[ SECRET POST #2010 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2010 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

01.


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02.
[Panic! at the Disco/One Direction]


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03.
[Mad Men]


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04.
[My Princess]


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05.
[Questionable Content]


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06.
[NCIS]


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07.
[Okami]


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08.
[la brigade chimérique]


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09.
[Ally McBeal]


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10.
[SS Omega]


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11.
[Final Fantasy XIII]


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12.
[A Song of Ice and Fire]


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13.
[Heroes]


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14.
[Salma Hayek and Cote De Pablo]


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15.
[True Love, "Holly's Class"]


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16.
[Star Trek TNG]


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17.
[Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core]


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18.
[Katawa Shoujo]


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19.
[US Women's Gymnastics]


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20.
[Legend of Korra]


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 042 secrets from Secret Submission Post #287.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 2 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[thene]

I get how it feels to find a fictional character who really speaks to you in that way; I've had maybe two or three of those and I don't even want to name them out loud because it would just sound so Sue-ish, when really all I'd ever want to say is thank you, you showed me how to become me, I am seriously not sure what I'd have been without you. (The best part is that I could make a laundry list of things I hate about them either as characters or as - theoretically - people. This is not about liking characters unconditionally.)

This is actually why I hate soulbonders/otakukin so goddamn much. They are taking something that is a normal human creative process of learning and becoming and making it ~all about them being inherently special~. The 'past life' stuff skeeves me - it makes no ontological sense and the way it's termed is WAY out of step with all the actual real religions that have beliefs regarding reincarnation, so it seems really disrespectful and appropriative to me when otakukin bring it up, but here's a better idea: You will be Zack in a future life, namely your own. The idea of him will live in your spine for ever and ever. Touch the back of your neck and draw it out whenever necessary. Because the whole point of hero characters is to share concepts of virtue and to help us learn to become (or to question becoming). They are designed to inspire you and teach you.

(fwiw, I saw your phantom cock comments upthread; phantom cock is pretty common among otherwise cisgender queer women. I don't have it much rn but I had a lot of it in my early teens, and I'm just cis and bi. I just wanted you to know that.)

[(Anonymous)]

The second part is the reason you won't find my real screen name involved in any of those communities. Those people outright terrify me.

The first part you wrote, though, that's kind of what I was going for. It's an immense relief and comfort for those characters to exist, and it's not really confined to just Japanese things. I still love anime and manga, but I'm not active in any of the fandoms at all. Hell, I'm not really an active fandom person anymore, haven't been since... God, I don't know, 2009? Between 2008 and 2009 was my most active fandom involvement. I do post fic every now and again, but only on FF.net. I try to be a positive and friendly person, I love to talk to people on AIM, and as I've said I only brought up those little points to... a grand total of three people. No one else needs to hear about it, especially to a constant, not-shutting-up-ever degree. I'm respectful enough not to do that.

And this is why I wonder why it's so wrong to believe in the little stupid things when you're not getting involved in anything. XD It's just fun to muse on, gives me inspiration, etc. In real life, I'm a pretty normal 20-something with a good job, a good home, wonderful parents, and great friends. I have everything I need/want (materially, anyway) to make me happy.

(Re: phantom cock, it's not even that. I mean, sometimes, yes, I do feel it, but it's less feeling it than wanting it to be real so I can put it to use. And I'm only attracted to men, just that I'd like to feel an intimate bond with another man on a more equal level. Do you understand that? *prays to be making sense*)

[thene]

I understand that from an emotional POV but I'm not sure it has to be that way and I am very sure it shouldn't; I don't want to live in a world where the only way to be intimate and equal with someone is to be the same gender. I understand where you're coming from because (having had a really sexist, heteronormative religious upbringing) when I first discovered slash I felt the same way - yay here is a space for romance without having to deal with gender inequality! But these days I'm in an LTR with a guy and while saying this is 'equal' would imply a level of perfection that I'm not sure exists, we're intimate and we make decisions together. I don't know that I'd have a better relationship if I was with a woman instead, or if I was a guy. And hey, believing in equality means believing that the genders of the people in a relationship do not dictate its depth, its intimacy, its meaningfulness or anything else. You can have beautiful relationships with guys wherever you end up settling on the gender spectrum.

It sounds like you're handling this well; top marks for classiness. I don't think it's wrong to get involved with characters in this way (obviously) but I do think it's by necessity a private activity. It's dancing on that line between imaginative play and deep instinctive conviction, and involving other people in that just leads to stuff like VB (more here; this shit makes the FF7 House look tame).