#is a flawed premise

[teenagefeeling]

it's been kind of tough to strike a balance between being interested in both feminism and girly girl pop culture shit this year. the pinkwashing and commercial feminism are just reaching such a fever pitch that we're swinging back around into a new, more exhausting form of misogyny where women's appearances, attitudes, and actions are turned into political statements and strict gender roles become standards by which to measure someone's dedication to femininity. it's almost becoming like more feminine = more feminist

[yearnerspermit]

I’ll be honest the way some people talk about this show makes it sound less like they’re interested in the messy nature of people failing and remorse and guilt and atonement and redemption and regret and the capacity to change and the inability to undo what’s been done and unforgivable actions and maybe forgivable people and how you face all of it and continue to live and endure. and more like they want to be sitting in that jury, determining who’s guilty or not guilty, deciding a sentence, and walking away satisfied in the result being final

[bookshelf-in-progress]

You could make a really cool cottagecore fantasy novel using the structure of Little House in the Big Woods. Where the main characters live in a stable environment and go about their daily lives dealing with the domestic details of the world, but they meet characters who have gone on adventures. So a huge chunk of the book is made up of the stories that these characters tell. The main characters would face very little peril, but you'd still have a book full of thrilling stories.

I'd try for a middle-grade fantasy. Center it on a group of siblings whose parents went on save-the-world adventures, but have settled down to raise a family. Maybe they run an inn that caters to people from a ton of the nations and races of this fantasy world. Or maybe they're just frequently visited by old adventuring companions who always have cool stories to share about the adventures they've been on or the events or history of their homeland.

[kayawolfhorse]

Memes aside I do keep thinking about how no one jumps for the beef. Your options are uncooked chicken or uncooked beef. The beef is marginally better; it’ll keep you further from starvation for just a little longer than the chicken would.

Only, the risk of reaching for it is greater than the risk of reaching for the chicken, and the fall could cost you your life, for all you know or all that matters.

Your hunger is kept low enough that you can’t sprint, and you’re never really taught how to parkour, are you? You’re kept on this level because you failed the jump when they tested you. You learn as you navigate this one-block-jump world.

(Maybe you don’t try at all. What’s the point?)

(Maybe you try and fail.)

You decide to jump for the beef, and live to tell the tale. Later, you get lucky enough to win the opportunity to try to rank up. You jump for the beef again. The parkour between your level and the next is just harder parkour, and you’ve gotten better at it throughout your time here, haven’t you? If you reach the top, you secure your place among the highest of the highs.

Only, the parkour’s final jump is impossible. No matter how good you’ve become, you can never beat the rigged system. The beef, should you choose to risk the fall, is a possible feat. You thought this would be, too.

You go home blaming yourself for a jump you couldn’t make or you die trying, clinging to the belief of fairness. The beef, for all its fanfare, couldn’t save you.

You don’t jump for the beef again.

[fafodill]

Ok I think I have an angsty one… so AU what if Lily is alive, they somehow reconnect and then there’s Lily constantly calling him to help her for whatever mundane reason, would Snape prioritize his SO or Lily?

Oh. Ohohohohoho I LIKE this. *inspired laughter* ��🦇

Well it depends heavily on the war, the context etc. so let's choose a premise here: Lily, James and Harry are alive, Severus isn't part of the DE anymore and is in a relationship with is s/o.

The tricky part would be how far he is in his relationship with his partner. But let's say it's already been a little while and he's in love with them (I'm not discussing Snily here, only their relationship as (ex) friends). They may not be living together yet but close-ish. Or maybe they are.

I would assume his s/o heard about Lily. She was a big part of his life and the first person he valued before his s/o. More than that, Lily may have been a big barrier between them at first since she broke his heart and his capacity to trust people - I assume he would have closed off hard after their fallout.

So at some point, his partner heard about her. I don't think he shareed too much at first but let's say that with time he opened himself a bit more and talking about her even started some sort of healing process. Not only because it would make it feel less dramatic, and because his s/o might have also shared friendship breakup stories and also their opinion about Lily - which, I hope, would be that she wasn't such a good friend to begin with (because she wasn't).

I don't think Severus would be okay or happy to hear this but he also kinda needs it because, no of course he wasn't the sole responsible for their fallout and she did let him down a lot. Anyway, it helps him.

And then... they cross path one day. It's awkward but to his surprise, she asks him how he is doing. They exchange a few words and that's about it. He's very disturbed and doesn't sleep much that night. He doesn't say anything to his s/o at first.

Then he gets a letter. Lily says she'd like to talk over coffee someday if he'd like. His stomach is in knots, he puts down the letter, busies himself for a while but quickly replies. Yes. Yes, he'd like that.

After that first coffee, he gets home and tells his s/o. They're immediately frowning and he doesn't like that. They ask what she wanted, he says they just talked about their lives and that's it. His s/o asks if he's happy about that. He hesitates then say yes.

Some time passes. They do indeed reconnect. At first he's cautious about it. They see each other once a month. Then twice a month for a time, only the two of them. He meets Harry. It's not easy but Severus is happy to be part of her life again. Something clicks just like back then and it's like a dead part of his soul is getting watered again and coming back to life.

And she's like he remembers. Bright, impulsive, talented. She doesn't really get what he does (well she can't, he's an Unspeakable) but she listens and praises him a bit about it. It feels good to be seen by her again. She compliments his appearance (his s/o made sure he had a few different fitter pair of robes), talks a little bit about school and it stings because, yes, she kinda acknowledged that these were 'messed up times, Sev' but she doesn't really apologize. But he won't ask that of her anyway.

She hasn't met his s/o. It doesn't matter, he doesn't want to see James either. But with time it's a bit awkward so the four of them meet once and it's a big deal for him because Lily is back in his life and he'd really want his s/o and her to get along. It's a bit tense but cordial overall. James is clearly making efforts to talk to Severus (who is trying his best as well but the days following this event he's clearly not acting normally because it was very triggering for him). His s/o and Lily talks (well, mostly Lily) and when Severus asks them later how it went, they're like 'yeah, it was fine'.

Because at the end of the day, what matters is that Severus is happy to see her. Not their opinion on it.

And then Lily starts asking for help for mundane reasons and he always goes. Always.

He drops everything he's doing. And yes, I think he would cancel things on his s/o, like that dinner they had planned on Friday night. Or that quiet weekend, just the two of them, because Lily has trouble with Harry (he's sick, you understand) and Severus makes better potions than the ones they have.

And I think Severus would feel guilty about it, but something about Lily may override them because she runs deeper. She's history, she was his support system for so long but also she represents something more. She was the first ever person who showed him kindness. He grew up with her being this loving figure he didn't have elsewhere and he did expect (unconsciously) too much from her. Things she couldn't and wouldn't provide.

What will happen next will depend on his s/o' personality and Lily's overall attitude.

I personally would enjoy a s/o who isn't afraid of addressing the matter. And I hc Lily as being: dismissive of what Severus suffered in school (or barely acknowledging it, it's mostly swept under the rug), taking advantage of his time/skills and basking (unconsciously) in the devotion he still clearly feels for her (maybe because James isn't at home so much, he's hanging out with his buddy Sirius ofc).

I don't think Severus would completely forget about his s/o. He's very loyal and would try to make it up to them, even more if they express they're sad about it. But he'd also not take well their opinions about Lily.

But he may also feel something isn't quite right. Not that Lily isn't acting like herself. That's the issue. She's exactly like before and he... he isn't. Despite reconnecting the wounds are still there, the need to address things, to get excuses are present. He can ignore it but it doesn't feel nice.

And he doesn't want to look at it too much because it would be heartbreaking again.

Yes Lily is back. But he needed more than that. And he kinda hates himself for it. Isn't he selfish and self-centered?

He is not, his s/o tell him. He deserves to hear these words. Because the relationship is unbalanced again. And he deserves better.

ANYWAY I'm gonna stop there. This could be dramatic (he pushes s/o away and chooses Lily) or a tale about self-respect and accountability (he talks about it with Lily and it goes well/mid/bad).

I find this subject fascinating actually. I love the characters analysis that we can explore with this premise.

[fortyflightower]

never understood “don’t judge a book by its cover” because what is point of a book cover if not to convey the genre and tone and vibe of a book. and for the viewer to decide based on that first impression if they want to spend more time with it. and also:

[chimielie]

i do understand common characterization gripes but occasionally in tags i’ll see people saying “x characterization is so bad, he’d never do that for you/he’d be a terrible boyfriend/he’d never fall for you” maybe! the guy i’m writing about got put in therapy in my fantasy brain world tho

[arceespinkgun]

I've been watching Earthspark and I've been enjoying it so far but I come across metas like these and I get a little worried about if I've been consuming it too uncritically:

https://www.tumblr.com/cityzenshark/762461758770266112

https://www.tumblr.com/monocle-teacup/775028467461996544/this-got-a-laugh-out-of-me-but-in-all

I was hoping to hear your two cents about it as someone who has finished Earthspark and found it to be the best of the TF shows. I really want to like Earthspark, not least of all bc I'm Filipino and I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely loved the episode where Alex and Bumblebee bond over Arnis and Bumblebee mentioning he has been to my home country, but I don't want to ignore any possible valid criticisms just because I finally got a crumb of Filipino representation.

A quick thing first just so everyone's aware: I do share a few identities with characters in the show, but not all of them, so I don't feel like I can necessarily speak to how represented everybody feels by it. I'm not Filipino so I can't speak to that aspect so much (I also loved the episode focusing on Alex's culture though personally).

That being said, in regards to the points in those posts I'd say: where does the show claim or depict any of those things? Like, genuinely asking. So, re: how can the show suggest Starscream and the other Decepticons, who colonized Earth, deserve a home there...? Um, it doesn't. It literally just doesn't ever suggest that. The Decepticons who attempted this got punished for wanting to do that and end up leaving the planet. How can the show draw a parallel between a colonialist power and immigrants? I once wrote a whole post about how it literally didn't do that. How can the show demonize the Chaos Terrans? Um, it doesn't. It literally teaches acceptance even though they don't want/get the family dynamic and continue to want distance from the Maltos. How the Maltos be so unlikable/engage in toxic positivity/have an us vs. them mindset? Um, citation needed for literally any of that. I mean, they're my favorite characters in the show, and I feel like we as a fandom don't need to make up reasons about why characters are bad or something just because we personally don't like them.

I'll say this: when it comes to really intense criticisms like these, take note of whether or not any details or themes from the show itself were used to support these claims. Because from my perspective, there is nothing in the show that can even be used as details to support these arguments. One criticism I've seen a few times like, "I like the representation but I think Alex should speak Bisaya since he explained he's from Bohol," includes a reference to a thing in the show. But a criticism like, "The Maltos treat each other poorly if they don't adhere to toxic positivity," references nothing in the show and blatantly goes against the message of multiple episodes about caring for characters when they're sad, injured, or traumatized. So I suggest people interested in the show just keep watching! I absolutely do love Earthspark and think it's the best TF show!

[redstonedust]

i keep thinking about the "belgian scam ring" conspiracy because it think it betrays a misunderstanding of how internet scams work.

like, the majority of scammers don't really spend their time carefully maintaining a story? they're often low effort by design. i got a series of spam emails recently telling me they'd recorded me masturbating through my webcam and i need to give them bitcoin or they'd send the footage to all my contacts. my webcam is never plugged in and i have no email contacts, i know that's bullshit, but it doesn't matter because i imagine they're sending that same email to a thousand people, and statistically at least one of them will fall for it. it's the same with the classic nigerian prince style emails, or the 'my cat is sick' posts from near-empty blogs with stolen photos. there's just not much point crafting a story to cover your ass when a half assed one will catch a few easy marks.

so seeing some users peddle the idea that the majority of palestinian gofundmes are fake and everyone who verifies them is actually in on it is like... farfetched? or at least it would be a logistical nightmare. i'm not gonna say high effort, organised scams have never existed, and i'm not gonna begrudge people for being cautious with their funds. but at some point the reality you have to construct is so convoluted that i can only assume it's just an excuse to avoid saying that you don't want to donate to people. and that's your choice, but at least be honest about it, because trying to discredit fundraisers based on flimsy evidence is doing tangible damage in the real world.

[skopostheorie]

Yet another should idea this is so bad

[puhpandas]

I love ggy so much how did they accidentally make the most intriguing hypothetical gay romance ever

[sockdooe]

If I hear or see one more “Shiro should’ve stayed dead to allow the other characters to grow!” I’m gonna SCREAM

[thousand-winters]

We're approaching Día de Muertos time, who wants to hear me complaining about Coco /j

[heyclickadee]

Just my two cents, but:

Someone arguing that Tech is alive, potentially intended to be alive in the first place, and could/should come back into the story at some point isn’t actually an invitation to chime in with, “He’s dead because [insert tautology here].”

[iteh3xael]

Literally… just stop typing and close the tab.

It is free to shut up (:

[vaniliens]

Im not even sticking around for the drama that stuff gives me heart diseases im just here to see where this guys gonna lead us and to make fun of him if it ends up bad and ignore it if it was good