#Z is also doing really poorly in this situation

[batwynn]

The family and work situation for my friend Z has gotten worse, and their cat is still in urgent need pf surgery. Their parents refuse to help with Mila, complain about her urinating outside of the box, and threaten to get rid of her. Their parents also completely control their life, including but not limited to taking every penny they were earning before their job let them go. (Hooray for a at will work state) Z needs to get out of there, but most importantly Mila needs medical help.

If you can spare a few $ I am still offering art for donations, and if you can please, please signal boost this! Z and Mila are running out of time.

[ivysprophecy]

slim pickins

warnings; bad date? mentions of sex, cursing underage drinking and yes i meant for it to be written poorly i was trying to keep the humor of the album in the writing

masterlist | p. 2

no pressure tags; @murdockcastleslut @kimoralov3 @arkofblake

word count; 1911

summary; youre tired of not finding a decent guy who will treat you right and lay you right. at least not one you've known since you were kids. however you just cant help yourself. besides its slim pickins out here you take what you can get.

divider by @bernardsbendystraws

i wanna make one thing clear, when i say there are no good guys left i do not wanna hear about you and your boyfriend of three years that can cook and loves your mom.

thats exactly what im talking about maddie!!! i dont give two fucks that he took you to barnes and noble and bought you every book you wanted.

they are all taken. its plain and simple.

which is why even with a full roster, im stuck taking fucking zander, yes with a z, to my friends' kegger.

i mean yea hes cute. hes tall, built but not that gross kind of muscly. but if were being real i shouldve known better when he was joking about being a male stripper when hes a ginger.

and i can tell kie is judging me, rightfully so. her side eye is lethal. when i introduced him to everyone she asked him about his greta van fleet tee and he said he didn't even know it was a band.

needless to say pope had to drag her away.

after that incident i decided it was best if we tried to talk away from the rest of the group. boy was i wrong.

"so what do you like to drink? ill go grab us something," i offer trying to start the conversation, also avoiding the usual problem with taking a drink from men.

"im good with whatever"

i like to think im not a violent person, but im about to be.

"does a beer sound okay?" i ask him grabbing a twisted tea for me from the cooler.

"sure thing." god why is he acting like such a bitch? i should ask him if he's on his period.

i hand him the can, our fingers brush and its my final clue for the night that i am definitely not going home with him. no spark at all. hes done just about everything else to piss me off.

he did the thing where he licks his lips exaggeratingly looking me up and down, making a point to make sure i saw.

he walks so slow for being 6'3.

and finally he tried to mansplain my career to me. i'd had just enough when he opens his mouth again

"ew, you like twisted tea? who likes sweet tea?" his face contorted in disgust, it was about to contort from my fist breaking his goddamn nose if he keeps talking to me like this.

"we literally live in the south dude." my face could not make it any clearer i am so done with this guy.

"still, sweet tea is disgusting. im not kissing anyone that drinks that nasty shit."

"who said i wanted to kiss your nasty fucking mou-" i was interrupted by the sound of a very familiar giggle behind me as his arm wrapped around my shoulder, the smell of his deodorant and sea salt that cover his skin start to put you at ease.

jj was always there when you needed him, sometimes even when you didnt but right now you couldn't be more grateful. "im glad you found those mama i got em just for you. remembered theyre your favorite. right?"

and you wanna know the best part? zander is shaking already pissed off that jj is at my side. territorial i guess.

"you mind?" he asks him nodding his head at me like im not even there.

jj cant help but laugh at him "yea bud i do mind. she's hanging out with me tonight. have fun with your ipa dick." and with that he steers us off to where the rest of the pogues are.

but not before i can look over my shoulder and give the ginger an innocent smile and a shrug as if i had no control over the situation, when really id pick jj over anyone else.

"you owe me a big fat kiss mama," jj whispers in my ear walking us over to where our friends are standing, drinks in their hands laughing and chatting up a storm.

"in your dreams honey."

"every night all night," he quips back before i shove him off me.

now before you give me shit, jj and i have had our fair share of fun, but unfortunately im starting to look for something more serious.

watching john b and sarah be disgusting together is getting to my head. popes got something going on with cleo and im starting to recognize the pattern. and before i know it everyone will be in love if i don't start making an effort in that department.

random casual hook ups aren't doing it anymore, especially considering they aren't even that good.

unless theyre with jj.

but hes not an option, theres too much drama. too much history. too much too much too much. im not what he needs and i know for a fact he doesn't want me in that sense.

is that a bit dramatic? probably.

i mean hes a great lay, he's hilarious, he's got that blue collar kind of muscle, and he genuinely cares about me.

so of course im not going to date him, why would i?

what do you mean make good decisions? id rather do things in the most difficult way possible!

"y/n youve gotta stop giving those guys a chance, im starting to feel bad for you."

"you try finding a decent guy in a ten mile radius." i glare at him, obviously not wanting to joke about this right now.

he sticks his hand out in front of me, "fine i will. let me see your phone."

curious to see what he will do i hand it too him unlocked, he swipes and taps for a few moments, smiling down at the phone before handing it back to you.

when you look back down at the screen all you see is your instagram open with his stupid fucking smiley face on the screen.

he took a picture of himself and posted to my story. written on the screen in bubble letters in my favorite colored heart 'my favorite guy <3'

"i think he's your best bet." that same smile facing back at me now, cockier than ever. so smug i wanna kiss it off his face

i cant help but roll my eyes. "jj im serious! at this rate im going to die alone. every decent guy is taken or unavailable. all i want is someone funny, kind, and attractive is that too much to ask for?"

"im right in front of you mama you dont gotta look far."

"jj we both know we're not the serious kind of relationship im talking about."

"you can think what you want too but ill be here waiting for that kiss you owe me."

"i think all that tequila youve been sipping has gone to your head maybank."

he stands in front of me, taking his signature red cap off his head and putting it on mine smiling down at me, "what do they say in those books you read? you wear the hat you ride the cowboy?"

"this no ten gallon hat and you are no cowboy."

we laugh at each other, its always been easier to do that then actually talk about our feelings. so i put his hat back on his head, backwards the way he i likes it.

"cmon y/n/n, have a few more drinks, relax and hang out and ill make you feel all better later yea? its what im best at, you know."

"its gonna take more than a few more teas to convince me jj"

"what about that thing you like that i do with my tongue, huh mama? doesnt that sound pretty good right now? i think it does."

"i give you one fucking compliment and it goes straight to your head."

"technically its about my head so that makes perfect sense," he hands me another can with that stupid signature smirk of his and his stupid sexy hat backwards. i hate to admit it's working on me.

just like it does every other time.

i squint my eyes at him taking the can, rolling the idea around in my head. "fuck it. its not like anyone else is offering," i take a big sip of my drink.

jj pumps his fist in the air like a victorious idiot giving a few woots and hollars before picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder despite my wishes.

"jb!!" he shouts turning around to face him, "we're headed out!"

john b looks at the two of us shaking his head at how im kicking my feet to wiggle out of jjs oddly strong grip. "make sure you change the sheets when youre done!"

oh my god he did not just say that. "fuck both of you!"

jj just laughs carrying you back to the chateau like a kid who's excited to use a brand new birthday present.

"what happened to letting me have a few more drinks before we left??"

"youre just too irresistable mama, gotta have you now,' he gives my ass a light slap for good measure causing me to roll my eyes for the 600th time tonight.

"are you gonna put me down now?"

he pretends to look like hes thinking about it, "i guess. only so i can watch you walk away," he does as he says helping me get my feet on the ground.

"youre a pervert."

"no im flirtatious, and you love it, you know it makes you blush i see it. now go on and give me a lil walk yea?"

oh im gonna kill him...

oh wait! im gonna kill him!

"okay... fine. but no touching until we get home," i smile walking away exactly like he asked, but i know behind me he is a puddle of mud. standing still, about to start begging me to let him.

he finally catches up after a few seconds "mama please- cmon thats not fair. you look too good in those shorts you know i cant wait that long. just wanna feel you."

i cant help but giggle at his words, its honestly adorable how mopey he gets. like i just kicked his puppy or something.

"hands of jj i mean it... not until that door shuts behind us."

it didn't really matter that i can see the chateau or that ill be there in literally a minute.

its actually painful for jj to not be able to touch me as he pleases.

i turn around to face him with a cheeky smile. "you want me maybank?"

and of course he nods so hard it looks like his head is going to fall right off.

"come and get me," running towards the house, i can see the moment when his reflexes kick in, his boots thudding against the ground as he gains on me.

just before i can make it to the poarch jj wraps his arms around me, lifting me a few inches off the ground and spinning me around in a fit of laughter.

"okay! okay okay okay you win- you got me."

"oh ive got you mama, and im havin you for the rest of the fucking night," he presses a kiss to my neck hauling me inside, the screen door slamming shut after us.

am i gonna regret this tomorrow? most likely.

but what can i say? its slim pickins in this part of town.

[kdinjenzen]

Now I'm curious WRT how 'Barbie' didn't hit for you.

I’ll say this first. If you liked the movie, I’m happy for you and I’m not here to tell you to hate the movie. I’m glad you enjoyed it and hope you continue to enjoy it.

That said… this movie was NOT for me and I did not enjoy its story at all. I loved the set design, costume design, the performances, the music, the dedication to creating the world, all that stuff was great.

The plot itself. It felt circular without actually purposefully dealing with the issues it tried to talk about.

The fact that Doctor Barbie, who is trans, is the one who is told to “go seduce Ken by telling him you feel don’t feel pretty” - as if this isn’t something that leads to violence toward trans women in the real world and also why her to be the one who doesn’t feel pretty? Wtf?

The Kens of Barbieland are basically all losers, are grossly incompetent compared to Barbie, treated poorly, and our main Ken (aka Beach Ken) has severe self worth issues… so naturally all the Kens become the villains and are able to overthrow all of Barbieland later on in the movie by doing …. they never explain how. Somehow a world full of, and built by, the most capable women ever are overthrown by like 20 dudes who they treated poorly and who aren’t very smart. Beach Ken’s root problems are only barely resolved and none of it feels meaningful.

Gloria and Sasha, the human characters who work with Barbie to fix Barbieland, are just as much caricatures and tropes as Barbie herself. Sasha, the daughter, is a mean Gen Z who just openly lashes out at Barbie (a stranger), and everyone else who is actually nice to her, for no reason. Gloria is “a sad mom who pretends to be happy” but they never explain why at all, it’s assumed that it’s because “she lives in a patriarchy”, but the only person who’s directly mean to her in the film is… her daughter.

Gloria gives a speech to each Barbie, individually, to snap them out of the Ken’s brainwashing (which like AGAIN how did that happen? It makes no sense at all and just confuses me) - the speeches are not empowering at all, they’re just about how women in the real world suffer a double standard on how to exist and SOMEHOW with all those depressing revelations thrown at them it… restores their self-confidence/self-worth and undoes the brainwashing?

Weird Barbie, whom everyone says is ugly and gross and they have violent “EW!!!” reactions to her face, is played by Kate FUCKING McKinnon. Meanwhile Stereotypical Barbie, while having an ugly cry breakdown about (again) not being pretty anymore, is played by Margot FUCKING Robbie. A fact that the movie points out as “the wrong casting choice to have this scene and cast Margot Robbie as Barbie saying she’s ugly.”

I heard so much about how it was a “queer positive movie” but there’s nothing queer about nor really in the movie. So it got to cling to the rainbow and scream “allyship” and everyone praised it for essentially doing nothing.

Everyone is like… mean? Everything feels so mean and mean spirited. It’s supposed to be very tongue in cheek, very snappy and quick, and everyone has a comeback for every situation but… it just really feels like everyone is just being mean for the sake of being mean and it makes moments where you’re supposed to feel sympathy for any character just drop immediately when they say the rudest shit ever for literally no reason.

They talk about Midge, aka the pregnant woman in the Barbie line, and then say “no don’t look at her anymore, she’s weird and creepy” … which AGAIN feels like that statement undercuts the point of women empowerment that the movie wants you to take away from watching the film?

It tries to balance jokes and seriousness in a way that undercuts the message of “society is kind fucked up and broken” that they’re trying to talk about. The “good guys” are also constantly mistreating other people, the “Barbieland bad guys” became bad by going to the real world and leaning “patriarchy”, the “Real world bad guys” literally do nothing except take up movie time for random gags and really don’t service the plot at all, and as much as it’s like “TAKE THAT MAJOR CORPORATION” at every turn… the movie was fully approved by Warner Bros Discovery AND Mattel… so it’s never actually going to say anything worthwhile about corporate greed and corruption without putting on kiddie gloves to do so.

The only person who I felt true sympathy for, understood their reasoning, and felt they deserved a happy ending was ALLAN, aka Ken’s Best Friend, who is treated equally like shit by basically everyone in the film. Allan points out that Barbieland and the Real World both kinda suck, how life is only just slightly more miserable there after the Ken’s took over, and how he just “wants to run away” and when given the chance does so, only to defend Sasha and Gloria from a bunch of Ken’s single handedly and telling them to “get out while they can”… and then is subsequently brought back to Barbieland by Sasha and Gloria to fix everything and… AGAIN none of this pays off because Allan’s purpose is dropped immediately when they get back to Barbieland. And Allan is played by MICHEAL CERA. I feel like I’m losing my mind at this point.

It feels like the movie wants to talk about the issues women face in all walks of life, but is never able to punch hard enough to make that message matter nor stick. It talks around gender issues, self worth issues, and problems in society without actually saying something real about them. The meanness of all the dialogue makes me really not care about pretty much anyone in the movie because… man I’m just so fucking tired of everything and everyone having to be “mean” in movies to prove a point.

The movie ends with a gynecologist appointment.

I dunno what to tell you. The plot is “not for me” and I didn’t really connect with anything.

The movie just made me sad and disconnected because of how much everyone praised it, saying it “made me proud to be a woman” or “it’s inventive, immaculately crafted and surprising mainstream films in recent memory - a testament to what can be achieved within even the deepest bowels of capitalism.”

And it didn’t feel like that for me at all.

Maybe it’s because of all the “that’s womanhood” talk throughout the movie. Because I’ve had so many women in power give me that speech after I came out as trans only to be abused directly by them in the same way that they said men abused them all while I was still ALSO being abused by the same men who abused them too. So like YIPPEE this fucking SUCKS and it was kinda trauma triggering!!

Maybe it’s because I’ve worked in the entertainment industry for 17+ years and know how stuff like this gets made and how many corporate approvals you need for it to make the “take THAT major corporations and CEOs!” jokes land like a dead fish on the floor. The people they are directly calling out said “yes, this level of joke at the expense of our richness and power is okay” and that’s the ONLY reason any of those moments are in the movie. So it doesn’t even really fucking matter, it’s all manufactured, it’s all there to make you feel like it’s doing something when the people with all the power just allowed it to happen. It’s not a “win” or a “heavy blow to their ego”, they literally don’t care.

So I DUNNO, this movie kinda just made me feel depressed and made me remember how badly I had been treated by people after coming out regardless of that person’s gender. The movie felt mean in a way that was too “on the nose” and real for me but then praised most of the characters for their mean actions or words.

[doggrowth]

Is it too late to say that I don’t understand the all timelines thing in Arcane?

I might delete this later because a) it’s a ramble and b) if someone responds with “i agree season 2 was ass” I’ll cry because I’m just criticizing this one aspect rn.

My confusion lies in the way fandom talks about jayvik. Various phrases I’ve heard used are:

Mage Viktor spends his entire lifetime travelling timelines one by one to save Jayce

Jayce is unable to kill Viktor in 99% of the timelines

Viktor dooms Jayce to eternal torture to try and fix his mistakes

There are more but I can’t remember

And it feels like the fandom interprets some of these things as fact, really embracing the doomed yaoi kinda thing. But I never really understood those comments but now that I’m thinking about it I’m just confused.

Soooo I consulted Reddit. Which is not my first time trying to understand it that way. And I vaguely remember people saying it’s a time loop but I don’t remember the details. But I saw this post:

I like this theory a lot. It makes the most sense to me. Even if it paints Viktor in a bad light, that he’s endlessly experimenting with Baby Jayce to change the timelines to find a solution - he’s a scientist and he will test different variables in the name of progress. But it’s not definitive.

But then why is there so much emphasis placed on the acceleration rune? Like I thought that Viktor came to the conclusion that all fates are better without the glorious evolution. And that the happenstance situation with Ekkos acceleration rune Z Drive had to perfectly combine with the timeline where Jayce also had that rune. And the ending also felt so final. Like the idea that this is just one timeline and then Mage Viktor’s like “alright onto the next” feels lame to me. I would like for there to be some way that the ending in Arcane fixed all the timelines but idk I don’t think that’s the case.

Listen I love Jayvik. But Viktor, who always wanted to help humanity, saving timelines just for Jayce never sat right with me. I 100% believe Jayce is a motivating factor. I’m a Viktor loneliness syndrome truther. But I don’t think he would’ve done it just for Jayce. I also don’t think he would’ve wanted to hurt Jayce.

So I’m confused. Listen I don’t like creators coming out after shows are released and going “yes this is what happened” (which is why I don’t really want jayvik to me made canon after the fact, I’d rather it be on screen or in official text in the future). But I legit want the writing team to explain this to us.

I saw one of the writers say early on that “because there is so much focus on multiverse related content, we don’t need to go super in depth as to how a time travelling Viktor is possible because audiences are very likely already familiar with the multiverse concept.” And while I agree that spending unnecessary screentime explaining something we already know would be redundant, it gets confusing when there are this many questions about what actually happened. I hope to god the writers actually know what happened and they didn’t just watch Avengers Endgame and go “yeah let’s do that”. With how much care they put in I don’t think that’s what they’d do. I feel like they’d have an idea. And I wouldn’t mind if they came out and explained it.

But alas creators don’t like to explain the confusing stuff in their plot.

I feel like S1 of Arcane does “show, don’t tell” so well. And S2 of Arcane does “show, don’t tell” so poorly. It’s great having a story where the creators trust their audience. But it kinda feels like they got caught up in the implicit details that they missed out on explicitly explaining certain story beats.

Uggggghhhh. I like season 2. I really enjoyed watching season 2!!! But I am aware of its many flaws and once I start thinking about them my mentally ill monkey brain interprets criticism as disliking something. And I hate disliking things that aren’t objectively bad. This show has brought me joy and passion and there was so much work put into it and it’s beautiful and I don’t want to dislike that! I wish I could just fully embrace enjoying something that is mid without needing to justify my every single thought.

Like the Prequels those are mid and I’ve convinced myself into thinking they’re good, coherent movies. Why can’t I do that here? (Because I don’t want to be delulu and I don’t want people to think less of me for enjoying something “bad”)

Anyways. Can you guys guess what I’m diagnosed with?

[moghedien]

I've seen you say a few times that a lot of modern magic systems aren't really magic and are basically science or math (or sci-fi), and specifically mention Brandon Sanderson's systems. Maybe it's just because I'm not very familiar with his work (I've only read mistborn era 1 and the first 3 books of the stormlight archive) but it seems to me his magic systems are god-given, explained to death, video-gamey magic with basically an energy bar, and I don't really understand how that'd be science, math or sci-fi. Would you mind explaining that to me? (I also don't really understand the whole hard magic vs soft magic thing. E.g., to me classic spells and wot weaving seem functionally the same yet the former is generally considered soft and the latter hard)

Describing it as video gamey is actually exactly it, because video games and even table top games that use magic are basically the same thing, because they have to be. They have very specific rules that are always going to the constant. Once you know the rules, you can minmax and manipulate scenarios around those rules, but the rules are still very much in place and very constant.

Video games are like that because they have to be, they’re programs. Table top games are like that also because they have to be to be useable for a general audience, but a GM can in theory decide to throw out said rules and decide something else happens based on vibes. That’s the simplest example I can give on the difference between hard and soft magic. Magic that follows rules is hard magic. Magic that follows vibes is soft magic.

When it comes to Sanderson, I call his magic systems math because they’re so intentionally formulaic. Doing X thing will always cause Y action. You may be able to manipulate situations around that formula in unexpected way. You may be able to throw in unexpected variables or you may unexpectedly encounter something you didn’t account for that throws off the expected outcome, but the formula is always going to be the same. No matter how many times you do it. No matter who is doing it (as long as they have the basic ability to use the magic), x+y will always equal z

The reason why I say that isn’t magic is because it’s extremely orderly and predictable. If you look at like, most magical representations in antiquity, it’s very much a chaotic force. You can try to harness it and do things with it, but you can’t control chaos and you’ll probably end up with some unexpected outcomes even if you’re skilled and careful. Also it’s largely used in like stories just to like, deliver some moral or cause some problem so it’s literally just a tool to add chaos that can’t otherwise be accounted for.

People can write “hard” magic all they want and I like Cosmere and all, but Branderson specifically as well as a lot of other fantasy writers have a problem with thinking that any magic that isn’t clearly defined for readers is bad. Branderson specifically seems to think that it’s poor writing and a mistake on the writers part if they somehow forgot to come up with never changing magic rules for the readers to obsess over.

If that’s the case though then the Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit were the worst fantasy books every written because Tolkien is like THE best example of soft magic in fantasy. No one knows what the fuck the rules of magic are in those books, but somehow it still isn’t bad writing when Gandalf comes back from the dead or dropping a ring in some lava kills Satan. Like even when we get explanations it’s just like “accept this is the case for this one situation but apply it to nothing else.” A more recent example of soft magic is in the Poppy War, which is a book I would love to hear Branderson or his fans try to say is poorly written because of the magic

Wheel of Time has a sort of combination of hard and soft magic though, which is where a lot of the criticism toward Branderson came up because he seems to ignore this when discussing the books/show. Weaves and channeling and such are on the harder side and have rules that do largely remain constant (except when they don’t), but then there’s things like Tel’aran’rhiod and the Ogier and ter’angreal in general and the horn of Valere and the heroes attached to it and taveren where it’s just largely like “yeah this is how it is don’t worry about it”

Anyway, all this to say I really do actually hate the terms hard and soft magic but they’re the most useful terms we have

[poppyandzena]

I don’t mean to make light of the situation but “time crunch to slander an ex” is really funny and just shows how poor (and hypocritical) p&z’s priorities are

Like you berated and abused spawn for not immediately having a job (on top of the unreasonable chore expectations) and yet when you’re unemployed you prioritized live streaming instead (ik they make money from streaming but they’ve said before that they refuse to make it their primary source of income)

Also I don’t mean to judge for struggling to get a job at all, I’m just pointing out the hypocrisy

They're not good streamers. They're not good marketers. They're not good content creators. I only discovered them through the Courtney interview, and it was so poorly organized I felt disappointed on Courtney's behalf by the second "interview."

No streamer is entitled to support and money. I do not feel bad for their dwindling streamer income because they refuse to optimize their brand and pay their "volunteers" properly.

I'm sure they were better before their behaviors snowballed and they indulged in algorithmic self-poisoning.

[blueharuka]

Yep, still salivating from that Legends Z-A trailer reveal.

That was such an AWESOME thing to wake up to! I have my concerns, as usual (Most specifically, which Pokémon are allowed in the game), but overall, I think what we saw looks beautiful and super fun, so I’m definitely hyped!

Also, I don’t exactly care that much for battling as much as everyone else (Battles are cool, but I care more for the bonding aspect of Pokémon games), but I guess I can say I’m a little intrigued by Pokémon Champions as well.

What’s grabbed my attention is that apparently Pokémon in HOME can be transferred there too after some time?…so you mean, my babies won’t need to rot in HOME as a static 3D model image for another 5 years? I can actually play with them in some way in another game while they wait to be transferable to any future mainline title??? REAL SHIT??

It’s not exactly what I would’ve preferred, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction! I can totally appreciate that they’re finally taking the steps to remedy the fucked up mess they caused back in 2019 with that godforsaken Dexit debacle (I really don’t give a Raticate’s ass who hates what I have to say on that matter, ‘inevitable’ or not, it SHOULD NOT have happened the way that it did. They handled that situation so poorly). But either way, I’m just happy they’re finally doing something to fix that mess.

It’s a slow process, but this gives me hope that being a Pokémon fan is finally gonna be fun again.

[etherealbluenightsky]

Man fuck you, you're her ex-boyfriend. You know what I am? Her Z boyfriend. Zeta Chad. That means she comes first and I come last. Like fucking FOIL and PEMDAS. Like if it were a numbers game I wouldn't even be a Googolcuck. You know what I would be? A Chrono-quantum-infinicuck. Like It's a question of do I even exist. Like sometimes we've fucked almost but like I can't see my penis so it's like a Schrodinger's cat situation and so like I never know if my penis has even gone in.

Like sometimes I'll think I'm flicking her bean but she transforms like poorly done AI generated video clips into a Bush's baked Bean commercial. You ever had that happen to you? No.

Like I can travel through multiple different timelines simultaneously and like one time I thought I was hitting it from the back but I was actually hitting it from the front, a concrete barrier in my car though. So then I like died and woke up in a different timeline.

Sometimes my nuts will dangle and bounce into each other and other times it's like I'm a hologram and they'll phase through each other.

One time she was trying to get on top and ended up floating above me spinning slowly in a circle cuz apparently I'm also a really good superconductor and it affects the magnetic charges of her body

[a-thirst-for-dunmer]

My favorite things about all my Skyrim followers:

KAIDAN

-wicked ass armor and weapon with fucking tigers on it

-realistic cursing in life or death situations

-literally the most realistic male dialogue ever with his corny ass innuendos. ‘This monument, does it remind you of me, love? Just kidding.’

-so goated in battle. Mans can kill a dragon so easy and i don’t need to do anything but look pretty

-ACCENT.

CARYALIND

-his hair is so fluffy. I bet it smells like roses and vanilla bean, what’s your secret bb

-such a sweetheart all the time. No wonder he can’t be Thalmor, he has too much heart for it

-fucking backstory. It’s very Zuko without villain redemption arc, and the fact that he still worries about the LDB thinking worse of him for being Thalmor royalty is just *chef’s kiss*

-ACE REP. I really fucking love how he can dress like a hoe, flirt like a hoe, and look so hot but have no interest in sex. Mmm that’s my jam that’s what I like.

-boob window

-Kaidan interactions! Proving that Altmer can be kind and sweet and not lighting-shooting British assholes

INIGO

-the backstories for everyone are so damn tearjerking but this guy?? Don’t even get me started on this mans scars I will cry

-literally autism. Says everything on his mind. Sir you are me

-blue. And a cat. What else??

-Lucien and him have a bromance that hits so good

-suplexes Nazeem with only his vibes

-sings original songs, where’s his soundcloud

KHASH

-okay first off i was writing a character just like her for the daughter of my LDB and Revyn. Never knew about her but this is Leeta come to life and i crave it

-pottymouth

-Kaidan Big Bro protection dialogue

-so happy when she kills things

-literally exactly what I expected a baby Argonian to sound like. So cute. So grumpy

-her outfit is just on point. If i hadn’t transitioned i would be cottagecore peasant dress woman with cats

LUCIEN

-like Cary, he is just sweet himbo no brain

-kid in a candy shop vibes. He is amazed by the wonders of this world

-the nerdiest mans you know, would probably never shut up about shit with Auryen but i haven’t gotten that far yet

-bottom energy

-AUTISM once again

-also sings!! Can sing ‘Toss a Coin to Your Witcher’ parody!!

AURI

-she is the Moment

-eats people and only meat. Wanna see someone react to ThatVeganTeacher with her as a vtuber model oml

-bullies Lucien (affectionately)

-cool pod

-looks like she could kill you and could actually kill you

-slams ALL haters and unworthy into the ground with her dialogue. Faendal ily but you don’t deserve her

RUMARIN

-a sweetheart himbo

-very Skilled with magic, specifically bound weapons. As someone who uses conjuration as their main line of magic, because dremora and bound bow go brr, I LOVE THAT

-not really good at speaking poorly of anyone tbh

-like lucien, he’s optimistic and fun to be around

-very…earthy. Jank. Grungy. Not what you’d expect from an Altmer, to be living as an adventurer mercenary, and i like that for him

-eats in bed, brain too empty to clean for long periods of time

-polyamorous pansexual King

-says Z like zed, which makes linguistics in Skyrim lore interesting

NEBARRA

-literally me

-sarcasm to the max

-name means ‘foreigner’ or ‘scorned’ or something transgender. anyway, king nihilist shit

-only wants the good wines

-also, the Accent, very good very sass

-Shakespearean insults for days

-also regular insults

-just…insults

-mystery and striking fear into the hearts of all

TALIESIN

-i thought no one could top Revyn in vibes of what Elder Scrolls character i would kin but then ✨he✨ came along

-no idea why Altmer are Brits but with him, i can vibe with it he sounds so good

-giggles evilly in fights

-s a s s

-pansexual!! We are putting queer in the game! (Even tho all vanilla spouses are, in the most Basic sense, bisexuals)

-the spice he can add with Cary as a protector/snarky best friend. I Need their backstory

-afraid of dogs, cat person

-just an absolute bitch to the Dragonborn but like in a way my gay friends are to me

-eyeliner on fleek

HONORABLE MENTIONS FOR SKEEVER AND CROC

-silly voice go brrr

[theomnicode]

Old but good; analyzing Genos in the aftermath

I can't get over the fact that Genos actually went out his way to titivate himself up for Saitama for their spar.

I would call it seduction tactics when he's trying so hard to dress up nicely in collared shirt that shows his black and sleek looking arms, his nice neck and is thin enough to glow through. All tricks on table when it comes to getting into sensei's favour. Anything that works, like being catty or dressing up well or showing his power. Then later discarding said tactic when it didn't actually work out for him.

Hilariously enough, the one thing that actually impresses Saitama enough to comment about is his noodle eating ability, which only leaves him confused as to why it would be impressive enough to be called awesome over. Not his battle prowess like his impressive showcase of power and maneuverability and neither how handsome he looks, though I'm fairly sure Saitama did take note of that (who wouldn't?).

Afterwards Genos looks visibly stumped over how to even get into Saitama's favour and you can see it from his expression even. Either the poor guy doesn't know what to do because Saitama is hard to read or he's visibly disappointed in himself at how poorly this "get into sensei's good graces asap" is going, not knowing he's already well on his way to do that. Meanwhile Saitama is dying from noodle overdose while Genos ruminates on different tactics.

Either Genos is a poor liar because it's no longer lunch time and he doesn't need to digest food either, or he made up a poor see-through lie on the spot just to gauge Amai-mask and his reaction, who just kind of helpfully came along so Genos could further showcase his ability to Saitama by kicking this A-rank guy in the curb fast.

What I also cannot get over is how the leaflet for this particular noodle restaurant just happened to appear magically in Saitama's room, then Saitama went and tested them out, thought they were tasty and brought his disciple there to eat with him despite not having money and it just so happened to be a spicy noodle contest day so they got theirs for free.

You know the guy is satisfied with the outcome when he comes back with a smile plastered all over his face or he's just smirking about something.

He has to be satisfied with how he handled Amai-mask and possibly made it seem like he kicked his ass seven ways to sunday and very swiftly. If disappointed that he didn't actually get to fight the A-ranked hero in the back alley, he doesn't let it show probably because he wanted Saitama to think that he's strong enough to handle A-ranker and he seems pleased with himself how he actually handled the Amai-mask situation in general.

It is harder to fathom why he chose on that bridge that he would choose to go and live with Saitama, after mulling over Amai's words of being expected great things. Maybe he really did think that in order to get the secret out of his sensei, he would have to be as humanly close to him as possible. And in order to get strong enough, he would really have to take that leap and just go live with Saitama so he could study his day-to-day life as close as possible, in case he missed something.

When he comes back, he's prepped himself as well as he possibly can and even slaps down so much money that there's no way a sane person could refuse insane amount of "rent" money like that.

Let's not pretend Genos would think Saitama's apartment rent costs that much, he says nothing to Fubuki about Saitama squatting later on in the manga, which means he knows about it and Z-city ghost town portion is basically empty of citizens anyway. Genos just planning out that he's gonna have to pull out all stops again in case Saitama refuses.

I love that the only thing Saitama asks Genos to have is his own toothbrush because he's learned the hard way about tooth decay, so it would be important enough to remind the younger guy to have important utilities like that at the ready. With that much money on the table, least the guy won't ever go hungry or any other needs like clothing or utilities even if Saitama was unable to suddenly provide a place for him.

It is funny though that at first, Genos surprised Saitama who was eating ice cream in nothing but his pyjama bottoms but only a mere 5 days later Saitama is completely comfortable with Genos presence to lounge around in nothing but pyjama bottoms. Maybe because Genos has already seen him naked, so there's little to hide and Saitama is just not very body-conscious besides his bald head. Saitama is happy to roam around in nothing besides body paint haha.

Somehow, not conciously at ease but still at ease in this kind of conflicting way that he's not consciously very keen on having Genos around yet and doing things like writing, after taking his disciple to a bathhouse and giving him spare keys, he's physically comfortable to just lounge around.

[fuck-customers]

Looking for some advice concerning workplace harassment. One of my coworkers, we’ll call them X, has been getting targeted by another coworker, we’ll call Z, for months now and it’s only continuing to escalate. I work with X a majority of the week, so I know first hand that they work fine, but Z just seems to hate them specifically. They’ve even tried to rope me in to co-conspiring to have X fired, saying I’d get their weekend shifts if I agree. I like working with X so obviously I went and told them about this next shift we were together and said to be careful.

Over one of my closes last week I had to take the day off, which left X and a casual to cover the shift. Z does the open following that close, and apparently they took note of all the things not done properly night before, and had it escalated straight to upper management to have X punished. Now the bosses are on X’s case about how poorly the close was handled. The kicker? X’s shift ends 3 hours before we officially call last order and close up, and all the things complained about were things that would have fallen upon the casual closing to take care of, not them.

We’ve had similar instances happen with casuals doing the close and not cleaning certain things or leaving the place in a bit of disarray, but never once before this has it been an issue. This isn’t the first time Z has targeted X over things that aren’t their fault either. One time I accidentally forgot to clean a piece of equipment during my close, and instead of placing the blame on me Z claimed it was X’s fault and had him punished for it, despite me stepping in and insisting it was my fault.

I’ve been trying to convince X to go to HR about this, as it seems like it’s going beyond the point of minor complaints and is escalating into targeted harassment, but they claim they don’t want to start conflict and don’t believe it would actually solve the issue, but would instead have the bosses bearing down on them harder. I hate the whole situation because I can see how badly it’s affecting their mental well-being and the extra scrutiny also means I have to guarantee my closes are near perfect to avoid them getting into trouble on my behalf for any minor issues, which is putting a strain on me too.

I’m not sure what to do, I feel like I should step in and go to HR on X’s behalf, but I also don’t want to risk them copping extra flack for it. This most recent issue really pissed me off, but as far as the bosses know I have no knowledge it even happened, so it’s not like I can go confront them about it either. What should I do aside from continuing to defend X when I can?

Tldr; one of my coworkers is being targeted by another and while going to HR seems like a good idea it may end up only hurting the situation further. What can I do?

[pro-anomalocaris]

More than pride, a big component in the failures of all of them throughout the book is also a lack of common sense. They don't have a great grasp on what a realistic or unrealistic idea is when situations arise, leading to some decision making that would make even a prideful person who's just a smidge more grounded not do this dumb thing.

Personally I love when characters are both intelligent and lacking in common sense. It lets them be dumb without it feeling like the author is forcing them to be out of character for the sake of the plot. While I find the pacing of the book bad in places, "these smart people are idiots" is a really good bit of writing particularly because the vast majority of the cast are filthy rich and highly sheltered. They have never had to have common sense before, hence why they lack it. The wisdom to go, "this plan is too convoluted", "this could go wrong easily because of x, y and z", "hey maybe I should have an alibi in case someone else in the group tries to pin this on me", etc. isn't there for in-universe well-explained and well-established reasons.

Two things can be true. They can be aces in their field of expertise and complete idiots in others. This is true of most of us. It's part of why the book's weird moments work fine in context.

Richard, however, is 100% pride incarnate and that's his fatal flaw. Other people display moments of pride giving way to self-preservation or other emotions. This man is pure insecurity masquerading as arrogance from the word go. And I love that. I like when a character is deeply flawed and it goes poorly for them.

If we're going to yell at anyone, we should probably yell at the fandom who insists there's no classism in the book when Donna Tartt has said there is and it's very obvious in how the characters view poor people vs rich people throughout the story. To me, that's the exasperating part. Shame about his class is a huge part of the main character's motivation and background. I have no idea how people missed this. He says outright he hates not being from generational wealth in his internal monologue. It really doesn't get much more blatant than that. How the fandom missed this, I have no idea. To me, a big part of the appeal is seeing how internalized classism and pride slowly devours any sense of morality Richard ever had. If I viewed it as rich kids with a cool secret club of cool kids the way other people on tumblr did, I don't think I'd find it very engaging at all.

...I mean, not to perpetuate this discourse, but I think the characters in TSH are all pretty smart - what undoes them is their pride. And I also think there's no need for y'all to be aggressive and insult ppl about their literary opinions in OTNF's inbox

--

I haven't read the thing, but one presumes that a fairly Greek level of fatal flaw would be appropriate for such a narrative.

[violentviolette]

hii sorry for the weird question! how should I deal with someone who may be unintentionally manipulating or guilt tripping me? if they're not doing it intentionally I don't want to upset them by bringing it up but if they are I want to let them know that I don't like it. is it possible?

so theres. a lot to unpack here but im gonna start with the fact that just because bringing something up is going to upset someone to hear doesnt mean u shouldnt say it. especially if that thing is that they are mistreating and hurting u

it's pretty much always going to upset someone to hear that the way theyre acting is negatively affecting u. like thats just kind of human nature, they're probably going to get upset and defensive but again, that doesnt mean u shouldnt say something. it is their job to manage their distress at hearing something upsetting, it is not ur job to never upset them

but also, its extreamly concerning that for some reason, if they're doing it unintentially u wouldnt want to bring it up? so ur fine with someone hurting u so long as they dont realize they're hurtintg u? that makes absolutely no sense to me. if someone is treating u poorly, it shouldnt really matter if they know they're doing it or not. u have a right to be treated properly in healthy ways and a right to speak up for urself when that's not happening, no matter what. especially because most people who manipulate and guilt trip and do other negative and harmful behaviors like that, are doing so unintentially. there is no such thing is as the boogeyman master manipulator whose doing all this stuff on purpose to hurt u because theyre a cartoon villain. most people are just normal people who are making selfish decisions without considering or caring how those decisions are going to affect u

but to finally address the actual question, usually its helpful to address the situation directly, but with compassion. and to be as direct as possible. "in x situations, u respond with y, which makes me feel z" i think a lot of times people try to be vague when bringing up issues they're having with someone because they think that will hurt the other persons feelings less, but i find that being less specific is often just counter productive and leads to more issues.

approaching the situation from a place of mutual problem solving and not blame is also probably gonna work the best. things like guilt tripping and manipulation are usually maladaptive defense mechanisms, people do them because they havent been properly taught how to handle interpersonal conflicts in non abusive ways. most likely theyve learned that direct communication doesnt work and will get them abused and so they have to do things like guilt trip in order for their feelings to be taken seriously and have their needs met. so if u start the conversation with stuff like "ur manipulating and guilt tripping me" it's probably gonna make them defensively dig thier heels in and double down and its gonna be harder to get through to them

using language that lets them know that u do care about them and arent going to punish them, but also their behavior needs to change, is usually most effective. framing things as "theres an issue i think we can solve together, heres what i need from u, what are some things u need from me to help make that happen?" as opposed to "ur doing something wrong and u have to fix it" usually works really well

[eastgaysian]

@annevbonny yeah for sure! i make a lot of semi-incoherent rant posts on here because i treat tumblr like my diary but i can definitely expand and explain a bit more.

by nature i think good/enjoyable gameplay is always going to be a little bit subjective. like i don't think i'm ever going to enjoy real time with pause in a game, it's video game nails on a chalkboard to me, and of course gameplay that requires fast reflexes and precise inputs can just be impossible for people to perform, much less enjoy. i do believe bg3's gameplay is pretty well-constructed on the whole, though. i have my quibbles (inventory management is a pain, non-lethal attacks are poorly implemented, you can get the ability to fly but it's hard bound to z which is also jump and will default to jumping...) and i definitely think the start of the game can be a bit of a slog just because there's less things you can do and you'll die way easier, and that sucks as the beginning of your game experience. i also don't love the crime system but you can just circumvent that by not getting caught ❤️ which isn't that hard once you gain access to, like, fog cloud and potions of invisibility.

my kind of nebulous definition of 'well-constructed gameplay' is that as a crpg bg3 enables you to do most things that you're willing to try, and rewards you for it. the map design is less well-executed in act 3 (tangent here's a link to a short post sorry) but in act 1 and 2 you are incentivized to go exploring any odd corner you find and you'll probably get at least a chest for your troubles, or even a completely unique item. for combat, there's a lot of different builds available to you both through classes and unique items available to you, and in most situations you have a lot of options. i ended up loving combat in bg3 so after my first playthrough i deliberately fought everyone i could, but i think it's great that you can talk your way out of a lot of combat scenarios and still get the exp, for one. alternatively, if you find enough boxes, you can create a nightmare physics-defying tower and use an arrow of transposition or misty step or feather fall and jump over an obstacle in your way. or you can have karlach drop 15 oil barrels and blow your enemies up. or you can just pickpocket them for the quest item you need. or you can turn into a grizzly bear and goomba stomp ketheric thorm, which is a real speedrun strat. a lot of styles of gameplay are supported: straightforward, silly, and complex, and that flexibility to have fun in a lot of different ways is great! ...i just wish the rest of the game felt like that.

(i do really recommend watching bg3 speedruns if that at all piques your interest! i think they're super fun and interesting in terms of displaying what batshit things you can pull off in bg3, and they're not long - any% is i think like 3 minutes at the moment, though that means it gets into less of the wacko later-game strats.)

talking about writing is definitely way harder to discuss objectively, but i feel safe saying bg3's writing is all over the place. for one, it's just very obvious that certain characters (karlach and wyll) got less time and care put into their scenes and their quests. in general the story is also... kind of spotty, which i'm honestly more willing to forgive, but it is telling. like how exactly everyone got onto the nautiloid and tadpoled gets more questionable the more you think about it. gortash getting his brain exploded by the netherbrain if you side with him is also very silly and feels like a 'no time to implement an ending with him in it, gotta have him die somehow' situation to me. as is the emperor arbitrarily deciding to side with the netherbrain against you if you free orpheus, as if his entire motivation hasn't been trying to maintain independence from the netherbrain the entire time.

the story/character changes added by updates have felt more contrived to me than like they were 'missing', if that makes sense. and in the first place, those missing bits... shouldn't have been missing from a game that was supposed to be finished. you were really just going to have karlach get screwed over no matter what? who makes a crpg with no epilogue??? minthara's good recruitment is incredibly contrived and poorly integrated from a story perspective (another linked tangent, sorry), and uh. Apparently the latest update makes it so lae'zel doesn't break up with the player if they become illithid? which is an unbelievable change to me and makes no sense for her character.

...i also just don't think bg3 deserves a fair amount of the praise it gets for character writing in general, though this is more dicey territory. i don't believe john corcoran (halsin and shadowheart's writer) could have a character demonstrate a personality trait to save his life. insofar as astarion feels like he ended up with the most thought and care put into his writing and arc, there's still the fact that uh . apparently his racist tangent is a relic from a scrapped early access plot that just... never got neatened up, i guess. there's genuinely impactful character moments in the game, but i'm a lot more willing to give credit to the voice actors and animators for that than the writers lol

what pisses me off is i think bg3 is a fun game to play. there's a lot of freedom of player choice! i like the combat, i like the unique items that allow you to create all kinds of builds, i love how crunchy you can get to deal with honor mode encounters, i love the bizarre quirks and exploits that make speedruns so fun to watch. but i think the marketing exemplifies that larian didn't think A Fun CRPG To Play would sell, and maybe that's a correct assessment, but it's like. so deeply frustrating, especially because each update has made the lackluster writing surrounding the gameplay worse. like actually yeah it is a bad sign that you don't see people talking about bg3's gameplay.

[starcitysirens]

So I kind of accidentally helped trigger a bit of a freak out in the Buckynat fandom for calling out Jackson Lanzing on twitter yesterday. Whoops.

I'm talking about this exchange >> click me

Anyway, this is giving me an excuse to word vomit about my feelings about Man on the Wall so whatever.

I said yesterday that every time Lanzing mentions how important the Kot/Rudy Winter Soldier run is to him (especially re: the upcoming Cap run), I start sweating, and I think that's a common response since most Bucky fans I know hate that run. I wanted to ask him directly what it is about that comic that speaks to him but I didn't wanna come off as confrontational, so I didn't.

So, I'm going to attempt to parse it out.

So far he's said:

"A huge part of our story is about taking Steve out of the superhero game and into something resembling normal life."

And about Bucky he said: "And on the Bucky side, Higgins/Reis looms large as groundwork for the character as he walks into our story. And I've been pretty open about how the Kot/Rudy run completely changed up my view of Bucky as a character, so consider that one required reading."

So the common thread I see here is 'a life beyond duty'. Second Chances was Bucky's attempt at having a somewhat normal life. Moreover, the story revolved about Bucky facilitating other people walking away from bad situations in order to start over as civilians. We also know from Devil's Reign: Winter Soldier that he just gave up this happy ending in order to learn the truth about his past.

So this brings me to Man on the Wall.

On paper, Man on the Wall has a fascinating concept. Consider where Bucky is, emotionally, when he takes the job. He's been chasing personal redemption for a while, and it hasn't quite worked out. His run as Cap ended poorly. He tried to find redemption by reclaiming the Winter Soldier, and that also ended badly; he not only lost Natasha, but he went to such dark places in that run, that while attempting to redeem "the Winter Soldier", he wound up corrupting himself. And then Fury's offer comes along and he's quick to snatch it. And there's nothing redemptive about it, it's resignation. It's him saying, this is what I've done all my life, doing the dirty work is all I’m good for, (he did it for Steve back in the day, after all), what I am is a soldier, and a killer. And yeah, there is some aspect of nobility here, as in doing the wrong thing for the right reasons, but ultimately it's an escalation. And a regression of sorts.

That’s where he is when he arrives at Mer-Z Bow and meets Ventolin. 

Overall, I found that run to be difficult to follow and connect to, for multiple reasons, but the point it was trying to make is summarized in that last panel:

Just because this is what you’ve always done, it doesn’t mean it’s who you have to be for the rest of your life, you can open yourself up to new avenues. And that is beautiful. And I would’ve loved to see Bucky wrestle with that idea while doing Fury’s dirty work.

The problem is, that's not what happens in this book. Mostly because Bucky spends the bulk of this run with very little agency in the plot, because all he does is just stand there and look pretty. Like, literally, I'm not even exaggerating. Daisy Johnson sees more action. Cause, when it comes down to it, the main character of this book is not our Bucky, it's the Old Man Bucky from that future/different universe. This comic is like that Chris Pratt and J. Law movie Passengers, in that it's supposed to be a space romance, but it's really just a psychological thriller. There's this great Youtube video where someone explores how the story changes if we edit the movie so that it starts when J.Law's character wakes up and that we, the audience, find out Chris Pratt woke her up on purpose at the same time she does and we get to feel the real horror of what he did.

That’s how I feel about this comic.

Sure, I know I have my biases because I’m a buckynat fan, but I’m also pretty ship neutral and can be up for anything as long as you sell it to me. The thing is, I never bought Bucky and Ventolin’s love story because Kot never actually showed it to me. I don’t know why they’re in love (I mean, we barely even see them interact, to be honest). Actually, if I’m remembering this correctly, neither does Bucky, he just feels it because he had a dream. A dream that we are not privy to. A dream that may or may not have been psychically sent to him via Old Man Bucky. And this is where things get icky for me, because it brings up issues of consent. 

This comic was a bit confusing but I think it’s fair to interpret it this way. A version of Bucky somewhere in the universe wound up in Mer-Z Bow, fell in love and found peace. And now that Bucky is out there making sure every Bucky gets his happy ending. He directly interferes with our Bucky’s life. And I think Bucky has had enough of people messing about with his agency. But no one ever brings this up in the text. Bucky has feelings he can’t explain and he just goes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So Jackson Lanzing says he’s a Ventolin stan and my first reaction is lol, why. But I think it might be more about the idea of what Ventolin represented: the possibility of a life beyond the duty of being a soldier.

And I’m okay with that conceit being explored by a better writer than Ales Kot. I think Kot came up with a great idea, he just didn’t understand Bucky well enough to do anything really meaningful with it.

Devil’s Reign is setting up major retcons for Bucky. We don’t know the extent of it yet. But we at least know Bucky will be wrestling with issues of choice and consent again, cause it looks like he was groomed to be a killer his whole life. And that’s gotta be brutal, especially if it turns out his parents were in on it, thus destroying the memory of his family, too. 

And to circle this back to buckynat, I get the feeling Lanzing (and maybe Kelly) might think that relationship belongs to a specific moment in Bucky’s life, years that are associated with great darkness. And that in a way, as long as they are together, then they’ll never really leave the Red Room (psychologically speaking). If the idea is having Bucky move on from the life that was chosen for him, then I can see them not touching it. That doesn’t mean I agree with that, I’m just speculating at to possible reasonings.

Anyway, I rambled for long enough.

[capesandshapes]

i feel like i missed something, why is Sarah Z bad?

A lot of it for me personally has nothing to do with the accusations of racism aimed towards her (which I can't substantiate because I don't know anything about it so while I agree racism is a problematic behavior, I literally can't say jack about it with her) and is more to do with the fact that while I enjoy analyzing fan culture, I really don't like Sarah z's approach to gathering content for her arguments nor the way that she's never been one to correct any of her statements or actively try to discourage harassment

With this video in particular there was a lot of controversy about her picking and choosing posts from creators while editing them down and eliminating the context around them, which caused a lot of creators to end up in hot water which she was hesitant to correct-- and it really wasn't the first time for her.

The fandom made character in Sherlock video too is another moment where to me it's just like okay you're eliminating a ton of context (BECAUSE I WAS LITERALLY THERE) and trying to sensationalize/turn this less into a moment of laughing at what was then A VERY VERY SMALL PORTION THE SHERLOCK COMMUNITY without anyone actually knowing how this like kicked off or anything.

Like this isn't a very articulate way for me to explain this or anything, but in the case of Sarah z and YouTubers like her, we as fans of various media are their content and they get to be an outsider looking in at us and open another window in at the same time, only further narrowing and reframing the view for entertainment. We're animals in a zoo and she's the tour guide, and we can't say shit to correct her because we're far enough from her audience that we can't touch them, but they can throw peanuts and pens into our enclosure while she watches but does nothing to help.

A very current way to explain this is that in the case of goncharov and Tumblr, Sarah z and other fandom YouTubers are likely rubbing their little hands giggling about the content that would bring-- which I understand, completely! She makes money off of us, I get it! But she makes more money off of us the stranger she makes the situation seem, and the more she can hype it up, to the point where she has an incentive to do things like omit the fifty million text posts stating that no one wants a goncharov written and then go "oh look there's ninety different versions of this movie written, isn't it crazy that people would do that over and over again" while pointing to the AO3 tag and cherry picking examples that aren't even scripts or anything like that, and then over exaggerating again the amount of fanart and full on time consuming work that went into the goncharov meme-- because fun fact, the majority of it is just shit posts and while a handful of people have put art to it, I can guarantee it won't be as much as portrayed by YouTubers.

Like again it's really really hard for me to explain but I not only know people in fandom who have been poorly portrayed in her videos (as well as creators on TikTok whose faces were OUT THERE and whose posts were manipulated to be online with a framing that was far from the truth), but I've also personally become content for people when I really don't want to be and was just hanging out here. So while it's cool at first and I scooped up some TikTok originating followers, it got annoying real quick because their idea of my content and who I am was provided by someone who stood to gain from misrepresenting me which led to more negative interactions and hurtful anons that just fucking sucked-- I'm a fanfiction author who makes shit posts at the end of the day, not a political commentary blog, but for some reason tiktokers wanted to act like capesandshapes from nowhere Minnesota with like fifty shitty trash posts was one of the dozen Tumblr bloggers who have real hot takes that people need to know about politics from Tumblr. Everyone laugh about the fact that a girl with a Glimmer icon has opinions on gun control but can't recite the whole arms manufacturing history at the drop of a hat.

Like that's my personal reason, I'm not content for her or her YouTube channel and I don't really want to be framed any sort of way for her to profit off of me-- which sounds egotistical and conceited, I know; "why would she choose you," but the majority of people who show up in her videos aren't exactly planning on being the subject of the YouTube thinkpiece of the week.

I'd honestly block more YouTubers like her if I knew their handles.