#i blame reddit for not being able to source this

[copper-tones]

everytime i learn and then use a new art technique i’m

i have to resist chowing down on my fingers

[clonebrainrot]

I saw a post on Reddit about this article and had to check if it was true and yes it is. They do say that Americans with ADHD are a dire threat to the American way of life because we can’t function to the militaries standards and take so much from the system apparently the full quote in context is this

“These health burdens have continued to increase alongside the increased prescription of medication. For example, in the case of Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, over 3.4 million children are now on medication for the disorder — up from 3.2 million children in 2019-2020 — and the number of children being diagnosed with the condition continues to rise.

This poses a dire threat to the American people and our way of life. Seventy-seven percent of young adults do not qualify for the military based in large part on their health scores. Ninety percent of the Nation’s $4.5 trillion in annual healthcare expenditures is for people with chronic and mental health conditions. In short, Americans of all ages are becoming sicker, beset by illnesses that our medical system is not addressing effectively. These trends harm us, our economy, and our security.”

Source

The United States government thinks we are a drain on the system.

They wonder why the amount of people being diagnosed has increased and while I am not studied on the topic I do have a theory that makes 1,000 times more sense than what they will blame this on vaccines.

It’s because what is required by people who would have been able to more easily mask their ADHD, Autism or whatever else can no longer do so because what the system requires has become to much. People who diagnose have also gotten better at it.

[dewyatt]

A Musing On LKW #6-7

I'd proposed over on Reddit that this dream reality or whatever it is isn't someplace that whoever attacked Laura at the end of #5 put her in, but something her own mind is creating to try keeping her alive because the attack caused some real damage. The people that appear in it — Logan, Gabby, Emma, Kamala, and Julian — are people that she subconsciously hears around her at her bedside, and her mind is inserting them into this reality she's constructed (though Xavier doesn't really fit because of X-Manhunt). This could explain why Sarah still died and Laura blames herself for it, because I can't imagine a scenario where Laura wouldn't imagine the perfect life including a chance to be with her mother.

One of the responders made an interesting point:

Usually in these sorts of plots, the villain puts the hero through the dream world/simulation to try to trick them. Either they're using it as a form of interrogation to get the hero to reveal some important information they wouldn't ordinarily give up, try to get them to do something they ordinarily wouldn't do, or to outright brainwash them.

However, look at what the characters in Laura's dream world are doing:

They're trying to help her.

Laura is, without question, a very traumatized young woman. She's a survivor of horrific physical and emotional abuse. She's by any definition a rape victim. She has a long history of self-harm, poor self-esteem, or sense of autonomy. She continues to grieve over Sarah's death, and even as late as All-New Wolverine there's a sense she still feels guilt and shame over it.

Emma was able to torment her with visions of Sarah blaming her. It was a major source of grief in Target: X, and even played a major role in the Orphans of X arc in ANW.

And Sarah's death provides the focal point of Laura's dream world.

In the dream, rather than dying in a trigger scent-induced rage, Sarah is killed in a car accident in which Laura was the driver. The entire dream is constructed around Laura's guilt and self-blame, in which her death led to an emotional spiral where Laura began to withdraw from reality because she was unable to process her grief. Just like in the books; Sarah's death was an instigating factor in the sequence of events that ultimately led to her being reduced to a barely-functional shell of a human being under Zebra Daddy's control.

Laura also has a long history of self-harm, manifesting in cutting herself with her claws, or a destructive disregard for her own safety. She allows Rahne to nearly tear her to shreds in X-Force because Logan reinforced her own belief her life held no value. She nearly committed suicide upon being infected by the Legacy Virus because she felt her life didn't matter. It led to considerable conflict with Warren in ANXM.

This propensity for self-harm appears in the dream, as well. In this case, Laura became so lost in her "stories" she believes she really could heal from anything, (itself a potential response to the survivor's guilt of wondering why she survived when her mother died) and actually hurt herself in an attempt to prove it.

Now, consider the behavior of Logan and Gabby. Logan tries to assure her that she's not to blame for Sarah's death. They both express concern over Laura's past attempt to harm herself, to the point of not allowing her to close her door (which itself could have numerous meanings; from preventing a scenario where Laura could do something worse to herself, to representing Laura's tendency of shutting everyone out rather than accept the support of her friends and loved ones) and running interference on several occasions where Laura performs the sort of reckless acts that often led to her being injured in the "real" world.

Doctor Xavier and Doctor Frost are also concerned with her well-being. While we, as readers, know that Laura being the hero Wolverine aren't just a story she made up in her head, in the context of the dream their observations of her mental state are quite justified.

So this isn't a villain trying to manipulate Laura for some purpose. This is her own psyche trying to work her through the things she's been struggling with. She's trying to tell herself she's loved.

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/stargareed/770945470858248192/saw-this-lovely-description-of-jon-on-the-tag-of?source=share

https://www.tumblr.com/stargareed/771677214066540544/dany-stan-nonsense-in-the-jon-tag?source=share

Just look at what Jon’s stans, Jonerys shippers, and so called Daenerys’ stans reblog (and most of them are women, the internalised misogyny is insane). Mind you, OP openly hate Daenerys, believes that she needs to redeem herself for burning Mirri, and that Jon is the Prince that was Promised.

Jon’s stans on Reddit routinely slut shame Daenerys, mock her for being sold, blame her Drogo’s actions, for Viserys’ death, spent decades writing increasingly detailed rape fantasies for her and theories about how she should die of intimate partner violence and “female hysteria”, but Jon’s stans pop a blood vessel over “arrogant bastard”.

It’s always been like this. They’ve always been like this. The only people they have the wherewithal to bully are Daenerys’ stans. The whole fandom hates and mocks their ship and everyone thinks their favorite boy is going to commit femicide and murder a former bridal slave, but the only people they have any anger for are Daenerys’ stans. They’re silent as a mouse in front of everyone else. It’s very amusing to witness, really.

At least, they’re all finally exposing themselves for the Daenerys haters that they are. And it took minimal effort, at that. But it’s honestly very funny that they think they of all people have any ability or power to stop Daenerys extremists from being Daenerys extremists, lmao. Oh, and it’s Daenerys who won GRRM a Hugo Award, not fuckass Jon.

Doing woke SJW identity politics over Jon Snow is absolutely hilarious, Daenerys’ haters consistently prove everyday how their leftist screeds apply to men but not to her. Jon is the most able-bodied, conventionally attractive male protagonist in the series, I don’t know how its possible to question that.

I blocked this person after reading just one post's first 2-3 lines about how "miansdry has taken over Tumblr" and I am not looking back even for you, lovely anon.

"Woke" as a term has gone through a beating, bc it really is always supposed to mean "be aware of the status quo's violence and watch out for injustice to keep everyone (in the black community, bc that was the source AND target) safe...do not become complacent and buy into the system". Just like how white people and those in their pocket holding their dicks have appropriated and twisted the term, these Jon stans have twisted Jon from the original characterization for the silent, sinister desire to use it against their mortal enemies--Dany stans, those who they wish to quiet the most. Quite simply, it has been Dany stans who they've perceievd as being in their way and it is true bc they really don't want the fandom movig away from the show's own sexist' rewrites of Dany into this evil being who was always "mad". And stargreed's complaints is a great mood booster in a way bc it confirms that there is an important shift in said fandom, esp tumblr, where I've seen more people move in flight from Twitter and TikTok or Meta. Still, had to block, bc I like my peace.

There is a clip of bell hooks in Tik Tok circulating. In it, she says that in the 70s-80s, white people looked towards black people to make incorporate their exotic cool" and "participate" or center themselves through bc their own culture is...flat. But it also releives them of having to look inward and really face why and how they are that flat so that they can remain a static race. These sorts of Jon extremists may not want to be Dany stans to make themselves look good, but in lieu of that they do wish to decenter Dany and her stans as much as they can as their other option.

[sophieinwonderland]

I think the r/system cringe discord server has the right intentions, but are doing things in the wrong way. In the end it seems both sides (You/People with ideas like you and the r/system cringe server) want to end the spread of misinformation, but both have different ideas of what said misinformation is and how to go about it. I have not been in the server longer and have been observing, I think attacks against each other should cease and you should talk things out. You both give interesting POVs on the topic of endogenic/mixed origin systems and it would be interesting to see a (civil) debate happen. Thoughts on this?

I and many others have tried to speak in r/systemscringe, and the result of speaking politely with sources to back up what you're saying has traditionally been getting mass-downvoted and banned.

Some people in the server have said they want civil debate, and I'm sure they do. It's a controlled environment where any pro-endos will be outnumbered. If they say the wrong thing, they can be banned from the server. And meanwhile, server members can namecall and toss slurs at them with no repercussions.

And unlike Reddit which anyone can see if they happen to be there, it's a private server and the only people whose eyes will ever be on the conversation are members.

I don't feel a debate would be worthwhile or productive.

As for having the right intentions... I think you could say that about a lot of groups.

Anti-vaxxers legitimately believe vaccines cause autism, and their intentions are trying to protect children from developing a potentially debilitating mental disorder. Their intentions are very noble. Protect children from big pharma. It doesn't matter that their research is debunked, has failed to be replicated by any studies, and that their actions will actually lead to deaths of children from diseases. Their intentions are good.

Many Pro-Lifers honestly see pro-choicers as baby killers. Many TERFs see trans women as a threat to women's rights. Many xenophobes are totally convinced people immigrating across the border are violent invaders. You can defend a lot of hate and bigotry with "good intentions."

Some members of these cringe communities probably do have good intentions too. (Although some are just bullies and want to mock people for being different.)

For example, some of these cringizens have experienced ableism first hand from the medical community who has denied their experiences. And who do they blame for this? "Fakers." They believe there is a mass number of evil fakers in the world who are pretending to be plural, and that it's those people who are responsible for all of their ills and the ableism they've suffered.

It's easy to point blame at other marginalized people for what you suffer. In fact, it's more rewarding to be able to mock the little guy than to truly take on institutions that are so much more powerful than you are.

And that's a huge reason that these people are going to be resistant to the correct information too. If you spend all day looking for "fakers" to the point where you start deriving joy from mocking anyone who presents slightly different, you become disincentivized to change.

In the end, I can make a post with quality academic sources disproving popular talking points from r/systemscringe...

And the sad truth is that it's unlikely to change a single mind.

Because their beliefs are so entrenched that no amount of evidence or sources will be able to convince them that they're wrong.

[hyperactivewhore]

Do you mean shifting as in imagination or..?

I'm glad you asked! I warn you though, that this is probably gonna sound strange (to not say crazy) at first and I don't blame you if you think I'm "stupid" or something, but no, I mean it as in literally shifting to any reality of my liking.

"Reality shifting" is the popular term that people use because that's literally what it is, shifting realities, but quantum jumping would be the scientific name and usually the one I pick when explaining shifting to anyone because despite being the same, quantum jumping is generally a more accepted term than just saying "I can go to any reality I want".

Shifting has been part of a lot of religions since the very beginning, it's not a tiktok trend and it's not nothing new. There is a side of tiktok called "shiftok" though, that is a big community dedicated to shifting, it was full of disinformation and kinda rude people back in 2020-2021 but it's not exactly bad now, they know what's true and what isn't and they've come a long way. There's also the shiftblr, the amino community and the twitter one, but I'm just in shiftok and in the tumblr one, but a good and reliable source of information is Reddit!

We've also have mainly agreed as to these terms, to make it more easy and etc;

Script: basically, this is like a curriculum if I can call it that, we don't need one but a lot of people including me always write one to calm our anxiety and reasons. In here, you write everything you want, mostly your personal data, such as your name, family, friends, appearance, etc. It can be on paper or in your phone.

Permashifting: staying in your desired reality permanently, with the possibility to come back to the reality you were in before.

Respawn: cutting all ties with your current reality by scripting you forget all about it, therefore you won't be able to return to that reality because you won't have memories of it. Saying you won't be able to come back is wording it poorly though, because you can definitely go back, but you probably won't because you just won't remember it.

Dr: this means desired reality, basically the reality you intend to shift to.

Cr: current reality, basically the reality where you're in right now.

Or: your original reality. For a better explanation, if a shifter decides to permashift/respawn to their desired reality (dr), that reality becomes their current reality (cr), but before they shifted for the first time, they were in a different reality that was their original one (or).

Cc: comfort character. This usually means a romantic partner, but you don't need one. It can also mean a family member, or a friend.

Wr: waiting room. Most shifters have their wr as a means to shift "easily" or to stay there for a while before deciding to go to their dr's. This isn't needed, but it's a good way to pass time: you can study here, paint, eat whatever you want without consequences, or just relax. I, for example, have a Barbie dreamhouse as my wr because it heals my inner child.

Method: a method that makes it easier to reach your dr, but this isn't needed at all. Just by setting intention, you can arrive to your dr in seconds.

Subliminal: an audio mixed on purpose with positive affirmations that are perceived by the subconscious directly. This isn't just for shifting, there are a lot of subliminals out there, but some people listen to them to make them feel more connected to their dr.

People usually shift to famous media, such as Harry Potter, Marvel, or television shows that can be The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things, or completely different things! Like fantasy realities, medieval realities, futuristic realities, and even a reality where you can be a streamer or a famous actor/actress (this specific realities are called streamer dr and fame dr). I'm shifting to a show called The Vampire Diaries, that is a series about supernatural, my fame dr and an old videogame called The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, that is set on a medieval world that has talkative dragons, as an example.

I'm gonna link some guides too, that expand on what I just said, in case you need it: Guide to Shifting and Robert Bosnak, who's an old man who has been shifting since always.

I hope I answered all your doubts and that hopefully you don't see me as some cracked lunatic.

[jewishbarbies]

https://www.tumblr.com/jewishbarbies/760809054355488768/httpswwwtumblrcomjewishbarbies76074404788112?source=share

I’ve seen so many people on TikTok and reddit and also in real life say to bi/pan women “why do you guys only talk about bi/pan phobic lesbians, there’s bi/pan phobic men too!” Always fucking deflecting. WE KNOW there’s bi/pan phobic straight men who don’t like bi/pan women, but that’s not what we’re currently talking about. And also, men in general don’t like to talk about their issues, so bi/pan men tend to not talk about the bi/pan phobia they face from gay men, although that is a discussion that has been floating around recently. Like I literally only date bisexuals and pan sexual men/women now because there’s so many bi and pan phobic lesbians who literally just excuse it by saying “comphet!” and I don’t have the energy to deal with bi/pan phobic straight men either. I’m tired.

they looove to claim that lesbians are the most at risk for violence but statistically bi women are highest by FAR because we don’t just face it from men. we face just as much violence from women. like. the whole “why don’t you talk about MEN” thing goes both ways. why don’t we talk about women who abuse other women and the high af dv rates for pan/bi women?

there are SO many issues in the queer community and it just feels so fucking fake when lesbians try to redirect and shift the conversation just because their bs is getting called out. they need to have a long hard look in the mirror and figure out why bi/pan women still wouldn’t feel 100% comfy dating all of them, with the way they treat us. and then they try to blame it on men? somehow? it’s always that we’re just “brainwashed” by men.

i just want to be able to confidently approach a relationship with a woman without worrying if she secretly harbors resentment toward me for something I didn’t and never would do, or think she can treat me differently just because I’m also attracted to men. how are you any different from those straight women who say lesbians shouldn’t be in lockers rooms or female spaces with straight women bc it’s “predatory”? HOW? it just pisses me off, man.

and if the queer community wants to talk about an identity being “inherently transphobic” maybe start with the gay and lesbian people who insist they can’t date trans people because they’re transmeds or arielle scarcella wannabes going off about genitals. y’all have your own fucking shit to deal with, and yours is real.

[icouldntfindquiet]

I’m too lazy to address everything so here’s the short version

I can’t abuse mod power. I’m being held accountable as a mod by the other mods 😂 I’m not lord of the catfish sub

Part of respect is acknowledging that Van deserves his own space! If someone was trying to take photos of you everywhere you went, you would be uncomfortable at one point. Yes he’s famous so it seems fair game to catch him out in the public but try to empathize with his sense of security. Everyone deserves that. Protect our handsome pale boy-man!!

A no BS rundown isn’t as easy as it seems. I’ve been trying to explain slowly what’s going on and nobody seems to believe it other than the mods and like 4 people on Reddit so there’s that. I also can’t talk about certain things. I’m actively trying not to cause problems out here. Also just want to point out that I’m not teasing whatsoever. I keep seeing cryptic asks on different blogs and that’s not me. I’ll always out myself wherever I am!

I’ve had my moments on Reddit. Warranted responses imo but to each their own. I wouldn’t consider them bad responses but defensive with purpose. I try to be kind but demands and insults don’t really warrant kindness in my book! Trying to be nicer though. Think all the harassment might’ve made me a tense.

Have a fun and safe time on your trip!!!

Sorry for the long response. 🙈

No worries! I know I wrote a lot and went off topic. 😂 And yes, that’s what I figured and why I didn’t think it was a big deal as nothing will really change.

People have different takes on the privacy/photo thing and I’m not going to tell people what they should and shouldn’t do. I just think the decision/choice is up to the individual and what feels right to them and no one should make someone feel bad for what they chose to do. Right now, no discussion of his location is allowed and people are not allowed to post photos of Van. I find that unnecessarily strict but people misinterpret my view as being insensitive of his privacy. I want to make it clear that I don’t agree with stalking or immoral means of getting it. I just think people should be able to decide for themselves what feels right, but with the way things are, that right has been taken away and heavily looks down on one side. But I realize not everyone shares my view and that’s okay.

No worries! We can all agree that CATB isn’t completely over. We don’t disagree with you on that due to the company not being dissolved yet and Sardy’s posts. We just prefer info from more solid sources for the timeline of when they’ll come back. (But I realize you’re probably referring to the people who are adamant the band is done.)

Yeah, I’ve seen people being nasty to you so I don’t blame you for being short with them. I do see you making an effort and appreciate it! Hopefully people stop being rude to you because everyone deserves to be treated with respect and I’m sorry you have to go through that. And thank you! x

[sunnylovescats]

https://www.tumblr.com/sunnylovescats/779932562420383744/two-cents-from-a-random-person-on-the?source=share

What makes you think you are not policing how "Outsiders" react to Tom? People who are not fans of any of them, people who are not in the dsmp or mcyt fandom, all of them getting a poor view of Tommy as a person. Even Tom's old fans, who are now almost the same age as him, are getting bad taste in their mouth and talking about it in other places, because Tom's subreddit is deleting those posts.

And let's be honest, everyone is going through some bad situations and even the passing away of someone they care about, you don't know each of them personally. They have as much right as Tom, to react to Tom "to cope", you don't get to guilt trip them by calling them "Bad people".

Other CCs are being criticised as well (sure you are choosing not to see it), but they are not leveraging the death of their loved ones. Jack and Tubbo are totally quiet about it which also puts Tom in the bad light, someone who is more invested in a petty Twitter fight rather than spending time with his family.

No one has to know how Tom is going through in personal life, to respond to him purely based on how he is carrying himself outside. Tom's dark joke was not that Top quality to make anyone chuckle and defend Tom for his creativity. And if he is losing on all fronts, his fans also have the right to change their tone and react badly to his tweet.

I was debating on answering this or not, but why not.

My post is not about an ‘outsider’s’ viewpoint, since most of them don’t care about the dsmp or mcyt fandom and don’t touch it with a ten foot pole. I also might be on the wrong side of Twitter because I haven’t seen any of Tom’s fans comment about the post in that way. And I know what Reddit comments you are talking about lol. They are on dwt2, ‘where Dream is viewed like a martyr and Tom is a scumbag’ subreddit. I can say for certain no actual fans of Tom go there.

Yes, everyone deserves to be able to cope in their own way, but the comments aren’t ‘coping’. This is taking a harmless tweet about a post most everyone has already been shitting on. These are vile and hateful comments to a someone who has openly talked about their trauma and depression multiple times. It’s not unusual for Dream stans to make nasty comments on Tom’s posts, but some of these take the cake.

If Dream genuinely cared about Tom like he says he does, he would reprimand his fans for saying things like Tom deserves his depression, as well as take actual accountability for calling 15 million people a slur. Why do Tubbo and Jack need to get involved? They’re all big boys with their own lives that don’t revolve around Tom. Again, this wasn’t a fight, it was a tweet that people blew out of proportion.

Lastly, the key here is having basic empathy for someone. It was a harmless joke used to cope. I highly doubt the intention was to make people roll on the floor laughing. Again, I’m not sure where you are getting the information Tom’s fans are turning against him.

Look, Tom is just some internet guy who’s done stupid, childish things throughout his career, but y’all have got to stop victim-blaming him all the time.

[majorarlene]

Re: Mick Gordon, Marty Stratton, Doom Eternal OST

I want to start off by saying that absolutely none of this should have happened. I mean, obviously.

I’m not going to break the entire article down but please be sure to read here: https://medium.com/@mickgordon/my-full-statement-regarding-doom-eternal-5f98266b27ce 1. much of the first couple of sections just highlights the issues the AAA part of the gaming industry has as a whole, therefore unionization is important. 2. know consumer protection laws, whether you’re a subcontractor or not- or seek legal counsel if you are able. this is not to blame Mick for this piece, this was still Marty’s responsibility to communicate those deadlines clearly, but when working in AAA the game is different. 3. volunteering a contractor before a contract is written is absolutely ghoulish behavior on id’s part. 4. a few people will likely ask “why didn’t Mick complain about not getting paid sooner” and as an accountant, I can tell you that if you’re trying to get work out the door on insane deadlines, you’re going to either forget to invoice things or if on contract, you shouldn’t have to fucking worry about that? contracts are there for a reason and id knew the agreement, it should not be an employee or subcontractor’s job to remind their employer to pay them. dunno how accounting works in the AAA industry but it would never fly where I work. 5. Marty posting his statement on REDDIT as the original source is awful behavior and completely unprofessional. Not even on a company-run Reddit, but a Reddit run and moderated by volunteers (r/Doom) whom ultimately should have never been dragged into this issue. Since Mick’s statement, mods have been harassed and have quit moderating. I know some of the mods and they absolutely do not deserve this treatment. I imagine being told by the executive producer of the game you love that if you take his post down you’ll likely be threatened with legal action would not be a great situation to be in. 6. The lawyers at Zenimax sound like they’d have been great on Theranos’s team (hint, not a good thing). some other thoughts: - from how it sounds, id needs to be clearly communicating to Bethesda/Zenimax its legal needs because it cannot handle them on its own. - Marty should never produce a game again. or if he does, he needs to be kept a mile away from press because he cannot be trusted to handle it safely. - I hope Mick finally gets the compensation he deserves. Musicians are just as much contractors as they are creators, especially in circumstances where they are being told they need to create music for levels that haven’t even been conceptualized yet. Musicians should be paid for the hours they spend formulating as well as the songs they ultimately produce. - the harassment of the creator of an OST is absolutely disgusting and gamer entitlement needs to be addressed. fuck anyone who engaged in the behavior described. - Review bombing on Steam will not fix this issue. harassment of anyone involved will not fix this issue. frank discussions about how creators of all kinds in the industry will.

[asoiafzambi]

HOTD Rumors, Gossip, Leaks. My hot takes.

Disclaimer: Of course this might just be one or two twitter/reddit trolls having the time of their lives, but lets just say for me all of the ‘leaks rumors and gossip” are coming together so I pretend here it’s all true:

Blood and Cheese being a kidnapping ‘accident’?

It may even be a planned kidnapping of either Aemond or Aegon but Helaena and her twins get in the way of the hired henchmen and shit happens (they panic and kill Jaehaerys).

I gotta confess here: I never gave a single fuck except saying “Ew!” about this convoluted plotpoint in the books (which makes me a coldhearted psycho bitch apparently). GRRMy just wanted to have a Sophie’s choice in the story and planted it here. I might actually like this kidnapping gone wrong idea better but it does of course whitewash Daemon/the Blacks insanely.

On the other hand ...

Pimpslap!Daemon being really mad at whiny Rhaenyra and still wanting the throne for himself?

Oh my. That sounds like a really good bad fanfiction premise to me. A bit ooc maybe?

While I can live with their AU wifebeater!Daemon (I mean he’ll pull Ramsay Bolton level shit in my own Daemond/Daemicent AU) it’s crybaby Rhaenyra that really rubs me the wrong way. Suddenly she is totaly helpless against all those evil men around her and only whines and cries about it when things get a bit rough?

Also weird to me her complaining about:

Aegon stealing her throne from her (I guess for those who can’t remember season 1) and either

- Daemon stealing her crown (?) from her?

- Daemon stealing her innocence (?) via the Blood and Cheese incident?

About the first point see further down, about the second point: OMG the cheese. My Guuurrrl, that dude took you to a brothel to ruin your virginTM reputation and you commended him for being depraved before you fucked him on a beach at his second wife’s funeral. Then you asked him to kill some rando to make your husband be able to run away. Get a grip! (book!Rhaenyra doesn’t seem to be the sharpest cookie, but this would make show!Rhaenyra even dumber.)

And while I said I can live with their wifebeater!Daemon I think he doesn’t quite fit their own AU (don’t come at me about Rhea’s murder, that woman ranked beneath sheep for Daemon). My take on this is, they might be pissed they can’t do the sexual creepy Daemon stuff on the show so this is the replacement.

In the books of course it is not mentioned in any of the sources that Daemon was physically abusive to Rhaenyra? That’s strange if he was. Would be a boon for the Green’s history take. Emotionally abusive I can absolutely see (much harder to write for of course) but actually slapping her around?

Here the rumors about an actor not being happy with the direction of his char speaking up might come in. At first I actually was thinking it might be one of the younger actors (Tom or Ewan) but now I think it was probably really Matt (and maybe he is the only one who could get away with it) or Emily.

Now about this Daemon still wants the throne himself stuff they seem absolutely unable to let go (I mean it was a nice hook at first but now?) as seen in the leaked Alys auditition. The dialoge there again harps on this “Daemon is totally going to betray her for the throne” to which he is like 12th in line at this point and has produced the last two heirs to come before him himself in the last years? Eh, maybe they are really going to have him feed LilAegon and LilViserys to Caraxes, they are conveniently snack sized on the show, so who knows? (I hope I don’t give them ideas here.)

Aemond kinda sorta having snapped after killing Lucerys?

Hahahaha! Lucemond forever!11!!!1

Okay, I may be reading too much into it, but the ‘talking to Vhagar like she is human’ implies that he is not behaving normal anymore? He is not blaming the old dragon lady (but then who do we blame Aemond, huh?) just sad that mama and grandpa are mad with him now.

But really, if we go by Aemond’s show characterization, then yeah, he probably should have a mental breakdown over what happend. B&C is not going to make it better. Alys in whatever role she will play is not going to make it better. Burning the Riverlands is not going to make it better. Only Dark Sister is going to make it better I guess.

More nonexistent-mustache-twirling-evil-cackle Aegon rubbing his hands together at the thought of dead strong bastards, interwined with some soft Aegon when he learns Helaena is pregnant again (with Maelor we presume)?

Sad. They totally sold me on young funny-drunk-fuckup-Aegon and now this? I don’t give a shit about that young maid he raped btw (cold hearted psycho bitch remember?) So yeah, just sad.

Also some stuff about Daeron, Ormund (Hobbard’s/House Hightower’s heir) and Garmund (Ormund’s third son and Rhaena’s ultimate husband) being introduced in Oldtown?

Fine, not sure what’s not to like here.

And yes, Sara Snow seems to exists on the show?

The horror. j/k I don’t care. I always thought she and Jace were a cute story (much better than Robb/Jeyne). Otherwise the Jace comes to Winterfell stuff sounds a bit lackluster.

The rumor that some of the season 2 stuff is rewritten with GRRM’s input now, could either be true, or a way for the trolls to cover their tracks, who knows? If GRRMy really threw an actual fit for whatever reason, then I guess shit has really hit the fan behind the scenes, holy, moly.

[thespoonisvictory]

is it just me or does dream still feel really irresponsible with his public image? like I really don’t blame him for wanting to stream and build a career with one of his IRL friends, but as a guy with over twenty million subscribers, it’s pretty insane that he didn’t consider vetting manatreed to hell and back just because that guy’s life would be under strict scrutiny once he blew up. that’s not exactly fair to anyone, but it’s reality and one dream should know by now.

ok. I'm going to kind of use this ask as a catchall for all my final thoughts on the situation so I don't drag this out for anyone.

I've been following dream since early 2020. I've been along for these shows of irrational and irresponsible behavior time and time again, and each time it goes like this: dream fucks up, has an initial angry reaction, his fans get upset but quickly justify it, and then dream releases a lukewarm apology that convinces most of his devoted fans but not those on the outside of his fandom. as a result, those fans, now believing dream because they want to feel justified in their enjoyment of his content, lash out on those who didn't initially blindly (or still don't) believe him. they feel like the ones who really "get him", who are really listening, and when dream defends them from the backlash they get from outsiders, they feel defended. they offer some halfhearted criticism about how he could do better, but he's a new content creator and isn't it so sad he has to deal with all this so quickly. The cycle then continues onward until the next thing, except now his fans are even more convinced of their support of him.

The reddit. The cheating. The merch stuff. Yes, there have been plenty of false accusations. But there have also been plenty of very real situations that dream was able to escape with a halfhearted promise to do better after lashing out against those who deigned to criticize him. I thought dream had gotten better, but in the wake of deciding a lore stream would be a good idea to defuse abuse allegations, that is blatantly untrue. And the number of fans who are defending not only him, but even manatreed, is insane.

Dream wouldn't have talked the victim if mana wasn't involved in the situation. The evidence, while from an awful source, is undeniable. Dream denied his knowledge of the situation and called people gullible for a name that he would have recognized; even if he wasn't initially aware of the situation, his reaction upon finding out that serious abuse allegations with evidence have been lifted against a person he just promoted to hundreds of thousands people should have been much more serious and grounded. Regardless of his innocence. And his fans should have higher standards at this point, to be honest.

This situation really exposed to me the depth to which the way Dream approaches his career, and the relationship he and his fans have, is deeply unhealthy. It feels like there is no action that his fans cannot justify to feel better about trusting and defending him, and it's genuinely uncomfortable to witness.

Dream wants to be kind and compassionate, to offer opportunities and innovate, but he routinely takes short cuts in his security measures. He lashes out when someone makes allegations he believes to be false, rather than approaching them with seriousness and caution. Yes, again, there have been many false ones, but again, that is part of being a content creator. when you have this much influence over a group of people, that means hiring professionals to help, doing background checks on the people you promote, and above all, evaluating whether you are in the wrong before your knee-jerk twitter reaction. This situation would have been entirely avoided with the most surface level of background checks, and it speaks to dream's career mindset that he can do months of intricate promo, but not this. If he cannot do that after two years of lessons, he shouldn't be a content creator. At this point, it is incredibly difficult for me to watch people support him in good conscious.

[nikkisticki]

You're right, but also I think you're wrong. There's a distinct and long winded problem about Americans just not getting the education they deserve and multiple media sources attempting to braindrain them...but here's the problem.

There's a fundamental line where "misinformed but well meaning" becomes "deranged and propaganda addled", and at some point you have to stop blaming their environment and their country and recognize that these are in fact people who reject reality to allow them to live within a false one that fits their desires better, and nothing will ever change their mind.

At that point, you're never going to be able to politely explain to them that they believe in an Illusion, I've tried for years as politely and warmly as I could...but the average terminally online American is entirely beyond connection.

I could argue for clowning on them is more then nothing (as it at least marks the belief as foolish and wrong to onlookers), but honestly after half a decade of speaking politely to the brainwashed masses on Reddit/4Chan/other websites I'm not going to name, it's just a nice form of stress relief and it's functionally no worse then doing it politely as they'll take any form of opposition as proof of their rightness.

I made a post yesterday about a Qanon lie and I've already gotten someone in the comment thingy claiming I'm clearly part of the pedophile ring...They didn't even need more then that. It wouldn't change a thing if the post had also called peopke like that slack-jawed indolents lacking enough awareness that they'd willingly leap into a wood chipper if it was labelled Teleporter.

America needs substantial reforming of their educational system, it's in fact my belief that all good societies should be focused on overhauling it with the times so children are properly equipped, and something I regularly scream about...

But also the people I'm talking about (the 25-35% of the population who loves Trumpism) are the people who want me and anyone in the Alphabet mafia dead. They are long past the point of reason and they will never be reasoned with and made to see the error of their ways.

Society and the general conversation about these topics are long past the point where being polite will change anything, so at that point I'd rather dunk on them then play at falze niceties and explain how if only an engaging teacher taught them basic history then they'd not be a Nazi!

TLDR: I'm bitter and old and don't believe there's a single lick of difference between saying it politely and saying they lick poisonous mushrooms to get high like their intellectual cousins, Deer.

You know Elon probably saw this and was super mad he still can't fire Halli.

[pokemoncreepypasta]

My Shining Star

[STORY SOURCE]

Up until some recent events, I used to be an aspiring shiny hunter. Technically I was pretty good at it, too, at least by encounter standards. But even though I was great at finding my fair share of shiny Pokémon , I’ve never been able to keep any of them.

The first one of these shiny Pokémon I found was by a random encounter. I’d gotten lost in Rock Tunnel after forgetting to bring Flash, and spent so long in there that I ran out of Repels. Just as I was giving up hope that I’d be able to escape on my first run, she appeared.

I knew about shiny Pokémon, but hadn't ever thought I'd encounter one of my own in the wild. I was unprepared, and after a moment of staring in surreal wonder, I concentrated on figuring out how to catch her with my limited supplies. Thankfully it wasn't very hard, and soon I had my first legit shiny.

I normally wasn't creative with naming my Pokémon, but I wanted her to have a special name. I asked my mom for help, and she suggested "Star." I liked it, but the name itself seemed short and boring, so I added a couple stars to the ends to give her name a little flair.

I was beyond excited to put my first shiny into my team, and plowed through the rest of the cave. She was the light at the end of the tunnel, and I had to get out to the nearest PC, because I knew a shiny baby Cubone was waiting for me to adopt her.

I quickly fell in love with the little green dinosaur, and soon she was the shining star of my team. I used her more than my starter, and neglected the rest of my party a bit in the process, but still made it through the game alright. Setbacks didn't matter when I had a shiny.

Lots of time and multiple trips through the Elite Four later, I proudly turned ★Star★ into a level 100 Marowak. She was the first Pokémon I ever raised to level 100, and I couldn't have been prouder of her.

It had been a couple years, and I was starting to feel unsatisfied with just ★Star★. I was itching for more, and felt like I probably should have found some other random encounters by now, with all the time I'd spent playing.

Feeling inspired by all the shiny hunter videos I'd been binging on YouTube, I decided to start taking up shiny hunting. I was feeling ambitious, and decided to go straight to hunting for a shiny legendary Pokémon. I was a weird player who didn't really bother going after the birds or Mewtwo in my HeartGold, since I planned on transferring up my legends from my LeafGreen. I decided to rework ★Star★'s moveset for capturing legendary Pokémon.

The moveset I settled on was Bonemerang, False Swipe, Stone Edge, and Swords Dance. I decided to keep her moveset mostly offensive because she was still a member of my team, and not just a shiny-catcher. I planned on replacing False Swipe with Aerial Ace at some point, but I never got the chance to.

I decided to pick Mewtwo as my target. Lots of people find green shiny Pokémon overbearing and unattractive, but ★Star★ made me fond of them. Plush, Mewtwo was awesome, and I thought the two of them would look great together.

I spoke to ★Star★ aloud, saying, "Are you ready to do some shiny hunting, ★Star★?"

"★Star★ let out a roar!"

I thought she was just as enthusiastic as me.

I made it to Mewtwo, saved my game, and started the tedious process of soft resetting.

I’ll spare the details of how long it took, but eventually I came across the sparkling green Mewtwo.

I led with my team's Ampharos to paralyze it, and switched to ★Star★.

I remember being very lucky with this fight at first, with Mewtwo being fully paralyzed every turn.

I used Swords Dance to fully buff ★Star★'s attack stat so False Swipe would do as much damage as possible.

But even though I swore that I had chosen to use False Swipe, ★Star★ proceeded to use Bonemerang.

Shocked, confused and distressed, I watched as ★Star★ mercilessly beat the shiny Mewtwo down, knocking it out in one hit with her increased stats.

I felt crushed and dejected as I went back to the overworld. I blamed myself, thinking I had misclicked the wrong move and killed the Mewtwo myself. In my wave of disbelief, I absentmindedly talked to ★Star★.

"★Star★ is green with envy!"

I decided to go back to square one and start over.

A dozen thousand resets later, I saw it sparkle again and I was shaking with anticipation. Part of me felt twitchy and paranoid, like I should have used my Master Ball right away.

I decided against it because I wanted to hunt the birds later, but decided that if the Mewtwo seemed like it would run low on moves, then I'd use it as a last resort.

I probably should have listened to my guts though, because the same thing happened all over again. I knew for certain this time that I had chosen False Swipe, but the game purposefully made ★Star★ use Bonemerang. I saw it completely clear.

After seeing the Mewtwo go down a second time, I just cursed and slammed my desk a bit. I glared accusingly at my Marowak.

I decided to put my shiny hunting on hold. I used an Escape Rope to leave, and decided to place ★Star★ in the PC, quarantining her in an empty box for a time-out.

As I dejectedly hunted for a third time, I thought to myself what was wrong with my game. I wondered if it was just glitchy, or if I was misinterpreting the situation. I decided to convince myself that it was a mistake on the game's part; otherwise I wouldn't have been able to handle killing the Mewtwo twice in a row.

Finally, it sparkled one last time. I decided not to screw around while reclaiming this shiny. I had hunted it twice before, and decided to just use the Master Ball on it.

I had earned this.

After the initial rush of finally obtaining the shiny, I decided not to nickname it until I thought of something good, and watched as it got sent to the PC. I excitedly saved my game, and made my way out of the cave and to the nearest Pokémon Center.

But when I got there, the Mewtwo wasn't anywhere to be seen.

I shouted curses in confusion as I scrolled through every box in a state of denial. Where did it go, what could I have possibly done? I thought of all the ways I couldn't possibly messed up, did I have an evil hacked Pokémon from the GTS that deleted it, was this actually a bootleg game and Nintendo's anti-piracy revenge was to delete my legendary?

After a few minutes of searching, I gave up. My Mewtwo was gone.

I scrolled back to ★Star★'s isolated box and looked at my only green shiny in mourning. Obviously it wasn't something wrong with just her, but the game itself. In a game as glitchy as this, I was seriously worried that I might lose her, too.

After looking at her for a bit, it seemed like she might've been looking at me? I wasn't sure if she was supposed to do that, but in a game that was acting up like this, I didn't doubt it.

I took her out of the PC and put her at the front of my party to talk to her, to see if anything else was up.

"★Star★ nodded slowly."

She only did more random friendly things after that. Quite chipper for someone whose life might be threatened, I thought.

I decided to trade her over to Platinum for safe keeping. I wasn't sure what to do about the rest of my Pokémon on HeartGold, but ★Star★ was the most important one to me right now.

As I traded her over, I noticed that her eyes were red now, instead of the green I was just looking at. I was off-put by this inconsistency, especially with the recent events surrounding her. I forced myself to brush it off, however, notice I could do about it.

Even though I had an unfortunate experience with my HeartGold, my thirst for more shinies still persisted. Maybe it was the fact I had lost my shiny three times that I really had to fill the void, now.  A couple weeks later, I found out about a method of shiny hunting called chaining, and wanted to try it out. I felt a little more at ease, since if you accidentally killed a shiny with this method, the chain wouldn't break, and you could keep going. Plus, Platinum should've been fine.

I chose Route 208, as it had a good selection of Pokémon for me to choose from. I wasn't picky, so I just started chaining whatever Pokémon I liked until I got a decent chain. I heard that the shiny odds max out at a chain of 40, so after that you can just keep resetting the radar until the grass sparkles.

I landed on Roselia, and sent out my shining star Marowak.

I started with False Swipe, since I wouldn't need to buff up ★Star★ for a LV. 19 Pokémon.

"★Star★ used Swords Dance!"

Oh no.

I panicked as memories of the last incident came flooding back, and how it had started out with her disobeying. Not giving her a chance to kill it, I frantically switched to the items menu to start throwing PokéBalls instead.

(Name omitted for personal reasons.)

I had plenty of them, so I stared throwing Ultra Balls, since they had the highest odds. At least one of these would probably work.

" blocked the Ball!"

"Don't     !"

I tried throwing one, but it failed, as if I tried using it on a trainer's Pokémon.

I had no idea what in the world was going on, what could be stopping me from catching a wild Pokémon? Was my Platinum glitched out too? Was I cursed??

I tried using different balls, but nothing would work.

Eventually, I ran out of PokéBalls to throw. I'd failed the shiny.

Frustrated, but not enough to kill the Roselia, I fled the battle.

I had no idea what to do after that, and was exasperated. I wanted to berate myself, and that I should've tried test catching a normal Pokémon in Platinum first to make sure it was going to work okay. But really, how was I supposed to know that was going to happen? And always, conveniently when I was in the middle of hunting a shiny. I thought of berated my parents instead, if they had bought all my Pokémon games for me on eBay.

Was it really my games, thought? I don't even know if you can trade Pokémon from fake games. Was it my DS could it have been hacked? Can you even bootleg a DS? I tried going to the Internet for answers, and read some Reddit and random Pokémon forum posts about glitches and bootlegs for an hour, but gave up without finding a real conclusion.

So, I'd given up hunting for some time. But, I hadn't gotten tired of Pokémon. I bought Black for myself, and played through the story just fine.

I found out you could get a Shiny Charm if you completed the Pokédex. That made me excited, until I remembered my past luck. Was it worth trying again?

Shortly after transferring up all my Pokémon, I decided, yes. It was. I went for the hatching method this time, since the Pokémon ends up right in your party afterwards- no catching, no PC transfer. It would be my final test, and if THIS didn't work, I would officially give up on ever getting nice things.

Foreign Ditto in hand, I went to work. I went for a shiny Flygon, since they were one of the best looking, and it'd be a nice addition to my competitive team.

One long hunt and a really late night later, eyelids barely able to stay open, I saw it.

I'd never seen anything more beautiful.

Skipping the nickname, I rushed to immediately save my game, wasting no time. I checked my party to see my Trapinch was still there, and chalked it up as a success. I was an official shiny hunter now.

Since ★Star★ was level 100, I figured she could battle for my baby Trapinch until she could hold her own in battle. I only wanted to take her up a few levels, so I could personally train her afterwards. Just raising her immediately into a Flygon would be too soon.

I attached an Exp. Share to her, and started running around in the tall grass. After a little bit of grinding, my Trapinch made it up to level 8 before I accidentally stepped into the thick grass and triggered a wild double battle.

Knowing the wild Pokémon were too strong for the underleveled baby Trapinch, I wanted to flee, but I first noticed ★Star★'s sprite as it asked me what to do.

The end of her bone facing the wild Pokémon was no longer symmetrical, being sharpened at the end of it. I'd seen her sprite enough times to know it wasn't supposed to look like this.

I tried to flee, but it failed.

"★Star★ used Swords Dance!"

"The wild Pidove is watching carefully!" 

"The wild Patrat is watching carefully!" 

"Trapinch is watching carefully!" 

★Star★ had started using moves on her own. Stunned, I tried to switch out.

"★Star★ can't be switched out!"

Giving up, I told ★Star★ to use Stone Edge on the Pidove, and told the Trapinch to use Bite on Patrat.

"★Star★ ignored orders!" 

"★Star★ used Bonemerang!"

I gasped as she struck my Trapinch instead.

"★Star★ is green with envy!"

As soon as I read that text, it hit me. This wasn't any ordinary friendly fire.

"Trapinch fainted!"

It finally allowed me to run, so I immediately tapped the button and rushed to my party to see the damage.

My Trapinch was gone.

I tried resetting to bring her back, but it was hopeless. My shiny new baby had been murdered.

Connecting all the dots in my head, I realized the reason I'd failed every encounter was because of ★Star★.

My grief and fear quickly turned into outrage. I couldn't believe she'd done this to me. She'd made me suffer hunt after hunt, just to take every shiny away from me.

This was the source of my games acting strange, and I knew there was only one way to correct it.

Feeling rash, I rushed over to the PC and hovered over the "Release" option for a few minutes.

"★Star★ was released."

It hurt to let her go, but I didn't want my game behaving strangely with her around.

"★Star★ came back!"

"★Star★ will never leave you."

But she refused.

Resorting to desperate measures, I did the only other thing I could think of.

I traded the stubborn Marowak over to my nearly empty White version that I never got around to playing, and deleted the save file.

"Deleting all saved data... Don’t turn off the power."

"★Star★ will n"

Sayonara, ★Star★.

After deleting the save file, I thought things would start working like they should. Sometimes, I'd replay other Pokémon games just for the fun of it, hoping I'd find other shiny Pokémon with ★Star★ gone.

Almost comically, I somehow thought it would be a good idea to go full circle and try hunting on HeartGold for a shiny starter. I had heard from other shiny hunters that it was an easy hunt, and it was, only taking a few days.

I affectionately named him "Chico."

My first step into the tall grass, and...

"★Star★ is green with envy!"

I had never been so unhappy to see a shiny.

I guess she's been out in the wild all these months. And looking at her sprite, I can only wonder what she's been up to. I wonder how she feels to see me again?

Oh, no.

“Can’t escape!”

"★Star★ used Bonemerang!"

"Chico fainted!"

Of course, Chico was no match.

The game froze after I blacked out.

I figure it was because ★Star★ killed my only Pokémon.

"The save file is corrupted. The previous save file will be loaded."

My save file, corrupted with the loss of my starter's data, brought me back right to this spot that I was all too familiar with. Through frustrated tears, I begrudgingly went to pick a normal starter so I could play the game normally.

“I dare you to love again.”

And I’ve never found a shiny since.

[masterhandss]

I will admit that I’m not that big on Gerald, but I do feel bad for his fans. I’ve genuinely tried to like him. And while I do in the manga, the anime and certain scenes I’ve heard about from the light novels like the water scene have been turning me away from him, so I’m sorry. And it’s ironic to me to say fans “hate” Gerald when I see fan content for him EVERYWHERE like on pixiv or Ao3. Honestly I’d more believe that people just hate my favorite boy Nicol. It’s almost like equivalent exchange

I mean that’s cool! You don’t need to apologize! The boys are meant to appeal to different audiences so I’m not that surprised to know that Geordo doesn’t appeal to everyone. 

I mean I guess it depends on the person. You’re seeing a lot of content for him while I’m the opposite. On the western side though, a lot of people don’t seem to like Geordo from what I’m seeing (especially the anime-onlys) and all I can offer to them is what little knowledge I have on the source material. When it comes to pixiv though, it’s understandable that most people like Geordo because of how prominent he is in the story, especially since japanese fans has the most access to all the different forms of media that hamefura has. 

Because of that fact, you think I wouldn’t be blowing hot air about him needing more content (I mean I did say that but i’m more of egging for even more rather than crying for a lack thereof), but when I’m here on tumblr, scrolling comments on youtube, or looking at discussions in reddit, I see a lot of people get the wrong idea of Geordo’s character because of the missteps of the anime, and I like Geordo so I feel bad about it. 

I don’t think people hate Nicol per se, it’s just that I can’t blame people for not being able to have a strong attachment to him outside of his character archetype because of how little focus he gets in all of the material (thats why his AO3 fics are my favorite jhgjsdfg). I’m not saying he shouldn’t be as loved as Geordo or Keith or anything, and I’m not trying to validate that treatment that you were referring to, I just think that hate is a strong word to use when in my eyes I see lots of people beg for more screen time for him online, and that in of itself is proof of the fans’ loyalty. Also I just want you to know that while this might not apply universally, I think what Nicol lacks in quantity is made up in quality (his fics are the bomb after all) so there’s that imo.

I don’t want to go too deep into the water scene (from volume 2 right??) but I thought it was fine? Maybe it was uncalled for but at the same time they didn’t have the hindsight that we, the audience, have so I can’t blame him for doing that imo

thank you for the ask! I hope my Geordo agenda doesn’t seem forceful jhfgjsdfg

[thejudgingtrash]

I wanna hear the Dom/sub discourse!!! Also love ur blog :) (I personally am a proponent of dom percy just bc I like that idea but I’d love to hear yours!!! I didnt even know there was discourse!) love to hear your thoughts and again super cool blog!!!! :’)

* ALSO WOULD LIKE TO CLARIFY IF IT WASNT ALREADY ESTABLISHED BUT ONLLLLLLY IF THEY ARE LIKE IN THEIR OLDER 20S!!!! ppl doing that in the context of teens is *gross* (previous anon who sent in the ask before) :)

Oh! Thank you for the compliments. I’m still not used at being so visible now to people 🥺😥😅

Good that you’ve added your points because that essentially brings down my issues with this whole spiel. I guess I’m going to play the other card. My main issues with this whole thing are:

A) the fandom sexualizing kids

B) people not understanding that looks/behavior in or outside of a (romantic) relationship don’t necessarily have to correlate with sexual behavior, especially when powerplay is involved

Of course Percy is easier to grasp for us. We have five whole books where we hear his every thought, follow his every move and think we get to know him (that automatically makes Percy not a reliable narrator, just saying).

For every book quote that puts Percy into the „Dom“ slot, there’s also a book quote that would be fitting for Annabeth (the dance from TTC comes to my mind). I can see both going either way. Despite them having mostly different personalities (Percy internalizing his thoughts and motives, whereas Annabeth is doing rather the opposite), they are very similar when it comes to leadership and end goals. Annabeth can range from emotional to bossy in a similar way Percy does. They just express themselves on different levels and get seen by outsiders in different ways.

Did you catch that? Did you see the hypocrisy that I just committed? We are using book quotes to justify placing characters that are in that context and in overall canon minors/teens/essentially fucking children in sexualized categories. Tbh, as much flag as you can give Riordan, I can’t blame him for blocking people who do this. Not every author is a fan of fanfiction and fan theory and what not.

People throwing these BSDM terms around without a second thought makes me cringe (tbh, I’m too lazy to explain the psychology of power play and kinks in that regard, just know that the instigator is not automatically the top/dom and there are many, many, many layers in a pp relationship). You cannot base sexual behavior from the canon itself. We know nothing about Percy and Annabeth in that regard to even justify the slightest. Ripping actions out of context to give them a label doesn’t work like that so easily unfortunately.

The only way to settle this question for once and all would be by simply doing this:

The whole debate that happened months/weeks ago (quarantine makes everything blurry in my memory) was just fucking stupid?

Imagine being a 15 year old, anxious, frightened girl. You’ve been deeply traumatized since you’ve been seven years old, you’re scared to death because you have a crush on your best friend and think he might perish (newsflash: of course you as the reader can foreshadow that in that context the series goes on. The characters can’t as they lack that specific insight. Percy didn’t have to wind up dead in the books, but he could have been severely mutilated, gone missing (guess he did later), bruised, etc. apart from his mental struggles. The super power part is essentially the only thing that’s keeping him alive), you give him a kiss because you’re too shy to admit your feelings for him and he’s being an awkward cheeky bastard before looking for a fight and then some adult asshole has the caucasity of calling you a bratty sub. Literally what.

Some anon (or a group of anons, don’t know which) contacted a bunch of people with that Dom!Percy and Sub!Annabeth stuff. Anon, Liebste, homegirl, my love, mija, if you see this please slide into the DMs because whaddefuck? Your thought process hotdamn. Where did you pick this up? Let’s be open about this discussion. You didn’t go from A to B, you went from A to Z and robbed Jeff Bezos on the way out. I mean what???

People using canon to justify their headcanons is simply something I can’t get behind in this matter. The main issues is that they are children/teens/minors in canon. There is no way around it. Trying to justify/back up some of your thoughts in that regard with actual quotes only makes it worse because you aren’t only sexualizing them in your fanon, but you are also automatically transferring these thoughts to the actual books and thus fore sexualizing them in canon. You’re changing the basis and narrative.

I honestly don’t get the obsession that some have with their teenage sex life? This isn’t a personal attack on people but I’ve seen this throughout several group chats and social media platforms like Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest even and of course Tumblr. And popular stuff like Riverdale, Euphoria, 13 Reasons Why and New Adult Twilight rip-offs á la Shades of Grey and that Harry Styles fanfic honestly don’t help with the portrayal of „curious“ teens.

This also isn’t a strict PJO phenomenon, it happens across all fandoms. The odd trend with sexualizing kids/teens or things intended for kids has been going on for ages. I get it, you grow out of the related audience but that doesn’t justify the means? Canon won’t change simply because you do.

Percy and Annabeth are awkward teens that have never dated anyone else and had barely half a year between pjo and hoo before getting caught up in another mess. I’m not saying that teens aren’t curious and don’t experiment, some do drugs and/or have sex (let’s be real the probability of something happening in the stable scene in MOA is very high) but still? Putting dom/sub labels on them is sketchyyy. Also throw your fucking sex god headcanons out of the motherfucking window. They are 17-ish, if you need the mental image of some weird kids flopping on top of each other for two whole minutes for some odd reason, good for you but I’m side eying the fuck outta you.

You can’t really blame Riordan for not being more explicit. A) the series is for middle schoolers (aka kids), so it’s not strictly Young Adult and there’s only so much you can do B) publishers/editors interfering is a thing (especially with society’s views of sex = bad and violence = just fine) and c) the probability of sexualizing the characters of his own creation in that sense might have made him uncomfortable. Better to play safe, than end up with a bigger mess, just saying. I’m all for the sex talk in a non-berating, (slightly) educational approach when it comes to that in non-adult literature. Or even just stating a sex scene in a mere sentence. (Karen M. McManus did an amazing job with portraying struggling teens with a right approach in One of Us is Lying. Stating it or making it very, very, very clear between the lines. Then again, not everyone can pull that off or wants to go in that direction).

In addition to that, seeing stuff like the infamous ”the sea doesn’t like to be restrained“ or ”Percy has handsome features which shifted from humor to anger“ quotes getting constantly shredded is so… Meh. One simple question: what does Percy having a mean resting bitch face to do with his sexuality/sexual behavior? What does him being annoyed and on the moodier side have to do with it? For me absolutely nothing. The correlation isn’t really clear and out there. Pissed Percy doesn’t translate into Percy automatically being the dominant (in Percabeth’s sex life)?

I mean I get it. We all grow up. Erotica is a wonderful genre and art form (if you waddle through the trash). You will never be able to get that out of fiction and fanfiction. That’s also neither my goal nor my place to decide. As cheap and stupid as it is, I’d rather have people intentionally aging the characters up and stating their headcanons in that regard rather than people attempting to abuse canon where the characters are minors in order for sexualizing them. There’s no good way to prevent this from happening unfortunately (unless you really want to abolish all explicit fanon stuff).

Whenever you post a sexy headcanon just hold on for a second. If you have abstract future headcanons sure, go ahead, personally don’t see a problem with that. But if you use source material to fixate your thoughts on minors in canon to give them sexual labels… I urge you to seriously rethink that.

Stop sexualizing minors. Please. Pretty please.

Peace