How Aziraphale looks when he sees his demon.

I'm not an artist, your honor. I just love him.

I have been identified by the Haiku Bot.

Made my day.

I really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker in the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special!

Then, it got me thinking... Neil Patrick Harris plays a lot a musically inclined villains, doesn't he? I can name four just off the top of my head:

1. Dr. Horrible in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2. Music Meister in Batman: The Brave and the Bold

3. Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events

4. The Toymaker in Doctor Who

Guess that's what happens when you can sing, dance, and play fun, campy villains.

Any others that I'm missing?

Ineffable Husbands

Please note that I am not an artist, but I love Good Omens and this popped into my head after season 3 was announced.

I love myself some ineffable husbands hurt/comfort and just thought I'd share.

I really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris as The Toymaker in the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Special!

Then, it got me thinking... Neil Patrick Harris plays a lot a musically inclined villains, doesn't he? I can name four just off the top of my head:

1. Dr. Horrible in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

2. Music Meister in Batman: The Brave and the Bold

3. Count Olaf in A Series of Unfortunate Events

4. The Toymaker in Doctor Who

Guess that's what happens when you can sing, dance, and play fun, campy villains.

Any others that I'm missing?

I agree with these points wholeheartedly, but I struggle with the thesis a bit. Fandom is a hobby, but it can also be a form of activism. The idea of intersectional representation in media along with how it is perceived by and interacted with through fandom was actually a significant portion of my master's thesis. The artistic freedom and differing opinions in fandom art and discussions can create a healthy form of activism, especially for those who feel underrepresented. I have read fanfiction where commenters have noted how much the work has helped them with their various struggles despite the change in canon material. Fandoms have used their art to challenge the status quo and provide community. Discourse in fandoms, when conducted respectfully, has impacted social and political awareness among its members too. However, the idea of activism by policing others in the fandom and bullying those you feel are problematic can often be problematic itself because it is limiting the very freedom that allows for other activism.

Bullying others for a difference of opinion or your own perceived values is never okay. I adore TMNT and am active in the fandom. I don't personally like T-cest so I avoid it, but I don't criticize those that write it. Is it taboo? Yes. Does it negatively impact our culture or people in any way? No.

I really like the 4th point made that those who ship a m/f pairing are not invading your space. As a member of the Loki fandom, I see this mentality quite often. I don't personally like the Loki/Sylvie relationship and prefer Loki/Mobius, but that doesn't mean that heterosexual shippers are invading "our" fandom space. Honestly, the hostility between the Sylki shippers and the Lokius shippers is nauseating (reading some of their comments about the others has literally made my stomach churn with anxiety).

As for number 6, it's true that women don't owe anyone an explanation for why they like a villainous character. I don't owe you an explanation on why I love the character of Loki although he is a villain just like I don't owe you an explanation for why I hate Himiko Toga because she is a villain. My best friend loves to play violent video games but can't stomach swatting a fly. Reality and fiction are not the same. I really enjoyed Killing Eve and the relationship between the main women (heroine and villainess). Does that mean I condone the horrible things that the villainess did? Nope. Does this mean I can't tell the relationship in the show is abusive? Nope, I can definitely tell. Do I still ship them for some reason? Yep. Oh, and speaking of abusive relationships and the enemies-to-lovers trope...

I also greatly appreciate the distinction between abusive relationships and enemies-to-lovers. They are not the same thing. The draw of relationships in fiction such as enemies to lovers does not, in any way, equate to advocating for abusive relationships. Heck, I just mentioned that I not only enjoy Killing Eve, but I also enjoy Loki/Mobius which could be interpreted as this trope. In fact, the idea of this relationship trope was one of the arguments against the ship because it was seen as starting from an abusive place. I think one of the main enemies-to-lovers that gets this comparison to abusive relationships the most often is when the enemy was the bully. I can see why this one gets a bit messy. The m/m ships with Deku from My Hero Academia are great examples. I read some Baku/Deku fanfics, despite my general lack of shipping in the MHA fandom, and enjoyed them because they require character growth on the part of the bully. The bully character is loved by many fans despite their ongoing hostility towards the protagonist (similar to #6 but the bully is also considered a hero so the discourse does get a bit funky here in the fandom). In fact, their friends-to-enemies-to-friends arch is messy and it is abusive in canon with few perceived consequences for the bully. I think, however, that the appeal may be similar for the Bake/Deku shippers as it was for me reading the fanfics: there is unexplored territory for the character dynamics here and a satisfying redemption arch that we have yet to see (as of my writing this).

Ah! I wrote so much! Why did I do this? Might need to delete it later...

TLDR: I love this post and its points are so necessary in fandom discourse right now. Still, I think fandom can be a healthy form of activism as well, allowing for representation and conversations that wouldn't otherwise exist through the media itself.

a few reminders because i’m tired and angry

fandom is a hobby, not a form of activism

adult women aren’t inherently creepy for being in fandom and having hobbies apart from raising babies and doing taxes

the vast majority of people pushing back against the worrying trend of instigating harassment over fictional characters and relationships aren’t incest supporters or pedophiles, actually

liking a m/f ship doesn’t make someone a dirty heterosexual invading your space

preferring gay ships doesn’t make you ‘’woke’’ and good

no one owes you a disclaimer that they are a good person who recognizes that their favorite fictional villain’s actions are evil and that they don’t condone those actions irl

liking a fictional villain is in no way comparable to advocating abuse/murder/genocide/etc and you’re a fucking idiot if you believe that

just because a woman is attracted to a fictional villain doesn’t mean she’s promoting toxic relationships or going to end up in a toxic relationship. assuming women can’t tell fiction and reality apart stinks of internalized misogyny 

some rando’s a/b/o fanfics have none of the level of influence that popular tv shows and movies spreading propaganda have

no one owes you a detailed description of their traumas and mental health problems

abusive relationships are not the same as enemies to lovers ships

y’all need to chill the fuck out over people, relationships, actions and events that don’t actually exist and learn how to enjoy and discuss them like normal people

fandom is a hobby, not a form of activism

feel free to add more

My sleep-deprived brain loves this idea! Give me all the glorious Tao bromance and whump.

…

you know what my sleep-deprived brain realizes the world needs right now? A gritty reboot to that early 2000’s Beastmaster show that had elementary school me fawning over Dar’s hot nerd!boi sidekick for years.

Happy Life Day!

Happy Life Day, everyone!

No new Mandalorian this holiday season so here's just a little Grogu I drew to made the day a little brighter.

Just gonna leave these here...

Loki and Mobius

"'Til Him" lyrics from The Producers

Doctor Who "Misery"

This is what goes through my head every time I hear Maroon 5's song "Misery"...

Oh, yeah!

Perhaps an unpopular opinion but..

this scene:

and this scene:

had more chemistry than many of the Sylki scenes for me.

Sorry to Sylki shippers (No hate. You do you, y'all!), but I just never felt the chemistry between them (probably due to being demi-aro/ace). I did, however, feel an immediate draw between Sylvie and B-15. Maybe because they weren't intended to be romantic so the interactions felt more genuine? Idk.

Reblog! Caw caw!

In case any of you haven't seen, there's a petition going to save shadow and bone!

Dear Loki series,

Why was a Norse goddess wearing an ancient Egyptian ankh?

Was it symbolism? If so, why an Egyptian symbol rather than Norse?

Was it the 80's/90's asthetic? If so, why the ankh over another jewelry choice?

Noticed it immediately and it still bothers me even though the series has ended.

Sorry. I'm opinionated. I'll go back to hiding under my rock.

Remember when Mobius said he needed a Loki Who Remains?

...and then Loki basically became that...

I don't think that's what he meant, Loki. That's not what he meant!

Loki and "the quest"

For those who don't know the idea of "the quest" in storytelling, it is the idea that the reason a character goes on a journey or task they want to achieve at the beginning is never the real reason and is not achieved (Foster 3). Loki's journey fits that idea.

As a villain in the MCU, Loki's quest is, on the surface level, to fulfill his glorious purpose and rule over others.

Through this quest he fails to achieve this goal multiple times after trying to defeat Thor and his attempt to conquer New York. Once at the TVA, this quest is interrupted thanks to Mobius.

While Loki ended up being right that he was burdened with glorious purpose, it wasn't what he believed it would be. The real reason for the quest was to discover and develop a better version of himself, a person who was willing to made an ultimate sacrifice for those he cares about and the universe he then sought to protect rather than conquer.

A similar idea in story telling is the idea of what a character wants and what they need. The tension between what he wants and what he needs also mirrors Loki's journey in the MCU. This is exemplified in the Loki season 2 finale when Loki states that he "knows what he wants" and then that he "knows what kind of god he needs to be."

In the end, what a character thinks they want and what they set out on a journey to find isn't necessarily what they really want or true reason for their quest. Loki found his glorious purpose, but it didn't look anything like he expected. It was a true burden and sacrifice he was willing to accept because he finally found what he really wanted, what he needed: love and respect.

When queerbaiting comes back to haunt you years later.

Somedays I remember NETFLIX's Voltron series and I remember how the creators assured the fans of LGBTQ representation and to "just wait." Then, it ended up being Shiro who was originally going to be killed off until the studio later said no. Soooo....were they:

1.) lying about the representation at the beginning

or

2.) planning other representation and then scrapped for Shiro's rushed reveal with his "bury your gays" boyfriend Adam?