#bit of a double standard there... or i might just be on the wrong side of fandom

[celtrist]

Hazbin & Helluva Vs. Aromanticism

(Aka: I have a problem with the Spindlehorse team about this, not shippers.)

(Also this is mainly about Alastor but can go for Octavia and Mammon too.)

Alright, so I've cleaned up this uh... rant, to make things a little more clear hopefully. But to summarize here, this is about the team's lack of commitment when every other character is allowed full confirmation of their orientations but these (potentially) aromantic characters aren't.

While I have no beef with shippers (I think you can ship whoever with whoever you want, I ship Alastor too on occasion), there is some conversation about how the fandom might be a bit of a reason WHY they "can't" be confirmed as aro. But again, my main problem is more with the showrunners than the fandom at this point about this.

I'll also be getting into why it's "important" and the double standards against characters being aromantic.

This is not an attack, ship however way you wish (again, I do it myself). My intent isn't really to stop the shipping, that would be ridiculous. But more so to give my thoughts on why it's BS characters like Alastor can't be confirmed as aromantic when other characters are allowed confirmed orientations.

I will start off by saying I don't mind the shipping of Alastor. While it's NOBODY'S business but mine, I suppose it's important to clarify that I'm someone who does currently identify as aroace. I might be wrong but who cares, it's how I think of myself now at least to some degree (I do after all still have fictional crushes. Real-life romance is not an interest for me though, don't like 'em).

I'm gonna get what I don't think people talk about enough on both sides of being for and against shipping Alastor, and then I'll talk about the shippers as they're (I realized) not my main issue at this point.

A little history: So Alastor has been long time confirmed as an ace character. He hasn't been confirmed as being sex-repulsed or anything, but I can personally say I don't mind either flavor of him being repulsed or favorable (though I imagine the series will lean towards the former to counter everyone else's sex-favorable attitude and for jokes). This statement was initially taken VERY poorly by fans who, at the time, were shipping radiodust and radiobelle/charlastor, one more than the other. Care to take a guess which? The answer will not surprise you.

But then people realized "Oh, asexual doesn't mean he COULDN'T get with someone" and people even went further to "Being asexual doesn't mean he CAN'T have sex", both very true statements. So shipping was back on the menus boys! And his asexual was certainly blurred a bit (to the point where it wasn't even him being sex-favorable asexual as much as just not asexual, something that still happens but certainly not as bad). But overall, people were taking his canonicity as asexual with as much grace as a duck.

So here's where MY problem comes in. While I have some gripes with shippers, I had an epiphany that "Oh. It's not really the shippers I have a problem with. It's the people WRITING THE DAMN CHARACTER". Which, might I just say, is so much worst.

The shippers, while they got annoying at some points and certainly can be still, are just having fun. Because shipping just happens to be the way most people like to interact with characters in the media they're into. Hell, I am no different. I just have the misfortune of only really getting into rarepairs most of the time (curse you my bizarre tastes). I've even shipped with Alastor, I like AngelicSmile/radiojoy quite a bit.

Back on track. Now, what do I mean by my main problem being with the writers more than the fans with this? Well, queue this darling of a clip about the topic (this is the only clip I've found of the live stream, feel free to watch the whole video but just wanted the clip here).

This. Single. Clip. Infuriates me.

Vivzi, while I'm sure not meant to, pretty much implied "Alastor being aromantic and 'non-shippable' would ruin people's fun". I'm sure she meant it as a way to keep others from policing shippers (which didn't work, it still happens), it really just reads as "a character being aromantic is not a fun character". Like there's something wrong with being aro.

Not to mention some other things that would contradict this statement:

Viv in the past said "fans are allowed to ship outside character orientations", so... what makes that so different here with confirming Alastor as aromantic?

It being confirmed is not relevant to the plot. Great, so is every other orientation not relevant. Why can't Alastor be confirmed as aromantic but Vaggie can be confirmed as a lesbian or Vox bi? What does Vox being bisexual have to do with the plot? Neither is relevant to the plot, but one can be confirmed but not the other?

People were gonna ship him ANYWAY. Like, there's really no point in pretending. They were going to anyway because of the first point I already mentioned, but also people ship against canon orientations ALL THE TIME. It's just gonna happen and there's nothing wrong with that in of itself.

You've kind of just implied it's canon by not wanting to say specifically him being aromantic is canon or not. If Viv had just said "I don't wanna confirm his romantic orientation because...", then this statement would be fine and fair I suppose. But she had to call out him being aromantic specifically. And I mean, he COULD be something else (he was slated to be a couple with Mimzy originally after all), but the context doesn't seem like that would be the case. Plus, would she really feel the need to hold back from saying "Alastor is homoromantic" or biromantic or heteroroman- actually yes for that last one probably.

So riddle me this, with these points, why the FUCK would it be so wrong to confirm Alastor as a canonically aromantic icon and help get MORE REP for this very very very VERY underrepresented orientation? And I've thought of a few reasons to this, one of which being to avoid the same backlash that they got for Alastor being ace. Which, DID HAPPEN WHEN THE VOICE ACTOR AND SOMEONE ELSE ON THE SHOW CONFIRMED ALASTOR AS AROMANTIC BUT BACKTRACKED ON THE STATEMENT.

To which, fine. THAT'S on the fans (especially as no one would've complained if he was confirmed as homoromantic, which is a double standard VERY PRESENT in this fandom, but also many others quite honestly). But I can see another reason is to avoid others policing shippers about it.

Which, if that's the case, shit luck it's happening anyway.

To cower away from this orientation because of fans being upset says a lot, both about the fans and the creators. There is a whisper of "Alastor isn't allowed to be aromantic". That "being aro isn't allowed or appreciated".

We live in a world that at this point has a lot more lgbtq+ characters than ever before. At this point, there's just a lot of gay/lesbian and bi characters, and that's wonderful. But, there's barely a handful of aroace characters. And when they are, nobody wants to pay attention to that part of the character. So why can't the deer man be aromantic? I would imagine it would honestly make things a little better ship wise because ship wars wouldn't occur seeing as, well, there's no ship to be fought for. None of them could be canon.

So you might see where I'm leading into this, but I can only really think of one real reason Alastor being aromantic just "can't be confirmed" where as everyone else's orientations can be.

His popularity. Like, that's weird but walk with me here. Alastor is the most popular character in the fandom. There's honestly no denying it, he just is. And what do people do with the most popular character?

THEY SHIP THEM OFF IN A LOVEBOAT.

But wait, if he's aromantic, he can't be on a love boat. THIS IS BS-

And then... the outcry. And we HAVE seen this happen. I mentioned before, he was stated to be aromantic on two occasions by two people who work on the show, one of which is his voice actor (which I'll be fair, I personally don't think VAs always know the characters they play the best, that's the writers). But they had to backpedal because people DID complain. People WERE upset. So it's kind of shown just aromantism isn't really welcomed, at the very least not for a character like Alastor.

And that's the key: "Not for a character like Alastor". But if it were say, Niffty or Mimzy who are either overlooked or just not very popular, THEN it's probably more than okay for a character to be aromantic. Because no one wants to ship with them much, so they can be aromantic all they want.

AKA. The aro community is allowed the scraps but not the dinner.

At this point, you've probably noticed I switched gears from the creators to the fans because I DO think they could be a reason why Alastor "can't" be confirmed as Aromantic. I'll give credit, I'm pretty sure it's mainly on twitter and wouldn't be surprised if it was a "loud minority" thing going on, but the people have spoken. They vehemently cannot STAND the idea of Alastor being aromantic.

But I don't have a problem with these people quite honestly- I mean I kinda do, but my main issue is the lack of commitment when the other characters are allowed confirmed orientations. Why can't aromantic people get confirmed rep? Because "it'll ruin people's fun?" That's such a crappy reason because it's just saying being aro is bad on some level or isn't okay. Why can't the aromantic community get the dinner this ONE TIME? It's one character in a pool of many others that are canonically gay or bi, so why can't the aro community have this ONE popular character?

I'm not even asking for people to stop shipping him, I think that's perfectly FINE. It wouldn't change the canon. I'd appreciate more LOVE given to the aromantic identity (and I'm talking about the far end of it, so absolutely NO interest in romance as many have used aro Alastor but it still comes off as just normal shipping, but that's just me). There's such a double standard to the treatment of aromantic characters to the other characters in these shows (because Octavia and Mammon are in the same boat here), and the reasons given are so crappy that they sound more like off-hand excuses.

Again, I don't MIND people shipping Alastor, or Octavia, or Mammon who is randomly shipped with Adam the most. Let me repeat:

YOU. ARE. ALLOWED. TO. SHIP. THESE. CHARACTER.

But what I have a problem with is that these characters aren't allowed to be OFFICIALLY aromantic. How would it feel if this was a gay character? That they didn't want to confirm it but there's been indications with past statements and even in-universe stuff indicating so? I WANT Viv and her team to STICK with what route they were gonna go with.

And some might argue "what's so bad with nothing being confirmed?" Other than the fact every other character's orientations are allowed confirmation and Viv's crappy way of putting it in not confirming anything. There's, by all technicalities, nothing wrong.

However, if I may pose a counter, why is it fair for people to demand or ask for gay representation or confirmation but not aromantic? Because it's "not ruining anything"? If that's the case, I'm inclined to say that may be a bit aphobic. Because how is it that a character being aromantic can "ruin" the character or something, but a character being gay DOESN'T "ruin" the character. It's a double standard that I don't think most people realize or want to say because you don't want to be dissing on gay stuff.

But WAKE UP SHEEPLE. The gay stuff has PLENTY of things by this point. Whether through fan works or official media, it is growing and it is growing rapidly. And we should be HAPPY about that. But alternatively, Aromantic (and asexual) rep BARELY gets any attention in either fan works or official media. People would be UPSET if a ship like Angel Dust X Vaggie or Stolas X Verosika got into one of the top most popular ships. But Alastor? Nah, it's fine.

Again, while I don't mind the shipping itself, hopefully, you can understand how it might feel to see one of the most popular ships involve a character that goes against their orientation and it's YOUR orientation. It doesn't. Feel. Great.

And not everyone who ships Alastor even would LIKE him to end up with who they ship. Some people just like it staying in fanon. I have met SO MANY nice people who ship Alastor with characters that I personally don't really like him shipped with. But it's clear that I don't think THEY'D mind if he was confirmed aromantic because it doesn't change their life. They'll still keep shipping him because that's fun for them and that's FINE. People explore themselves through characters with confirmed orientations and they don't always line up with canon, and that's FINE. I don't think people should be policed on shipping with the deer man, they're just having fun. Would I appreciate a little more love for the aro identity? Sure (I mean just look at Alastor's ship weeks activeness vs. his aro week activeness), but if that's not how people have fun they shouldn't be forced to do stuff with it.

But Alastor being seemingly "not allowed" to be confirmed as aro has set a precedent that there's something wrong with being aromantic. And personally, it makes me feel a tad unwelcomed sometimes.

It's the precedents. Again, why is every other character's orientation allowed to be confirmed but Alastor's isn't? What is so wrong with him being aromantic? Hell, he might not even BE aromantic. But at least I'd KNOW instead of floundering around hoping upon a star for some aromantic representation.

It's okay to be gay but- WHOA HOLD YOUR HORSES THERE. WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PUT A PAUSE IN THAT ARO BUSINESS YOU GOT THERE.

A character's worth is in how shippable they are. And if they're aromantic, they're not shippable. And unfortunately, there are just enough people to throw a hissy fit about it that Viv doesn't want to confirm it.

Because apparently being aromantic would "ruin" things.

[the-anime-enthusiast]

MHA CHARACTERS TYPES IN WOMEN

#1 Katsuki Bakugou

KATSUKI BAKUGOU - PHYSICAL

He likes his women tall and strong (with a scary similar demeanor to his mother 😭). I'm talking 5'6 and up, might feel weird about dating someone taller than him, but the more the merrier⁉️ (I also bc he gets to be around 5'10 to 6ft whenever he finally finishes growing) 🙏

He FOR SURE fw chubby girls, like a lifter kind of chubby... Someone strong and with muscle but something on their bones other than skin yk?

For some this is unfortunate, be he would NEVER date a blonde 😭 He thinks it's creepy cuz he feels weird about dating someone blonde considering his mom's blonde too 😭 He wouldn't mind a darker, more honey blonde than anything, though 😌

He LOVES freckles and moles 😈 He questioned his sanity given Izuku has freckles whenever he found out he liked them, but always tries to keep it out of his mind cuz he'll get the heebie-jeebies again 😔 despite the intrusive thoughts, he loves to kiss them and point out how pretty they are everytime he gets the chance 🤗

He def has a thing for strong legs and a nice ass 🌚 BROS FS AN ASS MAN 😭 Loves just hugging you from behind and grabbing it, not even to be a perv it's just comforting in a weird way 😭🙏

He fw hips to 🙏😌 something to squeeze and kiss on when he's yk 😶‍🌫️ "downtown" 😶‍🌫️ following this he likes stretch marks too, rubbing them feeling the difference in texture on your skin 🤧

Going back to the strong legs 🙏 (and a lil on the chubby stuff) HE FW HEAVY ON THICK ANKLES it's so strange to him and makes him question whether he's sane or not, but he loves it. FS the weirdest thing he find attractive 🫡

He also appreciates some skull crushers 😈 Doesn't even have to be all muscles, just something squishy that's too big for his hand to wrap all the way around 😌

LOVES A BROWN EYED BADDIE ‼️ He loves the look of doe eyes staring up at him but the second your face relaxes and you look like a cold stone bitch he twitches a lil 🤭 (if yk what I mean) He can't get the gojo meme out of his head and gets the heebie-jeebies when looking into someone's blue eyes 😭😭 (monoma freaks him out))

KATSUKI BAKUGOU - MENTAL

You know how he didn't hold back on Uraraka? 😈 Yeah, he likes women who can hold their own against him and honestly that's all he asks for. Ofc he has other standards but something about a strong woman who's just as hard headed as him, really gets him going 🌚

Given he's had to calm down since the war, he appreciates a little bit of feist in his partner, but also a side of them that can be sweet and just as doting as he is 🤭

One of the main points of the people he takes interest in, are that they feel safe around him. 🫶He wants someone who will just fall in his arms at the end of a long day ranting on about work into his neck as he just sits there and listens 🌹 (occasionally chiming in on your coworkers you don't like 😈 )...

KATSUKI BAKUGOU - RANDOMS

He fucks with MUSICIANS HEAVVYYYYY 🎸🎶 You gonna bust out the guitar and strum along to his crazy good beats? HELL YEAH‼️ Maybe some bass to back him up? FUCK YEAH‼️ Gonna pull out your own sticks and out drum him?? DOUBLE FUCK YEAH ‼️Maybe even the clarinet to impress his dad? Hell. Motherfucking. Yeah. Any instrument and he's automatically impressed, he's learned from playing the drums just how much dedication and hard work goes into learning so he truly appreciates it 😈

LOVES FOODIES ‼️ "Hey babe I was thinking of trying that new katsu-" "You don't even have to ask" he replied dragging you to the car. He loves when people eat his food and compliment him on it (although he'll never admit it) so a GF WHO DOES THAT? SIGN HIM UP. 🎂

Low-key fucks with shy girls 😉 He loves outgoingness, don't get me wrong, but whenever they're behind closed doors and his gf gets all shy and scared to look into his eyes he practically melts (the thought of knowing that his gf feels the EXACT same way as him makes him puddy in your hands) 😈

PHYSICAL TOUCH ‼️GIFT GIVING ‼️ QUALITY TIME ‼️ HIS WEAKNESSES ‼️‼️When he can't find the words to tell you how he feels he'll use these to his advantage, hugging you from behind kissing your neck, bringing a lil Stuffie home for you when he knows your down, or just sitting in silence with your favorite TV show on 😌🙏 All that matters is that hes close to you or in your arms making you feel good when you otherwise cant 🫶

THAT'S IT THANKYOU BYYEE 🫶🫶

these are some head cannons for da best boi bakugou bc he's been my fav character for 6 years and what better way to celebrate than curate a list of my fav head cannons for him 🫶

(lemme know who I should do next 😉)

OKAY NOW ACTUALLY BYE BYEEE 😍😍

[beevean]

Perhaps in swinging at a hornets nest with this one but I’m really not liking the dichotomy between how most of the fandom seems to treat Toriel vs. Carol. While there are varying opinions on both sides and it’s impossible to make an accurate blanket statement about either of them, so far most of the fandom seems to be rallying to defend her from major criticism and backlash, meanwhile Carol doesn’t get the same courtesy.

The double standard just gets on my nerves a bit. While I have my own thoughts on the Toriel discourse (My stance is that neither side of “She a neglectful alcoholic mother” or “she did nothing wrong and everyone is just a sexist who doesn’t think parents should have lives outside their children.” Is really correct. There is nuance and there’s definitely people applying their own experience to justify their reading of a character detached from those situations.)

Meanwhile I dead ass read someone say “My first thought when Carol told Noelle to go to the kitchen is ‘wow it must be continent your daughter’s fur doesn’t show any bruises’.” Like. Hm! What an interesting thought. Really is interesting how one female character doesn’t get the same amount of defense as another, and in fact I’ve seen people decry Carol as an abusive homophobe while rushing to Toriel’s defense — someone even implied she might be happier without Kris and Asriel? It’s very strange.

Anyways. Carol Holiday they could never make me hate you and in fact every time someone calls you abusive my love for you only doubles. This is my penance for falling for the propaganda at first.

ohhh man did you touch a Button.

I have seen a lot of posts that say more or less that accusing Toriel of being a bad parent because of one mistake is misogyny. And I get it, yes. It was one mistake, although a big one, big enough for Susie to suddenly feel very uncomfortable with her; but it shouldn't erase how Toriel is otherwise a kind mom trying her best. Personally, I don't even blame Toriel that much, I get it, she had a moment of weakness and for once wanted to let go and was sure that her child was doing fine. The timing was just bad. Personally, it's Sans whose behavior disgusted me. (lore drop: I'm a child of divorce who at 12 experienced the joy of having a man slowly creep inside my house. It was not pleasant. I wouldn't have blamed Kris for chucking that ketchup bottle to his head.)

But to me it's very clear that for some fans, the root of the defense comes from either the fact that Toriel is a beloved character, or simply for shipping purposes, because Carol isn't getting the same courtesy at all. Fans assume that she's a homophobic bigot because she was rude to Susie, and clearly, the only reason she would be mad at dear Susie is because she's a Republican, Fox News-guzzling, abusive, irredeemable piece of shit (I've also seen fanart of her forcing Tenna to make her watch that channel which saddened me for multiple reasons). Not because she came home and found a stranger, known in town for being a bully to boot, pawing her disappeared daughter's guitar! nahhhh Evil the Mom can only be Evil!

(I also find a bit... distasteful, adding such a trait in a Toby Fox character. This is the same world where everyone immediately they/thems Kris, even the TV who has known them since they were kids. Carol herself in the Weird Route approves of Kris going to the festival with Noelle - ignoring the uncomfortable context, she's still happy with her daughter having a relationship with a nb person. Toby doesn't put emphasis on his own representation, people are just people.)

Sure, the mother who bronzed Noelle's snowflakes to preserve them and allowed Dess to keep whatever she wanted in her room (including weed IIRC) and didn't touch a hair of it once she disappeared is absolutely the kind of parent who would beat her child black and blue for the slightest misstep! Nuance? Never heard of her! Then again, this is the same fandom who rejects the Carol Knight theory on the basis of absolutely iron-clad points such as "she's not cool enough to aura farm", which 1) she has two katanas and she uses one to slice fruitcakes, man; 2) why are you insulting Toby's capabilities as a writer? Why don't you think he could make an old woman cool? and 3) while I wouldn't call it sexist outright, there is a certain veneer of looking down on older women and not considering them worthy of anything except, well, being Evil the Mom.

Guys. She had one minute of screentime. And we know that there's something else going on with her. Give her time. As someone on here said, it's like people are putting antlers on their own mother and calling it a day.

So yeah. I'm also a Carol defender. I think what we know of her is already interesting, a woman so wracked with grief that she is almost trying to stop time itself. She refuses to move on, she rejects change. She absolutely fits with the themes of the game, and I can't wait to see what the plot has in store for her.

and also toriel made a mistake which shouldn't be ignored but shouldn't vilify her either and fuck dr!sans. drop mic and leaves

[augusta-in-the-rain]

Some more thoughts about Marian’s character

I came across a post a couple of days ago, where someone was frustrated at people who woobify Guy while simultaneously hating on Marian and applying double standards on these two characters… And I’m suspecting I might be one of those frustrating people (no hard feelings, and even if it wasn’t about me -it’s good to reflect on oneself.)

In any case, that post made me think, and I wanted to make my views of Marian a bit more clear.

So here we go: Yes, Marian is absolutely a fun and interesting character, with admirable agency, and no of course she isn’t a heartless bitch irredeemable. Honestly, she has done nothing that especially requires redeeming. I might enjoy hating on her and I certainly didn’t miss her when she was gone, but I don’t really think she’s an awful person.

In the interest of fairness and balance (for probably the first and only time 🤭) here’s how I view Marian as a character:

I think she is a young woman with big ideas and strong motivations, who is idealistic and well-meaning towards people, mostly.

She does want to help others, and she has a very strong need to be herself. In that sense, she can be quite uncompromising and she can even be callous towards people she honestly cares about. For example, she undeniably loves and worries about her father, but she’s turned on him and accused him of being selfish and a coward on more than one occasion, and -for all she always says she can’t leave him behind because he needs her- was 100% ready to leave him and go to a convent rather than give up her shenanigans.

For Marian, if people who claim to love her won’t let her be herself, then they don’t really love her and they’re in the wrong. And-let’s face it, she has a point. But she is so uncompromising about it, and that is also a character trait, like her idealism, that shapes her as a character.

I think of Marian as someone who is sympathetic but not empathetic. She cares about people but she isn’t necessarily able or willing to look more deeply into *why* they behave the way they behave. And that’s not for lack of insightfulness, because Marian is very intelligent and insightful. She wouldn’t be that good at manipulating if she wasn’t. She wouldn’t be that good at thinking on the fly and finding the right thing to say, in order to turn a situation to her advantage. But… she seems to have little patience for weakness.

I also think Marian doesn’t necessarily enjoy manipulating people -it’s just the main way she is able to assert control on her environment. She’d much rather just be the Nightwatchman -but she doesn’t have that option. Much like I don’t think Guy enjoys being violent. It’s a tool that he uses to do his job, or he is enraged. Vaisey is sadistic, very different.

I suppose I would find Marian less frustrating if she just -hated Gisborne (I didn’t actually mind Kate that much, funnily enough.) The thing that makes me feel especially irritable about Marian is the ease with which she flips from *seeing the good in Guy* and then instantly doing a 180o about turn and tearing him down when he does something she disapproves of, combined with his insistence that “she saw good in everyone” -because, no she didn’t, or at least not enough that she was willing to make an effort to nurture it. Not that she has an obligation to, don’t get me wrong. I just often think… How betrayed Guy felt when he discovered she was the Nightwatchman, but he still was able to put that behind him rather than give up on her. It’s true that neither of them really knows and understands the other, but Guy lacks understanding because she is actively hiding her motivations and activities -whereas he keeps trying to let her see all the sides of him, but she isn’t interested. (Not that she has to. It’s just an interesting imbalance that he is willing and able to do that for her but she, ostensibly the more caring one of the two, is not.) It makes me wonder what could have happened if Marian had taken the risk to open up more to Guy about her feelings and activities (right after the episode with Winchester would have been a good opportunity, I could see her being able to do it at that point.)

I genuinely don’t think that Marian ever had feelings for Guy though. Maybe she was attracted to him at times, and I think she tried to make herself like him more for a couple of episodes when she was trying to come to terms with their engagement, but beyond that… I don’t think Marian ever allowed herself to think of Guy as more than an obstacle to her cause, whose humanity and feelings could be used to achieve said goal. And because the goal was moral and worthy, it justified her behavior towards Gisborne in her eyes. Guy saw Marian as a compass, Marian saw Guy as a tool (imo.) This is also why I always say Guy deserved better. Not because Marian isn’t good enough for him, but because he deserved better than to give his heart to someone who never saw it as worth holding in her hands.

Funnily enough I was listening to this song last week and it made me think of Marian:

Having said all that, I’m coming to this discussion and keeping this blog as a way for me to immerse myself and indulge my thoughts about *this one specific character*, Guy of Gisborne. Not because he’s the only one worth fangirling over, rather just because he’s the only one that feels real to me. Sometimes I mean to write actual analysis (although when I do, it tends to be either analysis ON Gisborne, or on how something else/someone else affects Gisborne. Just because, that’s the focus I have here.) Other times, well, I’m just having feelingsTM and I want to vent them. I don’t delve into Marian’s motivations and reasons in the same way I do for Guy, because I just… don’t think of any other character in that way? This blog is basically a Guy-shaped puddle and sometimes I just want to wear my metaphorical wellies and jump up and down on Marian’s and Robin’s face in it. Forgive me my self-indulgence.

I don’t know if that makes any difference, and I can only apologise if it spoils anyone’s fandom enjoyment. Maybe it will help if I tag posts differently -I shouldn’t have called it Robin Hood Meta, maybe episodenthoughts would be better? Should I stay out of the Robin Hood tag altogether? If that would be better for people, I have no objection. Thoughts?

[passerkirbius]

Compulsory Voting Looks Like...?

In my Voting With Spite post, I mentioned that Australia has compulsory voting, and I noted that quite a few people had either positive or negative reactions to that idea. I thought it might be a good idea to talk briefly about what Compulsory Voting actually does to your voting scene.

Now, to be clear, I'm going to be talking about the Australian Experience - that's what I know. I'm aware that Brazil and Belgium both have Compulsory Voting as well, and their experiences are likely to be a bit different. So, let's go through the big ones:

Do you need ID to vote?

Here, the answer is no - an ID can help, because when you get your name marked off the roll at a voting station, they use your name and address, and our driver's licenses have that, but it's not essential. Indeed, if you've changed address and that hasn't been recorded on the roll, you can still vote - this is called a "declaration vote", because the vote is put into an envelope where you "declare" that the information provided is correct, and the vote is counted once the electoral commission has verified the information.

One might think that this open up our system to a lot of fraud, but one of the fun parts about compulsory voting is that voter fraud is very easy to study - in such a system, if someone steals someone else's identity to vote, it will appear that that person has voted twice, and it gets investigated. The only other big fraud option is fraudulent enrolment - and again, because everyone is on the electoral role, if there's concern regarding a fraudulent enrolment, the electoral commission can check with people at the address of the enrolment. The AEC do these sorts of checks after every election, and it turns out, while there are often double votes, most of those are administrative errors (crossing off the wrong person somewhere), or entirely innocent (people with memory issues voting multiple times because they forgot that they'd already voted). During the 2018 election, only 118 cases were deemed worth forwarding to the Federal Police, out of over 20 million votes.

Do Politicians still play to the base?

In Voluntary voting systems, there is a well-known phenomenon where there's an incentive for politicians to, instead of trying to aim for policies that will satisfy the most people, to instead aim directly at their "base", their natural political home voters. The idea is that you don't actually need to persuade the other side to vote for you, you actually need to persuade your side to vote for you. The only prevailing counter to this is that you don't want to be so egregious that you motivate the other side to vote against you.

Historically, this has not been the case in Australia. In Australia, you can depend on your base to vote for you - they aren't going to stay at home, because it's compulsory to vote.

So they play to the centre?

Honestly, it's complicated. The question is often not about whether you're politically "in the middle", but where you live - Just like in other electorates, there are safe seats (where voter movement isn't likely to kick out the incumbent party) and marginal seats (where the margin of votes for a given party is quite small, generally less than 5%). Marginal seats are where political parties can potentially score a seat with only a little bit of a push, so it's standard strategy to build your campaign promises to directly target those marginal voters.

What those marginal voters actually want varies quite a bit, depending on where in the country they are - a marginal seat in Rural NSW need different targeting than a tiny marginal seat in Melbourne. In general these voters are looking for actual improvements in facilities and economic policy, rather than ideology, so while politicians from those seats may be absolute culture warriors, that often isn't what people in the seat are asking about or listening to - they want to know what the nutcase is actually going to do for them.

With that said, rural voters are more likely to want a personal connection to their MP and are much more likely to vote on who they, personally, like the most. This is less the case in Urban electorates, who care much less about who the MP is and what they're like, and much more about their party's platform.

But also also, there is a strong emphasis in politics about playing to "Ordinary Australians", which one can consider a code for "centre views". Of course, Australia as a society is pretty conservative in many ways, so what you consider "centre" may be a little left of what we consider "centre"...

So yeah, not nearly as simple as "playing to the centre" - there's a lot more involved there.

Are there such thing as "Independent" voters?

In Australia, at least, the idea of an "Independent" voter doesn't really exist - Australia's leaders aren't voted for in Primaries, so you don't need to have your political affiliation marked. Some Australians are members of political parties, but that number is tiny - in 2022, the two major parties had 100,000 members between them, in a population of 26 million people - about 0.4% of the population, maybe 0.5% if we count all the minor parties as well.

Are compulsory voters more engaged voters?

In a word? No. Australian society in general doesn't encourage people being overly involved or engaged in politics, especially in working-class subcultures (and of course, every Australian claims to be working class, regardless of their actual class). Like in many places, there's a pressure in face-to-face conversation to suppress political discussion to avoid conflict, and I can assure you that researching your candidates/parties before an election isn't a common activity (and I understand why - there's so many of them).

As a consequence, Australians don't tend to change their vote that often - in fact, studies in Australia have shown that there's a strong correlation between how you vote, and how your parents vote. A Labor voter is likely to stay a Labor voter, and a Liberal voter is likely to stay a Liberal voter, even if they're not a member of the party. This is why most election promises are much more about giving stuff to voters, rather than about legislation around society itself - It's considered safer to deal with infrastructure than it is to deal in culture wars issues.

Wait, if voters don't change often, how do opposition win?

Well, rarely is the honest answer to that question here. Since 1950, the party in federal government has changed only seven times:

Once in 1972, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 1975, from Labor to the Coalition (although that one was a particularly odd one)

Once in 1983, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 1996, from Labor to the Coalition

Once in 2007, from the Coalition to Labor

Once in 2013, from Labor to the Coalition

Once in 2022, from the Coalition to Labor

And during that time, there's been 27 elections, so in 20 out of 27 elections, the incumbent won. But with that said, every time the opposition wins, it's in a landslide, winning a huge number of seats.

The reasons for this are obviously complex, but the way I like to think about is that in Australia there's a certain inertia in the voting populace. Once your vote is set, there's not a lot that's going to change that vote - you're generally going to vote for the party that aligns most with you, and that isn't likely to change much. But as a party keeps fucking up (because they always fuck up), the more that votes wobbles - it might, initially, move your party down the preferences, which you might not notice (because it still funnels to you), but eventually, you've pissed off so many people that everyone votes for anyone but you arseholes, which results in the other party getting in with a landslide.

The previous government is usually horrifically savaged, to the point that it takes a few election cycles for them to slowly rebuild numbers, regain talent, and get themselves into a position where, now that the other side has fucked up sufficiently, voters are willing to let them have another shot at the big time.

This, awkwardly, also tends to stifle politically-lead social change, as well. Firstly, it can take decade or more for a party that is willing to engage with your chosen direction of society to become the Government, and even once they are there, it tends to be the case that Governments won't consider leading such changes until they are certain that everyone wants it - The Gay Marriage Postal Survey is an example. Any opinion poll could show you that the majority of Australians were for gay marriage, but the Coalition government of the time was against it. As a delaying tactic, they insisted on a postal survey (it couldn't be a plebiscite, because they couldn't get that through their own MPs) so every Australian had to vote on the issue. The result? 61.6% were for Gay Marriage (and up to 90% in some electorates!).

What if you can't vote?

Australia is something of a world leader in working to ensure that everyone can vote, because it's been generally established that you can't punish someone for not doing something the government has made it impossible for you to do. So, all Australians have access to:

Early Voting (usually for at least 3 weeks before election day)

Postal Voting (and you just have to post it on Election day, it can be received afterwards).

The voting infrastructure is set up that you can vote at any polling station in your state (we now print lower house ballots on demand, so every station has access to every ballot), and there are specific polling stations for interstate voters (where upper house ballots for every state are available).

There are mobile polling stations for voters, so even if you live in a remote town and can't drive to the nearest polling station, polling stations can drive out to you!

These mobile polling stations also attend prisons and hospitals to provide voting access for people who cannot leave to vote.

We even now have telephone voting for Blind folk, with a specialised system set up to allow for a secret ballot, so the phone person assisting the blind voter won't know who the blind voter is.

Australian embassies in other countries are also available for voters, although you are not actually required to vote if you're not in the country during the election campaign.

So, our voting infrastructure is built, as much as is practicable, to ensure that every voter gets every opportunity to vote. If you can't get to a booth on the day, you can early vote or postal vote.

To be clear, this is not a requirement of compulsory voting - it's quite possible to go to this level of effort in a voluntary voting system, and I can absolutely imagine a compulsory voting system that also made it difficult for people to vote (likely disproportionately affecting your political enemies).

Does Compulsory Voting help Minor Parties?

Not really - Preferential voting definitely helps minor parties, but not Compulsory voting. There is one way it might help though - As noted above, if you're pissed off with your current party, you may bump another party higher up on your preferences, even put them as your "1" vote. In a Voluntary voting system, such people might, instead choose not to vote and stay at home, so in that sense, I guess minor parties can be the beneficiaries of voter anger, but of course, that couldn't be the case without preferential voting.

Got more questions? My asks are always open! Ask away!

[wyked-ao3]

Heyyy! Question for you: What's the best writing advice you have for other writers? Feel free to go in depth if you'd like!

- @adhdprincess

Thank you for the ask. @bluefiredesire

Okay so to be honest that's a complicated things to me as each person will react differently to any advice given...so I'll break it down a bit and people can pick and choose from the statements most of this is personal so will not work for everyone.

If you have trouble spotting errors change the font you might not find everything but you will catch more of it...my recommendation would honestly be comic sans but if it doesn't work for you try another.

Accept that your story may not be perfect but you tried your best and beta readers will help smooth it's out more....they are a life saver be it a fanfiction or an original story.

Write what it is you want to write...if you change it to much you will not enjoy the story nearly as much be it a fanfiction or original work.. although on original works you do have to keep publishing standards in mind if you intend to go that route...also not going that route so... don't know a ton besides always read the small print.

If you hit a roadblock and time doesn't fix it then perhaps go back a chapter you may have went the wrong direction.

Another thing to remember is that your story is just that yours...add some twist and turns you enjoy or s little Easter egg that only certain people would know...have fun with your writing and it will show in the work.

On the other side of that

Writing will not always be easy and will push you at times.. remember to take care of yourself while crafting your worlds.

You will not catch all your mistakes and while it's embarrassing it's a part of life and having autocorrect... unfortunately along with any other number or reasons...

While you shouldn't be to critical of your work you will not improve if your aren't critical at all...its a hard thing to balance

Take advice from others when it's applicable and don't be afraid to ask questions if you don't know something .. most people who know about the subject will be happy to talk about it with you to some degree and will be way better than google.. although it doesn't hurt to double check your sources.

Beta readers and alpha readers can help troubleshoot but at the end of the day the decision is yours to make...and no two people will see things the exact same way, which is why beta readers are usually an important step if you can handle it. Although I always recommend the person to do the first read through be someone you trust and who's opinion you value...it makes things flow easier for both parties usually... although if you don't feel comfortable with friends reading it than perhaps a stranger works better for you...(Not my area of expertise)

While it's is your story sometimes it doesn't hurt to keep the readers in mind as well as the genre's general rules or structures... Sometimes stories just don't pan out for one reason or another..don't judge all of a genre on a few.

And last but not least not everyone is going to like your work and that's okay because eventually your work be it original or a fanfiction will find a fandom even if it's a small one...

once you post/publish you never know who has read it and you don't know how it effected them...it could be the story that gets someone through a rough time or it be someone's comfort story ...it could be completely average and that is something you will rarely ever find out

I'm not sure who all wants to see this so I'm not going to tag many ... although I would like to include a special thank you for beta reading @gioiaalbanoart who has already helped smooth it out a lot already and I'm looking for to seeing what we end up tackling in the second reading.. and your opinion of the last few chapters lol 🫂

And thank you as well as the two I recently asked @leahnardo-da-veggie and @illarian-rambling 🫂 I'm looking forward to seeing your feedback and incorporating parts of it in.

[chillingwithtavesss]

The shippers have double standards. They hate when we call out stuff with Kaia , but yet they hate on Vanessa who has moved on and married to another man. On top of that has a baby. They say this side of the fandom is jealous of Kaia but I think it’s the opposite. I think they envy what Austin had with Vanessa. They can’t stand that they don’t get the cute couple stuff that Austin gave with Vanessa Hudgens. He may want to be more private with his relationship, (which is an excuse they give when we point the lack of chemistry out) then why attack his ex?You so confident in your little ship,why come for a woman he is no longer with? I get Vanessa may have rubbed some of the fans the wrong way by bringing up Austin , but that’s no excuse to attack her at all.Especially with her body after baby.I highly doubt that’s the reason behind their bitch fits anyway since half of them seem to be more fans of Kaia than Austin.

I wanted to add I am not a fan of Vanessa. She seems a bit out there for my liking, but to each their own. However these fans can’t stand her because they know deep down Kaia won’t be where Vanessa was. Vanessa might not be everyone’s cup of tea just like Kaia isn’t but difference is Austin clearly loved Vanessa. There was never no doubt with that, and Vanessa obviously loved him too. I am sure they had their moments where they argued but they both definitely had something special I would say that. If Vanessa was in the picture still no one would be in this fandom shipping them and there would be peace in this fandom too. Shippers are so quick to brag how Austin didn’t put a ring on Vanessa’s finger , as if they know for a fact he’s going to get down on one knee for Kaia? Also how do they know Austin didn’t want to put a ring on it with Vanessa ? I remember coming across some old article from when they were together and it was definitely talked about upon the two of them.

I don’t have much to say to this lol , this is all facts. Them bugging on Vanessa for a postpartum body is trashy. The woman grew a human being and gave birth, her body isn’t going to be snatched like it was before. Just like I am sure when them shippers grow up and mature and become Mothers themselves they won’t look the same either. Picking on a woman for something that can happen to you if you choose to be a Mom is deranged barbaric ass behavior.

[acourtofthought]

I didn’t mean to send it as hate though - I just wanted to counter your arguments because I felt they were based on double standards. So, I do apologize if my tone was too harsh and came across agressive.

I love Lucien and Azriel both, so whatever book is next, is a win-win for me. But looking at the bigger picture, the spotlight is on Azriel right now - I’m not making this up, nor the other Gwynriels. I rest my case.

And I appreciate the apology. I think anytime you write an anon to someone and accuse them of acting like an E/riel it's going to be taken the wrong way. Of course you're not making up the fact that Gwynriel could be next. I've even said as much as that in my posts, that I could definitely be wrong. But here's the thing. SJM put a lot of effort into Lucien's story from book 1. SJM heavily built up Elucien in ACOWAR. Feyre's main concern in ACOMAF were for Nesta, Elain and Lucien. Then in SF, she "shelved" Elain and Lucien a bit so that Nesta could have her story with a little bit of distance between she and Elain. And Lucien featured in the first 3.5 books because he was Feyre's friend but as SF was focused on Nesta and Cassian, he was never going to be able to feature in the same way because again, he is Feyre's friend and it's not her POV anynore. And because SF is Nessian's book, it made sense that the main side characters were Gwyn (as her best friend) and Az as Cassian's best friend. And Az is featured in the crossover but not necessarily in a major ACOTAR plot related way that we know of in the actual series just yet. We have no idea exactly how or when SJM plans on introducing any relevant information and how that relates to Az's future journey. There's a few pieces that we can almost guarantee will be addressed but were they any more important than things like Luciens unknown father? Elain and Lucien's untrained powers? Lucien not being able to reconnect with the LoA? Lucien and Elain still not having a home? Lucien's "father" trying to ally with Koschei? Lucien's friend who is about to be called back and is cursed by Koschei? So if she built up Lucien in books 1 - 3.5 and Elain in books 2 - 3.5 while still featuring them in SF though less than before, and began to build up Az in SF and the crossover, why can't she "shelve" Az for the next ACOTAR book as she somewhat "shelved" Elucien in SF? Overall and throughout the entire series Lucien and Elain have still (together and individually) had more build up than Az or Gwyn (together or individually) have had throughout the entire series and the crossover combined. Elucien was the focus before yet they still haven't gotten a book. Just because Az looks like the focus now, does that guarantee he is getting the next book? He might be. Definitely! Maybe someone in the fandom knows something I don't and I just look foolish for looking at the information we have so far and trying to predict the outcome when I'm missing pieces of the puzzle. But.....maybe not? If SJM completely removed Chaol from EoS and still gave him TOD then why can't Elain and Lucien have the next book despite not being the main focus of SF? Despite them not being in the crossover? Because if they are already in Spring or Day or the continent when the crossover is taking place than there's a reason they weren't around to play a part. That's all I'm saying. I don't know if Elucien is truly next but when there are possible valid explanations for why they were missing in the crossover, when Elain's lack of page time in SF has a valid reason (so Nesta could discover who she was outside of Elain), when SJM tells us Elain has Az beat for secret keeping and she conveniently does not give us an Elain POV......then I think it creates a decent enough argument for why there is still the possibility of them getting the next book. Of course I could be wrong. Taking E/riel into account, I've only got a 33.33% chance of being right. But the book hasn't been announced so when we've got E/riels claiming THEY know for sure E/riel is next and Gwynriels claiming THEY know for sure Gwynriel is next, why is it wrong that I'm simply doing the exact same thing for Elucien? If you're all allowed to talk with such certainty than why I am the one being policed for doing the same?

[cosmixeatzsillythingz]

Now i believe in reverse falls supremacy and ever since I’ve discovered it, it has never left my mind I fear it’s also kind of silly because I’m 64% sure that this au was created before it was discovered that fiddleford worked with Stanford? Maybe? Which is why he doesn’t have a proper place I believe but also I’ve been trying to make my own version of the au which many people have their owns versions so I’m just going to ramble about it here heh.. okay but at least once every month I remember that I do have a tumblr account

Anyways moving on I’m going to start with my FAVORITE character to work on in this au, Mason gleeful and it’s kind of long but also I have been trying to figure out places for characters who are often pushed to the side for instance the parents of the telepathy twins or Shermie (I LOVE SHERMAN PINES SO MUCH) So things can connect with others pretty easily and I also want the gleeful family to be pretty complex because in the show there is no real villian (aside from bill) and YES I KNOW FILLBRICK SUCKS and I despise that man but he grew up in one of THOSE times and I think it’s a pretty popular headcanon that he might have experienced times during war or well hard times so that could have easily shaped him and how he is as well

Point is I’m trying to give every character a reason for why they are the way they are and they are just shitty because they came from a shitty place (dosen’t excuse any bad actions)

AHEM

Mason gleeful:

In my version Mason and Mabel’s parents have not been doing well at all when it comes to raising the twins like imagine Preston and his wife i forgot her name but doubled. (A bit of bud gleeful because yk) With beauty standards and all along with high Which Mason tries to achieve in order to impress his parents and so does Mabel (BUT WE ARENT TALKING ABOUT MABEL AS MUCH AS I LOVE THAT DIVA) Don’t mind me being bad at explaining but i don’t think they’d genuinely care enough to spend time with their kids unless it benefits them, like when Alex said in a commentary that Pacifica’s parents see her as a prized dog (VERY SAD BTW, also I 100% gave Mason Pacifica’s sassiness), but what I mean by this is the twins do things to impress them which yeah it makes them look good to other people but that is all the parents care about not how incredible their children truly are. They are just an opportunity to flex, Now what do they do instead of spending time with their kids or if their kids are having a rough time? Give them anything they want or money to shut them up.

And in canon when their parents send them off for the summer I imagine they did that here to handle the divorce and Mason and Mabel know what they return things won’t be the same.

In my version Mason personally found that him complaining, or well being a “brat” (heh..BRAT💚) gets him even more of what he wants

***Attention***

But what he dosent understand because he’s still young ofc is that despite him getting attention it’s the wrong kind. Because now people get sick of him, but he’s most bratty behind closed doors though which I imagine whilst behind closed doors he is still fascinated by anomalies just like his great uncle ford who though they are close in canon, here he does not care for him which he very much hates. And Stanley is clearly no better with seeing the kids as products and if the kids aren’t up to par or well “acting” out then they won’t be able to perform because you can’t sell a broken product and that is very shitty.

In the gleeful/elise manor it tends to be very still like I imagine tension is so thin you could cut it with a butter knife at times

But fiddleford who here is a butler (used to be and still is Stanfords assistant)

Tries to bond with the kids but it’s kind of hard when they are you know being bratty. Nevertheless the hillbilly is trying.

Now with all of this clearly being difficult for a kid and he doesn't know how to handle his emotions properly,

all of Mason’s emotion he tries to repress which all goes towards his rage. So his outbursts when they seem too much for something small or that could have been avoided there is more to it or more he is hiding.

Aughh that’s a lot but I do have more especially about the fiddauthor dynamic here because I’m fiddauthor’s #1 fan TRUST!!

[lilhiroo]

Hi, you are more than welcome to ignore this, of course, since I'm just some random person, but I wanted to reach out. I saw your bluesky posts and was quite shocked. When I noticed that you joined the bwbr server, I was so excited because you're one of my favorite artists. Your art is amazing and you're one of the few people (if not only) in the fandom I've seen that shares so many of the same headcanons and opinions about bloodweave as me. So to find out that you, alongside others, have been randomly and unfairly kicked out, is upsetting. Add that to the server's most recent announcement, which looking back at it after reading your posts feels a bit passive aggressive, and the fact that there's apparently a stalker in the server, this is truly horrifying and devastating. While I never really interacted much in the server and was mainly just a lurker, it was a place that made me happy as it felt fun, welcoming, and safe. Seemingly I was wrong and there's quite a bit of bias there and I'm thinking it might be best for me to leave. I can't even imagine how you and your friends must feel. I won't ask for any details since it's not really any of my business, and I fear that I may already be overstepping by sending this ask, I just wish you guys the best and hope that you'll be okay. I don't know if you know of any other server(s) that you'd recommend or if you think it's better to just stay away? Bg3, and bloodweave specifically, is such a comfort for me and an inspiration to try and get back into writing after years, and it's so disappointing that some people in the fandom have to be awful and ruin the fun for others. Again, I think your art is amazing and I hope you and your friends are safe and continue to find fun and happiness away from shitty people

Hi!

First, thanks so much for your concern <:) it's def been a whirlwind the last couple days, but I assure that me and others are fine! And I'm so glad to hear you enjoy my art!

To be frank, there is a rivalry going on between some big name bw creators and me +a few others, and I had joined br to first help out a friend who was being targeted by some of these creators in br unfairly. But I was also excited to finally make my presence there since it's the biggest bw server and I could interact with even more people. Of course, next day, one of the creators on the rival side, who has the reputation of stalking someone else I'm friends with, joined the server as well. Lots of us put in tickets for the safety of our friend, I hadn't but was rooting for a good outcome. In the end my friend, myself, and couple others were kicked/banned. My banning is what truly confused all of us, since I had done literally nothing but just recently join the server.

Obviously, br is a lot more aligned with those other creators, and is more willing to make accommodations for whomever they say is dangerous. But us on the other side who have good evidence of someone dangerous as well? Banned, cause said dangerous person is with the others, whom mods have bias for. In the end me being banned was more funny than anything, but disappointing that this was the stance the largest bw server was going to rule by.

If you don't feel good in br anymore but still want to be in a bw server, bw inn is very nice and it's all good vibes there tbh! (Disclaimer that there is no side that it aligns with in this conflict) But that's just my opinion, you do what makes you feel the best.

In the end this whole rivalry is shit flinging nonsense at times, and I won't claim to be a perfect angel in it all. But there is an egregious double standard at times. And it makes me mad lol.

Do your best not to interact with this whole conflict, lest a potential target is put on your back. But as for me, as long as my friends are targeted, I'm gonna be supporting them, and enjoying my yaoi all the while.

[mdhwrites]

In an answer to another question, you said that Amphibia acknowledges how change can be beneficial but also difficult and harmful, partly because the ‘quick’ and ‘forced’ change Andrias inflicts on Amphibia by trying to bend the world to his will is presented in a negative light. This is a very good point, but isn’t there a bit of a double standard when it comes to the forced change inflicted by the Guardian?

At journey’s end, the Guardian drops Anne back in Amphibia with three shards for a one-way trip home. It was nice of them to give her a ticket back to Earth…but it also forces Anne into a position where she has to leave a world she loved enough to give her life for, and potentially never see her found family again.

Now, it would be pretty hypocritical for Anne to talk a big deal about accepting that things change whether we like it or not in All In, only to turn around and pick a fight with the god of the multiverse out of a refusal to tolerate being separated from the Plantars. But the Guardian didn’t even consult Anne or ask her if she’d be okay with this before putting her in this position. They just…sent her back, left a little note saying “TTYL,” and didn’t even explain why they couldn’t give her a way back to Amphibia.

Sure, the Guardian knows how much damage was caused by creating the stones to see what mortals would do with unlimited power. Recreating the stones for Anne would have easily risked another disaster happening. But if the Guardian is truly all-powerful, surely they could have given the Calamity Trio a two-way portal that couldn’t be exploited by the wrong hands?

And in the deleted alternate ending, the Guardian does recreate the stones anyway when an old Anne forgets the deal she made and forces them to start their search for a replacement all over again. Now, this alternate ending isn’t canon, so it might not actually be what the Guardian would do, but again, the Guardian never explains why they’ve given one-time-use-only shards.

By all appearances, this is a quick and forced change to inflict on Anne, Sasha, and Marcy. You say the forced changes Andrias inflicts on Amphibia are portrayed as bad, but the narrative doesn’t even question the forced change brought about by the Guardian. Nobody raises so much as a word in condemnation of its actions. Not once does Anne even think to look up to the sky and ask ‘What gives? I sacrificed my life to save Amphibia, and you won’t even give me a two-way portal?’

I understand two-way transportation would have contradicted the message of accepting change and how love transcends distance. But throwing an entity who supposedly could, but won’t, give them a way back muddles things, in my opinion. A big part of Anne’s arc was learning to stand up for herself. Shouldn’t she have stood up to the arguably unfair hand she was dealt?

(Sorry for how long this ask was, I just have a lot of thoughts on this stuff and I get carried away rambling sometimes XD)

So for the sake of focus, I'm going to take all the stuff about the two way transportation and Anne supposedly being out of character for not arguing about the stones and put them to the side. One: because you yourself admit that approaches are flawed, Two: things get deleted for a reason. I could literally probably give you a clear, logical, narratively consistent reason why EVERY storyboard we're shown for TOH was changed or deleted, and Three: I could genuinely go into each topic on its own and so it would make this blog incredibly long.

Instead, I'm going to focus that while it wasn't my first point, I did continue for one more line about why Andrias' change upon the world was so destructive. I specifically point out that it is forcing the world to be something it is not and to bend it to his own will. It is selfish and uncaring of others and the show's themes of community always punishes selfishness.

Instead, the Guardians' final choice... Actually evokes the first sin in Amphibia's timeline, at least for the trio. The Guardian's logic is actually pretty easy to figure out after all. After what the girls did, especially Anne, they deserve a chance to go home, even if the Guardian is now done with allowing inter-dimensional travel, at least easily and by his intervention. So they're given shards to allow them to choose what form of change they want, what sacrifices they will make, but change HAS to happen either way. It is simply best for everyone, you yourself admitted this and a two way portal would not magically fix the issues with it, from the Guardian's perspective to keep the worlds separate..

It is not selfish. Instead, he is doing it for the best of the dimensional community... Just like Marcy's father was going to make them move likely for the sake of keeping his job or a promotion or any number of reasons that were likely motivated by trying to keep his family together or help them prosper. The change it would inflict on Marcy would not be of her own choosing, just as we cannot control the change those around us inflict upon us, but it wasn't done maliciously, nor was forced to be faster than the nature of the change required. There is no way to make a change like that smooth or consequence free. It was always going to hurt, much like when someone around you dies.

Instead of running though, the trio embrace it and head back home where they'll have to deal with reality the most. It's a stark contrast to, while still paralleling, the actions that began the show. A scared girl running from inevitable change and deciding a fantasy world was better than her actual home. For an ending, it's perfect.

So why not show the pain? Well... Because a story needs to end eventually. Amphibia in the end is extremely optimistic about good intentions, community and change so showing Anne or any of the trio cursing God himself for not giving them a fairytale ending makes literally no sense to include in the finale and just adds more time whining when that time could be better spent saying farewell to the characters and staying committed to the hopeful message that it has.

That's something I don't think a lot of people entirely get with stories. There are actually plenty of TOH scenes I've dug into HARD not because there isn't a logic to them or I couldn't explain to you why the characters are behaving the way they are or because it is literally written badly but because, you know... It needs to actually serve the story and the point of a scene. Even if it doesn't 100% adhere to pure logic, it needs to adhere to the thematic and emotional logics of the piece. Those are ALWAYS more important.

Otherwise, you get people bitching at SpyxFamily for the fact that trained spy Loid doesn't give a shit that his wife has literal superhuman capabilities. Logically, they're correct. But... The show IS a comedy. And 90% of the time, Yor's strength and skills are used comedically because that is the tone and purpose of whatever scene is going on. It adheres to the logic of what the show at least pretends to be. It's actually why I find myself questioning the serious portions of the show more. Not because they make less literal sense but because they make it so when the show shifts back into silly times with Anya at school, it is fucking JARRING.

And for Amphibia's ending, the point is how much good change has done these characters. Saying farewell and embracing how much both the characters and the audience have treasured the characters they've been with. There's a reason why the epilogue, and even the farewell before it, come across like a curtain call to a play as much as a natural scene. A final chance to say farewell before we probably never see them again. And, you know, because they commit to that instead of trying to prove they're so smart or address every potential thing someone might claim is illogical about the show mostly set in a frog world, it is able to genuinely say goodbye to those characters and stay emotionally and thematically consistent throughout.

Because those things, in 99% of stories, is WAY more important than being 'logically correct'. It's also why I don't really think there is a better version of Amphibia's ending. Period.

======+++++======

I have a public Discord for any and all who want to join!

I also have an Amazon page for all of my original works in various forms of character focused romances from cute, teenage romance to erotica series of my past. I have an Ao3 for my fanfiction projects as well if that catches your fancy instead. If you want to hang out with me, I stream from time to time and love to chat with chat.

A Twitter you can follow too

And a Kofi if you like what I do and want to help out with the fact that disability doesn’t pay much.

[cannibaldyke]

Crimson Peak Limited 4k UHD

don’t usually do long posts, but wanted to show off all the stuff that came in the new Crimson Peak release from Arrow! they also did a release in 2019, so i guess they still have the rights.

specs-wise, it obviously looks gorgeous, though there’s not as drastic of an increase in quality from the 2019 Bluray as there might be with other films, since Crimson Peak wasn’t originally filmed in 4k, so it’s an upscale rather than “true 4k”. not a slight against it at all, Crimson Peak is already an incredible looking film that obviously looks beautiful in 4k. the audio is also largely the same, which, again, is fine because the movie already sounds great. but if you’re just upgrading for technical specs then that’s important to know. (got all this info from Jeff Rauseo on Youtube, ty Jeff)

but a lot of people are probably buying for the packaging/inclusions! so i took a bunch of pictures. images look a bit more saturated than they do in real life bc i’m compensating for my shitty camera lol.

the casing is really nice, it has a spine to resemble a book, when you open it up you get these cool splash pages. you pull on the ribbon to remove the second case with the booklet in it (not the disc, which i thought would be in there).

from there, we have four double-sided photo cards showing Edith, Thomas, Lucille, and Alan. the front side is the classic promotional art, i think the back side are new renders? i might be wrong, not sure.

also included is a double-sided mini-poster, again with the front being one of the original theatrical posters, and the back being what i think is a new render. (if anyone wants exact size i can measure it.)

then we have the disc itself! not much to say, some nice art that matches the case. it doesn’t come with a DVD/HD Bluray, so if you have the 2019 Bluray, there’s a reason to hang onto it even if you get this new release.

lastly, the booklet! i LOVE the cover on this thing. i sort of wish one of the sides of the mini-poster was done in a style like the casing/disc/booklet cover, because it looks sick as hell, but i’m probably just going to use the theatrical poster side when/if i hang it.

included a picture of the table of contents! has some interviews and essays, pretty standard for these nicer Arrow releases (i also have the Re-Animator and Bride of Re-Animator boxsets).

can’t include anymore pictures in this post, but i can take some pictures of the inside of the booklet if anyone’s interested!

overall, i am obsessed with this release. Crimson Peak absolutely deserves this kind of technical upgrade, and the care that went into this release is obvious. if you’re a physical media collector, or just a big fan of the movie, i would definitely recommend picking this up!

[greenpaths]

ALRIGHT MY FRIENDS ARE WE READY FOR

A BIG CROCHET PROJECT UPDATE!!!!

I keep putting off posting about everything on here and instead of making a bunch of separate posts, I figured I might as well just get it all done in one shot!!

So first off, an update on the baby blanket I had been making!! As a refresher, my coworker and his fiance had a baby a few months ago in July, and I was asked to make a baby blanket for the lil one even though it was late into the pregnancy at the time. I took on this task with DEDICATION and it is NOW DONE

I used TL Yarn Crafts' Hexis in Springtime blanket pattern and Hobbii's Frutta + Lion Brand's 24/7 Cotton and I'm very very pleased with how VIBRANT it ended up being. I was initially afraid that the white borders would really wash everything out, but I think the Frutta yarn matched its energy and held its own. and it's all 100% cotton, so it should hold up over time and many washes!! I also made my own ruffly edges rather than using the pattern's, and I also sewed on a standard baby blanket fabric on the "wrong" side of the crochet (with my mom's help!)

honest to God I'm so proud of this one, and even though it's not perfect I am sooooo excited to have done it!! it's a blankie a baby can grow up with and I'm so happy to give them that 😭 I can't wait for the baby pictures I've been promised

AND THEN

this one is a bit of an oldie, but I made my best friend Madison a mushroom purse for her birthday gift this year!! I hadn't posted about it on here because she follows me on umblr and it was supposed to be a surprise, but she's now had it for a few months so it's free real estate

the pattern is this one from Bayou Self Creations on etsy, and I used Big Twist Value yarn in the colors cream, mustard, and toffee!! this pattern was SO fantastic and well detailed, and I found that I was comfortable enough w it to make some adjustments, so I did! For one, I bought purse hardware and introduced lobster clasps and a strap adjuster ring so that the bag can be easily taken off the strap, and the strap adjusted. I made a little tassel for some extra decoration and used a bead to create the little door knob, and I even lined the inside of the bag with white liner to make sure it can hold anything without the item slipping through the holes always created in crochet

this pattern was SO much fun to make and it really worked up so fast since most of it was done with worsted weight yarn held double. highly recommend!!

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

one of my dear coworkers has always caught me crocheting and asked if I'd be willing to make him something small. after some pestering, he said he'd like mushroom boy keychains, and I delivered!!

I used the Chonky Mushroom Boi pattern by Chonky.Crochet on ribblr (which, tangentially related, is quite honestly the WORST app I've ever used ui/ux related. It is so HORRID). the pattern is super thorough and these little guys worked up very quickly and were a great way to use up some scrap yarn! unfortunately, they did get a little damaged already and I have to find a better way to fasten them to the keychain thing. I WILL though

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST

another baby crochet project!! this time for my very sweet neighbor who is 6 months along. I really wanted to make her something without committing to the scope of something like another baby blanket, so I did some digging around until I found this pattern for baby loveys by theodoreandrose (hosted on the Bella Coco Crochet website). I made some adjustments (see: packing in more crochet stitches towards the last few rows in order to make the bottom ruffley, adding two extra rows otherwise, crocheting extra ear details), but otherwise the pattern itself was incredible (ESPECIALLY considering it's free!) and I managed to knock this one out in about half a month working on it here and there. It was also the first time I had completely 100% freehand embroidered a face onto a plushie I've made, and I kinda thing I killed it tbh. it looks so much like an old school toy and I love it!!

I used Berroco's Comfort yarn in the color Falseberry Heather. I wish I could have gone for something a lil more colorful, but the baby nursery follows a forest theme and I didn't want to stray from it. in any case, I think the tan yarn (scraps from WeCrochet's Comfy yarn, throwback to that monkey amigurumi I posted about ages ago) did a good enough job of breaking things up!!

And now we're all caught up!! I've got a few projects I wanna get done as Christmas gifts and I've already started on my next one, so 👀 I'll see y'all again soon!!

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Miles C. Peyote and Howie Thetaxi

(I’ve already made an information post like this, but said post is pretty long; in fact, it’ll just get longer and more expansive as I develop new characters and stories for [The Future Mob Project]. And I’m worried that the sheer length will make readers lose interest when they click on a link to look for a specific character. So, I’ll be making separate information pages for each character while still maintaining the all-inclusive post. Got it? Good.)

Who They’re Based Off Of: Lewis Dawkins (Dawko) and Ryan (8-BitRyan), respectively.

Their Methods of Work: When your reputation precedes you from all the way across the pond, you’ve definitely done something right! (Unless that was never your intention, in which case you’ve done something horribly, horribly wrong.) Remember the board game Mouse Trap? Well, Miles probably played it a few too many times in his youth, if the booby traps he sets up nowadays are anything to go by. Whether the goal is to kill or simply capture someone, his designs never fail to be. . .elaborate. Howie, meanwhile, doubles as a mechanic and driver. From ditching cops to running enemies off the road, he has more than enough skill to make professional racers envious. Never, NEVER forget the importance of seatbelts if you’re getting into a car with him. (Also, never put your feet on the dash. It’s rude.)

Red Attire: For Miles, a pair of leather boots (Oxblood). For Howie, a pair of gauge earrings (Carnelian)

Notes:

These two got their start in The Marble Hummingbirds, a different mob based in the UK that has had a strong alliance with The Pentas Family for years now. As part of standard underground affairs, Miles and Howie volunteered to relocate to the US and work more closely with Murdock and the others. The adjustment was a bit difficult (especially for Howie), but they both understand that it makes several aspects of business more efficient. They both retain a good balance of loyalty between their original crew and their new one.

Miles is selective when it comes to speaking. He’ll talk some when he’s among people he trusts or is in a place that he’s deemed safe/comfortable, but when he’s out in public, he’s just. . .very quiet. He’ll still talk a bit for the sake of politeness or formality, but only a bit. If an area is open or unfamiliar, he prefers to use body language and the like. (This does absolutely NOT stop him from cackling like a maniac over his traps.)

Howie has no qualms about reckless driving. Swerving, speeding, staging accidents; he can do it all without batting an eye. Whatever it takes to get himself and his buddies (plus their cargo) from Point A to Point B without getting stopped or caught. However, this mindset only applies to his personal driving. When he’s casually out and about, he can’t stand other drivers who tailgate, block lanes, cut others off, etc. If you act rude toward him in traffic, he can and will make a side-quest out of finding a way to get back at you. And yes, this extends to when he’s on the job. It’s not at all uncommon for him to go back and forth between chatting with his passengers and yelling at idiots on the road in the middle of a high-stakes-chase.

Miles has a habit of collecting plushies; especially odd-looking ones. (For example: the creepy-yet-cute stuff you might find on Etsy.) But his plushies aren’t just for aesthetic or decoration. He’s modified each and every one of them to be soft little storage units. Some have well-hidden zippers in their backs, while others have their heads function as the lids to jars stuffed inside their stomachs. Miles uses this strategy to hide valuables, such as varying sums of money or the odd piece of jewelry taken from a target.

Howie is miraculously conscious of animals on the road. That’s one of few exceptions to his typical stance on get-away-driving. He'll always make sure to avoid hitting cats, dogs, raccoons, deer. . .or squirrels. As a matter of fact, one squirrel that he managed to spare back in the day seems to have pledged a life-debt to him. Seriously, he met this squirrel while he was still working in the UK, and by now it’s followed him to the US. Wherever Howie is, the squirrel always seems to be somewhere in the background, just watching and waiting.

Along with all the get-away driving stuff, Howie has helped The Pentas Family to form its very own chop-shop. Whenever cars are stolen from targets or enemies, Howie will be there to dismantle or sabotage said cars. Legitimate parts are sold, and certain jobs involve filling a vehicle with counterfeit parts in order to frame its owner. 

Ever since relocating, both Miles and Howie live out of The Five Seasons, a hotel near the Cove Port Inlet’s city entrance. The building is connected to the abandoned subway tunnels, and the duo rotates between sharing the hidden den; Miles will use it to build/test his traps, and Howie will use it simply to store/tamper with various car parts. The hotel just so happens to be right across the street from the car repair garage (Oh, For God’s Brake!) that Howie uses for his day-job.

Current Stories: [TBA]

@sammys-magical-au

[tobiasdrake]

Let's take our time figuring out a careful way to reach our client, who is most definitely dying brutally as we speak.

What about the passcode? You need to step on panels in a particular order in order to open the final door. Do we know the passcode?

Bestie and I can go. You stay behind, Desuhiko. If the killer comes through, shriek for help and then jump 'em. We'll hurry back while Fink is slaughtering you.

Oh, that's a good idea. It won't help you jump them, but you can get a good look at their face, see them up close, maybe even engage them in conversation while they're trying to escape. Then rewind, take all that knowledge with you, and hide.

I like it. You're on guard duty, bestie.

Dude, we're out-of-uniform and visibly children. What could possibly possess you to think we're Peacekeepers?

Just went through an entire recap fast-forward while Fuckboy's in there trying to count how many internal organs the killer's managed to perforate so far.

I hope Yuma's under no delusions of finding Huesca alive 'cause we are taking our sweet time with this rescue.

Sure, there's time for that. Not like a man's dying or anything.

Right now, Ama-Pal is my going theory for how Huesca's murder was carried out. But that's more due to a lack of ideas than any concrete evidence.

No idea. I'll let you know if I ever see one.

He upgraded his lab's security system into a murder machine that kills unsuspecting people. You don't have to tell me twice.

He did. He truly did.

Look on the bright side. You come with us, you might get to see his corpse. I'm eager to find out what Slaughter Art looks like. I'm hoping for a bit of expressionism, myself.

So long as you have the remote, you can see through Ama-Pal's eyes. Makes sense. Pretty basic.

Fairly durable. Check.

Itty-bitty ball-arms. Cannot pick things up, but can flip a switch. He needs to specify this because cartoon critters with no physical hands inexplicably manage to pick things up just fine all the time, so he needs to firmly establish that the ball-hands are not mysteriously functional.

This feels like it's going to be extremely important. An Ama-Pal had to have been used to carry out this crime, right?

If you know the passcode to access the lab, it wouldn't matter. If you don't know the passcode, you'd have to brute force it. But depending on how the system works, there might only be a handful of possible combinations.

I was thinking about that when talking to Makoto. If you have to step on every panel and make your way from one side of the room to the other then there's precious few combinations you could make without doubling back over an already-pressed panel.

Even if the password isn't that dumb and does allow passbacks, an electric shock on every wrong panel would make it trivially easy for a shock-proof little robot to crack. If you get negative feedback at every wrong press then you can find the right presses through rote trial and error.

My gut says an Ama-Pal was in the Panel Room brute-forcing combinations while we were talking to Huesca. His sudden "Wait, who are you!?!?" reaction was because the little drone finally cracked the code and entered the lab.

Could have been avoided with a standard-issue finger-sized key-panel but techbros always have to be so clever about everything.

Given that we're so deep underground, it'd be hard for a wi-fi signal to reach this far from outside. So if the killer did brute force the Panel Room via Ama-Pal, they had to be down here with us.

Though if Researcher's telling the truth, this throws a wrench into that idea. Obviously, this Ama-Pal is not currently in the lab murdering Huesca.

The Sizzler, on account of what's going to happen to them in a few minutes when it turns out they aren't as well insulated as we'd hoped.

Which means one of three things.

1 - Fink is still in there. 2 - Fink didn't have to enter the room to kill Huesca. 3 - Fink has an alternate means of entry and exit into the lab that bypasses all security.