he is Busy™ tracking lucifer etc.,

- then they get a lead and CAS ALMOST DIES IN FRONT OF HIS EYES and throws an I love you in his goodbye speech for the lolz. which. hahaha. anyway cas lives but turns out his mother — with whom he's trying to connect so badly so he can achieve full Normalcy — was like. lowkey responsible for his almost death. so they're fighting now.

- cas receives a divine voicemail from his close friend and colleague and then they go on that case with Lily sunder and ISHIM BEATS CAS UP AND THREATENS TO KILL HIM and even after they beat him Lily Sunder is like. I'm gonna go do some soul searching and if im in the mood I'll come back and KILL YOU. THREAT. and cas is like 😔 fair. so you know.

- there is also an instance of him losing his memories which is scary. and it's like. being intimately familiar with that experience is. something else. as a memory loss girlie let me tell you 👍🏽😄

- and then!!!!! lucifer's unborn child mind melds with his wifehusband — once more in front of his own two eyes — and "manipulates" him into running away with the pregnant lady instead of staying and Figuring Out A Solution. and when they finally do find cas, they are with them for all of 12 hours before HE DIES. FORREAL THIS TIME. AND LIKE THAT'S IT. NO COMING BACK FROM THAT ONE!

this is not an exhaustive list bc i don't remember everything but. like you know. he was primed to get worse and worse. all things that happen in s12 are out of his control but they are also things that happen in front of his eyes, and in ways that make him think that perhaps he did have control over them and he did fuck up some way and he *should* have done something to change the course of their lives so he's filled with guiltshame about it. and he decides that the solution to not losing anyone in the foreseeable future is to just. Control Every Possible Aspect Of Their Existence. which is impossible and that's why he gets mad all the time but YOU KNOW. YOU CAN SEE WHY HE'S CRAZY. poor s12 dean man.

#doe is talking again #just thinking thoughts #i MISS S12 BTW #EVERYTHING WAS SOOOO RIGHT #and then </3 #also this is my bias against s13 showing bc i think it's STUPID #thete i said it idc about narrative importance s13 commits the worst crime of all: its boring as shit #and yeah I've only watched it once but i hated having yo watch it and supernatural WAS my favourite show back then even!! #snd an excuse to spend time with my v close friend!!! SO !!! EVEN THAT couldn't make s13 worth the time 😔 #im also not a big fan of first half of s14 while we're at it. #i think it picks up in the second half thk when thsy start doinf family drama #anyway #ANYWAYSSSS #this is not meta or analysis im just thinking about s12 dean my baby #suicide ment

[charcubed]

Loki's Sacrifice – "My Body Is A Cage"

(featuring found family + Lokius)

Twitter | YouTube

#lokius #lokius video edit #loki edit #lokius edit #loki finale #lokius meta #loki #mobius #loki series #loki season 2 #mobius m mobius #TVA found family #TVA #TVA loki #char makes videos #chars loki posts #I HAVE HAD THIS VISION FOR 2 MONTHS!! IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO GET IT DONE. FUCK #the holidays happened + I kept tweaking my approach to this #I have lost the ability to tell if it's good or boring but nonetheless HERE IT IS. I hope it hits

[bookshop]

Most popular fanfiction fandoms by state

There's a specific kind of PR spam I get a lot that involves marketing firms coming up with cool quirky topics to look up on Google Trends, finding out what the data is on a national level, and then turning that data into a cute trend graph.

While discussing one such trend search, I started wondering what the top fanfiction fandoms were on a state by state level, so i did it myself.

The results were honestly not what I was expecting!

Methodology: I searched Google trends for "fanfiction" by state and then noted the top related queries for the past 12 months. If not enough data could be generated for related queries, then I looked at the top related topics. If those results were wonky, I searched top related queries from 2004-present.

Harry Potter is universally the #2 fandom behind Naruto, with the exception of Iowa, in which Harry Potter was ranked 1st, and trailing at a very distant 2nd was.... NCIS Hawaii, and Colorado, in which the top 3 fandoms are Miraculous Ladybug, RWBY, and Percy Jackson.

RWBY, My Hero Academia, and Percy Jackson were generally the most popular third place fandoms.

Wednesday Addams is by far the most popular related character topic. One notable exception is Pennsylvania, where the top related character is, uh, this random gentleman from General Hospital?

AO3 was by far the most-googled related fic archive ahead of ff.net and wattpad. (Though to be fair, Wattpad tweens aren't googling Wattpad, they're just opening the app.)

Another related query that kept popping up from state to state was this (imo basic) fanfic kink test that got popular thanks to this tumblr post, so well done everyone!

#naruto #fanfiction #fandom #fandom meta #fandom culture #USA #harry potter #colorado explain yourself #also to every state reading harry potter fic in 2023: excited to see all your trans characters! #infographic #bad charts #dataviz #my stuff #idk i was bored

[ccarrot]

Asagiri likes to base his characters off of the protagonists of the literary works by the authors they're respectively inspired by. Ex. Fitzgerald shares Gatsby's charisma, wealth, dubious business ventures, and overwhelming desperation to create the ideal life for his loved ones. In Anne of Green Gables, kindhearted orphan protagonist Anne has a combative relationship with her primary love interest Gilbert, and her stubbornness and pride leads her to frequently beating him up and giving him the cold shoulder. This is most likely the source of our kindhearted orphan protagonist, Atsushi's, relationship with his primary love interest, the stubborn and prideful Lucy.

Another aspect of the way Asagiri writes characters is Dazai. He is undoubtedly Asagiri's favoritest boy, so there's a sizable chunk of the cast that is actually constructed to be a foil to Dazai.

Why'd I mention that? It's because That is a precursor to who I actually wanted talk about, FYODOR! Fyodor Dostoevsky was created to be the ULTIMATE foil to Dazai, his very anthesis. The reason being Crime and Punishment.

C&P follows Raskolnikov, a down on his luck and VERY unstable resident of St Petersburg. Fyodor from BSD is definitely based on him.

Raskolnikov has an ubermensch complex. He sees himself as the dealer of divine justice, a servant of God. Sound familiar?

Raskolnikov believes the pain and suffering in his city being caused by the corrupt pawnbroker. Fyodor thinks that all the sin in the world of bsd is caused by ability user. They both draw a false conclusion. Perceiving the evil in the world is rooted in something that's only a small contributing factor.

They both take. DRASTIC action. Raskolnikov commits murder. Fyodor.... starts an international terrorist organization i guess.

Crime and Punishment is divided into two very distinct parts: The crime - the Murder Raskolnikov commits, and the Punishment, everything he has to deal with afterwords.

Raskolnikov is also! suicidal. it's a notable part of C&P. He frequently thinks about ending things, and wants to drown himself in the river, but then ends up disgusted by the notion when he witnesses someone else attempt.

Basically Raskolnikov is suicidal. Yozo from No Longer Human is suicidal. These are the characters that Fyodor and Dazai are based off, and it can't be a coincidence

Important to note that Both Raskolnikov AND Yozo end up living to an old age by the end of their respective novels.

Dazai and Fyodor are REALLY similar, but their differences are very very striking. Dazai likes people, when he dies he wants it to be a suicide that doesn't inconvenience anyone, he doesn't believe he belongs with humanity. Fyodor believes himself as a man on God's mission, we've only ever seen his ability kill ordinary people, AND he wants all ability users to not exist anymore. But, doesn't killing all ability users include himself?

Basically, I have a theory that Fyodor's ultimate goal with the Book is really an elaborate suicide plan. Because Fyodor doesn't have a GOD complex, he has an UBERMENSCH complex, he sees himself not as the ruler of humans but a CHAMPION of humanity. He's using his belief that ability users are the Root of All Evil as grounds to eliminate them all and himself. He thinks he's taking one for the team. Not only does he want to die, he wants to drag the world down WITH him.

But BSD is about people finding a purpose in life, key word: LIFE! Dazai WILL NOT die because he hasn't found what he's looking for. Fyodor's plan WILL fail. After that what's in store? He'll have to face his punishment, right?

#bsd #meta i guess? #funnily enough Raskolnikov and Yozo are... kinda dumb. or at most average intellect #which makes the fact that fyodor and dazai are supergeniuses really funny to me #ahh. tune in next time for the 'Fyodor is probably immortal' braindump #i knew my AP Lit obsession with crime and punishment was gonna come in handy eventually #also I HAVE read no longer human and frankly found it very boring. sorry to Dazai-sensei i guess???

[skania]

OnK Chapter 150

Honestly, the naive part of me wants to believe Aka is doing this in purpose, because this chapter alone highlighted like half the reasons why I find romantic!Aqua and Kana so poorly written lmao

Compare that to this:

The writing in Aqua's and Akane's is so much better it's unreal 😂

I'm so glad to have confirmation that Goro's regrets were appeased by knowing that Sarina is living her best life as Ruby. Goro acting like an over-protective dad and Aqua reaffirming that Ruby is his precious little sister were the highlights of the chapter for me. Figures that once Aka finally gives us some Aqua insight, he immediately makes it clear where Aqua stands in regards to Ruby lmao

Goro is often personified as the guilt and regrets Aqua carried into this new life, but he is much more than that.

He is an entire framework of thoughts, complexes and experiences right there at the center of the individual we have come to know as Aqua. He is the entire base Aqua is built on, because when he reincarnated, he was just Goro - albeit a Goro thrown into a completely different situation, and a completely different life.

Of course, the longer Goro lives as Aqua, the more Aqua he becomes. He has been developing a new framework of thoughts, complexes and experiences that are more befitting of his situation and based on his current life. This all results in the Aqua we've come to known.

Up to now, Aqua has been simultaneously existing as the man he once was and the young boy he has become. But the man he once was is now feeling at peace knowing that Sarina-chan has gotten a new chance at life, which leaves the young boy he has become with one less reason to cling to a painful past.

But things aren't that easy, as evidenced by the fact that even after being "freed" by his past guilt, Aqua still has his black stars. As Aqua, he has regrets, guilt and issues of his own to overcome.

But it isn't just the revenge and the guilt, really. This, for example, is a confusion that has followed Aqua into his new life:

Which takes me to...

It's so incredibly ironic that it's "Goro" of all people who brings up Kana 😭 I've mentioned before that Kana has a lot of parallels with Ai and Sarina, and I theorized this may be one of the reasons why Aqua seemed so drawn to her from the get-go. And now we have Goro himself, the one who originally admired all of those traits, saying that Aqua likes Kana. It's like clockwork, except the clock may be broken.

The reasons Goro cites are so shallow and superficial, too. Perfectly fitting for an Oshi or a teenage crush, but hard to think of as anything deeper than that (for me, at least).

Which is even more ironic, because we end the chapter with Kana declaring herself as "seriously in love" with Aqua, when she herself does nothing but describe him superficially 😭

Kana has been basically living a shoujo manga in her head and Aqua is her chosen Male Lead 😂 It's like that time she thought Aqua was "straight and sincere", or when she thought Akane was a "goody-two-shoes".

Meanwhile, Aqua and Akane:

Poor Kana is out of her depth in this manga, but maybe that's the point. Kana is perfectly normal and that's just what Aqua needs am I right?

Seriously though, that's why I've always said that to me it doesn't really matter if Aqua and Kana end up together, because their writing is just... not it 😭 It's always just one giant trope without any depth of substance. It's no coincidence that these last three chapters are filled with tropes and forced writing. That's the way this ship has always been written in my eyes, and that's why it does nothing for me regardless of whether it's intended to be canon or not 😭

Even this, for example:

Aqua confirming (yet again) that he has been aware of Kana's romantic feelings all along could back-up what I said here and here. But at the same time, this could just be part of something as simple and unsubtle as this:

It's like there are two wolves within Aka. One is great at subtlety and organic development, and the other completely sucks at it 😂

But enough about that, I'm sure Aka will give me plenty to complain about next chapter so I'll save it until then lmao

Hmmm where have I seen this before?

Oh, right!

Funny how Akane is magically not brought up this chapter. If we assume Aka is just writing obvious stuff without deeper meaning, then Akane isn't brought up because Aka considers Chapters 97 & 98 as their romantic closure. Or maybe all the theories about Aqua being a scumbag that only dated Akane because Kana wasn't available were right. But considering that would make Aqua trash not worth discussing, I can only hope Aka won't stoop that low lmao

If we give Aka the benefit of the doubt (does he even deserve it at this point tho), then Goro not bringing up Akane can be pretty fitting. Because if Aqua likes Akane, it wouldn't be because she fits the ideals and tastes of the man he once was. It would be because of everything they have been through together as Aqua and Akane.

Case in point, when Aqua thought of Kana and Akane back when he first thought he was free, he did so as fully himself. But I digress! 🤡

Another thing that caught my eye is that Aka deliberately changed the number of chapters in the previous volume just so these Aqua-Kana focused chapters can be in the same volume as the Aqua-Ruby focused ones. Ruby, who mainly loves Aqua because he once was Goro and Kana, who just loves Aqua. Maybe he's doing it to contrast them (in favor of Kana, duh), or maybe he wants to show they're two sides of the same infatuation coin. One can dream, at least!

Speaking about not nice though, what the fuck is this 😭 I know Akane is trying to push Kana's buttons, but baby girl is switching from I-only-see-him-as-a-son!! I swear!!! to Haha actually! so swiftly that she's going to give herself whiplash. Plus, can't Aka let Akane push Kana's buttons while saying less OOC stuff? Granted, it's not like Kana knows Akane well, so of course she doesn't think it's weird for Akane to say that she wants to be with a boy on Christmas lmao

Poor Akane has gotten her eyes shut so tightly close that it's a wonder she doesn't walk into walls. She's really acting like a robot on auto-pilot 😂 When in the world will you be allowed to have a chapter of your own, Akane? When will we be able to look into your heart?

#my aquakane meta #except not quite again buuuuuuut old habits die hard #me: aqua and kana #I can foresee I'll be using that tag a lot even though when I started discussing OnK I said I'd rather talk about the ship I ship #rather than about the ship I find boring #alas Aka is forcing the content sooo discuss the content I shall lmao #fandom: onk #the next few chapters will either make or break aqua's character tbh #say a few prayers for the poor dude to make it

[bitimdrake]

I have solved jason todd discourse. The problem is that red hood/jason todd enjoyers are actually three completely different groups masquerading as one:

Fluff Jason Fans, who want him to be a pure hero, fully integrated into a loving and happy family. Desperate for his bloody reign of terror to be NBD and also not his fault. Huge fans of "good big brother Jason". Dislike when he is in any way bad.

Righteous Jason Crusaders, who want him to be a murderous antihero, estranged from his non-killing family but validated by the narrative. Desperate for him to show strong and consistent principles. Huge fans of "the people of Gotham actually love and respect Red Hood". Dislike when he is in any way wrong.

Tragedy Jason Lovers, who want him to be a traumatized kid come back wrong, haunting his family as he claws for satisfaction. Desperate for conflict that isn’t easily solved. Huge fans of when every character is being morally challenged and also miserable. Dislike when he is ever a clear-cut hero.

Therefore I propose henceforth Jason Todd comics, fic, analysis, and other discussion be clearly labelled with the appropriate category. This will solve all problems forever I think.

#* #*dc #jason todd #red hood #dc meta #this counts right? #so blah blah blah everyone can like the stories they like but the tags are My place to opine so #my problem with the first group is that i personally think all their stories are boring (sorry) #and my problem with the second group is that they are composing unironic essays about how the death penalty is Good Actually #the third group i am grasping gently yet solidly on the shoulder and giving a nod that conveys deep understanding #alternate group names cut from the post: boring / blinders / based #actually the worst part is i genuinely believe things we go smoother if we had popularly accepted ao3 tags for each #10to2

[turtleplushi]

Got bored (without text under the read more thingy)

#hey did you know this took 4 hours #not including breaks i mean #i didnt sit here for 4 hours straight i swear #well #not drawing at least #i need to go outside more i think #or impulsively paint my walls #white is just kinda boring to look at for too long #this has nothing to do with kirby nevermind #kirby anime #hoshi no kaabii #kirby of the stars #sword knight #blade knight #meta knight #tiff kirby #tuff kirby #fumu kirby #bun kirby #kirby #wolfwrath #turtle's art hoard

[zeravmeta]

im going through talent development plan and ultimate summer camp events again and what really strikes me about izuru's events even now is just how much compassion everyone has for izuru. and more than anything that despite finding everything boring izuru just goes around helping people.

like people ask him to help with menial tasks all the time and even though he finds it boring he just helps without really complaining. he does not turn down a single request from anyone. some characters call him out on being rude but at the same time they also immediately acknowledge that izuru doesn't really say these things will ill intent and moreso try to get him to actually use his talents for himself and to do basically anything compared to just being a machine that hopes peak applies directives to. It's also really striking to me how izuru has this like, negative self image in a weird way? he acknowledges that he's basically the smartest person on the planet but at the same time keeps insisting that if anyone were to stand beside him they would inevitably just leech off of him no matter what and with the way he refers to hopes peak I cant help but think that the steering committee actually programmed him in some ways to be subservient to them

despite all that though hes just incredibly earnest too. multiple characters like togami and kuzuryuu and ouma all offer him positions or just to stay with them after hopes peak and even though he's dismissive of the actual reasons why he also answers them completely honestly and says that he does seriously consider their offers. for all that life is boring to him, he does not hate living

#for all that you find everyone boring youre a really nice kid huh... #i think the friends izuru makes are also really funny. kaede specifically is his hype man #imo a good chunk of the combos in V3 and USC werent my cup of tea but theres a solid bunch of others that are just really funny #Danganronpa #izuru kamukura #zerav meta

[starsh0cked]

so today we have two adelines and a ton of half-polished doodles from yours truly...

#adeleine is fun to draw #this was mostly rendering practice until i got bored #unrendered adeleine was my first time drawing her #anyways character tags #kirby #kirby adeleine #adeleine kirby #kirby magolor #magolor #magolor kirby #gooey kirby #kirby gooey #marx kirby #kirby marx #meta knight #kirby meta knight #galacta knight #kirby galacta knight #morpho knight #kirby zero #zero kirby #dark nebula #elfilin #kirby elfilin #void #kirby void #void kirby #kirby oc #mienna #miennagala

[2hoothoots]

i was having a chuckle to myself last night about Gristol, and how his plans are basically:

Restore Ford Cruller's memory

Find Maligula

???

Profit

but then... of course they are, right? this is Gristol we're talking about. Fatherland Follies drives home again and again that he's still operating on a child's logic, a warped and reductive version of the world that he never bothered to grow out of. both of his memory vaults center on the images of his childhood, this idealized version of the past that he clings to no matter what. and that's still how he remembers Maligula, too - as this saviour figure, who rushes in to help him when he's in trouble.

[ID: Two slides from Gristol's memory vault, Glory to Grulovia! Left: Gristol clings to Maligula's back as she summons waves to sweep away his assailants. Right: Gristol and Maligula waving from a balcony as the people cheer. Gzar Theodore brandishes a dagger in the background.]

like so much else, Maligula represents a return to this idyllic childhood - to the peace and simplicity of his youth, when he was free from worries and responsibilities. in his mind, he doesn't need to make any further plans - once Maligula's back, everything will go back to normal. Maligula will make everything better.

...is what i thought, but then i remembered this line:

[Screenshot source. ID: Gristol, in Truman's body, bows on his hands and knees in front of the newly-awaked Maligula. The caption reads: "Yes, High Priestess! I am here to correct the mistakes made by my father!"]

and that's kind of interesting, right?

to be clear: this happens directly after Maligula sees Helmut-in-Gristol's-body, and recognises him. her line before this is:

"Little Gzesaravich! Have you come to pay for your father's sins?"

my first thought was that Gristol hadn't expected to still be in Truman's body by the time he managed to find Maligula, and this was him trying to placate her and buy some time until he could explain the situation. but watching the cutscene back, that's clearly not what's happening here. Gristol is answering as himself, and his response of throwing himself to his knees before her is, as far as i can tell, genuine.

so what is going on here?

in Fatherland Follies, there's this line in the ride narration that stuck out to me:

"Why didn't the Gzar help Maligula in her time of need? No one knows, but historians agree - it is Gzar Theodore's biggest failure."

other lines mention Gzar Theodore's "mistake", and it's wording Gristol himself echoes in the screencap above. evidently, he believes that his father abandoned Maligula, leaving her to her fate at the hands of the Psychonauts, and it was that mistake that lead to them being driven out of the country - that mistake which he seeks to correct. maybe he even feels like he has a debt to repay to her for his family turning their backs on her all those years ago.

the 'High Priestess' thing, though - that's kinda weird, and threw me for a loop the first time i played the game. it took me until my second playthrough to connect the dots, and remember how the room in the Lady Luctopus - Gristol's room - was full of Delugionist scribblings and symbols.

[Screenshot source. ID: left, the walls of the hidden backroom in Gristol's hotel suite, covered in scrawlings of eyeballs and Maligula's name. Right, the pinboard from the hidden backroom. On its surface are photographs and newspaper clippings connected by pieces of string.]

i mean, look at this stuff! he had a whole conspiracy board and everything!

we learn very little about the Delugionists and their beliefs as a whole during the game, but i think drawing the connection here suggests two important things. one: that Gristol was in deep with this stuff. i don't know how he linked up with them - maybe via old family connections, or just good old-fashioned digging (we know he's skilled at worming his way into peoples' good graces, after all) - but it seems likely that he's begun to internalise their ideas, maybe even warping his own memories of events. and two: the Delugionists themselves are, if you'll pardon the pun, pretty far off the deep end.

like... i understand why PN2 didn't go heavy on the "mass-murderer cult worship" aspect of things, in the end, but man this is such a tantalising glimpse into the wider mythos around Maligula. Gristol is proud and haughty and thinks himself above everyone else; the fact that his first reaction seeing Maligula is to throw himself to the ground at her feet says so much about the way he's come to see her. he's not just trying to bring back Maligula, his childhood bodyguard. he's trying to bring back Maligula, the High Priestess of the deluge, the semi-mythical figure whose supporters believe even death couldn't stop. he doesn't even flinch at the way she confronts him, and maybe it's because he's bought in so completely to this deified figurehead, this idea of Maligula; more a living force of nature than a person. and it all comes back to the same place: an abdication of responsibility, not just to the person who protected him when he was little but to this avatar of floods and destruction. Maligula will make everything better.

i'd write more about my thoughts on the Delugionists but that'd be taking a hard turn into speculation, and this is already kind of long and rambling so i'd better end it here. but what an unexpected and evocative line, right? it's some of the only stuff we have to go off of regarding the Delugionists as a whole, but i think it does such a good job of hinting at the wider story - at teasing another layer to the mythos surrounding Maligula, one whose ripples we see throughout the game but which never quite breaches the surface.

#psychonauts #psychonauts 2 #bored waiting at the airport so you get more psychonauts meta from me #the delugionists have been on my mind recently (because i Might Just have an upcoming au lorepost about them and also cults are fun) #so tossing my thoughts up here because people seemed to like the last few times i did this #and also it's my blog and i like to talk :) #related vent i HATE drafting posts in the tumblr editor because if you hit crtl+z to try and undo a formatting change #it deletes like half the post you just typed out #(yes i did it again while i was writing this. yes i'm still salty. why do i even bother) #what else... this is just becoming a disconnected thoughts dump #but if you've seen my posts you knew what you were signing up for when you hit the button to expand the post tags #there's new art coming hopefully this weekend if i can get it finished! it's more mermaid au designs #i'm two and a half weeks late for mermay but it turns out starting a new job and moving house doesn't leave you with a ton of free time #but that's okay it's never too late for mermaids #omg and artfight's coming up next month too! geez #i gotta make refsheets for the fsau trio because i would LOVE to get art of them #and this year i don't have a thesis to crunch on so i might actually have time to participate #oh and then in august i'm having top surgery! will make a proper announcement post for it at some point #i say 'announcement'. it's just a life update but it's nice to share #i'm super excited about it :) #i might end up blogging the process and recovery but obviously it won't be going here lol. i'd put it on my main #idk if anyone would find it useful but when i first started looking into surgery i had like very little idea about the whole process #and it's only through joining a bunch of online support/discussion groups that i managed to find more info and resources #so hey it might be useful to share? we'll see #our flight doesn't land for another fifty minutes so now i'm just writing in the tags because i'm bored #alright i'll proofread this and then post it when i land and have signal again. peace out yall hope your pride month is going well