#just as a disclaimer since this is going to a wider audience

[queerprayers]

my dad put on the hymn station in the car today (i’m pretty deconstructed but just kind of in a gray area) and it’s such a weird feeling wondering why so many of these songs made me gross sob at like ten years old?? what even was that? i’ve heard of mega churches using music as emotional manipulation, would that be a similar thing? that one ‘blessings come through raindrops’ song especially, it was actually such an ongoing phenomenon when i was too little to really process it

Hi beloved,

When I was little my friends would call my church "boring"—there were no drums, the music was often plain and mostly settings of poems that taught theological concepts or were quiet meditations. Sure, someone who was grieving or especially overcome might cry, but that was not the norm. Emotion was something we might have, and was an understandable reaction to Love, but the liturgy was about participating in faith and mystery together, not about Feeling. A song might be written by someone experiencing peace or sadness, but we sang them to stand in solidarity with that emotion, not to manipulate our own. My childhood faith (thanks to my overly educated family) was quite academic. Looking back, I am so grateful. I don't know what I would have done with a mood disorder in a church that expected me to feel or perform certain ways, or a family that answered my questions with comforting phrases instead of handing me a book.

I am so sorry you were in an environment that made you sob regularly as a child—not because crying is bad, but because it sounds like it wasn't giving you space for emotion, but rather creating and expecting certain emotions. Music absolutely has a lot to do with this, based on everything I've heard from people who grew up in evangelical/non-denominational/non-liturgical churches.

You were a kid! And (based on my assumptions) instead of a space to be introduced to faith, be cared for, ask questions about difficult concepts, and react however you authentically would react, you were played songs meant to conjure up certain emotions, and probably expected to be overcome with reactions you didn't understand. Even if you weren't in a megachurch, there can be similar stuff going on. Churches so often want kids to be entertained rather than educated, convinced to keep coming back rather than given space to find inherent meaning, to become emotionally attached rather than to understand. It's not your fault if that's what you were given. They wanted you to internalize the lyrics when you were too young to process them—then they don't have to be especially meaningful or answer too many questions. They wanted you to Feel God—but that's not stable enough for a life of taking God seriously.

To be clear, I'm not against emotion in worship, and there are more lively churches than my own that have deep theology and respect for individual experiences. In my southern experience, "Black church" was always louder and more open to individual reactions than my quiet Lutheran one—gospel music is great! Dancing is holy! Communal response is generally a positive thing. But there can be more sinister or even just careless environments. If you're an adult with a fully formed faith, it can be cathartic to have a space to loudly Feel about it all. But in my opinion, this should not be the focus/purpose of liturgy. (Concerts/sharing opportunities/support groups all have a place—preferably a separate one.) Especially for kids, without that life experience and knowledge, being thrown into overly emotional faith without any groundwork can leave them reeling and confused as adults. And you hit the nail on the head with "emotional manipulation"—conjuring up sobbing is way easier than taking religion seriously.

I don't know if you've seen the tweet that's like, "I thought I was feeling God as a kid but then I went to a One Direction concert and realized I just liked pop music." Music does that to us! I love concerts! I rarely cry in church but I sobbed seeing My Chemical Romance (and feel no shame about it). But basing a community on that elevated experience is what fandom is for, not Church.

When you feel something and are told, "That's God," what happens when you don't feel it? Are you to understand that God is absent? What happens when you feel it at a pop concert? Is that a sin? My aforementioned mood disorder makes me very careful about assigning deeper meaning to emotion. God is not the emotion—God is the Love that, depending on our life and brain, we can feel many things about. There are all different kinds of churches for all different kinds of people, but I don't believe that one primarily bent on eliciting emotion will ever touch the full mystery of our God. And in fact, it too often drives people away when they want more than Experience.

God is a god of beauty, and Christianity (and most religions) have a special place for music, so I'm not ruling out that God can be present to people in "Blessings Come Through Raindrops," but. Y'know. There's more to it all. I support hymn stations in the car—a very appropriate time for casual cry-worthy pop songs—but I hope in your deconstructed gray area you can find more than overwhelmed crying. You deserve music that makes you think—I don't mean you have to only listen to Bach, but have art in your life that you connect with in a genuine thoughtful way, as well as a fun or cathartic way.

Ultimately, you deserve art/communities that take theology seriously, that hold space for more complicated feelings. You deserve a faith (or a meaningful agnostic life) that is present regardless of whether you feel like you're seeing One Direction or not.

<3 Johanna

[jadeddangel]

Adam x reader (smut)

Disclaimer: This story is meant for mature audiences, If you're not over the age of 18, please do NOT interact with any of my work. Any and all characters I write for are over the age of 18. Having said that, please enjoy the story. Reblogs are always appreciated!!

Warnings : Adam being well adam, smut, hair-pulling, misogyny, p in v, oral sex (male receiving), unprotected sex, breeding kink ,dom! Adam, sub! Reader, minor sexism, and I think that's all let me know of I missed any.

AN: This is my first time writing for Adam, so please be respectful. This isn't proofread.

🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶🪶

You were Adam's third and hopefully final wife, you had been aware of the exterminations by the time you and Adam had started dating... which meant once a year adam left you... home alone and worried.. I mean what if one day he never came home? What if he was hurt? What if he was stuck down there with those... those THINGS... it had been hundreds of years since the two of you started dating and that fear... it never went away...

Adam had left you alone in your shared home claiming he had a meeting with the princess of hell, which of course caused doubt and curiosity but you trusted him and you would trust him tell the bitter end. It had been almost 30 minutes and you couldn't wait for him to be home. The bed was growing cold, and with how quiet the loft had been it felt well.. creepy?

Having grown attached to Adam's well..loud Behavior, it didn't seem like you were in the right house at all. After about another thirty minutes, Adam barged through the front door of your loft, not trying to conceal his previous in the slightest; perking up at the sound of his heavy boots and the awfully loud door you shuffled out of bed the soft pink nighty that you wore trailing after you. "Sugartits? Where you at hun?" Adam called out half expecting you to be in the kitchen making lunch for him. You were trying your best to sneak up on him but the creaky floorboards gave you away, Adam quickly turned around the golden smile of his mask seeming to grow wider at how little you were wearing "oh darling~ you look so pretty like that~ did you already finish lunch hmm? " Adam asked as he grabbed your waist with one hand before successfully pulling you closer, this other hand pulled his mask off as he placed it onto the counter thoughtlessly.

"Uhm not yet.. I was just laying in bed.." You spoke softly as you quickly avoided eye contact half expecting him to yell. Adam shook his head "oh dear.. that won't work, it's a very simple thing to do hunny, all I ask is that you cook and clean surely it can't be that hard for you women to understand." Adam spoke down to you like you were dumb, like every word had to be spoken slowly just so that you could understand. It was condescending and degrading how he spoke to you... You nodded slowly "sorry adam.. I'm sorry for not having food ready and leaving the house a mess..". At this point you knew better than to argue with this well to put it kindly, man child. Adam had a smirk on his lips "good good, see? That wasn't so hard was it? Now how about you go get started on My food while I watch one of those stupid picture shows mk?" Adam spoke this time a little less of a bitchy tone; nodding slowly you walked into the kitchen getting started on his favorite ribs. Unfortunately, that was about the only thing this man would eat which wad really taking a toll on his health and his weight; with a sigh you plated up his food and brought it to him on the couch. Adam looked up from the comedy show he was watching and smirked "see it wasn't so hard was it?" Adam spoke before messily stuffing his face, in front of other people he would never eat like this but in his home he didn't give a shit if he made a mess, I mean that is his little S/O's responsibility. Adam handed you the plate before noticing the sheer fabric hanging over your chest and gave you a smirk "is that the nighty I bought you?" Adam said in a secuctive tone having finally noticed . With a small nod you set the plate down and crawled onto his lap knowing exactly what Adam was going to say, Adam raised a brow gripping the fat of your ass in a tight squeeze "you look beautiful but how about we just take it off mk? Cmon you know how much I love that body of yours~" Adam whispered into your ear seemingly trying to coax you into doing as he asked.

Adam's hands slowly trailed up your back leaving tingles across your body and shivers along your spine. Every touch brought the thin fabric over your body before Adam finally tugged it off of your body tossing it over the back of the couch. Adam's crotch was pressed against yours, already feeling him beginning to grow hard at the sight of you wearing nothing underneath.Squirming slightly at the feeling of Adam's eyes grazing over your body like he was starving, you began feeling up in his chest feeling over the soft fabric and down his sides slowly. Adam was letting you have this moment to feel up on him as he began pawing at your chest like if he didn't feel you up he would surely die (oops spoilers sorry sorry lmao).

Letting at soft moans at the feeling of his rough hands grazing over your nipples in just the right kind of way to give you a pleasure that wasn't all too overwhelming. Adam's other hand gripped onto your waist pushing you down a bit more forcing you to grind down on him, and god the soft groans and grumbles he let out when you rocked your hips drove you insane. Adam let go of your tit pushing his own shirt up slightly to reveal his happy trail before tugging at his pants and boxers just trying to get them down enough to spring up. Adam gave you a smirk before using his arms to push everything off of the table that was front of the couch and onto the floor pushing your back against the cold wood. Adam's hands immediately went to your thighs and spread your legs still sitting in his sitting position on the couch, before spitting onto your clit using 2 fingers to rub it in as lube. "Fucking damn... " Adam groaned out at the sight of your arousal and his saliva mixing, "I think you can take me yea? You can take the stretch won't you hmm?" Adam asked rhetorically knowing he was going to do it anyways. You nodded slowly spreading your legs a bit more for him, Adam finally stood in front of you spanking your clit lightly with the tip of his dick.

"cmon, ask me nicely, girl~ just the way I like~" Adam leaned down and whispered into your ear before pulling back and looking at you expectantly. You took a deep breathe " Please stretch me out with your cock adam.." you begged in a pitiful tone. Adam would have easily let that pass but that wasn't what he was looking for, " cmon girly~ you know that's not the name I was looking for~ try again mk?" Adam said frowning down at you now. "Please stretch me out with your cock.. master" you repeated praying this time it passed his expectations. Adam graced you with a cocky smirk at hearing the sinful and lewd words, as he slowly pushing his mushroom shaped tip into you he let out a small groan before the rest of his 8 almost 9 inch dick into you. You let out a small shrill scream as he had expected you to take it no problem.. the length may have proved to be a challenge but he was thick and he had just forced it into you. Adam wiped away tears you hadn't realized had fallen from your eyes, "oh girly, cmon we know you can take it~ it's your job after all~ to make sure I'm catered too, now I'm gonna start moving understood?" Adam asked as if he was even giving you a choice in the matter. Adam started thrusting into you slowly trying to get you to loosen up around him so he can wreck your guts (respectfully). The moment your gushy walls started to relax he sped up hitting right against your g-spot over and over, obviously knowing what he's doing. Adam smirked down at you as he pounded into you with no mercy. The only noises that filled the rooms was the sound of skin slapping against skin , your moans and the sound of Adam's wings ruffling and puffing up. With a gentle and desperate hand you reached up to grab at him needing something to ground you the closer you got, it felt like you were flying. Adam let out curses of pleasure as he rapidly approached his high. "Fuck fuck fuck! Your gripping me so tight princess so fucking tight!" Adam growled out between labored breathes. You were so close you were just babbling wordlessly to let him allow you to reach your high. Adam grabbed your hair slamming your head back down onto the table and pounding into your poor little hole harder using his other hand to reach down and rub your clit roughly "i want you to cum for me girly~ so fucking tight~" Adam groaned. At the order your body couldn't help but react your hips bucking up to meet him as you finally came all over his dick and thighs. Adam moved his hands to grip your waist for leverage, Adam's wings stretched out towards the ceiling as he came, his thrusts finally slowing down.. you were beyond exhausted.. but you knew that with Adam one round was never enough. And as if on que Adam tapped your cheek looking down at you with a smirk.

"Cmon girly time to wake up~"

Taglist: @miss-menhera @rinspiritwolf @spookysquids

[dollopheadsandclotpoles]

Aight let's hear the thoughts on the difference between wicked the film and play lol 🙈 I saw the tags and I'm intrigued

Ok so disclaimer, it has been a long time since I watched the play or any of the bootlegs so I might be forgetting some details, but I did used to watch the bootlegs all the time and saw the play when I was in the US, and Wicked was even my foray into writing fanfiction so it's always had a very special place in my heart.

I will say to start that I really loved the movie and thought it was incredibly fun. I love that they adapted it in a way that embraced the spectacle potential of the stage play, and while there are obviously going to be some things I prefer from the stage play (as a long time fan of it), I still think it was an incredibly well done adaptation.

The one biggest difference though, I felt, was in the portrayal of Elphaba. Initially I couldn't really put my finger on what felt off about it aside from the fact that they had her crying a lot more than I remember. But after discussing the movie with some friends who had never seen the play, one girl said that she felt Elphaba's turn-around into risking it all for the Animals felt too sudden. That was kinda when it struck me — she wasn't as angry as she was in the original.

In the play, Elphaba is incredibly angry by the injustice of being treated like she's an outsider just for the way she looks, and when she sees the Animals being treated the same way, she feels an immediate kinship with them. The Elphaba of the play is angry yet resigned (her 'I'm Not That Girl' is more of a resigned 'this was bound to happen' vs. the sad realisation moment the movie made it out to be). She's sarcastic, she's loud. She first greets Fiyero by shouting at him and whacking him on the head with a book. She is hurt and sad also (of course) but it is buried so deep that it is only Glinda that actually sees it, making the Ozdust dance moment the impactful moment that it is.

I then came across a discussion on Reddit where someone was saying a similar thing — that Elphaba wasn't as angry as she was in the play. But someone else responded with the fact that 'it would have been hard to watch a 3 hour movie of someone being so angry.' Another commenter bemoaned the fact that they mellowed both the main characters down because they didn't want 'two unlikeable female leads.' And that kinda got me thinking about how they likely 'softened' her to make her more 'likeable' and that kinda felt off to me... because that kinda goes against the point? The female rage is a point of the story that struck a chord with me. It is a story that allows it's lead to be angry, JUSTIFIES it. There are angry men who have led countless movies and shows and who are celebrated and fawned over and embraced, but having an angry young woman in a lead role is risky? I never found Elphaba unlikeable and clearly neither did most of the other people who saw the play (would it be the success it was if they did?) but now that it's reaching a wider audience were they afraid making her too 'angry' would make fewer people root for her? I do think classifying Elphaba as an 'angry' character is a disservice to the nuanced nature of the character, but I did feel like the movie highlighted the sad/hurt aspects of her character more than they did the side that is angry at injustice, but still strangely idealistic and resigned, still believing till the very end that there is an easy solution and the Wizard can just 'fix' everything that's wrong. And so while I do love the adaptation, I feel a bit cheated that they gave us a version of Elphaba with some of her more sharpened edges sanded off, so to speak. I also think the reason her 'turn around' felt too abrupt was because we don't get to see her anger. If you don't see how angry she feels at the world, you don't understand how close to the surface this outburst was, just waiting to bubble out of her. You don't get to see why it was so easy to paint her as a 'Wicked Witch' for a moment of passion when she's been treated like crap her whole life and had to hide behind his anger in order to survive. You don't truly understand why she was willing to risk it all for the Animals because you don't understand how this is her moment of finally deciding to let her rage free and USE it to make the stand she's been wanting to make her whole life.

I still feel it was a brilliant adaptation, I just felt like I missed that aspect of it a lot and it made her character feel a little less nuanced to me. But I could be forgetting certain details, or remembering wrong, or just be plain off — happy to listen to opposing viewpoints.

[velvetvexations]

Hi Velvet, hope you’re well!

I’ve just spent the past several days going on a mass blocking spree of every transradfem I can find, and I gotta say I’m starting to think that as a community this might be the better approach to take going forward. While I very much understand why people leave these bigoted accounts unblocked and continue to try engaging with them and documenting them, as someone who has been keeping a close eye on this discourse for over a year now, 99% of the time these people have no desire to engage in good faith and are completely unwilling to listen to any opinion they don’t already agree with. I think we have reached a point where continuing to platform these people - even if it’s only to call them out on their BS - is doing more harm than good. I’m not saying we shouldn’t continue to speak out about the issues of radfem ideology in the trans community or pretend like it’s not happening, but I’m tired of seeing every single discussion of transandrophobia get derailed by bigots. I’m tired of community infighting taking center stage, I’m tired of posts needing a million disclaimers, I’m tired of discussion revolving around “proving” that transandrophobia even exists in the first place when that should just be a given, I’m tired of seeing an increase in actual transmisogynistic behavior from a handful of transmascs that comes as a reaction to being constantly exposed to so much transandrophobia from transfems, which just adds fuel to the flames on both sides.

I know this is tumblr discourse and not really an actual united community so maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I do believe if we could start collectively being more aggressive about just blocking all these people who are only here to stir shit, maybe we can actually start making our voices heard by a wider audience. There are still so many people out there who have no idea what transandrophobia is, or are only vaguely aware that it’s some current discourse-related term, and I think our efforts would be better focused on educating and informing those groups as opposed to arguing with people who have already decided we’re evil. Again, I totally get where everyone is coming from and I don’t think the folks trying to engage with bigots are doing anything wrong (in fact I admire their courage and patience), I just think it’s proven to be largely ineffective and maybe it’s time we make a collective effort to change our approach if we ever want to move on from these circular discussions that go nowhere. I think people who are genuinely just ignorant about transandrophobia would be far more likely to engage with the topic if the replies and reblogs weren’t full of arguments, and I think a mass-blocking effort would be the best way to kick TRFs out of the discussion and stop letting them control the narrative.

Anyway, I wanted to send this to you because 1. I know a lot of people involved in these discussions follow you so I thought it might be a better way to get this idea out there than posting from my own blog, and 2. I genuinely want to know what your thoughts are on this, since I know you’ve personally done a lot of work directly confronting TRFs - and again, I genuinely admire your willingness to do so, I’m just concerned that it’s not really getting us anywhere and wondered whether or not you would support a collective change in tactics.

p.s. I don’t really love the idea of public blocklists as I think it’s better for people to use their own judgement rather than relying on the word of others, so I’m not advocating for smth like that. however I’ve found that blocklists aren’t really necessary because it really is a relatively small community of TRFs who all reblog from each other, so it’s very easy to just find a couple popular posts from one of them with a larger following and use the notes as a blocklist. It’s a bit tedious, but after blocking 100 or so blogs I’ve found that the transandrophobia/transmisogyny tags have become far more usable and from there it’s easy to block any bigots that slip through, so this is what I would recommend others to do as well.

TLDR; this is a call to action to stop giving TRFs a place in the conversation and start treating them the same way we should be treating every other group of bigots: block on sight and do not engage

That's not kicking them out of the discussion, it's kicking yourself out of the discussion. You can not engage with them if you don't want to but ignoring bigots doesn't make bigots go away and unlike Christofascists engagement with TRFs actually has a better than zero chance of making a difference to either them, their followers, your followers, or anyone else that sees you deconstruct their arguments.

[qroier]

EDIT: working on a new version, that's why reblogs are turned off. i'll probably post it tomorrow (12/2/2023) in the (my) morning.

SECOND EDIT: post is up!

that spiderbit as eurydice and orpheus poll is so interesting to me. i can see why people would go with cellbit cubito as orpheus and roier cubito as eurydice, i was even expecting more people to go with that option, but to me roier cubito is just forever and always permanent orpheus. more under the read more cause this got so long hfkshdks

like don't get me wrong orpheus cellbit makes sense in a way, that's actually why the poll is so interesting to me. disclaimer of course that my understanding and general knowledge of the myth has mainly been influenced by the wider english-speaking cultural approach to it, but to me the biggest, most obvious, and immediately linked connotation the myth has always had is one of devotion. like the type of devotion that would take you all the way into the afterlife and all the way back in the hopes that that might save the person you love. cellbit cubito is nothing if not devoted, and normally in the loudest ways possible. he loves shouting out his devotion at all times to anyone in close proximity. it just makes sense that if anyone could hold the level of devotion necessary to be orpheus it'd be him cause we all know he'd do anything for roier.

plus being honest, it also makes sense just going by the dynamics that outsiders might see of their relationship. roier cubito kinda likes the playful dynamic of asking other people to try to "save" him, whether that's from mobs or hunger or anything, so long as it's not something actually serious. so much so that the idiot (said lovingly) has conditioned everyone, and i do mean everyone both islanders and audience alike, into thinking he's defenseless and needs saving. unfortunately, there is going to be at least a little bit of an association between the idea that eurydice is being saved and the image of roier cubito calling out for help with a scorpion that he could (normally at least, i know he didn't have any weapons or gear that one time during purgatory) down on his own.

so it makes sense that orpheus cellbit would drag himself in his devotion to save eurydice roier! but then you start looking deeper into that devotion. you start thinking about, well, why does eurydice even need to be saved? oh, it's because she died. she's dead. saving her is devotion but it's also an attempt to escape grief. and, always, there is no one more grief-riddled than roier (except maybe maxo, whose grief has permanently killed him). the most consistent thing that has happened to him since arriving on the island is losing people that he loves.

the devotion still applies to him too, of course. even though it's in quieter ways, there's no denying that roier is as equally devoted to cellbit as cellbit is to him. cellbit once promised roier he'd rescue him if the feds ever arrested him. roier once told cellbit he'd go after him and wouldn't stop until he got him back if the feds tried taking cellbit again. and that's not even the only time roier has promised that, he's said similar things multiple times before. he even had to fulfill that same promise once before already, back during the regret arc when cellbit went missing trying to save felps. roier is not lacking in devotion

you can even extend the type of love from romantic to familial and it will still be true that roier is permanent orpheus. it even becomes clearer, almost. orpheus fights through the journey, holding on to hope and powering himself through devotion, because the alternative of having permanently lost eurydice, of having to succumb to grief, is too much for him to take. roier fights through the entire island and later a dungeon, holding on to hope and powering himself through devotion, because the alternative of having permanently lost bobby, of having to succumb to the grief of loosing his son to something outside of his control, is too much for him to take. and then they both fail. orpheus looks back too early. who knows what went wrong with roier's journey. it could have been that he technically did die right at the very end before he could make it up, or it could have been that the gods were feeling particularly cruel that day. either way, bobby wasn't returned to him.

this is all without even touching on some of the details about how he charms everyone he meets and how music is such an important part of his character. roier is just permanent orpheus. he can't help it. like he's literally gone through a journey to the afterlife to save someone he loves TWICE already. (could even extend it to include purgatory and the eggs, if you want). he keeps getting left behind despite his best efforts. he's always drowning in grief, some way or another, and yet he can't help but try and fight to bring back the people he loves anyway. let's just hope this third time, with cellbit stuck in purgatory, doesn't go like the first.

[bllsbailey]

Room With an Ugly 'View'—Whoopi and Co. Reportedly Down in the Dumps As ABC Says Quit With the Hysterics

It’s gotta be tough to be one of the performers on “The View,” seeing as the uninformed takes of Whoopi Goldberg, Ana Navarro, Sunny Hostin and company are routinely eviscerated by much smarter people than themselves for the idiotic takes they hurl daily at their sycophantic ABC audience.

They are more a national joke than a national treasure, and it seems even their home network is getting sick of their antics. Having to force Hostin to repeatedly read walkbacks of her “hot takes” to avoid legal peril probably doesn’t make her revered by many in the front office.

So it comes as no surprise that the head honchos are saying, ladies, please—get a grip already, will you? How about maybe reining in the crazy:

The fiery hosts at ABC News’ “The View” have faced pressure to dial back their anti-President Trump rhetoric – leading to tension in front of the cameras, The Post has learned... One source close to the show’s co-hosts — Whoopi Goldberg, Joy Behar, Sunny Hostin, Sara Haines, Alyssa Farah Griffin and Ana Navarro — said the fear and loathing is partly because Brian Teta, executive producer of the daytime gab-fest, spoke to staffers about “going easy” on Trump-related commentary in the days leading up to the 47th president taking the oath of office.

We have no shortage of brain-addling musings from the lovely ladies—some would call them shrieking harridans—of the morning gabfest, a show that once actually enjoyed some prestige when Barbara Walters was at the helm, but here’s but a sample:

A Warped "View" of the World: 

Sunny Hostin Trots Out Her Racial Martyr Complex, Says Black Women 'Voted to Save' America From Trump

Harris Faulkner Beats 'The View' in Ratings, Now She's Taunting Them: All They Do is 'Talk, Talk, Talk'

'The View' Has Become Objectively Evil, and ABC News Is Culpable

Click here to see the full list of our coverage of the histrionic fact-free spewings from the ugly “View.” Maybe they want to stop throwing out baseless, defamatory comments for a change?

The directive followed an embarrassing moment in November when the co-hosts were forced to issue four “legal notes” or disclaimers during a broadcast while discussing allegations leveled at several of Trump’s cabinet nominees. Since then, the outspoken hosts have been somewhat more careful, with Haines admitting that she and her fellow panelists are out-of-touch with a large portion of Americans because none voted for Trump.

"Out of touch?" How about out of their minds?

It’s hard to come up with a definitive list of idiotic moments from the show, but here are just a few to give you an idea:

It’s been a tough time for the fear-mongers at ABC News:

….“The View” staffers remain rattled after Teta quietly laid off at least nine workers — including two senior female producers, Jamie Hammer and Audrey Jones, one insider told The Post. “People were shocked that he’d fire such experienced, well-respected producers,” the source said. “Morale is low.”

“Morale is low.” Aww. 

The firings were part of parent company Disney’s wider cost-cutting moves in October, but “everybody is waiting for the other shoe to drop,” the source added. “There’s a lot of anxiety even though they just went through layoffs.” The turmoil follows Disney executives’ decision to pay out $16 million to Trump to settle a defamation lawsuit that the president filed against anchor George Stephanopoulos, who wrongly asserted during an interview with Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.

Incurious George: Sad Days at ABC News: Stephanopoulos 'Apoplectic' Over $15M Settlement, Staff in Turmoil

As my English babysitter used to say, “My heart pumps peanuts.” (What that precisely means, I don’t know, but somehow it seems to sum up my feelings for deeply unsympathetic, ever-race-baiting hosts on perhaps the silliest program on network television.)

Why ABC continues to let them blather on is beyond me, but I can tell you this: unserious, violence-inciting “journalism” like this is one of the main reasons Americans have lost almost all trust in mainstream media. Sorry, Whoopi et al., the reality that regular Americans are expressing quite clearly that they’ve had enough of this junk is not going to go well for you, and I for one am not sad in the slightest.

[barbi2709]

14:13 || Saw you in the crowd

Disclaimer: This and each of my stories are only fiction and are not intended to offend or make anyone uncomfortable, if this type of content makes you uncomfortable, feel free to leave without resentment :]

Paring: Idol!Soobin x fem!reader

Genre: fluff, public relationship

Summary: Soobin was happy just by performing in front of the fans, but when his eyes spotted into an specific person in the crowd, his joy and love came out of him inmediatly.

WC: 495

a/n: I came back with another drabble jsjsjs, the idea just came to my mind and here I am,hope you like it. (please like, reblog and comment, also remember that English isn't my first language so if there's any mistakes let me know)

A soft smile settled on his face as he looked out into the crowd, his joy could be seen for miles away, he really was enjoying his time with his fans, hearing all the cheers and screams made him proud and grateful.

But then he caught sight of you, your sweet smile, he saw you cheering for him with your banner and lightstick, the image of his girlfriend supporting him at his concert made his heart warm and the butterflies in his stomach became more restless than ever.

His surprised expression turned into a wide smile, his eyes almost closed because of how hard he was smiling.

—Yah, Soobin hyung is smiling a lot! —Kai pointed out while looking at him, which made all the members look in his direction.

—Hyung, why are you smiling like an idiot? —asked Beomgyu with a playful smile, Soobin rolled his eyes while his smile didn't leave his face.

—MOA, Y/N is in the crowd!

And then the whole place was filled with screams of your name, the other members also greeted you with smiles and excitement, the big screen of the concert showed you in the crowd, waving your hand as the fans went crazy again and the screams of excitement increased.

—Y/N, we're glad you're here —Yeonjun said as he looked at you with a friendly smile, your boyfriend's gaze was fixed on you, his big smile just growing wider every second he looked at you—. As you can see, our little Soobinie is completely fascinated by the fact that you're here. —he said as he patted Soobin's on the shoulder, making him blush a little as he slapped his arm.

—How about we go to our next song? —Taehyun suggest with an innocent smile, but it turned into a mischievous one when he exchanged a glance with Beomgyu and Kai—. I mean, Soobin will sing it with his whole heart. —he teased.

At this point, your boyfriend was a blushing mess who appeared on the screen trying to hide his face with his big hands, making you laugh while the rest of the fans cheered for Soobin.

Yeonjun patted him on the back while laughing and encouraged him to go to the center of the stage to line up in formation for the next song, he led him to the other members as they got into position and shared a few laughs because of the flustered state of the blonde boy.

The music resounded throughout the hall and the screen focused on the group's dance, the sweet melodies of the beginning of LOVESONG made the audience cry out with emotion while you admired the boys with love and pride.

Unconsciously your eyes turned to your boyfriend, who seemed to be looking at you since before, your eyes met and he couldn't help but smile at you while moving and not breaking eye contact as they all sang the intro of the song:

—I know I love you!

[decepti-thots]

Oh my god please discuss the sliding scale of personhood autobot vs decepticon in the Bay movies it sounds genuinely fascinating

Okay. So. Full disclaimer, it's been a while since I sat down and dedicatedly rewatched Bayverse- I keep meaning to and then getting confronted with the slap in the face that is actually having to do it, so. This is by necessity going to talk only in broad strokes, plus you should take it with a pinch of salt or ten since my memory is a crapshoot tbh. But hey ho!

The Decepticons are interesting because they move quite freely, depending on the character, film and even moment, between a wider range of 'is this a person?' compared to the Autobots. The Autobots have two main modes: people that are mostly comparable to humans (however flat and uncared for by the narrative) and beloved, domesticated animal (again: the boy and his car-dog thing, this is mostly just Bee's role).

The Decepticons might include depictions of them as, in any given film: a person who is thoroughly Othered from human people in some capacity, a monster, also some kind of domesticated pet or creature (spoiler: that's Wheelie), or something pretending to be a person. Let's go over some of why that is, and how Bayverse creates such a stark contrast between the two factions as compared to something like G1.

The designs are the most obvious thing to point to here. People often deride Bayverse's designs as universally incomprehensible, but this elides the fact that the Decepticon designs are very clearly intended to be more incomprehensible visually. They are often more alien, less humanoid or humanlike, and less conventionally appealing than the Autobots. Indeed, I've said before that I tend to prefer the Decepticon designs in Bayverse because they lean much further into the aesthetic of noise and weirdness, and this makes it feel more like a choice; but that's not a neutral coincidence! They are designed in ways that adhere to common wisdom about what makes a character design 'appealing' or 'unappealing', what is used to present characters as 'relatable' or 'not relatable' inhuman characters to an audience of humans with certain assumed biases.

Compare 2007 Optimus and Bee to Megatron and Starscream, for example:

Broadly speaking, OP and Bee, even with all the over-engineered noise of their designs, have clear, recognisable faces that draw your attention to the eyes. Optimus' design sits as the most humanlike, with Bee's divergence from standard human faces primarily drawing attention to his muteness (which we discussed previously) with the 'gag' where his mouth might be.

Starscream, meanwhile, is more obviously inhuman by a wide margin. He has a bird face- he is explicitly animalistic! Why doesn't Starscream mirror his G1 design even a little when OP and Bee do? Partly it's because one goal of the design choices here are to make the Decepticons seem monstrous in a way which more clearly delineates the two sides than the G1 designs do. Megatron is not nearly so specific in what he evokes, but looking at him side by side with the Autobot designs, you can see how it carries over. He is broadly humanoid but lacks a lot of the definition that gives Bee and OP a more humanlike apperance, in part due to how his being monochrome makes him seem less clearly in possession of a humanlike anatomy (Bee has pecs!), plus his eyes are small and set far apart in a way that evokes certain types of animal skull. And like. He's got "horns", haha. THAT TOO. Not subtle.

But Megatron and Starscream are both shown to be intelligent, of course. They speak, they communicate, they are not shown as beasts even as their designs evoke a more monstrous affect to distance them from our human baseline. They possess some degree of personhood in how they are presented (it makes for better central villains!). But it's a personhood a few steps further removed from human personhood than, say, Optimus'. The Decepticons have (scary, inhuman) people among them- but they are not exclusively, or even mostly, made up of people the way the Autobots tend to be presented.

Moving along the line. Another Decepticon is Wheelie, who is shown in a similar way to how Bumblebee is- like a kind of super-pet, the fantasy of having a cool robot who's smart enough to communicate with you but who is still, well, your pet. His design is obviously very far from humanlike, though as he's intended to be endearing (theoretically) rather than menacing, his design more like a harmless spindly bug than a 'monster'. Bigger eyes in a deeply inhuman face: that's not a person, that's a pet that can talk to you, the movie says! Imagine, a dog that humps your leg and makes really awful sex jokes. What a dream.

He arguably follows on from a template that Frenzy established the movie before, where Frenzy was presented like his undomesticated equivalent in this uncomfortable analogy. Their designs evoke similarly inhuman vibes, where the influence is insectoid and therefore unpleasant but not super menacing. Compare the slapstick way violence against Frenzy is framed versus how even unsympathetic characters like Starscream tend to be shown in fights- it's implicitly just not violence being done against a person as opposed to like... a cockroach that learned to talk. Again: he's visually further than any Autobot from human by a significant degree, and he exists on a different narrative level than Decepticons like Megatron. In universe, no difference; but to the audience there sure is.

Then we have the ones that are just... monsters of a very beastly variety. I'd argue Barricade in the 2007 movie fits this despite ostensibly talking and showing humanlike intelligence; he speaks very differently to like, Megatron, for example, all brusque repetition that doesn't evoke someone who's done more than memorize the question, and throughout his big 2007 setpiece he's then basically treated like a predatory animal; largely silent beyond his couple memetic lines, seeming too intelligent for his form at times when we see him in alt (his alt mode being so prominent in creating paranoia really mirrors the idea of an animal stalking its prey IMO, and how scared we are when animals seem to display uncanny-to-us intelligence and thought). Barricade is not a person to be fought, he's a hunting dog let loose, the framing suggests, and the goal is to put him down before he tears out your throat. He's a good example, I think, of a single character moving between modes within a single film. He has a brief moment of personhood (for gag purposes) but easily reverts to that predator-animal template. Decepticons can be wild animals too, then.

Even further along that axis is something like Revenge of the Fallen's Devastator. That's just a big scary monster, y'all! Look at it! RotF as a film is not interested at all in the implications that this is a combiner, let's be real, so we will also put that to one side and not come up with some bullshit about how 'maybe it's because he's a combiner', like let's be real guys, RotF isn't bothering with that thematic stuff. It's RotF, that movie is so goddamn dumb. Anyway. So this:

This is a monster, not a person; that face is a maw, not a face. Proportions are all weird and truly animal-like too. A speechless, destructive monster who exists less as a person to fight and more a natural disaster to resist; and another type of Decepticon that will not find an Autobot counterpart, because Autobots are people bar a couple domesticated exceptions, but Decepticons go all over the conceptual map, with this as an extreme!

And the whole idea that a Decepticon that is not a person might be mistaken for one is of course then used for horror at one point. When we see Alice the pretender, the fear comes from how convincingly she apes being what she is not: a human yes, but also a thinking, feeling person of any description. Her true form is partly creepy for having a bunch of unnecessarily humanlike features warped into something grotesque, and does not speak after she's revealed I think. My point is that the scary part of Alice is that idea of mimicry that can't be detected, and oh boy oh boy is there some fucking subtext to that scene we could read into it. By the way. Remember how there's an implicit dick joke and oh god RotF is a godawful film I hate it so much. I know you all know this, but I do. ANYWAY. I think she'll round out our trip down the 'scale' for now.

The above is in no way comprehensive (and leans real heavily on the first two films- there's actually potentially some interesting stuff about how Megatron, specifically, changes in how he is framed going on, and arguably becomes at one point the only truly personified Decepticon character). I haven't even found a place to get into how yes, the reproductive cycle stuff theoretically applies to all Cybertronians but is only ever shown when the Decepticons are doing it, and is notoriously weirdly animalistic and visceral; they have like, egg sacs, they have a very organic but very inhuman and upsetting life cycle thing going on with their babies and all. This is extremely scattershot! And missing stuff and possibly at points a bit off base because again, I'm running off my memory here. But I hope it shows a bit of how and why the spectrum of 'person or not' is a much broader question for bayverse Decepticons than Autobots, and how it often skews further to the 'not' side by a wide margin.

And it's also very all over the place in terms of the resulting implications. Some of it has its roots in very charged stuff; some of it could be read a multitude of ways! Where the Bee post is more clearly a matter of 'here is how casual ableist assumptions play out in Hollywood blockbusters without thinking', this is a wild combo of everything from 'here's how they reverse engineered transmisogyny' to 'here's why cannon fodder in dumb action flicks is designed like this so often'... but there, assumptions about 'appealing character design' are not politically neutral. (Take the old 'bigger eyes are always the more appealing option!' thing, that's a culturally specific assumption that has all sorts of follow on discussions about orientalism, for example.) The whole thing tends back towards something reactionary at basically every turn, though the 'what' might vary.

But ultimately I think the takeaway is: the bayverse films set you against the Decepticons not through obvious ideology- I doubt anyone got a coherent idea of their aims or anything out of the movies- but by sliding the scale down to 'not human' in many ways and letting our brains fill in the rest.

[padded-daydreams]

I think what the anon that said they were afraid of buying from Little for big means was that since the company has items that are not safe for kids they are afraid to buy from them. I think that's what they meant.

I mean if that is the issue (again, we don't know since the anon did not specify) then I don't really know what to say. I'm going to do some speculation, and address some concerns that I have seen in general online.

Most adult diaper brands are going to cater to a more "adult" and less "safe for work" audience. Adults who buy diapers for fetish purposes far outnumber those who buy diapers purely for safe for work reasons. A lot of people who make and sell these products are involved in these things themselves, and you know what, that's a good thing.

I agree that it can make some people uncomfortable to buy from websites that directly advertise more traditional fetish gear alongside diapers, but it is just something that is going to happen. There are some brands without any explicitly kink-related products, but some are also going to sell those. If you just want the adult diapers for your regression, that is fine. However, you cannot stop the very large adult kink community from existing. Not that you should, anyways. Kink stems from trauma, and there's no shame in adults incorporating the comfort of diapers into whatever adult activities they are getting up to.

In general, products having a wider audience is almost always a good thing. Due to so many different groups of people seeking out adult diapers, this leads to more variety and more options. This leads to easier accessibility and access to these products. One random example is the snuggie (a wearable blanket). Originally intended for people in wheelchairs, this product got very popular among people who didn't necessarily "need" it, resulting in more competition between similar products being made. This drove the price down, and resulted in more options and better quality products. I have talked to individuals online who are incontinent, and have been able to get diapers with better quality designs and cuter aesthetics covered by insurance. This is due to diaper brands such as NorthShore for example catering to a more adult audience, and trying to make high quality diapers for more people. (Side note, I have worn MegaMax before. Not a favorite, but I don't really have any complaints.)

All that being said, Little for Big is a brand that heavily caters to the DDLG community, which on its own, that is fine. It is part of the larger community of people who enjoy wearing adult diapers. My problems with that company more have to do with scandals involving transphobia, hiring underaged models, harassing models, and generally the owners seem to not care about people who buy their products and are the definition of "in it for the money" and trying to cash in on a trend.

I don't think that a website advertising to the kink community on its own should be a reason to avoid them because if you did that, you would be left with virtually no diapers other than plain white medical ones. Adults deep in the kink community are responsible for so many great products. You know what happens when you have adults who dedicate their time and money to making props and other things to comfort themselves (and others if they sell them)? You get custom-built cribs made for adults to fit in. You get countless diaper designs all over the internet. There are suer thick and comfy diapers which are 7000ml and 8000ml because someone with a fetish wanted to see how thick they could make a diaper (disclaimer- idk the exact intentions behind every design but yeah). There are props that you can buy for pretty much anything. Sure, plenty of them may be doing it for purely SFW purposes, but I don't think that it matters what they are doing. What matters is what you are doing. If the tools to make you comfortable are some diapers on a website that's also got paddles or locked clothing, or whatever, then go ahead and buy them. Its not 'dirty' and there's nothing wrong with it. You're buying something for you to use how you want, and make you comfortable. If someone else is using that same thing for something else? What does it really matter.

[mychampagne-mybubbles]

I CREATED THE CONVERSATION AND YET...

Dear Mr Porter,

10 months has taken you to come down to the idea that Vogue’s and to the extend Harry’s choice (or team’s) on that November 2020 cover wasn’t the best decision to ‘represent the new conversation’ on fashion.

As a fan, I can say that it hurts many of us to see how Harry's image appears distant from who he really is; and therefore, can't defend himself from the accusations that you have spit and thus explain what reasons led all those involved in making the unanimous decision on the cover and why he, in particular, felt comfortable with it without damaging his career. To do this, he would have to expose himself, make statements that can be compromising and that he does not want/are not convenient at this point; it's not fair, how this would be the only way to make the public understand how his motivations are stronger than they may seem and not only about figures.

These statements are quite surprising coming from someone that stands for tolerance, considering the values ​​you support and the injustices that happen in this industry and you recall to be aware of. Since Harry's (official) image is ultimately what it is, I'll go along with your speech: yes, Harry is a white young successful man but has not labeled his sexuality publicly to date.

Deep into your declarations & checking with your path, I can assure you have not created COLLABORATED in keeping the binary conversation in fashion, but I want to highlight that thank goodness many already wore skirts if we can simplify it into that. MANY!

I might be wrong, but reading into your statements seems like you defend that only "some" are worthy of such a cover because they have been struggling over a lifetime, fighting against the system, etc...if you only knew but what if the movement that was intended to be reflected is not the one you have assumed to be? what if it is to support the elimination of boundaries between what is considered to be feminine and masculine, as a symbol of freedom and tolerance with oneself and with others (regardless of sexuality), ironic that it has awakened this situation, ha?. It is not necessary to explain that there are many colors and ways of understanding one's sexuality, with which, have you thought that Harry is speaking the language of an existing social group? What if the fact that not labeling his sexuality publicly permits each individual to read into this event differently and therefore reach a wider audience?

However, you are concerned enough, which makes me think that maybe you see how this can be representative, is that the issue a posible threat?Isn't it ultimately your interpretation of what the cover could represent that led you to claim a limiting imposition? "Only a masculine queer person can wear dresses." I'm confused... Say it clearly, who would you have liked to see on that cover?

Of course, it is a controversial move, and that says a lot about the society we live in; these statements, that show Harry's choices empty of principles, also speak volumes. I just hope that you find softer judgments in your journey and no one has to resort to putting you in the spotlight for gaining a few clicks or popularity using such sensitive topics when people cannot speak up.

Disclaimer: There are infinite details that touch this topic and that are not shown in this brief post and that should be in order to make a fair breakdown of what we are facing here, so please no offense to anyone. We all know how Harry’s image is portrayed and why, how he is not the only one in the industry and how does that works. Making the small movements that he is capable of making a poor one for being taken as privileged, hurts. I cannot isolate his own bts fights from this situation.

[bloodstained-ballgowns]

Things I... didn’t like as much, about Black Widow (2021):

Disclaimer: I loved this movie. I would give it 4/5 stars overall. This is a lot of nit-picking. Most of the choices I’m talking about here I still really enjoyed, but this is how I would change them to improve it *for me*. If you disagree, that’s fine! Obviously, spoilers.

I said in my ‘Things I Loved About Black Widow’ post that I consider the first 53 minutes to be perfect, and the rest to be not-so-perfect. This is where I complain about the not-so-perfect stuff. They didn’t drop the ball on the third act, they just...fumbled it a bit. It stayed dark, but to me, it lost a bit of its grit. Cate Shortland’s influence really shone through in the first act, but it got lost around the second and third acts for me because of how Marvel-y it got.

Firstly, I’m considering the hand-to-hand combat here to be second only to CATWS. So why did that element basically dissolve towards the end of the film? She barely fought anyone in the prison breakout. Yes, Natasha fought the Widows, but that was all slowmo-y and widows-bites-y and did not have the same level of choreography. I wish they’d carried it through. 

Talking of action, there was not enough of it between Natasha and Taskmaster (who is getting a whole other post, because that is a bag of mixed feelings I don’t want to delve into here), particularly in the third act. Action isn’t something I’m particularly interested in but I was excited for this dynamic. Antonia wasn’t the villain, but like, the bridge fight did not effectively demonstrate her whole mirroring deal. Yelena and Nat’s fight had more mirroring than her and Tasky’s. Antonia’s skill set really shines in hand-to-hand onscreen, but as I said, I felt that kind of dissolved in the third act. They completely cheated us out of an impressive showdown when Natasha let Antonia out of the cell and moved backwards and I totally thought they were going to duel...which would lead into the sky fight...and then...the room cracks and they’re blown apart?? Hmmm.

Why was the Red Room in the sky??? I get that they were moving around a lot and this movie needed to have some kind of Marvel explosive finale and it looked cool and everything but I prefer the comics’ more grounded version. I just think it would have been more effective for Natasha and Yelena to walk through the old halls of the building they grew up/were trained in, find the new facility underground or something and then blow the whole place to smithereens. It would have actually cemented the whole ‘going back to where it all started’ thing.

Now I know the reason for Dreykov’s off-screen demise was to show how a man as purely evil as him didn’t deserve a major, glorified death. He deserved the death of an afterthought. But I would have liked to see Nat plunge a knife into his heart. Or to see him try to go after Yelena somehow and Nat just shoot him in the back of the head. It didn’t feel like they gave us any closure on that front, particularly as they made a whole deal about Nat not seeing the body in Budapest...and then we didn’t see the body here either. I almost feel like his death was made so insignificant that it was forgettable.

The whole flashing back and showing that actually they did have everything figured out did not work for me, it felt like lazy writing. It gave me “BET YOU DIDN’T SEE THAT COMING, BET YOU UNDERESTIMATED HER, LOOK HOW CLEVER NATASHA IS! DIDN’T YOU UNDERESTIMATE HER? SHE HAD IT ALL FIGURED OUT YOU FOOLS HARHARHAR” vibes and I was just like...I know. Literally, I know how clever and calculated she is. I knew she wouldn’t have been outplayed like that at Melina’s. Maybe other people didn’t, but come on guys, think up with something a little less ‘gotcha’.

What the hell happened with Nat and Ross before they cut to ‘two weeks later’? *confusion intensifies*

Again, this is getting long. See the read-more.

This movie had a lot of bases to cover and a lot of information to convey and I think the script managed that pretty well overall, but it did lapse into a bit of ‘show-don’t-tell’ syndrome at times. Show me Nat’s mother being ‘relentless’ in her search, don’t just tell me about it. I did not want Renner’s Clint Barton in this movie, but they could have made the Budapest flashback a smidge longer, for my liking.

Disney would never do this, but I would have loved an R-rated Black Widow movie. Yelena is absolutely a character that would yell ‘Fuck!’ really loudly (think Florence Pugh in that cactus video). My suggestions above for Dreykov’s death were me being reserved: Nat stabbing him repeatedly would have been so cathartic (for me, idk about her).

Y’all know I’m a slut for Nat’s everything in this movie, particularly the hair, but goddammit the hair. Riddle me this, if Nat had in a perfectly good braid when she got into the helicopter, why did she emerge with flowing locks and one tiny useless plait on the left side of her head?? And then she redid that into the ponytail with all the little braids while preparing for battle at Melina’s (never mind the fact that Nat’s hair would not have been long enough for them to reach much past her shoulders as well as being tied up) and fit it all under a Melina-wig! HELLO, LOGISTICAL NIGHTMARE SPEAKING.

I’m pretty sure the whole Nat-not-understanding-science-speak thing was only there for the “In English”-*replies in Russian* gag but it still seemed a little ooc since she’s never had a problem with it before. Idk if I would class this is as Nat ‘playing dumb’ to get more information like she does later with Dreykov since Yelena is readily giving her that info, and Yelena is also good enough to realise when she’s being manipulated like that.

Ummmm whole separate post for reasoning and such but the magic dust antidote? Not a vibe. No thank you. Lazy. Unrealistic. 

So...Alexei and Melina. It’s not that I don’t like them as characters - I really enjoyed them, I think they’re great characters. Fascinating to analyse. Did I love the Ohio mission sequence? Yes. Did I really appreciate the family dynamic and all the fanfic possibilities it gave us? Yes. But do I wish they weren’t in this movie at all? Yeah, kinda. The family dynamic was funny, and it was heartwarming, and it was heartbreaking, because it was executed so well, but the fact is that it was added by Kevin Feige to make this movie more palatable for the wider audience. Alexei’s dad jokes breaking the tension were probably an imperative for most audiences to enjoy the film. (Yelena’s dry sarcasm could have filled that role easily for me). But I didn’t want the tension broken. I didn’t want people to relax. I wanted them to come out and have to decompress because it was so intense. It’s easier to market a film about ‘family and going back to the past’ than ‘female subjugation and exploitation’. I don’t appreciate it, but I get it. Making this into a quasi-ensemble piece in the second and third acts just irritated me though. I wanted all the screentime possible to be on Natasha and Yelena. They could totally have pulled it off without their parents.

This really is nitpicky, but would a Liho mention have been too much to ask for? It would have been so easy, when Yelena asked “did you ever wish for kids?”, Nat could have replied with “i have a cat”, which is a good deflection but also informative, or her lockscreen could have lit up to show a tiny black kitten. Idk, this movie used a couple of good comics references and I guess I was hoping for one more.

*whispers and runs away* Bucky should have been here. Goddammit.

In conclusion, a lot of my critiques could be fixed if we didn’t live in a time where this film still had to be palatable for wider audiences who do not care about characters nearly as much as they care about action or humour or plot or spectacle. A lot of the strong choices paid off (they’ve riled up dudebros enough to prove that). The Marvel-y ending and Alexei’s humour did not. The rest is just logistical errors and missed opportunities.

This is a lot of complaining but I promise, these annoyances are much more minor than I’m making them out to be. The movie is magnificent even with them.

[kitkatopinions]

Okay, let’s talk about what I think is the biggest problem with Summer Rose. I don’t think it’s unrealistic for Ruby to react the way she has to Summer Rose and information about her from a character standpoint, but there wasn’t enough emphasis on her throughout the show to make me interested in her and specifically in how Ruby feels about her.

A lot of protagonists have at least one dead parent, and it doesn’t always feature prominently in the story they’re in - instead used as an excuse why the kids can do whatever they want without having to worry about parental figures, or backstory for why they’re the way that they are. But when the parents are treated as more significant, it’s better to make them consistently featured. It makes total sense for Ruby to not talk much or even think much about the mother that she lost when she was between the ages of two to four, but starts to talk about her more and be emotional about it once she gets some down time and during a time of personal crisis, especially as she’s learning new knowledge about what happened to Summer. That makes total sense from a character point of view. But as a viewer, I honestly didn’t care at all about Summer Rose past ‘why is Yang acting like Raven is her mom.’ Her grave was seen during the Red trailer, Yang talked about her in V2, and Ruby talked to her grave to start off V3 (which to me read as an ‘easy way to get exposition and remind everyone of some of the RWBY details’ scene.) And that’s it. That’s very little significance, I was given no reason to think she was going to matter to the storyline at all, I was given no reason to think she was going to matter to Ruby at all. If anything, I thought she might maybe matter to Yang, who clearly remembered her and who the story went out of their way to have talk about her, but then Yang didn’t talk about her mom until six seasons after the scene in volume 2. Which again, makes some semblance of sense from a character point of view, but made me think that Summer was unimportant and made me ambivalent to what was a non-character. We didn’t know anything about Summer past ‘good mom’ and ‘dead,’ for six seasons. We didn’t know anything about how Ruby felt about her mom past ‘talking to her grave one time’ and the knowledge that due to her age when Summer died, Ruby likely only has vague memories of her (if she has memories of her at all.)

Compare that to something like Harry Potter. (Quick disclaimer, as always, I’m not endorsing JKR, just comparing stories.) Time was taken out of the first book to establish not only Harry being an orphan, but Harry’s feelings towards it. Him looking in the Mirror of Erised and seeing not only his parents, but his family told us a lot about Harry’s longing for a family and to belong, and his attachment to the idea of his parents and family clearly connected to him (including through physical features that he’s been put down for having by the Dursley’s.) The first book also establishes connections to his parents through others. Hagrid knew his parents and got him a scrapbook of pictures of them, Snape hated his father, Dumbledore gave Harry his father’s invisibility cloak, and discussed the love spell his mother had made when she died, and told him about Snape and James’ ‘rivalry.’ I don’t remember if there was much connection to Harry’s parents in Chamber of Secrets, but in Prisoner of Azkaban, we start the story with Harry reacting defensively and using accidental magic (tied to emotional outbursts) when a relative starts insulting his parents, and then the whole book centers around the man who was framed for helping Voldemort murder Harry’s parents catching the real traitor, Harry meeting his father’s former best friends, getting yet another relic of his father’s, hearing more of the vague memory of his parents’ death when he’s encountered by the Dementors, thinking he had seen his father save him, etc. And the book tells us that Harry’s light based magical guardian Patronus takes the same form his father’s did. Then, in the fourth book, Harry resolves to face Voldemort head on whether he’ll die or not ‘like his father’ and literally sees the spirits of his parents and is able to talk to them briefly even though they’re dead through the use of a spell. In the Order of the Phoenix, Harry sees memories of his parents through Snape’s pensieve memories and his idealized versions of them (but specifically James) is challenged. He’s greatly bothered by this and seeks out advice and reassurance from his father’s friends. In the sixth book, the Half-Blood Prince, Harry gets a potions book with all kinds of recipes and useful spells written in the margins and starts thinking it might be his father’s, still desperate for a stronger connection to his parents, and at the same time, he’s interacting with a teacher who was fond of and talks about his mother. Consistently throughout the whole of the book series, people talk about James and Lily, we see the impact James and Lily had with other characters, we know how Harry feels about them, we know why Harry feels that way, we see his feelings about his parents start to adjust whenever he learns new information, we see the way their actions affect Harry’s actions.

So when Deathly Hallows rolled around and there were all these big significant moments involving Harry’s parents - visiting their graves, seeing their statue, seeing Snape’s memories, summoning their ghost forms to walk him to what he thinks will be his death - viewers might not be particularly attached to their characters, but we’re still invested, we still care about Harry’s arc with his parents, it’s pay off to a storyline that’s been a central part of the whole book series. Imagine if the only things we had heard about Harry’s parents before reading Deathly Hallows was a scene in book two about how his parents death connected to this wider issue (like the scene in Volume 2 with Yang using Summer’s death as establishing details before talking about Raven,) and a scene at the start of Prisoner of Azkaban where Harry like, talks to the pictures in his scrapbook about how he’s excited to go back to Hogwarts and how things are going with Ron and Hermione (like Ruby’s gravestone talk at the start of volume 3,) and then we still had all the significant moments centered around James and Lily in the seventh book.

It just feels like the emotional depth they’re going for with Summer was a wide swing and a miss because she never mattered to the story before. Summer was a passing plot point, and now that they’re trying to involve her more heavily, it feels boring. It feels like wasting time on something that doesn’t matter all that much when things that have been established as significant were put on the back burner (like Ruby’s relationship with Qrow, a mentor figure and parental figure, or even her relationship with Maria, who took over as a mentor figure when MKEK started to seem to want to diminish and put down Qrow’s character.) For six seasons, the audience had barely knew what Summer could possibly look like, Tai doesn’t talk about Summer, Qrow only mentions her in passing to talk about Ruby’s eyes if I remember correctly, Oz doesn’t talk about her, Yang only talks about her for one scene and that’s only to set up Raven, Ruby only talks about her for one scene and that’s to exposition at the start of a season. The only real reason to think Summer Rose would be significant to the plot at all is the Red Like Roses II song, but lots of the Ruby character songs seem a little disjointed like that. Before volume seven, I was wondering why that song even existed since Summer had so little to do with the plot of the show and specifically Ruby’s character (affected much more by Yang, her dad, her uncle, her team, Ozpin, Penny...)

It’s not a bad thing if they wanted Summer Rose to be important, I actually think it could’ve been good. Ruby feels a little stale at times compared to the friends that have bigger backstories that are gone into more, and her character could use some more interest and some more ties to Salem, so having her struggle with having a dead parent she can barely remember who was probably turned into a monster due to having the exact same power Ruby does is a good concept. But like a lot of things in RWBY, it came too little, too late, and with too little groundwork. Now it feels like they’re trying to cram extra unneeded plot into the story instead of working on what they have, now it feels out of left field, now I’m wondering why I’m suddenly being expected to care about Summer, now I’m wondering why there was so little set up for her importance. I would feel much more emotionally connected to this story plot if it had been featured more prominently. If Ruby had been set up from the start to want to be a Huntress like her mom. If Ruby had talked about Summer to Weiss or Jaune or her team, if she’d had a picture of her mom she put on her wall or something, if she’d talked about how the death affected her early on, if Tai had talked about Summer to Yang more, if maybe Ruby had asked Qrow about Summer when he told them about Oz, “Did Mom know any of this?” if maybe Maria had known Summer or something. I don’t know, I’m not a professional, I just know that they failed to write a story where Summer mattered at all until they suddenly wanted us to feel emotionally distraught over her being turned into a Grimm. Instead, I heard about the Silver Eyed Warriors getting turned into a Grimm and thought ‘maybe Mercury does have Silver Eyes and that’s what’ll happen to his character.’

The emotional depth just isn’t there with Summer in my opinion, and it’s made even worse by the fact that there’s very little we can extrapolate from her character based on her appearance. ‘Ruby, but more subdued,’ and ‘boring,’ are the only two things I can even think about her character design, which is a confusing thing for such a design heavy show that places so much emphasis on individual creativity.

[comrade-meow]

This is a transcript of a speech by developmental biologist Dr Emma Hilton delivered on 29 November 2020 for the ‘Feminist Academics Talk Back!’ meeting. This talk was originally published by womentalkback.org

Sex denialists have captured existing journals We are dealing with a new religion

Thank you for the invitation to speak today, as a feminist academic fighting back.

As ever, let’s begin with a story. And, trust me, by the end of this talk, you’re going to know a lot more about creationism that you expected:

1. In the 1920s, in concert with many other American states, the Tennessee House of Representatives passed the Butler Act, making it illegal for state public schools to: “teach any theory that denies the Story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible.” In other words, banning schools from teaching the theory of evolution.

Three months later, Tennessee science teacher John Scopes was on trial, charged with teaching the theory of evolution, a crime he was ultimately found guilty of. He was fined £71 – about £1064 in today’s money – so it could have been an expensive affair for him, had he not got off on a really boring administrative technicality.

Yet, despite the evidence against him and his own confession, he was an innocent man. Scopes was not guilty of teaching the theory of evolution. He admitted to a crime he had not committed. He even coached his students in their testimonies against him. So why would he admit to this wrongdoing of which he was entirely innocent? Why would he contrive apparent guilt? In protest. In protest against a law he viewed as fundamentally incompatible with the pursuit of scientific truth.

2. The history of creationism and education laws in the US is turbulent and often opaquely legalese, especially for those of us unfamiliar with US law. Some of the methods of the wider creationist movement, however, will be immediately recognisable as they are employed by a new movement, one which seeks to erase another scientific truth, the fact of sex.

Method 1. The framing of human classifications, whether it’s species or sex, as “arbitrary”. This leads to the premise that such phenomena are “social constructs” that need not exist if we chose to reject them. That truth must be relative and consensual. Never mind that these “arbitrary” classifications appear to be surprisingly similar classifications across all cultures and civilisations.

It also necessarily spotlights tricky boundary cases – not really a personal problem for the long-dead evolutionary missing links, but a very real problem in the modern world for people whose sex is atypical and who are constantly invoked, even fetishized, as “not males” or “not females” to prove sex classification is somehow no more than human whimsy.

People with DSDs have complex and often traumatic medical histories, perhaps struggling to understand their bodies, and they deserve more respect than to be casually and thoughtlessly used as a postemodernist “gotcha” by the very people so horribly triggered by a pronoun.

Method 2. The distortion of science and the development of sciencey language to create a veneer of academic rigour. Creationists invented “irreducible complexity” and “specified complexity” while Sex denialists try to beat people over the head with their dazzling arrays of “bimodal distributions arranged in n-dimensional space”.

Creationists, unable to publish in mainstream science journals because they weren’t producing, well, science, established their own journals. “Journals”. Sex denialists have captured existing journals – albeit limited to more newsy ones and to occasional editorials and blogs about gender (which is not sex), about how developmental biology is soooo complicated (which does not mean sex is complicated – I mean, the internal combustion engine is complicated but cars still fundamentally go forwards or backwards), about how discussing the biology of sex is mean (OK, good luck with that at your doctor’s surgery). Many such blogs and articles are written by scientists who simultaneously deny sex to their social media audience while writing academic papers about how female fruitflies make shells for their eggs (no matter how queer they are), about the development of ovaries or testes in fish and about how males make sperm.

The current editor-in-chief at Nature, the first female to hold this position, studied sex determination in worms for her PhD, and she now presides over a journal with an editorial policy to insert disclaimers about the binary nature of sex into spotlight features about research on, for example, different death rates in male and female cystic fibrosis patients.

The authors of the studies are not prevaricating or handwaving about sex, but the editorial team is “bending the knee”. I used to research a genetic disorder that was male-lethal – that is, male human babies died early in gestation. I’d love to know if this disclaimer would be applied there.

Method 3. Debate strategies like The Gish Gallop. This method is named for Duane Gish, who is a prominent creationist. What it boils down to is: throw any old argument, regardless of its validity, in quick succession at your opponent and then claim any dismissal or missed response or even hesitation in response as a score for your side. In Twitter parlance, we know this as “sealioning”, in political propaganda as the “firehose of falsehood”, although Wikipedia also suggests that it is covered by the term “bullshit”. So, what about intersex people? what about this article? what about an XY person with a uterus? what about the fa’afafine? what about that article? look at this pretty picture. what about what about whataboutery what about clownfish? The aim is not to discuss or debate, it is to force submission from frustration or exhaustion.

Method 4. The reification of humans as separate from not just monkeys but the rest of the living world. The special pleading for special descriptions that frame humans as the chosen ones, such that the same process of making new individuals, common to humans and asparagus, an observation I chose because it seems superficially silly – it could have been spinach – requires its own description, one that accounts for gender identity.

3. In the Scopes trial, which saw discussion of whether Eve was actually created from Adam’s rib and ruminations on where Cain got his wife, Scopes was defended by a legal group who had begun scouting for a test case subject as soon as the Tennessee ban was enacted. This legal group claimed to advocate for:

“Freedom of speech for ideas from the most extreme left such as anarchists and socialists, to the most extreme right including the Ku Klux Klan, Henry Ford, and others who would now be considered more toward the Fascist end of the spectrum.”

The legal group so keen to defend the right to speak the truth, in this case a fundamental, observable scientific truth? The American Civil Liberties Union, a group whose modern day social media presence promotes nonsense like:

“The notion of biological sex was developed for the exclusive purpose of being weaponized against people.”

and

“Sex and gender are different words for the same thing [that is] a set of politically and socially contingent notions of embodied and expressed identity.”

and shares articles asserting that biological sex is rooted in white supremacy.

Since the Scopes case, the ACLU have fought against many US laws preventing, or at least compromising, the teaching of evolution. I cannot process the irony of a group of people historically and consistently prepared to robustly defend the truth of evolution while now denying one of the most important biological foundations of evolution.

4. How do we fight this current craze of sex denialism? A major blow for creationism teaching was delivered in 1986 while the US Supreme Court were considering a Louisiana state law requiring creationism to be taught alongside evolution. The Louisiana law was struck down, in part influenced by the expert opinions, submitted to the court, of scientists who put aside their individual and, as one of them has since described “often violent” differences on Theory X and Experiment Y, to present a unified defence of scientific truth over religious belief. 76 Nobel laureates, 17 state academies of science and a handful of scientific organisations all got behind this single cause, and made a very real change.

Support for creationism has slowly ebbed away and the US is in a much more sensible position these days, although I still meet the occasional student from a Southern state who didn’t learn about evolution until college.

Sadly, one of the Nobel laureates has highlighted how unusual this collective response was and that he could not imagine any other issue that would receive the same groundswell of community support. Although he forged his career listening out for the Big Bang, so maybe I need to go through the list and find the biologists.

Part of the problem petitioning biologists to speak out is not necessarily fear of being cancelled or whatever, but simple lack of awareness of the issue, or incredulity that it is being taken remotely seriously. I’ve been working on a legal document and was discussing with a colleague about my efforts to find a citation for the statement, “there are two sexes, male and female”. He laughed at the idea that this would require a citation, told me to check a textbook, then realised that this statement is so simple that it would not even be included in a textbook.

And he’s right. I can find chapters in textbooks and hundreds of academic papers dedicated to how males and females are made, how they develop, how they differ, yet very few that feel the need to preface any of this with the statement “There are two sexes, male and female”. It is apparently something that biologists do not think needs to be said.

But of course, I think they are wrong, and that we live in a time where it does need to be said, where some aspects of society are being restructured around a scientific untruth, and where females will suffer.

Without recognition of and language to describe our anatomy, and the experiences that stem from that anatomy, mostly uninvited, we can neither detect nor measure things like rates of violence against women, the medical experiences, the social experiences of women and girls.

And, as for creationism, the reality of sex perhaps needs to be said by those with scientific authority, in unambiguous terms. Otherwise, we are living in a society that tolerates nonsense like there is no such thing as male or female, that differences evident to our own eyes are not real, that anatomies readily observable and existing in monkey and man alike do not actually exist. I’m sure this last assertion has the full support of the creationist community. And perhaps, as for creationism, a true tipping point will be tested when it is our children being taught these scientific untruths, or worse, when it is illegal to say different.

5. At the end of his trial, the only words Scopes uttered in court were these:

“Your honor, I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future, as I have in the past, to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my ideal of academic freedom—that is, to teach the truth as guaranteed in our constitution, of personal and religious freedom.”

I do not exaggerate when I say we are dealing with a new type of religion, a new form of creationism and a new assault on scientific truth. I also do not exaggerate when I say it may take a high profile court case to rebalance the public discourse around sex. There is only so far letters and opinion articles can go.

Two things I predict: 1. It will not be defended by the ACLU, and 2. With the recent proposals on hate speech law, it will probably involve a Scottish John Scopes, who finds themself in front of a judge for the seditious crime of discussing the sex life of asparagus at their dinner table.

Dr Emma Hilton is a developmental biologist studying aspects of human genetic diseases, and her current research focuses on a congenital motor neurone disease affecting the genitourinary tract, and on respiratory dysfunction in cystic fibrosis. She teaches reproduction, genes, inheritance and genetic disorders. Emma has a special interest in fairness in female sports. A strong advocate for women and girls, Emma tweets as @FondofBeetles.

[subjecta5newtella]

thoughts on newtmas :) go on :) i’m listening :)

sami rly said ok time for violence. this is going to be so long sorry everyone.

if we’re talking newtmas itself as a ship in itself, outside of any other influence (and specifically in the movie version, which is generally what people are talking about), I think it’s a good ship. I would have to be the most unobservant motherfucker alive to not see what people see in it, and I am not, in fact, the most unobservant motherfucker alive. it’s a good dynamic with good chemistry and realistically I think if I’d started with the movies rather than the books, I would’ve gone all in for it.

however. I personally am incapable about talking about it in isolation.

I realize from that segue it sounds like I’m about to lead into some grand moral point, but mostly I just liked how dramatic it sounded. anyway. I feel like I need to start with a disclaimer that the easiest, simplest part of this is that you tend to get attached to your first ships in a fandom, as well as your initial feelings about the characters. obviously you can change your mind about any of those things, but it does stick with you. if we’re going to be kind and skip my internalized homophobia era (please be kind), I shipped thominho and nalby because that’s what was big at the time. I also just... did not like book thomas very much, so I wasn’t about to ship him with my favorite character.

(complete and utter tangent: it’s interesting to me that people read the books now and overwhelmingly see newtmas. I recognize that every time I start a sentence with “it’s interesting that” it automatically sounds shady, but i genuinely just love Analyzing. anyway some of it’s definitely people seeing the movie first or having fandom content as a first exposure even in passing, all of which are valid ways to engage, but I do kind of find it fascinating when people talk about book!newtmas as some massive presence because then... theoretically we all should’ve seen it pre-movies? the ship existed, usually among people who hardcore multishipped, but it wasn’t anything like it is today. not at all to say that reading it like that is invalid, it’s just interesting to me the way some people talk about that interpretation, rather than the interpretation itself)

anyway. with that all out of the way, i do have some actual issues with newtmas, although it really doesn’t have anything to do with the characters or the ship itself. these are things that surround the ship and affect my feelings about it, meaning that I never bought in despite, like I said, Seeing It. my main issue with it is how much the roles of other characters have been reduced to create the ship in its current form. I’ve talked at far too much length about the way minho was adapted and honestly will probably talk about it more, because that’s the big one to me (that post can be found here, for those who don’t keep up with every rant I’ve ever gone on for some reason). I will not go so far as to say that’s required reading to fully understand this post, but I would recommend it since I don’t want to just repeat myself. so much of newtmas being the major ship feels like it’s predicated on minho not being there and not having anywhere near as strong a relationship with thomas and newt as he did in the books, and that will never sit right with me.

newt’s relationship with alby is his other most significant dynamic outside thomas and minho, and i feel like it might be surprising to hear me say this, but i get why that one was reduced for the movie. there’s only so much time in the film, so you want to focus on the characters who are going to make it past the first one. I do have a problem here, but it has more to do with dashner and with some fandom bullshit. with dashner, i think the crank palace is the worst of it (I could’ve just stopped that sentence at “I think the crank palace is the worst” but whatever). since all my rants lead back to each other, I’ll link the relevant one here, but the general gist is that my biggest problem was that newt does not seem to have any more of a post-swipe past than thomas does despite theoretically having two more years of memories. given that fact, I don’t know about you, but I would kind of expect alby to be more of a presence in his consciousness. that’s true of pretty much any of the original gladers, but newt and alby are clearly very close in the first book, and again, alby saved his fucking life. he’s literally mentioned once. dashner prioritized the newt/thomas dynamic so much that newt seemingly had no meaningful relationships with anyone else. tcp isn’t immune to treating minho badly either; like I said in that post, it sounds like newt read the wikipedia page on minho. is any of this the fault of the ship itself? does this change anything that came before it? no, but the whole thing feels massively disingenuous, and also kind of disrespectful to people who actually, like, gave a shit about the other characters. also, the way he’s retconning makes me real nervous.

the other part, like I mentioned, is the fandom more than any of the actual content. I’m aware that part of this is just a statistics game and also that’s it’s not representative of all newtmas shippers, but most of the alby bashing I’ve seen comes from newtmas people. it’s... baffling to me, honestly. what’s the point in putting down a ship being kept alive by me and like 3 other people? what do you gain by misrepresenting a character to the point of maliciousness when you could easily just not engage with them? again, I know it’s not everyone and it doesn’t have anything to do with the ship, but I’d be lying if I said things like this don’t color my perception. if someone goes out of their way to put down a ship I like, I’m not really gonna want to associate myself with their ship. I’m gonna cling to my own harder out of spite, actually.

also.... okay. so I peaced out to go do other shit between earlyish 2015 and mid 2019. and it was very weird to temporarily leave the fandom while the two main (in my recollection at least, which could be biased by who i was friends with) mlm ships each included one of the explicitly non-white characters, and come back to find it almost entirely dominated by white boy/white boy... like. I don’t wanna make a statement as simple as “the fandom is racist” because a) it’s not my place to say that, b) if we want to go into that, there are other examples of fandom racism where it’s Blatant and there really is no excuse, whereas this is a bit more complicated imo because c) like. that’s the dynamic the movies gave us. the movies focused very heavily on the newt and thomas dynamic, so of course that’s what the fandom is going to focus on. there’s a lot to say there, but that’s a different issue. it does.... still contribute to the bad taste in my mouth, though, and also contributes to me feeling like I need to keep those ships alive. it’s not about who has the Most Progressive Ship, I just feel weird about the particular shift I’ve seen here.

on a note that sounds less like I’m leveling accusations, New Relationships just aren’t my vibe. you look at my ao3 and it’s like. friends of many years to lovers. established relationship. friends to lovers to exes and back again. just from a dynamics perspective, there are other ships that are more interesting for me to explore. there. this is a lighter reason.

idk overall I don’t wanna sound like I’m on some Moral Crusade here, even though i know some of my points made it sound like that. this is really just me putting all of my thoughts that I can currently round up in one place in order to... idk, explain myself? and like it’s stupid that i feel the need to explain myself, but I know it’s weird not to ship it at this point, and I know if I did I would have so much more content to choose from and a much wider audience for my own content. there’s just baggage there thats entirely separate from the ship itself, having seen the shift and knowing what had to change in order to center newtmas. I’m not trying to sound like I’m better than anyone; I just think maybe I have a different perspective on things having been here for long enough to qualify it as a new mental illness, and that’s ultimately why I feel the way I do.

[eggdesign]

Finding your audience

Part 3 in my like + reblog series.

In part 2, we discussed the results of part 1 and what might be better to focus on instead of the like to reblog ratio. In this post, we’re going to dive in deeper into that! These tips can be useful for reaching to a wider audience or trying new theme types outside of your comfort zone.

Like the other posts in this series, it is pretty long, and will have a summary added in an update. 

Sections of this post:

Who is your target audience?

Blog Type

Blog Theme

Blog Features

More tips

Who is your target audience?

In order to reach whatever your goal is for your theme, it’s important to understand who your target audience is*.

Some questions to consider:

What kind of blog does this theme suit best?

Is your preview ‘themed’ in a specific way (aesthetic, fandom, etc)?

Does it have any special features specific to certain blog types (fansite, blog members section, commission page, etc)?

*A small disclaimer: you do not have to do any of the things I’m about to list below. Ultimately, make themes you want to make + how you want to make them. These are just tips if you are stuck and want to reach more users.

These tips can also apply if you are perfectly fine with your current audience but want to get better at making previews!

Blog Type

Look at whatever theme you’re working on, and think about what kind of blog type will use this theme the most and make it look the best. 

If your theme has 3 columns, odds are your posts will be on the smaller side and won’t look as good with text heavy blogs. In this case, you should make your theme preview appeal to blogs that usually don’t reblog text heavy things like aesthetic blogs and art blogs. Try to be consistent with your posts so that it’s clear what blog type you are going for. 

If your theme has a lot of image based elements (whether it’s sidebar, header, or other image placements), you should go for blogs that reblog/make icons + graphics. This can be blogs that feature fandom gifs/edits, rp blogs, kpop blogs, etc. They will be more likely to have a good eye for images that go well together and fit in with your theme’s design. 

Blog Theme

While not every blog has a specific theme it follows, a lot do have something they primarily focus on! They might not be particular when it comes to choosing their theme, but they will be more likely to choose something that features the thing they post about. 

An example of this happening is my theme Facade. I included a fandom post that I didn’t even realize was from that fandom, the aesthetic just matched the theme perfectly. The theme got reblogged heavily from that fandom, and got a lot bigger than I was anticipating! While this one wasn’t intentional, almost all of my most popular themes are using this method. 

The easiest way to do this is make your theme preview feature things you are interested in as well, or are familiar with. The more familiar you are with a fandom’s ‘aesthetic’, the easier this will be to incorporate in a theme’s design, plus it’s fun to do when you’re passionate about it! 

This can be picking a sidebar + header that features characters/actors, or featuring edits + fanart from that fandom. This works well if you want to appeal to that fandom but also want people outside of the fandom interested as well. 

You can also go all out and make something directly inspired by a fandom. Video game inspired UI, using fonts from movies/tv shows, incorporating album covers in your design, are all ways to feature fandoms in your themes more directly.

Keep in mind that this option might make you lose audiences that are not part of the fandom, so if you want a more universal appeal, option 1 might be better. .

Try to look for blog themes/fandoms that have a strong community but aren’t really featured in themes. This doesn’t mean you can’t release a theme inspired by a very popular community, but your theme has a higher chance of getting lost in a long list of already existing themes. 

Blog Features

Some users have specific things they look for in a theme because of the type of blog they have. These things might not appear in your average theme, so they’re more likely to be on the lookout for specific features and pass on themes that don’t have them. 

Writing blogs are a good example of this. These can be fanfic writers, studyblrs, or just language/writing blogs in general! Lots of themes are geared more towards photo posts, and previews will often reflect and highlight these over text posts.

If you want to appeal to this group, make sure your preview highlights text posts, and that your text post styling really stands out. One complaint I’ve seen from this user group is that a lot of theme posts are too small for what they’re writing, so themes with larger posts and larger text will appeal to this group more. 

RP blogs are another example. Similar to writing blogs, but usually come with a different set of needs. RP blogs have a lot of replies, so having dashboard captions might be a better option than blockquotes for readability. Sometimes they include icons in their replies, so make sure your themes support smaller images in posts and won’t stretch them out. They also might look for members + muse sections, rules sections/popups, and places to add custom graphics.

More tips

One thing that is universal in all of these options is doing your research. If you’re trying to appeal to a wider audience than what you currently have, you might have to step outside of your comfort zone. 

It’s never okay to steal someone’s design, but do study other blog themes that your target audience uses. This isn’t really about the design of the theme, but what features they have. What do these blogs have in common? Do they share color schemes, font choices? Do they prefer sidebars over headers? Do they like simple or complex themes?

These are all things you should consider when making a theme for your target audience. 

Going back to blog themes, I would personally avoid intentionally going after what is popular just to increase your note count. If you’re not really into what you’re making, it might start feeling like a chore and draining to make. You also run the risk of it feeling ‘empty’ compared to your other work. The extra notes aren’t really worth that, in my opinion. But if that doesn’t bother you, by all means go for it! Just a warning as someone who tried that for my 2nd ever (and since long deleted) theme because I was new. 

Finally, if your target audience is small, your note count might reflect that. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing! If your target audience loves your theme, then it is still successful!

I’m also saying this to not get discouraged if your theme doesn’t go beyond a smaller group. That doesn’t mean it was a bad theme, your audience might just be really niche, and that’s ok! 

However, if you want to change that, then hopefully this post has been helpful!

In part 4 I will cover reaching audiences that might not be actively looking for themes

[truthseekeryf]

†RESE | ANIME REVIEW

[SLIGHT SPOILER WARNING]

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK! (as if naman may magbabasa nito haha)

DISCLAIMER:

All that was written here are based on my opinion and personal preference only, so take it with a grain of salt :))

Arigthanks! 

“May mga halimaw dito sa mundo at ilan sa mga ‘yon ay tao.”

- Alexandra Trese

As an avid fan of crime mystery series, Trese is worth watching. Really enjoyed the show, especially the fight scenes, and every time there are new cases involving mythical creatures.

Watched the whole series with Filipino audio. I tried switching to different languages from time to time to see the difference. Well, the JP dub is always top tier. The Eng dub was also great.

Medyo nakukulangan lang ako sa voice acting ni Liza, but it's okay, I know may room for improvement naman. Considering that she's new to voice acting and she's not used to speaking in Filipino. As for the other voice actors, they did an exceptional job!

I hope that next time if producers will have local animation projects, they will cast professional voice actors because that is their realm where they can shine. TV actors already have their teleseryes and films.

However, given the fact that the Philippine Animation Industry is just starting, animation studios have to cast celebrities to boost the popularity of a particular show. More support from the fans equals more money, hence, there would be enough funds for the production team. Animation projects are hard, takes a lot of time, and are expensive to make.

For me, it's okay to cast celebs for voice acting naman eh, as long as they fit the role. The quality of the performance goes hand in hand with directing rin naman.

I hope nga lang in the future, they would give chance to professional VA's. Ang daming magagaling na hindi nabigyan ng opurtunidad na maipakita ang kanilang talento.

On the other hand, the storyline, character design, ost's, animation, and visuals are really good considering that this is the first Netflix anime series from the Philippines.

Thanks to the creators of Trese, Kajo Baldisimo (artist) & Budjette Tan (writer), as well as to the production team behind the anime adaption who brought the story to life. I'm glad it is now released on the global streaming platform because the story can reach a wider audience.

I badly want to read the original comics because I'm so hooked sa story. I'm currently at the edge of my seat and wondering what would happen next to team Trese after episode 6. I've seen some tidbits from the comics. The art by Kajo is astounding! How I wish I could buy them all. As of now, Trese is still ongoing and has 7 volumes with 30+ cases.

We grew up hearing different stories about aswangs, tikbalang, tiyanak, kapre, duwendes/nuno sa punso, etc. from our parents and grandparents. It was great to know that we have such amazing and fascinating mythology that has been passed down from generation to generation by our ancestors that made our culture rich.

I'm also grateful that Filipino folklore has inspired brilliant writers and artists to create masterpieces. Hoping to see more animated series from local comics!

My favs from the series are, of course, the kambal —Crispin and Basilio! I love their character design and personality. They balanced the mood for the team and the whole series. A little humor amidst the dark, thrilling, and suspense that was going on around them. If Basilio will tie his hair into a man bun further in the series, then ohmygaadd that would be so freaking cool! (and many viewers will simp for him more lol) 

The end credits scene seems like hyping for the next season. Hoping for Season 2!

The flaw in Liza's voice acting is not that big deal to me since she can improve pa naman. The storyline itself piqued my interest, so overall I would give it a 🌟: 10/10

PS. I wish they would make a giant ChocNut bar. It's my childhood fav! When you happen to pass by a manhole, just bribe Nuno with ChocNut then voila! you can ask him for life advice but first, don’t forget to say “Tabi tabi po” or else mamalasin ka sa lab layf mo lol

Sic Itur Ad Astra! ✨