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merrybloomwrites · 1 year ago

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A Podcast Love Story

Summary: The story of Shayne & Y/N, as told through a series of podcasts

AN: This story was inspired by a request from someone that tumblr isn't letting me tag, so that's dumb lol

Also, I tried to follow the actual timeline of when these podcasts were posted but I did take some creative liberty, so some things might not match up with when the were really posted irl

Wordcount: 3.4K

CW: very light mention of smut, talk about pregnancy

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SmoshCast #75 – How Shayne and Courtney Feel About Being Shipped Together

Dating someone who’s in the public eye was not entirely unexpected. You live in Los Angeles after all. When you and Shayne started dating in 2019 you decided to keep it a secret for a while. Neither of you were ready to share your relationship with the Smosh viewers yet.

This became more difficult when you decided to quarantine together in 2020 during the pandemic. Two weeks after he returned from Australia, when you were sure that neither of you had Covid, you packed your necessities and headed to Shayne’s. It was nice being together, but it did get complicated when he needed to film videos.

Sometimes you would go for a walk while he was filming. Other times you would hide in the other room. He’d triple check all his footage before submitting it to make sure you, and any of your belongings, weren’t in frame.

One day, a few months in, he and Courtney are recording an episode of the SmoshCast. He sets up at the small dining table in the corner of the living room. You’re on the couch, meaning you can’t be seen on the camera, but you are in Shayne’s view. It might not have been the smartest decision since you’re now stuck there for the entire time they record, but you have a book and a snack, so you get cozy.

You can only hear Shayne’s side of the conversation, so you’re not fully paying attention. That is, until you hear Shayne say, “If we so much as say hi to each other, Shartney fans poop themselves.” The mention of this ship between him and his castmate has you more focused on the conversation. Not because you’re jealous, because that would be ridiculous, but because all of you find it quite funny how hard the two of them are shipped.

He can’t stop looking over to you for the entire ten-minute segment. It’s subtle, but there’s definitely a connection between the two of you. It’s obvious that he’s reassuring you that there’s nothing to worry about. You especially like when he says, “You can ship me with anything. Ship me with bananas.” And you nearly lose it when he says, “I am begging you, please, make a ship edit of me and Kathy Bates.”

They continue to talk and the conversation steers towards how fans make assumptions based on what they see in videos. Shayne brings up how people were concerned about him for a few weeks at the beginning of quarantine. He starts to explain, “I was very quiet in those early podcasts, but the reason was, one, I was not getting enough sleep. I kept staying up late,” here he looks at you before quickly saying, “playing video games.” You again struggle to keep quiet, knowing that was not the truth. Unless “playing video games” has now become code for “having intimate moments with my girlfriend”.

He continues to talk about how his setup for recording was less than ideal and finishes by saying, “I wasn’t sad at all, I was actually having great days.” Again, you share a quick look, showing that you agree with him about how wonderful it’s been since you started living together.

They wrap up the podcast a little while later and Shayne is officially done with work for the day.

“Playing video games, huh?” you say teasingly.

“Oh yea, totally a pro gamer now,” he replies.

“You think so?” you say with a laugh.

“I mean, I could always use more practice,” he answers as he lifts you from the couch, carrying you to the bedroom.

SmoshCast #85 – American Horror Story: Adulting

A few months later and things are looking better in the world. This means a return to the office for everyone. You’d landed a job at Smosh, working in post-production, so now you and Shayne work together. You were nervous about being around each other all the time, but luckily there’s still a fair amount of the day when you’re apart. Shayne is often filming or in meetings or busy writing, and you spend most of the time at your desk working on the next video.

But sometimes, you get a break to see him. Shayne, Damien, and Coutney are filming a new SmoshCast episode, and you sneak in to watch from the back. The theme is “Adulting”, and they somehow start by talking about how they interact with the younger generation. You can’t help but smile as Shayne talks about his niece, endeared by the relationship he has with her. He also mentions grandchildren, which makes your imagination run away thinking about your future together.

You stay for a little while and just watch your boyfriend. He’s not saying anything crazy, or doing anything special, but you love listening to him give advice. You also love how attentive he is to his friends, how closely he listens to everything they say. When you do go back to your desk you take a moment to think about how lucky you are that this man, with a solid head on his shoulders and more emotional maturity than you’ve ever seen before, is your other half.

Smosh Mouth #5 – Shayne and Y/N Share Their Love Story

“Welcome back to Smosh Mouth, I’m Shayne.”

“And I’m Amanda.”

“And today we have a very special guest. We have my lovely wife, Y/N Topp,” Shayne says, smiling at you as he finished the introduction.

“Hello everyone,” you say into the microphone.

It’s weird being in front of the camera. It’s only happened a few times in the years that you’ve been with Shayne. Even though you also work at Smosh, you’re always behind the scenes. You’ve only really been in videos that highlight the crew, so the focus has rarely been on you.

But today you’re finally sitting down to do a podcast for the channel. They’d just revived the podcast after a nearly three-year hiatus.

So much has happened in your personal life since then. At the time that SmoshCast was airing, your relationship with Shayne was fairly new, and you weren’t ready to share it yet. Within a year of that last episode going live, you two had gotten engaged. This led to you guys getting married, and as of 22 weeks ago, you being pregnant with your first child.

“Well, I for one am very excited to have you here today,” Amanda says. “I cannot wait to grill you on every last detail of your relationship.” You all laugh at that, knowing that while you’re sharing more personal information than you ever have before, no one is going to push you or Shayne too much.

“So,” Amanda continues. “Tell me, how did you meet?”

You look to Shayne, encouraging him to start the story.

“We met in 2019,” he begins. “Someone had recommended a book to me, so I was at the library to pick it up. While I was looking through the shelf Y/N came over and started looking through the section as well. We kind of started at opposite ends and moved to meet in the middle. Turns out we were both looking for the same book.”

“No you were not!” Amanda interjects.

“We really were,” you say to confirm. “We basically have the most cliché meet-cute story.”

“Ya, no kidding! So, what happened next?” she asks.

“Well, I had picked up the book first and noticed Y/N glance at it. So we started talking and I told her she should take the book first and I’d read it when she’s done.”

“And then he very smoothly said he could give me his number so I could tell him when I was returning the book,” you add.

“Look at you,” Amanda says. “Making the bold moves.”

“I had to give it a try,” Shayne says with a laugh.

“And it worked. I texted him a couple weeks later, the day before I returned the book.”

“I didn’t have her number,” Shayne says. “And I was kicking myself for not getting it because waiting to hear from her was pretty torturous I’m not gonna lie. So as soon as she texted about the book I asked her on a date.”

“Which actually shocked me at first. I really though he only was interested in the book.”

“Did you know who he was?” Amanda asks. “Like, had you watched Smosh or seen him on TV before you met?”

“I did know who he was. I had just started watching Smosh, so I recognized him but really didn’t know much about him.”

“Did you start watching old videos and try to get to know more about him after you met? Or after he asked you out?”

“I tried not to. I wanted to get to know him naturally, not through videos online. But there was a video posted after he asked me out but before our date called ‘Why We’re Bad at Dating’ and I couldn’t resist. And I truly think it helped us hit it off on that first date.”

“How so?” Amanda inquires.

Shayne takes that question, saying, “In the episode I talked about what I do on dates that kind of lead to there not being a second date. And Y/N/N called me out on that.”

You chime in, adding, “He said he puts on a ‘CW’ version of himself. I told him not to do that. And I admitted to being just as anxious about the date as he was so we should just forget the pressure and hang out and get to know each other.”

“Well, that’s adorable,” Amanda says. “So obviously you started dating and kept dating. When did you take the next step?”

Shayne takes this question and says, “I asked her to be my girlfriend a couple months later. And then we moved in together shortly after the start of the pandemic. Which was slightly challenging when it came to filming at home for Smosh since we wanted to keep the relationship a secret for a while.”

“Yea, how in the world did you make that work?”

“We were very, very careful,” you say. “I definitely hid in the bathroom more than once to stay out of frame.” At this you all laugh, and you add, “Totally worth it, though.”

“Ok, next juicy question. Shayne, how did you propose?”

“So, I hired a sky writer,” he says before laughing and continuing, “No, just kidding. We’d been dating for a year and a half, living together for almost a year at the time. We rented a cabin in Colorado for a few days and on the second day we went on a hike. Packed a picnic, did the whole thing. And I uh, I proposed at the top of the mountain.”

“You guys are literally a romcom,” Amanda quips.

“Would a romcom do a hike proposal? I feel like they’re always at fancy restaurant or the beach. Or like, yelling ‘Will you marry me?’ As the girl walks away down a street in the pouring rain,” you say.

“Oh, a hike proposal is very Lifetime or Hallmark.”

“Good point, it’s totally been in at least one of those movies.”

“Did you like that it was on a hike?” Amanda asks.

“Yea, Y/N/N, did you like it?” Shayne says, pretending to be truly concerned and worried about your answer.

“Hated it,” you say jokingly. “No, honestly, I loved it. Shayne and I always bonded over how much we love nature, so it was perfect for us. I can’t imagine it being any other way. I know a lot of girls want to make sure their nails are done so they get that perfect ring picture, which totally fine, not judging at all. But it definitely felt right that I literally had dirt under my nails and scrapes on my palms from slipping up the hill. Much more authentic that way.”

“And the wedding, anything you want to share about it?” Amanda asks.

“We actually got married in New Mexico,” you say. “It was the central spot for both our families. It was last April, so, beautiful weather during the day. And we lucked out that the temperature didn’t drop too much at night.”

“Very nice,” Amanda replies. “Shayne, anything to add?”

“We kept it pretty small, just family, and close friends. I feel like it was a very typical wedding, but it was ours, you know? So, it was special.” Shayne blushes and you know that your wedding day means more to him than he’s letting on. And that’s fine with you. It was a private event, and even though you’re sharing your relationship now, neither of you want to give away too much about your wedding.

“Aw, he’s getting red,” Amanda jokes. “Did you go on a honeymoon?”

“We did. We went to Hawaii. Neither of us had been before so we knew it would be special for us. We wanted to experience something new together,” you answer.

“Cute!” she replies. “Now, dedicated fans know you guys are together, know you’re married and all that. But there is some news you two have to share that no one knows, is that correct?”

“That’s right,” Shayne says. He looks at you, silently asking if you want to say it. But you can tell he’s bursting to tell everyone, so you give him a nod to continue.

“Y/N and I are having a baby,” he says.

“Hell yea you are! Smosh baby!” Amanda cheers. “Congratulations to you both! Y/N, how are you feeling?”

“Pretty good right now. I’m in the second trimester so my morning sickness is mostly gone, thank god. We’re very excited, got some classes we’re planning to take and we’re reading all the books so I’m sure we will still be extremely unprepared,” you say with a laugh.

“If there’s anyone I trust to figure it out and be great parents, it’s the two of you,” Amanda replies earnestly.

“Thank you, Amanda,” Shayne says.

The podcast continues with Amanda continuing to ask questions and you and Shayne sharing more stories about your time together.

You wrap up recording by mid-afternoon. You have an appointment with your doctor scheduled and since it’s so close to the end of the day, Shayne was also given time off to join you. Everything goes well and as he drives you both home you can’t help but be grateful that the two of you were brought together.

Smosh Reads Reddit Stories: Office Nightmares

It’s been a month and a half since recording your episode of SmoshMouth, and three weeks since it aired. The news that you and Shayne are expecting a baby spread faster than anything you’d experienced before. You’d both received messages of congratulations from more people than you had ever expected: from Smosh fans to Disney fans, and even Goldbergs fans. You never imagined the amount of support you’d receive.

You had the morning off for yet another checkup with your doctor. You get back to the office early, but technically you’re still scheduled to be off, so you opt to sit in as they record the next Reddit Story video/podcast. It’s one of your favorite series currently, and you love listening to Shayne read all the stories.

He begins the third story, reading the title, “Am I the asshole for telling my wife that I’m not taking off of work to be present at our daughters’ birth?”

They joke around for a bit, and then he dives into the story, reading how the man explains that he couldn’t take off work cause there’s a project and they need him there. The wife finds out that’s a lie, and it mad that he didn’t take time off. He says he wants to work more so they’d have more money after the birth, and that the baby wouldn’t even remember him being there. He finishes by saying he doesn’t know why it’s such a big deal to be there at the birth, and even blames the wife’s hormones for her being upset about it.

Shayne, along with Spencer and Tommy begin to share their thoughts on the story. You smile and nod as Shayne makes the point of, “He keeps saying the baby’s not gonna remember, but you’re fucking wife will!”

They even give reasons why they’d understand him not being there, with Tommy saying, “If they were really desperate for cash then I’d get it,” and Spencer saying he’d understand if he were terrified of being around childbirth.

The boys then look over to you and Spencer says, “Y/N, you’re pregnant, how do you feel about this story?”

“Yea,” Tommy adds, “would you kill Shayne if he did this?”

“Oh, for sure!” you call out.

“C’mere,” Shayne says. “You’re probably the one most qualified to give an opinion here.”

You look to Kiana who’s directing the video and she gives you a nod, so you walk onto the set and stand behind Shayne, leaning down so your face is next to his and your voice will get picked up on his microphone.

“What are you’re thoughts on this?” Tommy asks.

“You guys definitely made a lot of great points. I mean, childbirth is terrifying, and I keep trying to ignore the fact that I do have to actually, you know, birth a human. But I know that Shayne will be there and is studying to be the best support person. I mean, he’s read enough books about it, I think he could deliver the baby himself if necessary,” you say with a laugh.

“I will add, if this was the father of my child, I’d wonder what he actually deems important. Because this is arguably one of the biggest days of everyone’s life. First of all, it should be important to him. It’s literally his child entering the world. It’s a privilege to be one of the first people that baby will ever meet. And then, what will be a big enough deal for him to take off work in the future? Baby’s not gonna remember her first birthday, is he gonna go to that? She has a dance recital at three years old, is he going to think that’s silly and not go?”

“Oh, I didn’t think of that, but it makes sense,” Spencer replies. “He definitely seems to have his priorities and being there for his family isn’t one.”

“I truly cannot imagine not being there when our kid is born,” Shayne says. “My worst fear would be if something kept me from being there.”

“Because you’re a good person,” Tommy says bluntly, and everyone laughs.

You head back off camera as they continue on.

After a few more stories Shayne begins another entry, titled, “And I the asshole for eating the last doughnut before my pregnant coworker could have one?” He looks at you once he reads it and laughs before saying, “Y/N’s face says, yes absolutely you are.”

He reads the story which explains that the young employee ate his allotted two doughnuts, and when the pregnant coworker didn’t show up after half an hour, he ate her two as well. She gets there shortly after and explains she had car trouble and is upset to see everyone had a treat but didn’t save her any. Later, the boss pulls aside the employee to tell him he’d been rude to his coworker.

After he finishes the post the boys discuss the etiquette of eating communal snacks in the office before Shayne says, “Also, if there is one thing I know, it’s that you never mess with a pregnant woman’s food unless you want to die.” You laugh so loudly at this that you know for sure the mics picked it up from across the room.

“Y/N, anything to add?” Spencer says.

You walk over again and state, “Listen, all I’m say is that I’m mad you guys are just talking about doughnuts when we don’t have any. Cause cravings are a bitch and now I am literally not going to stop thinking about doughnuts until I get one.”

After moving offscreen you realize you need to pee, again, so you leave the studio to head to the bathroom. Once you’re out of the room Shayne says, “Hey Kiana, can I have my phone a second?”

“Why do you need your phone?” Spencer asks.

“I gotta doordash some doughnuts.”

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AN: Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any requests for Shayne stories!

Taglist: @american-girl001 @tatumrileyslover @queenofcaradelle @1nkm0nster

#shayne topp x reader

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manufacturedrainbows · 1 year ago

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2024 VS 2019 Redraw 📷

It's been 5 years since I've last drawn Noctis and Prompto but I still love them just as much (and ship them just as hard afhakagajk Promptis my beloved)

I remember I drew the original for my first Twitch art stream, so it's very near and dear to me 💕 I tried out some new effects and angles and overall wanted to test how much I've improved since 2019! What do you think?? ✨️

#my art #fan art #ffxv #ffxv prompto #ffxv noctis #promptis #digital art #ff15 prompto #ff15 #ff15 noctis #artists on tumblr #illustration #disabled artist #queer artist #anime #manga #ship #redraw

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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year ago

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Conspiratorialism and the epistemological crisis

I'm on tour with my new, nationally bestselling novel The Bezzle! Catch me next weekend (Mar 30/31) in ANAHEIM at WONDERCON, then in Boston with Randall "XKCD" Munroe! (Apr 11), then Providence (Apr 12), and beyond!

Last year, Ed Pierson was supposed to fly from Seattle to New Jersey on Alaska Airlines. He boarded his flight, but then he had an urgent discussion with the flight attendant, explaining that as a former senior Boeing engineer, he'd specifically requested that flight because the aircraft wasn't a 737 Max:

https://www.cnn.com/travel/boeing-737-max-passenger-boycott/index.html

But for operational reasons, Alaska had switched out the equipment on the flight and there he was on a 737 Max, about to travel cross-continent, and he didn't feel safe doing so. He demanded to be let off the flight. His bags were offloaded and he walked back up the jetbridge after telling the spooked flight attendant, "I can’t go into detail right now, but I wasn’t planning on flying the Max, and I want to get off the plane."

Boeing, of course, is a flying disaster that was years in the making. Its planes have been falling out of the sky since 2019. Floods of whistleblowers have come forward to say its aircraft are unsafe. Pierson's not the only Boeing employee to state – both on and off the record – that he wouldn't fly on a specific model of Boeing aircraft, or, in some cases any recent Boeing aircraft:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/22/anything-that-cant-go-on-forever/#will-eventually-stop

And yet, for years, Boeing's regulators have allowed the company to keep turning out planes that keep turning out lemons. This is a pretty frightening situation, to say the least. I'm not an aerospace engineer, I'm not an aircraft safety inspector, but every time I book a flight, I have to make a decision about whether to trust Boeing's assurances that I can safely board one of its planes without dying.

In an ideal world, I wouldn't even have to think about this. I'd be able to trust that publicly accountable regulators were on the job, making sure that airplanes were airworthy. "Caveat emptor" is no way to run a civilian aviation system.

But even though I don't have the specialized expertise needed to assess the airworthiness of Boeing planes, I do have the much more general expertise needed to assess the trustworthiness of Boeing's regulator. The FAA has spent years deferring to Boeing, allowing it to self-certify that its aircraft were safe. Even when these assurances led to the death of hundreds of people, the FAA continued to allow Boeing to mark its own homework:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8oCilY4szc

What's more, the FAA boss who presided over those hundreds of deaths was an ex-Boeing lobbyist, whom Trump subsequently appointed to run Boeing's oversight. He's not the only ex-insider who ended up a regulator, and there's plenty of ex-regulators now on Boeing's payroll:

https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/boeing-debacle-shows-need-to-investigate-trump-era-corruption/

You don't have to be an aviation expert to understand that companies have conflicts of interest when it comes to certifying their own products. "Market forces" aren't going to keep Boeing from shipping defective products, because the company's top brass are more worried about cashing out with this quarter's massive stock buybacks than they are about their successors' ability to manage the PR storm or Congressional hearings after their greed kills hundreds and hundreds of people.

You also don't have to be an aviation expert to understand that these conflicts persist even when a Boeing insider leaves the company to work for its regulators, or vice-versa. A regulator who anticipates a giant signing bonus from Boeing after their term in office, or a an ex-Boeing exec who holds millions in Boeing stock has an irreconcilable conflict of interest that will make it very hard – perhaps impossible – for them to hold the company to account when it trades safety for profit.

It's not just Boeing customers who feel justifiably anxious about trusting a system with such obvious conflicts of interest: Boeing's own executives, lobbyists and lawyers also refuse to participate in similarly flawed systems of oversight and conflict resolution. If Boeing was sued by its shareholders and the judge was also a pissed off Boeing shareholder, they would demand a recusal. If Boeing was looking for outside counsel to represent it in a liability suit brought by the family of one of its murder victims, they wouldn't hire the firm that was suing them – not even if that firm promised to be fair. If a Boeing executive's spouse sued for divorce, that exec wouldn't use the same lawyer as their soon-to-be-ex.

Sure, it takes specialized knowledge and training to be a lawyer, a judge, or an aircraft safety inspector. But anyone can look at the system those experts work in and spot its glaring defects. In other words, while acquiring expertise is hard, it's much easier to spot weaknesses in the process by which that expertise affects the world around us.

And therein lies the problem: aviation isn't the only technically complex, potentially lethal, and utterly, obviously untrustworthy system we all have to navigate. How about the building safety codes that governed the structure you're in right now? Plenty of people have blithely assumed that structural engineers carefully designed those standards, and that these standards were diligently upheld, only to discover in tragic, ghastly ways that this was wrong:

https://www.bbc.com/news/64568826

There are dozens – hundreds! – of life-or-death, highly technical questions you have to resolve every day just to survive. Should you trust the antilock braking firmware in your car? How about the food hygiene rules in the factories that produced the food in your shopping cart? Or the kitchen that made the pizza that was just delivered? Is your kid's school teaching them well, or will they grow up to be ignoramuses and thus economic roadkill?

Hell, even if I never get into another Boeing aircraft, I live in the approach path for Burbank airport, where Southwest lands 50+ Boeing flights every day. How can I be sure that the next Boeing 737 Max that falls out of the sky won't land on my roof?

This is the epistemological crisis we're living through today. Epistemology is the process by which we know things. The whole point of a transparent, democratically accountable process for expert technical deliberation is to resolve the epistemological challenge of making good choices about all of these life-or-death questions. Even the smartest person among us can't learn to evaluate all those questions, but we can all look at the process by which these questions are answered and draw conclusions about its soundness.

Is the process public? Are the people in charge of it forthright? Do they have conflicts of interest, and, if so, do they sit out any decision that gives even the appearance of impropriety? If new evidence comes to light – like, say, a horrific disaster – is there a way to re-open the process and change the rules?

The actual technical details might be a black box for us, opaque and indecipherable. But the box itself can be easily observed: is it made of sturdy material? Does it have sharp corners and clean lines? Or is it flimsy, irregular and torn? We don't have to know anything about the box's contents to conclude that we don't trust the box.

For example: we may not be experts in chemical engineering or water safety, but we can tell when a regulator is on the ball on these issues. Back in 2019, the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection sought comment on its water safety regs. Dow Chemical – the largest corporation in the state's largest industry – filed comments arguing that WV should have lower standards for chemical contamination in its drinking water.

Now, I'm perfectly prepared to believe that there are safe levels of chemical runoff in the water supply. There's a lot of water in the water supply, after all, and "the dose makes the poison." What's more, I use the products whose manufacture results in that chemical waste. I want them to be made safely, but I do want them to be made – for one thing, the next time I have surgery, I want the anesthesiologist to start an IV with fresh, sterile plastic tubing.

And I'm not a chemist, let alone a water chemist. Neither am I a toxicologist. There are aspects of this debate I am totally unqualified to assess. Nevertheless, I think the WV process was a bad one, and here's why:

https://www.wvma.com/press/wvma-news/4244-wvma-statement-on-human-health-criteria-development

That's Dow's comment to the regulator (as proffered by its mouthpiece, the WV Manufacturers' Association, which it dominates). In that comment, Dow argues that West Virginians safely can absorb more poison than other Americans, because the people of West Virginia are fatter than other Americans, and so they have more tissue and thus a better ratio of poison to person than the typical American. But they don't stop there! They also say that West Virginians don't drink as much water as their out-of-state cousins, preferring to drink beer instead, so even if their water is more toxic, they'll be drinking less of it:

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/03/14/the-real-elitists-looking-down-on-trump-voters/

Even without any expertise in toxicology or water chemistry, I can tell that these are bullshit answers. The fact that the WV regulator accepted these comments tells me that they're not a good regulator. I was in WV last year to give a talk, and I didn't drink the tap water.

It's totally reasonable for non-experts to reject the conclusions of experts when the process by which those experts resolve their disagreements is obviously corrupt and irredeemably flawed. But some refusals carry higher costs – both for the refuseniks and the people around them – than my switching to bottled water when I was in Charleston.

Take vaccine denial (or "hesitancy"). Many people greeted the advent of an extremely rapid, high-tech covid vaccine with dread and mistrust. They argued that the pharma industry was dominated by corrupt, greedy corporations that routinely put their profits ahead of the public's safety, and that regulators, in Big Pharma's pocket, let them get away with mass murder.

The thing is, all that is true. Look, I've had five covid vaccinations, but not because I trust the pharma industry. I've had direct experience of how pharma sacrifices safety on greed's altar, and narrowly avoided harm myself. I have had chronic pain problems my whole life, and they've gotten worse every year. When my daughter was on the way, I decided this was going to get in the way of my ability to parent – I wanted to be able to carry her for long stretches! – and so I started aggressively pursuing the pain treatments I'd given up on many years before.

My journey led me to many specialists – physios, dieticians, rehab specialists, neurologists, surgeons – and I tried many, many therapies. Luckily, my wife had private insurance – we were in the UK then – and I could go to just about any doctor that seemed promising. That's how I found myself in the offices of a Harley Street quack, a prominent pain specialist, who had great news for me: it turned out that opioids were way safer than had previously been thought, and I could just take opioids every day and night for the rest of my life without any serious risk of addiction. It would be fine.

This sounded wrong to me. I'd lost several friends to overdoses, and watched others spiral into miserable lives as they struggled with addiction. So I "did my own research." Despite not having a background in chemistry, biology, neurology or pharmacology, I struggled through papers and read commentary and came to the conclusion that opioids weren't safe at all. Rather, corrupt billionaire pharma owners like the Sackler family had colluded with their regulators to risk the lives of millions by pushing falsified research that was finding publication in some of the most respected, peer-reviewed journals in the world.

I became an opioid denier, in other words.

I decided, based on my own research, that the experts were wrong, and that they were wrong for corrupt reasons, and that I couldn't trust their advice.

When anti-vaxxers decried the covid vaccines, they said things that were – in form at least – indistinguishable from the things I'd been saying 15 years earlier, when I decided to ignore my doctor's advice and throw away my medication on the grounds that it would probably harm me.

For me, faith in vaccines didn't come from a broad, newfound trust in the pharmaceutical system: rather, I judged that there was so much scrutiny on these new medications that it would overwhelm even pharma's ability to corruptly continue to sell a medication that they secretly knew to be harmful, as they'd done so many times before:

https://www.npr.org/2007/11/10/5470430/timeline-the-rise-and-fall-of-vioxx

But many of my peers had a different take on anti-vaxxers: for these friends and colleagues, anti-vaxxers were being foolish. Surprisingly, these people I'd long felt myself in broad agreement with began to defend the pharmaceutical system and its regulators. Once they saw that anti-vaxx was a wedge issue championed by right-wing culture war shitheads, they became not just pro-vaccine, but pro-pharma.

There's a name for this phenomenon: "schismogenesis." That's when you decide how you feel about an issue based on who supports it. Think of self-described "progressives" who became cheerleaders for the America's cruel, ruthless and lawless "intelligence community" when it seemed that US spooks were bent on Trump's ouster:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/12/18/schizmogenesis/

The fact that the FBI didn't like Trump didn't make them allies of progressive causes. This was and is the same entity that (among other things) tried to blackmail Martin Luther King, Jr into killing himself:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93King_suicide_letter

But schismogenesis isn't merely a reactionary way of flip-flopping on issues based on reflexive enmity. It's actually a reasonable epistemological tactic: in a world where there are more issues you need to be clear on than you can possibly inform yourself about, you need some shortcuts. One shortcut – a shortcut that's failing – is to say, "Well, I'll provisionally believe whatever the expert system tells me is true." Another shortcut is, "I will provisionally disbelieve in whatever the people I know to act in bad faith are saying is true." That is, "schismogenesis."

Schismogenesis isn't a great tactic. It would be far better if we had a set of institutions we could all largely trust – if the black boxes where expert debate took place were sturdy, rectilinear and sharp-cornered.

But they're not. They're just not. Our regulatory process sucks. Corporate concentration makes it trivial for cartels to capture their regulators and steer them to conclusions that benefit corporate shareholders even if that means visiting enormous harm – even mass death – on the public:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/05/regulatory-capture/

No one hates Big Tech more than I do, but many of my co-belligerents in the war on Big Tech believe that the rise of conspiratorialism can be laid at tech platforms' feet. They say that Big Tech boasts of how good they are at algorithmically manipulating our beliefs, and attribute Qanons, flat earthers, and other outlandish conspiratorial cults to the misuse off those algorithms.

"We built a Big Data mind-control ray" is one of those extraordinary claims that requires extraordinary evidence. But the evidence for Big Tech's persuasion machines is very poor: mostly, it consists of tech platforms' own boasts to potential investors and customers for their advertising products. "We can change peoples' minds" has long been the boast of advertising companies, and it's clear that they can change the minds of customers for advertising.

Think of department store mogul John Wanamaker, who famously said "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." Today – thanks to commercial surveillance – we know that the true proportion of wasted advertising spending is more like 99.9%. Advertising agencies may be really good at convincing John Wanamaker and his successors, through prolonged, personal, intense selling – but that doesn't mean they're able to sell so efficiently to the rest of us with mass banner ads or spambots:

http://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism

In other words, the fact that Facebook claims it is really good at persuasion doesn't mean that it's true. Just like the AI companies who claim their chatbots can do your job: they are much better at convincing your boss (who is insatiably horny for firing workers) than they are at actually producing an algorithm that can replace you. What's more, their profitability relies far more on convincing a rich, credulous business executive that their product works than it does on actually delivering a working product.

Now, I do think that Facebook and other tech giants play an important role in the rise of conspiratorial beliefs. However, that role isn't using algorithms to persuade people to mistrust our institutions. Rather Big Tech – like other corporate cartels – has so corrupted our regulatory system that they make trusting our institutions irrational.

Think of federal privacy law. The last time the US got a new federal consumer privacy law was in 1988, when Congress passed the Video Privacy Protection Act, a law that prohibits video store clerks from leaking your VHS rental history:

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/07/why-vppa-protects-youtube-and-viacom-employees

It's been a minute. There are very obvious privacy concerns haunting Americans, related to those tech giants, and yet the closest Congress can come to doing something about it is to attempt the forced sale of the sole Chinese tech giant with a US footprint to a US company, to ensure that its rampant privacy violations are conducted by our fellow Americans, and to force Chinese spies to buy their surveillance data on millions of Americans in the lawless, reckless swamp of US data-brokerages:

https://www.npr.org/2024/03/14/1238435508/tiktok-ban-bill-congress-china

For millions of Americans – especially younger Americans – the failure to pass (or even introduce!) a federal privacy law proves that our institutions can't be trusted. They're right:

https://www.tiktok.com/@pearlmania500/video/7345961470548512043

Occam's Razor cautions us to seek the simplest explanation for the phenomena we see in the world around us. There's a much simpler explanation for why people believe conspiracy theories they encounter online than the idea that the one time Facebook is telling the truth is when they're boasting about how well their products work – especially given the undeniable fact that everyone else who ever claimed to have perfected mind-control was a fantasist or a liar, from Rasputin to MK-ULTRA to pick-up artists.

Maybe people believe in conspiracy theories because they have hundreds of life-or-death decisions to make every day, and the institutions that are supposed to make that possible keep proving that they can't be trusted. Nevertheless, those decisions have to be made, and so something needs to fill the epistemological void left by the manifest unsoundness of the black box where the decisions get made.

For many people – millions – the thing that fills the black box is conspiracy fantasies. It's true that tech makes finding these conspiracy fantasies easier than ever, and it's true that tech makes forming communities of conspiratorial belief easier, too. But the vulnerability to conspiratorialism that algorithms identify and target people based on isn't a function of Big Data. It's a function of corruption – of life in a world in which real conspiracies (to steal your wages, or let rich people escape the consequences of their crimes, or sacrifice your safety to protect large firms' profits) are everywhere.

Progressives – which is to say, the coalition of liberals and leftists, in which liberals are the senior partners and spokespeople who control the Overton Window – used to identify and decry these conspiracies. But as right wing "populists" declared their opposition to these conspiracies – when Trump damned free trade and the mainstream media as tools of the ruling class – progressives leaned into schismogenesis and declared their vocal support for these old enemies of progress.

This is the crux of Naomi Klein's brilliant 2023 book Doppelganger: that as the progressive coalition started supporting these unworthy and broken institutions, the right spun up "mirror world" versions of their critique, distorted versions that focus on scapegoating vulnerable groups rather than fighting unworthy institutions:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/05/not-that-naomi/#if-the-naomi-be-klein-youre-doing-just-fine

This is a long tradition in politics: hundreds of years ago, some leftists branded antisemitism "the socialism of fools." Rather than condemning the system's embrace of the finance sector and its wealthy beneficiaries, anti-semites blame a disfavored group of people – people who are just as likely as anyone to suffer under the system:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antisemitism_is_the_socialism_of_fools

It's an ugly, shallow, cartoon version of socialism's measured and comprehensive analysis of how the class system actually works and why it's so harmful to everyone except a tiny elite. Literally cartoonish: the shadow-world version of socialism co-opts and simplifies the iconography of class struggle. And schismogenesis – "if the right likes this, I don't" – sends "progressive" scolds after anyone who dares to criticize finance as the crux of our world's problems as popularizing "antisemetic dog-whistles."

This is the problem with "horseshoe theory" – the idea that the far right and the far left bend all the way around to meet each other:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/02/26/horsehoe-crab/#substantive-disagreement

When the right criticizes pharma companies, they tell us to "do our own research" (e.g. ignore the systemic problems of people being forced to work under dangerous conditions during a pandemic while individually assessing conflicting claims about vaccine safety, ideally landing on buying "supplements" from a grifter). When the left criticizes pharma, it's to argue for universal access to medicine and vigorous public oversight of pharma companies. These aren't the same thing:

https://pluralistic.net/2021/05/25/the-other-shoe-drops/#quid-pro-quo

Long before opportunistic right wing politicians realized they could get mileage out of pointing at the terrifying epistemological crisis of trying to make good choices in an age of institutions that can't be trusted, the left was sounding the alarm. Conspiratorialism – the fracturing of our shared reality – is a serious problem, weakening our ability to respond effectively to endless disasters of the polycrisis.

But by blaming the problem of conspiratorialism on the credulity of believers (rather than the deserved disrepute of the institutions they have lost faith in) we adopt the logic of the right: "conspiratorialism is a problem of individuals believing wrong things," rather than "a system that makes wrong explanations credible – and a schismogenic insistence that these institutions are sound and trustworthy."

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2024/03/25/black-boxes/#when-you-know-you-know

Image: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (modified) https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrcgov/15993154185/

meanwell-packaging.co.uk https://www.flickr.com/photos/195311218@N08/52159853896

CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

#pluralistic #conspiratorialism #epistemology #epistemological crisis #mind control rays #opioid denial #vaccine denial #regulatory capture #boeing #corruption #inequality #monopoly #apple #dma #eu

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yunsound · 4 months ago

Text

Update on the Ao Bing Zhuan drama

Oh my god this never ends.

Part 1 here , read for context

It's actually so funny to watch on XHS. Literally last night I came across an Ao Guang solo art (solo meaning no ships or anything implied, it was just Ao Guang being hot) and there was a comment like "Ying Long your husband is so sexy". I told them not to 嗑药 (keyao) which means not to bring up other ships under an art that's not tagged with that ship. The comment was three words long: 别磕药 (don't keyao).

Holy shit. Within 20 minutes, 6 comments from 6 different people calling me a whole manner of things.

Disgusting fujoshi Dilong shipper (no joke, they literally wrote this)

Fuck off and mind your own business, they're canon

I hate all Dilong shippers, Ying Long is his canon wife

No wonder your ship gets attacked, Dilong fans are so fucking annoying

All fujoshis leave Ne Zha fandom (which is funny because 80% of Ne Zha fans are fujoshis who ship Oubing)

Fuck you

Okay. Wow.

The artist of the post liked my comment but they didn't tell the others to stop, which I get- no one wants to be attacked either.

Funniest thing is I've never even shipped Dilong. Starting to see the appeal now though, at least compared to Guangying.

OKAY.

I think I mentioned this in the last post, but Ying Long's design copied a genderbend Dilong art's design of Ao Guang back when Ao Guang's human form was never shown. This is really ironic.

An update: Oubing is currently the top ship in Ne Zha by FAR, like, by FAR FAR FAR. No other ship comes CLOSE to how big Oubing is. However, Oubing fans have mostly been able to stay out of Guangying vs Dilong drama as well as Ao Bing Zhuan drama.

One of the platforms ABZ is posted on, however, posted two of the author's sketches. One of them is child Ao Bing. The other one is an unknown female character who wears red and has red hair. The caption included this: "Guess who Ao Bing's new ship is with?"

The female character lated debuted and is called Hong. She's a thousand-year old jellyfish spirit.

When I tell you the author couldn't have done anything fucking dumber than try to pair Ao Bing with some random OC girl, I mean it. Oubing makes up like 80% of the fandom. The other 20% consists of half Ne Zha Ao Bing friendship stans and half casual fans. Oubing is probably the only ship with a negative hater rate in the fandom.

If the author tries to pull some "Oh this webcomic is official content so Oubing is a ship that breaks up a canon ship so it's not allowed" I guarantee ABZ will be bullied so hard the author might never be able to do anything ever again. Oubing is probably one of the biggest ships ever in Chinese fandom history. It's also one of the most wholesome, un-problematic (whatever that means) and sweet ships ever. But Oubing fans are hardcore. Like, not rude, but will NOT take shit.

Aside from the unknown girl the author is trying to pair Ao Bing with, they changed the setting of Oubing. One of the biggest parts of Oubing is that they're each other's first and only friend since they're so isolated.

ABZ, however, has Ao Bing go off and make friends with a whole bunch of people- his brothers, (who in the movies are probably dead), a bunch of abyssal sea monsters, etc.

Also the author is one of THOSE Xiao Zhan fans. Not the normal ones- I am also a Xiao Zhan fan. The kind of Xiao Zhan fans that led to the 227 incident and AO3 being banned in China.

ALSO!!!

The most important part!!

I made a Ne Zha post explaining that Ao Guang, Ao Bing's dad and the poor dude caught in the middle of these ship wars, is usually portrayed as an ugly old dude. In fact, Jiaozi said verbatim in an interview that he was originally going to look like

this.

The comparison. Jesus Christ.

Jiaozi said that it was fanart and fanwork that gave him the inspiration for Ao Guang's sexy dilf design. Back in 2019 and 2020, ABZ wasn't out yet: the ONLY Ao Guang arts were all Dilong! Dilong art is the ONLY reason Ao Guang is a sexy dilf instead of whatever the fuck that is.

IDK, I think I've become a Dilong fan despite only seeing Dilong art like twice in my life just because I feel so bad for them.

#ao bing #nezha 2025 #nezha 2019

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slaaverin · 6 months ago

Note

I came across an old post the other day, about the nature of Jikooks relationship, this post was circa April 2018. The op said they thought Jikook had a special relationship (baring in mind this is after GCFT), but that they did not know if it was 'romantic' in nature. The post I was reading though, was about JM himself, and how he is a flirt. To summarise the view of the op - he is just that, a flirt, flirts with anyone, but this is not necessarily romantic either, just his nature, and the way he communicates/puts people at ease. To be fair, it kinda made sense what op was saying - ba I think we all know, JM loves to be loved, and loves to give love. Op then added on the end that bs of JM's endless 'flirting with everyone and anyone he encounters, it is hard to know when he might have a different interest in someone (I think they were truly referring to the members here, and ships).

However, what struck me reading it, is that, if that is the case, if that is how op/and others see JM, how is he ever meant to show romantic interest in someone? If he is only seen as an endless flirt, and reduced to that, how could someone differentiate between platonic/harmless" flirting and ‘romantic flirting'. It made me feel quite indignant about how JM himself might perceive that.

I say this also because if op decided that in their eyes jikook have a special relationship, but one which might not be romantic in nature. Because their own personal relationship is like that… typical lmao. But using jikooks bond as an example - how would one then decide whether it was indeed 'romantic?

So, if we think about jikook up until mid-2018 - and all the things they actually did up to, and during that time, that make their bond stand out - what more could anyone want? We're talking about, as I said above, post GCFT, post BV3 (filming at least, b I can't remember the dates), etc, etc.

And this got me to thinking what it would be like to actually date one of these boys. especially Jikook.

How in the world is one meant to think that JM is into you, if all he does is flirt with others? How would you feel special? How would you navigate a relationship with JM/JK, when they seem hell bent on dedicating time solely to each other. Would said person not feel left out, upset/angry? If I was with JM or JK in 2023 for example, and said bf decided to hop on a plane and fly 15 hours to go see his bft whom he had drifted from apparently, and film a show where they ended up in bed cosy and slapping ass, and then travelled again, and again, lastly to romantic and snowy Sapporo. I mean my bags would be packed sooner than you can say boo to a goose.

Or, hypothetically, even as a prospective future partner, even googling content like that would probably spike jealously in even the sanest person - because logically how would one ever feel comfortable letting them be around the other? What kind of sane person would put up with that? Where is the self respect! I mean that seriously.

Because to me, all these boys have ever done (esp in recent years) is single themselves out as something, and I would eat my own arm if that something is not 'romantic' in nature, because otherwise what is the point, truly. BTS are the biggest band in the wsrld, they do not need to do FS, they do not need to make up elaborate lies to sell themselves. Nothing about likeeks relationship actually sells with the fandom at large anyway, lets be honest, so there is no need for them to do what they do. Unless that is, they want to, and they cannot help it.

Objectively then, since ops post was mid 2018, 7 years has all but passed. We have had many, many ‘moments' that stand out, we all know them, I won't list them. Then we come to 2023, and we have the show, and the enlistment. I did wonder for a brief second what op might think about that, since they stopped posting in 2019, but then I thought, who cares, because honestly, to me, that sort of narrative is tired, and then some.

Jikook have singled themselves out as a duo to be reckoned with, in the charts and in life, and contrary to what those with views like op think, they have done that with purpose. Again, they didn't have to, they chose to, and to me that means something. I am not talking about how Hebi and JM have a really close relationship that the fandom acknowledges, or that vain are 'soul mates', or JK and Jin are close, or JK fell in love with Joon's thighs and has a man crush on him. This is different, markedly so.

But going back to JM and his 'flirty' personality, is it me or does JM do less of this in recent years? He was an extraordinary performer in LYS/SY era, he really did have an outgoing flirty persona on and off stage, but the JM of 2023 at least, did not ts me. He seemed shy, reserved, giggly sometimes, but also not always, by the latter half of 2023, more assure of himself. For example, he treated Sophia with upmost respect, he didn't flirt imo. His female dancers too, although solos go gah gal over their ‘interactions' (be they are hetro losers) he was literally just being professional. I call this maturity, and him coming into his own. Him letting some of that overriding need to be loved, or to be loud go, almost. If that makes sense?

This brings me to another thing the op said in a different post, but linked to the original, in that JM the flirt king' was simply that with JK at the start, just flirty and not in a romantic interest kind of way, and that JK (a baby gay), confronted JM about this eventually, said he likes him, and that JM replied with '1 don't like boys like that'. So not only did OP in their 'wisdom' confine JM to a flirt, but also a queer baiter of sorts? And that JK is happy with that because at least he gets JMs attention...I mean what the heck is that?!! The OP said it would not surprise them at all because JM flirts with anyone, that he is indeed straight. Well, I guess we do not know, but since said post, the portfolio was released, and I will leave that up to others interpretation. But I will say, to me JM has shown us part of who he is, and he is not a queer baiter like op suggests.

All this to say, that my overriding thoughts when reading opinions like that of op, or even recent ones of some of his solos, is that everyone pigeonholes JM into what they want him to be, maybe that is because he is an Idol, it's the job description, but he is so much more than that, much more human and much more nuanced. I mean what would such as op think a 'romantic' relationship looks like - the sheer love that excludes from these two, the way they look at so, the way JK sucked JMs ear in front of thousands, a romantic travel video with a love song bought for exclusive use, the sheer devotion you see from them, the domesticity, the companionship, they are the best of friends, the support they give, the laughter, the quiet moments, the commitment they showed when enlisting together, travelling together? What more could they do honestly?

As I said above, I wouldn't want to be in a relationship with either one of them, given how they are with each other... that would be a hell no from me.

Anon, this is a lot to unpack.

(I want to preface and for reference for future posts, that I am an INFJ, so I can be somewhat analytical but I function and communicate primarly with emotions and intuition, so I can only convey my feelings to you, and it is very unlikely I will bombard you with any type of facts, dates ect. Due to my spiritual journey many memories from the past are also erased as soon as they enter my mind, due to focusing mainly on the present moment. So I usually can't tell you "yes but this happened at that moment!", the only thing I can truly say is my feelings about a situation, and the perceptions I had/have of it because from the memories that's the only thing that truly stays with me. Just so you know this is a particular way of answering asks and it is not my intention to stay vague but this is how I usually communicate. I'm ok at conveying feelings but that's about it lol so bear with me)

Look, I kinda hate this "Jimin is a flirt" narrative going on, even back then.

You know why? Because people take a statement such as this, and you know what they do with it? They make a generalization out of it, they reduce Jimin to it, they try to label him, and put him in a tiny box, which IS NOT how real people function. Jimin is a real complex human.

Did Jimin flirt? Yes. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Did he always do it? No. But the most important thing is HOW he flirted with everyone in contrast to Jungkook.

Because this OP reducing him to an endless flirt who couldn't tell when he had romantic feelings, it is just a load of crap to me.

There always has been A HUGE difference in how he flirts with other people vs Jungkook, and you have to be a fool not to notice.

With other people it's playful, it's cute, it's harmless, it's just for fun, IT HAS NO WEIGHT.

But with Jungkook? Cheesh it's a different story entirely.

I will put it simply: with Jungkook, Jimin cares. It is not for fun. It can be playful, but there is a tension, there is a weight, their is a different level of emotion that comes out from Jimin. It's in the body language, it's in the voice, I don't even know how to explain this, you just see it on his face, and feel it. It shows. And I know it is stupidly vague and subjective.

But even back in the beginning, when Jimin had a crush on Jungkook and was bodly showing it. Your OP might say it was all for fun, he was teasing, which he was. But behind the laughters there were repeated actions and words, their was a fucking intent behind all of this, and you can't tell me this intent this OP could not feel it.

The intent, the crush, the desire, the love, however how innocent it was presented, was real. It was real. It was Jimin's true feelings.

The difference is that when Jimin flirts with Jungkook vs other members or anyone, there are always a depth of feelings behind that flirting. Which he doesn't show with anyone else. How can people not pick up on this?

With Jungkook there is more. It's not all fun&games, in truth it looks quite serious at times, like this has an affect&effect on a private level we know nothing about.

With other people Jimin doesn't care and he does what he does because he wants to. I've never seen this side of him being immature in any way, but more of him being his loving self. It was harmless after all.

(Except with Jungkook)

Because I need to remind that he has never done the things he did with Jungkook with ANY OTHER MEMBER or anyone for that matter! Once again this is not the same levels of flirtations!

Jimin has never been a queerbaiter, he hates fanservice, so the only logical explanation is that his feelings have been true from the start. Even if on stage he has a persona, he often shakes his head when other members do fanservice, he disapproves. Why? Because the moments he has with Jungkook, they are real, the other stuff are not.

The moments with Jungkook have nothing to do with his persona, it's specifically for jungkook & their relationship, it's playing in front of millions but it's not about us at all, it's their own private moment that we just happen to witness, because their relationship is an alive ongoing thing that doesn't stop and continues with every one of their interactions, whether on stage, backstage, in interviews, in reality shows. They are constantly living it and it is ever enfolding. They are not gonna suddenly stop just because we happen to see it.

That's why they also have been so open about it, in a way they don't have much of a choice.

Unfortunately I think over time, circumstances of fame hardened Jimin in a way, he is more private now, more closed-off.

In recent years I have very few memories of him flirting with anyone but Jungkook. He has been nothing but polite and professional and caring with everyone he meets.

So the "Jimin is an endless flirt" doesn't sit right with me at all. He CAN flirt he HAS flirted but not all the time and he did it especially with Jungkook more than everyone else since debut.

Isn't that good indication whom he has romantic feelings for? If that's not enough idk what people want.

I wish people would stop reducing the members to cartoon cliché unidimensional characters they made up in their heads because that's not how humans work. They are not "just this" or "just that", they are layered and changeable and ever evolving. Do you know how complex we are as beings? Anyway.

So no, even when Jimin flirted, I never ever saw him as "nothing but a flirt" in my mind. That's not true, and it doesn't feel right to think it. Because I don't know him intimately enough to pass any kind of judgement like this. One of my favorite saying is "To define is to limit" so I tend to not do this with other people. Because once you made a definitive statement like this it opens the door to any kind of shortcuts, easy and lazy pathways to try to comprehend someone. But people are not easy to understand, and most people don't even understand themselves that well. So please, can we not do that? It's not that simple.

I agree with you. I couldn't date any of them with the other in the picture (I mean I couldn't date any of them period lmao). But yeah how can any other bond compare to jikook's bond, anything else would pale in comparison, they have more than 10 years behind them, bonding life experiences they won't be able to find with anybody else, a connexion so deep and fluid and easy and loving, how can you compete with this?

Since they met I don't believe there has been anyone else serious.

Idk, am I crazy? Does this post makes any sense to you? Am I the only one understanding it this way?

Anyway anon thank you for sharing this reading of yours which was like?? Weird but ok

Feel free to send me your thoughts anytime I will gladly read them 💜 and answer when I can

Take care 🥰

#jikook #kookmin #jimin #jungkook #ask

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spencer-sweets · 11 months ago

Text

Marvel Fic Recs | Peter Parker/Wade Wilson

so i have been a part of the spideypool fandom on and off since... 2019? some of these are really old and I might not remember details other than I thought it was great at the time - and when i started reading spideypool i didn't bookmark as liberally as i do today. got back into it after Deadpool and Wolverine (feel free to send me fics you think will get me more into that ship). How well these stand up against the test of time... can't be certain on all of them but at least they brought me joy the first or second time around.

let me explain by jilliancares Gen 8,505 Wade scoffs, shaking his head and elbowing Peter in the side. “Sure,” he says, sarcastic. “That’s why your spidey-sense doesn’t see me.” Peter’s on the verge of laughing, wanting to join Wade in his amusement, but he freezes. His entire body goes still. He finds himself staring at a roof three buildings over, not even looking at anything. Two blocks away, a car alarm finally shuts off. “I never told you that,” Peter says, the realization startling him. Or: Peter's starting to realize just how much Wade knows about him.

this was cute and fluffy.

I'm Something of a Scientist Myself by fancastical Explicit 11,422 Wade decides to start dousing himself in various synthetic spider sex pheromones before meeting up with Spidey, because why wouldn't he? They have some… interesting results. Wade feels downright scientific.

its smut but wacky. as i noted in my bookmark (very rare of me) "Fucking awesome and I dont usually bookmark pure smut... However there was so much effort put into this one it is definitely going down in history."

Freefall by Wilt Explicit 37,557 It's been a long time since Peter took off his mask in front of someone he loved, cracked a nervous smile and said, “This is me”. He swore to himself he'd never do it again, and he's been making a good run of it by spending more time as Spiderman than Peter Parker for the past few years. But for some reason, being Spiderman also means spending a lot of time around Deadpool. And, like clockwork, that same old turmoil comes creeping back again.

i bookmarked this in April of 22' (gonna re-read it and i'll update this). its got mutual pining and an identity reveal tho so its kind of hard to fuck that up.

Allostasis by ruralfishingcat Mature 42,434 Peter had a tendency to put up walls to isolate himself; even as Spider-Man, he could only suffer through so much death and destruction. It was precautionary, really, and those he'd pushed away would thank him were they aware of the circumstances. Of course, Deadpool had his own tendencies, one of which was to break down said walls (fourth ones included). As grating as it was, a small sliver of Peter hoped the mercenary would be able to succeed.

no memory of this but i bookmarked it back in 2022 and i didn't bookmark much back then.

fall out, boy, so i can fall in(to you) by TheMadKatter13 Explicit 81,041 Deadpool keeps having sex with Peter and Peter… Peter keeps letting him.

smut... pure smut.. with a side of plot and pining

we're on a highway to hell (with a little bit of heaven) by dabblingwithwords Mature (I would say Explicit) 107,557 Hydra has had Peter in their custody for three years. Deadpool is hired to break him out. Throw in an alien symbiote, motels, and superhero explosions and things get gay.

I don't remember a lot of the details of this fic but it is THE spideypool fic for me. this fic stuck with me for so long. i read it when i first got into spideypool - then the second time around - and i might read it again it was that good.

Dissonance by stuckybarnes Mature 121,395 Wherein Deadpool is reluctantly hired to protect Peter Parker from an organization out to hunt him, with varying success on both ends and quite a lot of feelings, revelations, and identity crises.

i recently re-read this and its fun. its a bodyguard fic with spideypool and secret identities.

Dead Men Walking (series) by doctorestranged Explicit 235,937 When a series of murders take place, Peter Parker goes undercover in Sister Margaret’s to get intel on Tony Stark’s prime suspect: Deadpool. Peter goes in hoping to get enough information so that Spider-Man can save the day, but like everything in Peter’s life, it becomes a bit more complicated than that and it soon becomes apparent that he might not be the best fit for the job.

I remember very little about this series other than this made me spend a week hyperfixating on book binding because i was willing to kill to get my hands on a physical copy of this.

The Amazing Deadpool by harrytiptoe Mature 481,270 Basically a rewrite of the first Deadpool movie mixed with The Amazing Spider-Man movies (AKA what if they were the love interest in each other’s movies). What if Wade had changed his plan and Peter had been the one delivering pizza to Jeremy the stalker.

hear me out on this one - it set pre-deadpool and during the amazing spider-man. its a self indulgent fic for those who wanted to see more of mercenary wade wilson who threatens the pizza guy and more gayness from tasm. the sequel does go into deadpool 1 but it hasn't been finished yet. this is an epic length fic that i have finished twice and started over again i love it that much but its definitely not for everyone. its got a weird age gap with peter being 18 and not out of high school and i know some people don't like wade with no scars. don't come at me lol.

thats all for now folks.. will probably update this in the future

originally posted: 8/13/2024

#marvel #spideypool #spider man/deadpool #peter parker/wade wilson #fic rec #peter parker #spiderman #deadpool #wade wilson

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stereopticons · 5 days ago

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On This Day in Schitt's Creek: June 23

2019

All Tied Up [david/sebastien, E, 856, CW: rape/noncon] by elucidate_this

David does not like being tied up especially with rope. Sebastien doesn't care.

2020

[Podfic] I don't gamble but if I did I'd bet on us [david/patrick, T, podfic] by Amanita_Fierce

“Thank you for calling 94.1 CBC Radio, this is ‘What the Folk’, my name is Patrick and you’re on the air!” His voice sounds too loud in his headphones, and he hopes to God he’s not shouting. Shouting at his first ever on-air caller would be just his fucking luck. “Hi, Patrick? Yes, who do I speak to about the fact that you’ve played six Lumineers songs in the last hour?” * Patrick is a late-night folk radio DJ, David is the owner of a car with a broken radio dial and opinions that need to be shared. [Podfic of I don't gamble but if I did I'd bet on us, written by ships-to-sail]

big (baby) news [david & alexis, G, 2,719] by orphan_account

Instead of confessing to the fact that, while she is pregnant, she hasn’t really made any decisions regarding the future of the pregnancy and baby, she pretends to be offended, like she might have been had she not been pregnant, dramatically crying, “Oh, my God, that’s so mean!” (what if alexis was actually pregnant in "the pregnancy test"?)

Do I want to fall in love with you? [david/patrick, NR, 4,429] by For_pucks_sake

Alternate Universe where Patrick is still figuring things out and is still unsure whether to act on his impulses towards David. Having just moved to Schitt’s Creek, he visits the Wobbly Elm regularly to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Nice Guys Finish Last [david/patrick, E, 5,080] by @spiffymittens

A little part of David hoped that, if he played his cards right, Patrick might help him relax the way they sometimes did for each other when one of them had had a rough day. Because nothing says 'I love you' like a glass of wine (or in Patrick’s case, a tumbler of bourbon) and a blowjob on the couch. Or, David has a bad day, and Patrick makes it better—but not quite how David expected.

The Beauty of Ordinary Days [david/patrick, E, 20,404, CW: MCD] by Tailor1971

This fic is inspired by unfolded73’s “To Come Out the Other Side”, a story about Patrick’s death. This is the story of his last day. It was a good one. (Patrick’s death is referenced in the Epilogue but not explicitly described, other than a very brief reference to a recurring nightmare.)

What a Mess [ted/alexis, NR, 2,374] by BiblioPan

What if Ted cancelled his date with Heather and instead Alexis and Ted got drunk and had an intimate night? What if Alexis decided to terminate the pregnancy and David showed her how much he has been and always will be there for her? OR The Softest Story Featuring Abortion Since Obvious Child **Please heed the tags but know there are absolutely no descriptions of the procedure in this story and in keeping with the spirit of SC, no angry confrontations surrounding Alexis's decision either.**

2021

A Hand to Hold [david/patrick, T, 3,246] by @chelle-68

He should have stopped it. Maybe. Yeah. Marcia Clark joke aside, he should have stopped it from happening. Right?

All Shook Up [david/patrick, G, 994] by @mostlyinthemorning

After the robbery, David spirals about what might happen next until Patrick makes it better. Coda to S05E02 Love Letters.

Hearts' Awakening [david/patrick, E, 36,057] by @ineveryuniverse-sc

David’s living in New York, and trying to make something of himself without having to rely on his parents. He’s working as an assistant at an art gallery. For the first time in his life, he's willing to work hard to succeed. Patrick Brewer is a well known singer/songwriter – locally at least. He's thriving professionally, but struggling in his personal life. He’s looking high and low for an awakening. Will these boys find what they're looking for?

it can't be that bad [david/patrick, G, 402] by petrichor_apothecary

This little fic was inspired by Dan's moustache lolEnjoy!

2022

(Not) Being Left Behind Again [david/patrick, E, 4,141] by @shimmies

He’s never, not once in his life, felt this much nervous excitement, and definitely not with Rachel. Part of him wonders if something about the emotions or adrenaline of the day they met inflated the idea of David in his mind, that having David as more than a fleeting memory would somehow diminish the reality of him. But in his gut, the instincts Patrick's trusted to get him this far, he feels anything but that.-----Or, a sequel to Canadian Roads.

Coming Home [patrick/rachel, T, 9,866] by @brokenchairwrites

David is set to be the bestman at Patrick's wedding, but their history is standing in his way.

Problem [david/patrick, T, 1,005] by @treluna4

Based on the prompt from tumblr user seldom-what-I-seem: “Patrick thinks he has a sexual disfunction- has difficulty getting an erection and maintaining it- he’s tried a few different remedies but nothing has helped… until the day he meets David and everything springs into action 😉” That’s it. That’s the fic.

the hardest part [david/patrick, M, 4,095] by @wild-aloof-rebel

Even the best players go through slumps. Patrick is no exception.

Well, You Are The One, The One That Lies Close To Me [david/patrick, E, 1,285] by @fictasticvoyage

It's been a busy and stressful few weeks and once that passes, David and Patrick need to rest and reconnect with each other.

2023

if you promise me you'll stay in my vicinity [david/patrick, G, 451] by @aoubooming

*shrugs* the tags pretty much say it all

Put Your Hand in Mine [david/patrick, T, 438] by @fictasticvoyage

On their second wedding anniversary, Patrick and David reflect on their wedding day and their love for each other. Very schmoopy!

Stats:

No fanworks for 2017, 2018, or 2024 2019: 1 fic/856 words 2020: 6 fanworks (5 fics, 1 podfic)/35,032 words 2021: 4 fics/40,699 words 2022: 5 fics/20,392 words 2023: 2 fics/889 words Total: 18 fanworks (17 fics, 1 podfic)/97,868 words

#on this day in sc #schitt's creek #sc fanfic #sc fanworks #david rose #patrick brewer #patrick x david #david x patrick #alexis rose #stevie budd #ted mullens #sebastien raine

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mod-jazzy · 10 months ago

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I was asked so! Here are my silly lil prompts for my personal month challenge thing!!!

NOTE: This is not a official thing or what have you, I was just asked to share the prompts for my lil self challenge, so I am! This is my own personal little challenge because I've had these prompts since 2019 and I want to use them

I'll put under a readmore because it is... like. 30 things lmao

Day 1: First Askblog OC The first blog OC you made! Day 2: Most recent askblog OC Can be a side or main character, just the most recent OC you've made for a blog! Day 3: The Modsona Draw your modsona! Self love n all that Day 4: Redraw a silly/funny askblog panel Find a old silly/funny or shitpost panel from one of your blogs and redraw it! Day 5: Evolution scene Draw your OC evolving! Can be past event, future event or something that already happened for a silly redraw! Day 6: Blog Swap Draw one of your blog OCs as a character on one of your other blogs! If don't have more than one blog, switch up their role with someone else on your current blog! Day 7: Favoritism wins Draw your absolute favorite OC from your blog! Indulge a little Day 8: "Nothing bad happens" What would your OC look like if their plot had nothing bad happen Day 9: Redraw a sad panel Redraw a old sad panel! Last prompt was too cheery, redraw that angst with your updated abilities! Day 10: Favorite Magic Anon Blast from the past, relive that glorious magic anon Day 11: Easiest OC to draw Draw that easy fellow, relax a little! Day 12: Difficult OC to draw Back on that grind, draw that one guy who is the absolute most difficult for you!! Day 13: Redraw your least favorite panel We all have that one panel that just, didn't come out right. Try again! Maybe it'll be nice to see your improvement.. or maybe you'll hate it again. Anyways, chop chop Day 14: Injury Draw that dramatic/important injury your character went through. Past, present or future! Day 15: Beach episode What it says on the tin, we love a filler episode. Can be plot relevant but hey, they deserve to relax too Day 16: Favorite blog Draw some fan art for your favorite blogger! Whether they are a friend, inspiration or what have you! Extra challenge: redraw some old fan art you did for them Day 17: Plot Changer That one moment... the thing that made everything twist. That really hit a hard turn in your storyline! Can be past, present or possible future! Day 18: Scrapped Idea What was that scrapped concept again? Or was it a character.. or even something as silly as a slight design change? Day 19: What's a God to a Blogger Most of us have that one god. That one important guy in the sky... or the ocean.. or under a truck... man pokemon is weird. Day 20: Canon Compliant Stylization is so interesting and unique!... but strip that away. Be close to pokemon canon. Day 21: Shiny Beam A easy one... make that little guy shiny!!... Oh they are already shiny?... well then undo that. Silly. Day 22: Dream interaction What's a interaction with your characters that you would really love to see or are excited for? Can be within your own storyline or a interaction with someone else Day 23: Real World Sighting Draw your OC(s) in a real life photo! Bonus points if its a photo you took. Take this chance to go for a nice walk and take some pretty pictures!.... touch grass. Day 24: A spoiler that.. wouldn't make sense to others That's right. Be vague. Spoil a little bit in the most vague manner. It's always fun to see others speculate. Day 25: In blog ship Draw your favorite ship within your own blog! Friendship/romantic ship/hate ship... Just whatever one makes you smile Day 26: Out of blog ship Same prompt as 25.. But with your OC and someone ELSE'S! again, friendship/romantic ship/etc etc! Day 27: Different Art Medium! That's right. Draw/sculpt/etc your OC in a different art medium than normal. This will either be fun or horrifying for you Day 28: The Inspiration VS the OC Draw your OC with their inspiration! Can be the storyline that inspired them... or the character that desired them! Etc etc Day 29: Song drawing Yeah that's right. Draw your OC/Blog with the song that you associate them with! As a treat Day 30: Redraw first blog post / Thank you Cliche ending alert!! Redraw your first ever askblog panel you have ever made. Not the first post on a more recent blog.. no. THE FIRST ONE. EVER. Or be corny and draw a heartfelt thank you to all of your friends and followers you made Or hell.. maybe even both

#BlogTember

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batmanisagatewaydrug · 2 years ago

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hey weird question but, with the context that while conspiracy thought in and of itself is just a sort of dangerous logical fallacy, most conspiracy theories have some kind of tie to antisemetism, are there any antisemetic aspects to gaylor theory? i can't think of how but somehow it almost always weasels in there, no matter how innocently silly something seems on the surface.

DEEP SIGH okay it's time to talk about Scooter Braun and his place in the Gaylor conspiracy

I'm not going to recap everything but will instead link you to this US Weekly article (I know, sorry) which is basically a fine summation of events despite being a bit sensationalist in calling a business disagreement between two adults a "feud"

tl;dr for anyone who doesn't want to read all of that (it's not actually that long, I prommy): in 2019 talent manager Scooter Braun acquired Taylor Swift's former record label Big Machine, giving ownership of the masters of her first six albums. Swift objected to this very publicly on the grounds that she wanted ownership over her own work and had repeatedly been denied the opportunity to buy it outright, while also alleging that Braun has been harassing and bullying her for years. ultimately, Swift has remained unable to buy back her work, leading to her steadily re-releasing expanded versions of her first six albums under the "Taylor's Version" headline.

obviously, given my stance against speculating on the personal lives of famous rich people, I'm not particularly interested in debating whether or not there's merit to Swift's accusations against Braun, although given the exploitative nature of the music industry I hardly think her claims are implausible.

regardless of whether or not Braun sucks as a person, it's important to note that he was only very briefly in ownership of Swift's discography: as the linked article above notes, he only owned them for about a year and a half before selling them off in 2020.

despite this, Braun holds what I would consider a rather outsize role in a lot of Gaylor conspiracy theorizing, with many apparently believing that Swift fully intended to come out in 2019 with the release of her seventh album, Lover, but was prevented from coming out by Braun purchasing her discography. I've seen some claim that he actively subjected her to homophobic bullying and others saying that she didn't him to financially benefit from any career boon she might have after coming out (although no one ever seems to have an answer for why she still hasn't come out three years after he sold her discography).

I can't say whether or not the majority of Gaylors, like, know or care that Braun is Jewish, but it feels tragically predictable and yucky that a Jewish man is given such a disproportional share of blame for why Taylor "can't" come out and is made a scapegoat in the ongoing effort to evade reality with "arguments" like this

(source)

... hang on, what's that?

oh man I love when a Jewish family gets put n SCARY ALL CAPS

okay so let's talk about Karlie Kloss and Josh Kushner!

as many of you probably know by this point, Karlie Kloss is the pinnacle of Taylor Swift's platonic gal pals that she gets relentlessly shipped with; I think it's fair to say that "proving" a romantic relationship existed between the two of them is the primary focus of a lot of Gaylorism.

since 2018 Kloss has been married to Josh Kushner, heir of THAT Kushner family. his infamous brother Jared is in fact Donald Trump's son-in-law and probably guilty of, like, a lot of federal crimes. that doesn't inherently make Josh a shithead or anything and he and Kloss both claim more liberal politics, although it should be noted that like a lot of rich liberals Josh does also suck pretty hard. he and Jared own a real estate management company together and were suing their tenants and evicting them during the COVID-19 rent moratorium, so that's kind of everything you need to know about him and Karlie Kloss IMO!!!

having said that, Josh being a bastard landlord doesn't make it appropriate to frame a Jewish family as having some kind of sinister interest in suppressing a queer woman's sexuality or imply that Kloss and Josh Kushner are in some kind of sham marriage. for YEARS Kloss' marriage to Kushner, including her conversion to Judaism and their two living human children, have been dismissed as elaborate turbo-bearding, with some Gaylors going so far as to allege that Kloss and Swift have actually been married for years and Kloss is just having Kushner's children for... reasons unknown... which feels like, you know. a pretty gross dismissal of a Jewish family in favor of pretending two WASPiest WASPs to ever WASP are secretly scissoring.

anyway I certainly don't think it's the most deliberate anti-semitism that's out there in the conspiracy world but are there some Gaylors blaming The Jews(TM) for forcing poor innocent Taylor to stay in the closet? resounding yes.

#gaylorgate

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the-100-days-of-junkan · 6 months ago

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Day 98

What’s better than this, girls havin fun by Oxidize

That’s right our final piece in the fanfic marathon is once again from Oxidize! A fact that surprised the fuck out of me when I found it out, given the drastic difference in tone between this and Burning Lungs.

It’s also a Chatfic! Which like, how the fuck do I draw that?? I’ll tell ya! I didn’t! What I actually did was I made art inspired by the fic rather than actually based off of it. Does that sentence make sense? No fucking idea!

But you all know what this is. It is THE fic, the one that started everything off. Until I found this story my connection was Junkan was thinking it was a no good, toxic as hell ship, but also something that could be pretty funny if you played it as “Junko derails her entire plan because she thinks Mikan is hot.” And when I say prior to this fic I’m talking like, 2017-2018. Since that joke was based on a convo that was had in a server I’m no longer apart of and have no plans of returning too, which I left in 2019. 2019 was a real blank year for me and Junkan from what I remember.

Anyway, there is just a little build up to this fic, but it isn’t Junkan related so I��ll try to keep it short.

So once upon a time I had just gotten into Danganronpa, conveniently I also discovered AO3, a treasure trove of stories about girls kissing. This was at first used for me to read as much Tokomaru as possible, something which would totally have no massively scaled effects on me as a person such as say, my egg cracking and me realizing I’d be happier as a woman. But we all run out of fics eventually, and it didn’t take many insomnia fueled binge reads of the Tokomaru tag for me to run out of stories. So what did I do? Get addicted to Chat Fics!! What the fuck else would I do, right? I just looked up Danganronpa and Chatfic and went to town, I initially avoided them on my Tokomaru binge because when it comes to ships, I’m pretty much always going to prioritize a fic where they’re the focus rather than a fic where they have like, 5 paragraphs of screentime. I would see a Fic, check the tags to see if it had Tokomaru, and if it didn’t, I moved on. And funny enough given current events, if it had a ship like Junkan, I also skipped forward. Oh how the fucking times change.

I got addicted to these for like, a month or two I think. I would find one, start reading, and couldn’t fucking stop reading until it was finished. I just loved seeing the stupid antics the different classes would get up to, moreso when they interacted with eachother. I vividly remember laughing my ass off at one storyline where a few of the characters get lost in either an ikea or a costco? Hard to remember but god it was funny. These fics could change tone rapidly, had their own series of tropes and plotlines that’d recur throughout different ones, one fic got really fucking dark out of nowhere and it was jarring as hell, they were amazing. I kinda miss the days when I read them in such excess, I always kind of wanted to make one but also god no I could never.

If there was one perk to these Chatfics, aside from more Tokomaru, it was that it definitely broadened my horizons for what ships I was interested. Prior to this I liked Tenmiko and Tokomaru, that was about it. But through these chatfics I got into stuff like Irumatsu, Celesgiri (Fell off of that though), and most importantly and relevantly, Ikuzono.

So I of course, would eventually go on a quest throughout the Mukuro x Sayaka tag on AO3, sometime during early 2020. And unfortunately that was a significantly rarer pair to find fics for, especially for me at the time who was a lot pickier and only looked for Fluff on most days.

So of course, I see this fic, and I almost skipped forward when seeing the Junkan Tag. But then I read the rest of the tags, emphasizing that it wasn’t gonna be abusive. So I thought “Fuck it” and went for it.

And thus the second domino fell.

Ironically while reading it I wasn’t focusing on the Ikuzono parts, helped partially by the fact that the relationship wasn’t established yet. But the Junkan? It wasn’t the deepest thing I had ever read at that point. It was like most Chatfics, silly, goofy, probably a little out of character, the usual stuff. But this felt different, it was something I had no experience with, and why would I? Up till now I was under the impression that Junkan was one of the most bottom of the barrel ships available in Danganronpa. Y’know cause I was like, only 2 years past my teens so my brain was still made of soup.

But this was god damn adorable. Mikan was sweet and adorable, Junko was silly and showed nothing but support and love for Mikan. She calls her a Cinnamon Apple! And the fact that I’ve never stolen that nickname is a fucking crime!

There isn’t really a lot to talk about in terms of what actually happens. Junko does cute stuff with Mikan, Junko dropkicks Hiyoko in the head because she’s bullying Mikan, and Junko gets in detention, resulting in antics. It is just a really cute, pleasant fic that makes me really happy to read.

As you can tell that makes doing art based on this, as chatfics don’t lend themselves super easily to visuals. The best I could do is the aforementioned Junko dropkicking Hiyoko while Mikan watches, but it’s been a few years and I don’t have hatred in my soul for Hiyoko anymore.

So I opted to make something inspired by the vibe of the fic instead! And also add in some 2000s energy! Because I have an obsession with the 2000s aesthetic, and it has as much of a violent grip on me as Junkan.

To capture that 2000s energy I tried to make this look like an ancient, shitty photo taken off of a flip phone. Cause I love flip phones, and hate Smart Phones. Which is why there’s a third version of this art that was purely an excuse for me to draw a Flip Phone. I don’t care if a chatroom like this realistically wouldn’t exist on them at this point in time, I hate Smartphones and I will be petty about it.

Adding to the attempt at making the photo feel aged as shit I also tried to recreate the red eye that could be sometimes found in old photos from this era. As for the designs, ya’ll probably noticed by now that I drew Mikan similar to how I did for the Burning Lungs art. That’s because ever since I found out this fic was made by the same author, I’ve just kind of headcanonned that this fic is takes place sometime after where Burning Lungs would have ended, which I assume would have involved the two getting together.

Now, the keen eyed reader will probably realize that wouldn’t make sense because Mukuro and Sayaka were already together in Burning Lungs. Whereas in this fic they aren’t together at all. And you’re right, that is in fact a big flaw with me considering these to take place in the same timeline.

But also. Look at the past 97 fuckin days. And all the other shit I drew while these were posted. It is safe to assume that when it comes to details that conflict with something I’m really into, I am just a little willing to ignore those details.

So Mikan gets her cute little bandaids, her itchy sweater which I imagine Junko would really enjoy cuddling into by this point, and a small detail that was only noted for a moment during Burning Lungs, but a chipped tooth as well. It was really nice gettin’ to draw this version of the characters again! Even if I still lack a lot to talk about with this piece, I simply hope ya’ll enjoy it!

And with that I think I’ve told all there is to tell in terms of how I got into this ship. Only took me 98 fucking days to explain it all properly, and backwards no less! Almost like this wasn’t thought out super far in advance or something! I feel like I should have more to say here but really, I kinda just, don’t? Hope ya’ll have enjoyed the Fanfic Marathon! As I’ve said before I really wanna show more love to the writing community for Junkan in the future, both for currently available fics, and the fics that have yet to be written!

For now though, there are only 2 days left. And I have hopefully saved the best for laugh in terms of my own personal contributions. Ya’ll ready for another comic?

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

#danganronpa #junkan #junko enoshima #mikan tsumiki #junko x mikan #tsumiki mikan #shipping #junkomikan #enomiki #enoshima junko

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pistachiozombie · 1 year ago

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I don't know if anyone else has felt this way to this extent, but Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Tolkien, and even Bofur in general, have definitely changed my life and only made things better. I love my other hyperfixations too, but this one is hugely different and stands out from the rest. I may moan about the 'half of the fandom' that may not like my OC, or the hundreds of Bofur/Leanna content I have posted since 2019... but the greatness that came from it outshines the haters.

Not only have my mom and I bonded stronger with my love for all things Tolkien, but because I shared with her my embarrassing love for Bofur, we have made a story, which inspired her to finally make an OC - which then inspired my dad to make an OC - and he doesn't even go on the internet! Not to mention she prefers strictly staying with the lore, so adding Leanna, Estilil, Sven and my beorn dad, was surprising!

I have drawn them so many times i have gotten comfortable with drawing unique face structures and natural wrinkles, hands, poses, expressions, because i want to match the love that emits from the films.

I have met some wonderful friends and followers that have definitely enabled and pushed the love even further and motivated me to keep posting. I didn't get as much hate as I first expected to ship an oc as hard as I do with a canon character. Granted I did get some anon hate through the years that hurt, but what can you do. The inspiration I give fellow OC creators gives me a nice boost!!

Anyways, like I said, I know I bitch about the hater side of the fandom, but nobody wants to be hated for doing something they love. In the end, it was all a positive experience. I hope some of you have felt something similar too.

#tolkien fandom #lotr #hobbit #oc x canon #self insert #opinions #bofuranna

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simpystuff · 1 year ago

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A little bit of a rant/essay about smg34

Okay to start, I am a huge smg34 shipper, always has been ever since I started watching during 2018/2019. I've watched most of the classic smg4 episodes, and I'm up to date in the recent ones too.

There is so much speculation as to what smg4 and smg3s relationship is, whether its platonic or romantic/sexual. Despite obvious indications, some people are firm believers that they are just best friends or brothers. So I'm here right now at 4:13am typing out an essay that proves that what they have going on is anything but platonic, and a little bit of a rant at the end too. (please do note that this essay is completely done up on the spot with no previous planning or order, so some things might not make so much sense.)

I'm starting off by analysing smg4 and smg3s characters as a whole and their dynamic. Smg3s character is Tsundere (by definition, "Tsundere meaning is an adjective for a person or character who is usually cold or harsh but sometimes shows a warm or kind side, especially to a love interest") and leading by definition, Smg3 is usually cold hearted, but does occasionally act nice and worries or cares about his friends and particularly smg4. This type of character tends to call their love interest "Baka", which is an insult that can mean "stupid" or other variations that depend. Smg3 calls Smg4 this in many cases, starting around the genesis arc, and continues up to even now. Smg4 is clearly Smg3's love interest, and as that character role, Smg4 teases Smg3 about his behaviour, even calling him a "tsundere" at some point in the internet graveyard.

Related to the subject, Smg3's behaviour is extremely flamboyant, and in the fandom wiki, he is described "he is gay in a stereotypical manner" - and in the Hobo Bros video where Luke and Kevin look at smg3 on the smg4 fandom wiki, neither of them seem to objectify to this statement. (We will also get to the creators views and words later on.) Even though "gay" has many stereotypes and doesn't usually abide by the few we have, the statement is quite frankly true without needing explanation. Like I previously mentioned, in many instances where Smg4 teases Smg3 about his behaviour, Smg3 blushes. That's right, he blushes. Like a Tsundere character would, he blushes, denies, turns away and calls Smg4 a "baka". He does this a lot, even if he doesn't include the "baka" in there, he definitely blushes.

Leading through their history, Smg3 and Smg4 have had a rivalry since Smg3 came around. People at this point were probably already shipping them together from the start, since a rivals to lovers trope is wildly loved and especially in the smg4 fandom. In most of the early smg4 days when smg4 came around, there wasn't much to speculate on - At that point they were rivals and nothing much else. But also mentioning the sm64 blooper "Snow Trapped", this obviously changes with the events that take place. What's good to note as well, is the fact that it's been brought up in WOTFI 2023 in the quiz trivia mission that asked "What happened at exactly 6:50 of the classic smg4 episode: Snow Trapped?" - to of which, the option "let's find out" was most voted for, and we had an audio clip of what had happened (which was them "making love")

Also going a little more into Snow Trapped, some people claimed that they weren't in fact doing the boombayah - and I think that's a load of bollocks /nm. With smg3 and smg4s n64 characters crouching and un-crouching behind and in front of each other and the audio clip that was placed on top, I don't think it was very hard to mistake for something else. And even more proof with that fact that before this clip, Smg4 said that they could forgive each other and "make some love before we die." That's clear indications as to what happened and it's not that hard to understand.

Like I mentioned before, the creators Luke and Kevin, and even James Bailey (the voice actor of smg3) had some words and whatnot about smg3 and smg4's sexuality and/or relationship. When reading the fandom wiki's about smg3 and smg4's sexuality, Luke didn't objectify against anything said - when the wiki had said that Smg4 may be hinted to be gay or bisexual, and when it says that smg3 could also be gay, even saying "I don't know" which could mean that it's indicated or could be speculated their exact sexuality. And with the fact that Kevin wrote Snow Trapped, I think there's a lot of indication that neither of them are straight. James Bailey, during a stream on his twitch, had a question about smg3 and how he'd describe him, to which he replied "imagine Shadow The Hedgehog but Gay." Later in the stream, he received a question asking if Smg3 was gay and he replied "He's not straight, I'll tell you what."

The problem the fandom usually has is the fans who claim they are "classic" smg4 fans but have no knowledge whatsoever on smg3 and smg4's relationship. The biggest they know is that they are rivals, and then claim that they are brothers when they clearly aren't - and assuming they were around for the release of Snow Trapped or had at least seen it, they'd know that isn't the case anyway. Even funnier the fact they claim that smg34 "ruined" smg4, even though that ship has been around probably since the start of their rivalry (I'll speculate on this because I know a lot of people do like a rivals to lovers trope)

That's the end of my essay people, leave a like or comment if there's anything else you'd like me to write smg4 related essays about and I'll give my opinions on it. If you've read up to this point, I love you, hope you have a good day or night.

#smg3 #smg4 #smg43 #smg34 #smg4 smg3

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