#what else can i say to people with shitty reading comprehension

[beneathashadytree]

HEY GUYS! LONG POST HERE, BUT PLEASE READ🙏🏽

I am genuinely appalled by the discourse ongoing in the LNDS fandom these past few days—but above all, I am severely disappointed in what had started out as one of the most inclusive and sweet fandoms I’ve ever been in. I have a few things to say, so in this post I’m trying to put all my thoughts to words. Apologies if I sound harsh, but I’m genuinely livid. Also, please ignore any typos. I’m not wearing my glasses while word-vomiting.

First off, for a fandom that is composed of mostly adults, you guys have been acting terribly childishly. It’s 2024, and yet people are still unironically shaming others for “switching up on their favs” as if a person owes 2D characters any loyalty. Let people enjoy things. The novelty of Sylus and how he’s quite literally 6 months behind the other 3 love interests makes people want to catch up on the enjoyment of him all at once. He’s still such a brand new character and concept, so there’s no wonder everyone’s hyped up over him.

I’ve seen people get genuinely mad at other players and writing whole think-pieces about this. I promise you guys, the company making this game is still benefiting whether you’re pouring your money into Sylus or any one of the previous 3. We’re all happy to have an interesting character pop up among the roster now, and we’re taking our time getting to know him. Doesn’t make any of the first 3 any less loved. I genuinely don’t remember this amount of nastiness when solo events for each of the guys used to drop.

In fact, if the popularity thing is worrying you, going off MLQC (the company’s past game) the character who was last added was—eventually, after the initial hype died down—kicked off to the sidelines in most major events and was given the least content, and was the least favorite of fans.

Secondly, and this has my blood boiling, there is an insane amount of entitlement and rudeness I’ve seen on my timeline concerning how people characterize the men—particularly Rafayel.

Absolutely nothing warrants this shitty attitude towards other creators for how they depict characters in their fics. It seems you guys feel protected behind a screen and think it gives you the right to bully strangers online. Fanfiction is for fantasizing about your favs; for letting your imagination run wild. If this were a character analysis, then yes, maybe I’d agree that inaccuracies are aggravating. However, in fanfiction, there are zero rules, especially when it comes to smut.

Sexual preferences are not equivalent to a person’s whole personality—so whether he’s written as a dom, a sub, a switch, or whatever the fuck you wanna call it, this has nothing to do with his kindness, gentlemanliness, passion, power, ruthlessness, snark, or whatever minuscule aspect of his character makes up his lovely whole and matters to you.

I think this circles back to a lack of ability to separate sexual matters and personality, because how else do people interpret fics depicting him in a certain manner as them erasing his character? They might overlap, but they can very well be mutually exclusive. I’ve seen incredibly sweet and gentle men irl who were absolute doms in bed, and I’ve seen powerful and passionate men who were reduced to tears between the sheets. There is barely any correlation whatsoever, and if anything, claiming otherwise is what I consider piss-poor media literacy and reading-comprehension.

My third point is that for some reason, there have been many, many posts and replies on here where I’ve seen people just straight-up spread pure hate for the characters. Maybe this bothered me in particular because I’m an OT3 (OT4 now!) and absolutely adore all of them, but I find no logical reason for “yucking someone’s yum” when we’re talking about liking the characters of an Otome game—a genre of video games which is made to literally cater to the tastes of as many people as possible.

It’s especially disheartening to see when it’s at a time like this, when new content is about to drop, and you find in the replies of every other post/discussion at least a few people spewing hate and disgust at Sylus. Again, so many people are incredibly excited about him. Why is there a need to rain on everyone’s parade, especially in such an unsolicited manner?

This fandom originally started as a safe space for people of all races, backgrounds, genders, sexualities, and personalities to bond over our mutual love for characters. All I’ve seen on my TL lately (in terms of discussion) is negativity, and it’s such a fucking let-down. I hope whatever the fuck has happened to this fandom cools down after a bit. It’s probably exaggerated and very in-your-face rn, cause more and more people are downloading LNDS, so the probabilities of finding people being nasty are increasing. But I seriously don’t want to grow to resent this fandom and find myself distancing myself from it to protect my peace.

Let’s all remember to be kind towards other players, to not act entitled or bratty about the characters, and to try and mind our own business if we see content that doesn’t suit our tastes.

[olderthannetfic]

This is partly a vent and partly hoping someone reading this can offer some advice or at least insight into wtf the person/people doing this are hoping to accomplish.

Over the past few months, someone(s) has been sending purity policing “concerned” anon asks to people in my fandom, mostly about supposed untagged triggering content. Which sounds like standard anti bullshit at first glance, but there are some really weird aspects to this situation, and I don’t know what to make of it.

First, in both of the cases I’ve seen, the “untagged” content Concerned Anon complained about was comprehensively tagged, way beyond fandom norms. Concerned Anon is complaining about something that isn’t even true.

Second, the people who received these asks seem to me like really weird targets for anon harassment. From what I’ve seen, they’re both really nice people. Not in the Cult of Nice way, but in the welcoming to newcomers, supporting all shippers even the people who ship things they’re not into, willing to chat about even the most wild theory or headcanon you might have without judgment kind of nice. Good stewards of fandom, I guess is what I’m trying to say. So I don’t get why anyone would want to target them. Especially since one of them wasn’t even being harassed about their own work, but about a fic someone else wrote that they happen to like!

Third, if the source material for this fandom were a fic on AO3, it would easily meet the threshold for all archive warnings. This isn’t about Stephen King fandom, but it’s got that level of things antis lose their shit over. Why is Concerned Anon even in this fandom? Why are they ~*so concerned*~ over fic when canon is like that?

Since the first Concerned Anon ask, I’ve noticed a sharp drop-off not just in ~*problematic*~ fic, but in fic in the fandom in general. I know fandom engagement comes and goes and there could be a lot of reasons for that unrelated to Concerned Anon. I can even think of a couple specific reasons it would be happening in this fandom. But the timing rubs me the wrong way, especially since it doesn’t seem like there’s as much a of a drop-off in general fandom activity, and I’m worried the latest set of Concerned Anon asks will have an even more chilling effect on fic writers.

I hate that this is happening. I hate that people who are just out here making fandom fun are being targeted. I hate that it might be discouraging people who haven’t been targeted from writing. I hate the possibility that Concerned Anon is out there harassing other people in the fandom who haven’t responded to them or that I just haven’t seen. I hate that, as a complete fandom nobody, I probably have no power to do anything about this. I hate that the person or people behind Concerned Anon probably aren’t even going to have to face up to being this kind of shitty, because it’s all anonymous.

--

People pop up in the inboxes where the owner can get their comments in front of more eyeballs.

Of course they want to poison the blogs of the welcoming fans who get the newbies writing fic.

The way to combat them is for those bigger blogs to either ignore them entirely or to politely but firmly tell them where they can shove it while pointing out that they're a liar.

They're a toxic blight on other people's inspiration, and the "nice" blogs should tell them so. The failure to do so is going to have at least as much of a chilling effect as their shitty comments themselves.

[summerhalder]

ok 👍 i can and i will. a max fan has never told me to kill myself for celebrating another driver doing well. also do you not see the charles tits splashed across my pfp or/

Max fans just use the most racist language known to mankind instead which you guys love to ignore seeing who your mutuals are. Not surprising given he himself defends Nelson racist and homophobic Piquet.

You had no word to speak on Charles's amazing performance and celebrating another driver while calling yourself a Charles fan. Charles tits splashed across your pfp does not make you some jesus christ of Charles fandom endowing their judgement on all fans and blaming your own doing on them.

Not everyone in the world is out to get to you maybe it's you who has shitty hypocritical opinions that you hate taking criticism on.

first of all: please find something else to do with your day than to harass me with asks, or come off anon if you'd like to continue. it's getting a bit old. bullying on the internet isnt very mature behaviour do you realise

do you see me defending max? i know he does that and I've never defended him against it. he can make those remarks and still be a skilled driver. i have only ever spoken about his performance in a car. and here i am saying that max's FANS have been nicer to me than charles' fans (considering how it's only been charles fans sending me hateful asks and telling me to kill myself for a seemingly innocent pole position celebration post) but reading comprehension seems a bit...lacking.

seeing who my mutuals are? didn't know you had login access to my blog. I'm primarily a tennis blog so idk where you're getting this information

i never said I'm blaming all charles fans, in fact i very clearly said it was only a certain group of charles fans. "my own doing"? what did i do, was i the engineer who made them a shitty car or am i fred vasseur who's clowning around with administration? there's nothing i can do about the results unless you want me to go either build him a car or drive it myself. I'm just a random person on tumblr. also it's my blog and i like charles so I'll speak about his performance and even max's lap if i damn well please. have you considered that maybe people can be fans of two drivers and i can take thirty seconds of my time to be happy for someone else performing well?

[dufferpuffer]

First of all, I need to express my love for you and how grateful I am for your deep understanding of Lupin and Snape's characters. You're the first person I see that loves them both while also acknowledging their flaws and not trying to sugarcoat Lupin's toxicity (again, thank you)

Secondly, it is because of your great comprehension towards them that I'd like to see your opinion on this. We don't talk enough about Lupin's shitty and completely uncalled for behaviour towards Snape during PoA (and just how well Snape handles it, because God knows most people would have snapped, and he had more reasons than anyone to do so, but only intervened when CHILDREN'S safety was compromised)

What do you think would've happened in a world where, instead of taking Lupin's bullying and mocking during PoA, he returns it just as smoothly and doesn't just let the man walk over him? What of an alternative universe where Snape just says "you know what? Fuck it, I'm a loser but you're no better" and despite still being terrified afraid of Lupin, he also resents him and subtly puts him back in his place every time he pulls the usual shit? (While also keeping his distance because he doesn't want that man anywhere near him)

Would have Lupin gotten angry? Would he get cold feet and keep the distance too because he can't handle Snape actually fighting back? Would this turn into a toxic asf enemies to lovers dynamic with all the passive-agressive exchanges, backhanded compliments and constant fight for dominance in the situation?

Seriously, love your blog 💕 Hope you're well and thriving

Thankyou for the love :') I love the boys, and without their complex layers of toxicity and trauma the boys just wouldn't be The Boys anymore. Lupin's softness is nothing without his sharp edges after all. Its been awhile since I read PoA. Its the next one i'm reading to my boyfriend. But this is a really interesting fic idea!!! Such a small change - but potential big consequences...? Remus is a coward, but in PoA he was spoiled with getting his own way - and things generally went really well for him. I flicked through some of the chapters where they interact, so this isn't perfect - but what if Snape did snap back every time Remus tried to press him...? He was told to keep the werewolf's secret - not to allow himself to be bullied again. ((This this turned into a looooong look into their dynamic. Oopsy.))

Remus Lupin and the Nasty Man who Wont Let Things be Easy for Him

Chapter 7,

Remus arrives ~fashionably late~ to class so he can surprise the kids: 'only bring your wands (no lame textbooks) for a practical.' He is confident, a little playful - dealing with Peeves effortlessly. (His father specialized in things like poltergeists and boggarts, after all.) The kids think he is cool! He already knows all their names! He is glowing with pride just to be there. So adorable I love him. He has 100% been bouncing on his heels with nerves and excitement to teach this lesson. There is no way he was ACTUALLY late - he just wanted to appear aloof.

He wants to be cool - and fun - and comforting - and safe: Why else have the first lesson be getting the kids to face the scariest thing they can imagine under HIS warm protection...? Albus is definitely his role model - they have the same manipulation tactics. Very different to Snapes 'get it right or else' lesson beforehand. He is safe. He is SO safe. He is The Safest Man. He's learned all their names already, isn't that nice of him?? Now he can learn all their fears, too - and he can soothe them!!! How well planned, Mr Lupin… Warm, soft, fluffy Mr. Lupin. So capable and so sweet… He could NEVER be a monster! Nobody will EVER suspect he is a monster...

As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, ‘Leave it open, Lupin. I’d rather not witness this.’ He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, ‘Possibly no one’s warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear.’ Neville went scarlet. Harry glared at Snape; it was bad enough that he bullied Neville in his own classes, let alone doing it in front of other teachers. Professor Lupin had raised his eyebrows. ‘I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation,’ he said, ‘and I am sure he will perform it admirably.’ Neville’s face went, if possible, even redder. Snape’s lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap.

Though Snape was still being nasty about the previous lesson - this was a HELPFUL comment more than it was a jeer at Neville. He almost didn't say anything at all - but turned on his heel at the last second. He knows Remus was irresponsible with danger in his youth and is new to teaching. So he gives him a tip: 'Longbottom is difficult to manage. Granger is capable and trustworthy. Pair them together if you must.'

...Honestly he was basically setting Lupin up to look good. Anything Remus said would have seemed lovely, even a terse "Yes, well, thankyou Professor. We will see about that." ...But Lupin politely and confidently spat back. Always politely. He wasn't rude to Snape, but the meaning was clear: 'Back off, Severus. I decide what my students can handle.'

Snape's lip curled. (That's his version of a sneering little smile) 'Oh yeah? Good luck with that.' The amount of body language these men talk through, both masters of hiding their intentions and emotions with masks - they fence with words and actions.

How could Snape snap back without seeming like he was lashing out...? Remus bullies by asserting dominance in a way that makes others seem like they're being mean to gentle widdle Wupin if they retaliate, or are being silly if they defend themselves. Remus is desperate for his students to have confidence in him. To think of him as their sweet savior. To soothe his worries of posing a danger to them, of being rejected, of being suspected…

Snape’s lip curled. "…Then I wish you good luck, Mr. Wolf." he drawled as he left, shutting the door with a snap.

…Maybe that treads the line of what he is allowed to say. Remus would scramble to Dumbledore's office in a panic, to get him to warn Severus not to play silly games... but he would have to do that later, in secret - away from the kids. In the immediate - he would stammer to remind them: "Of course, Lupin means 'Wolf' in French… Snape is just making a little joke!" But god, what a way to knock him off-balance-!

I don't think it will change how the lesson goes. If anything, Lupin will be more keen to push Neville to humiliate Snape via his Boggart. Especially knowing he will soon be seeing Snape's lip curl in triumph as he gets told off by Dumbledore - because Remus snitched. How humiliating, getting a 'teacher' involved. (They're little boys at heart.) There is nothing Snape likes more than humiliating a bully. Every time 'Boggart' is mentioned Snape has the sweet memory of seeing Lupin look so pathetic in-front of Dumbledore, his role model. Every time a kid calls him 'Mr Wolf' as a joke... Remus will have to pretend he 'doesn't mind much', but gently insist they use his real name, please. He will know to tread carefully around Severus.

Chapter 8,

Harry is at a low point emotionally. He is having a good chat with Lupin, who seems to understand him better than other teachers. Though, Lupin is still speaking vaguely, making allusions - much like Dumbledore.

'Sit down,’ said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. ‘I’ve only got teabags, I’m afraid – but I daresay you’ve had enough of tea leaves?’ Harry looked at him. Lupin’s eyes were twinkling. ‘How did you know about that?’ Harry asked.

If it didn't say 'Lupin' you'd 100% believe Albus said that - complete with twinkling eyes and an awestruck Harry. ((This is making me wanna do a whole thing comparing how Albus and Remus act)) Anyway - In this cozy atmosphere, where Remus is enjoying being the object of Harry's awe, and not telling him he was his parents' close friend...

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. ‘Come in,’ called Lupin. The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of Harry, his black eyes narrowing. ‘Ah, Severus,’ said Lupin, smiling. ‘Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?’ Snape set the smoking goblet down, his eyes wandering between Harry and Lupin. ‘I was just showing Harry my Grindylow,’ said Lupin pleasantly, pointing at the tank. ‘Fascinating,’ said Snape, without looking at it. ‘You should drink that directly, Lupin.’ ‘Yes, yes, I will,’ said Lupin. ‘I made an entire cauldronful,’ Snape continued. ‘If you need more.’ ‘I should probably take some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus.’ ‘Not at all,’ said Snape, but there was a look in his eye Harry didn’t like. He backed out of the room, unsmiling and watchful. Harry looked curiously at the goblet. Lupin smiled.

Aka. Severus walks into the beasts den and finds a pup. Have you ever seen Severus act so polite? So appeasing? So... dare I say... submissive? Even Harry knew something was up - worried Snape was acting meek because he was trying to POISON Remus. (Only in his dreams.)

And Remus-! All smiles! Harry is looking into the goblet? SMILE! 'I was showing HARRY, who is here in my office with us RIGHT NOW, my Grindylow! ...Oh, 'my' potion? Yes, yes... how kind. Lovely. Marvelous. Please and Thankyou and GET OUT.' Antsy. On edge. Calm twinkling eyes are now jaw-clenching smiles.

Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face. ‘Disgusting,’ he said. ‘Well, Harry, I’d better get back to work. I’ll see you at the feast later.’

'How lovely Severus is to brew this innocent potion! I shall drink it now! Teehee, its a bit yucky~ Anyway Harry YOU SHOULD LEAVE.'

He just made the boy some tea, ready to have a heart-to-heart... and because Severus came in with his wolfsbane: screaming internally. On any other day, with any other person, Severus would have struck his pitchfork right into his chest and turned him over like hay. They are both defensive here. Cats circling each-other. Severus is SO spooked due to it being close to the Full Moon, entering a private room with Remus - and now having to speak carefully because The Lad is there - he just allows Remus to be the boss 'Yes, sir - on the desk? Of course...' He just wants to leave. No waxing gibbous werewolf temper. Adios.

...What about a Severus that see's Remus' fear of not being in control of the information in the room - of having Harry ask questions? How about he uses his own discomfort to fuel being a little bugger?

‘Come in,’ called Lupin. The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of Harry, his black eyes narrowing. ‘Ah, Severus,’ said Lupin, smiling. ‘Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?’ Snape walked up to desk, his eyes curiously wandering between Harry and Lupin. ‘I was just showing Harry my Grindylow,’ said Lupin pleasantly, pointing at the tank. 'Right here would be marvelous.' He patted the the edge of the desk furthest from Harry with his fingertips. ‘...I rather think you should drink it now.’ said Snape, ignoring it completely. ‘Your little chat can wait till you recover, surely.’ ‘Yes, yes, I will-’ Lupin seemed a little flustered. His eyes darted to Harry's, and for a moment he thought he could see fear. Harry's stomach dropped a little as he peered curiously at the goblet. ‘I made an entire cauldronful,’ Snape continued. ‘Since you will be needing more than this for your... particular condition-’ ‘Yes, Thankyou, Severus.' Lupin spoke firmer now, cutting him off. Harry had never seen his gaze look so sharp. 'I'll take more tomorrow, then.’ There was an odd standoff between them. Snape's head tilted as he opened his hand for the goblet, but kept his distance. The edge of Lupin's smile strained for a moment before he tipped the strange, steaming brew back and started to drink. Harry had a mad urge to knock the goblet out of his hands. ‘Ugh... Pity sugar makes it useless...’ he almost choked taking one last hurried gulp, leaning to hand the smoking goblet over. ‘Indeed. A pity.’ said Snape, lip curling into a smug hook. There was a look in his eye Harry didn’t like. 'Potter - I highly recommend you leave the Professor alone now to rest.' He turned sharply, cloak flowing behind him as he left. The smoke left a funny smell in his wake. Harry looked to Lupin. There was so much to say he was tongue tied! Does he warn him that Snape wants his job? Does he ask about the potion? A part of him even wanted to comfort his teacher. Adults didn't usually have this much trouble with Snape... ‘Well, Harry, he is right - I’ve been feeling a bit off-colour recently. I’ll see you at the feast later.’ Lupin stood quickly, gesturing him to leave. ‘...Right,’ said Harry, putting his empty teacup down.

I think, if anything, Harry being there would have made Severus bolder. Remus, at the end of the day, can't bring himself to start fights. To refuse to drink the potion would make him look like a child. Rather than seeming like he has a foot up on Snape he now seems a little... pathetic. Infront of the boy he wanted to impress.

Severus is cornering Remus to drain his confidence. He isn't threatening to out him - but he is speaking as if he might, keeping Remus on his toes while staying completely innocent. He is playing Remus' game against him, and is better at it. He has the advantage of far less to hide - and far less to prove.

Chapter 14,

This is the one where Remus and Snape have their grand sparring match about the Marauders Map, but I wanted to add something to what Snape says to Harry beforehand:

‘What did you say to me, Potter?’ ‘I told you to shut up about my dad!’ Harry yelled. ‘I know the truth, all right? He saved your life! Dumbledore told me! You wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for my dad!’ Snape’s sallow skin had gone the colour of sour milk. ‘And did the Headmaster tell you the circumstances in which your father saved my life?’ he whispered. ‘Or did he consider the details too unpleasant for precious Potter’s delicate ears?’ Harry bit his lip. He didn’t know what had happened and didn’t want to admit it – but Snape seemed to have guessed the truth. ‘I would hate you to run away with a false idea of your father, Potter,’ he said, a terrible grin twisting his face. ‘Have you been imagining some act of glorious heroism? Then let me correct you – your saintly father and his friends played a highly amusing joke on me that would have resulted in my death if your father hadn’t got cold feet at the last moment. There was nothing brave about what he did. He was saving his own skin as much as mine. Had their joke succeeded, he would have been expelled from Hogwarts.’ Snape’s uneven, yellowish teeth were bared.

I think Snape would actually be surprised that Lupin hadn't told Harry anything about his father. That HE had told him more about James than ANYONE else had bothered to! He would have expected Harry would now know all sorts of stories where they humiliated him... Unless maybe that was part of a deal? He doesn't talk about werewolves - Remus doesn't talk about his past...? Regardless - I don't think Snape would think it too revealing to say this:

'I suppose your new favourite teacher's painted a very different image of your father. All the better to win your precious trust.'

I think he would be confused that Harry was confused - before getting him to turn his pockets out. It would plant a seed of doubt in Harry's mind: Lupin was keeping BIG things from him.

He strode across to his fire, seized a fistful of glittering powder from a jar on the fireplace, and threw it into the flames. ‘Lupin!’ Snape called into the fire. ‘I want a word!’ Utterly bewildered, Harry stared at the fire. A large shape had appeared in it, revolving very fast. Seconds later, Professor Lupin was clambering out of the fireplace, brushing ash off his shabby robes. ‘You called, Severus?’ said Lupin mildly. ‘I certainly did,’ said Snape, his face contorted with fury as he strode back to his desk. ‘I have just asked Potter to empty his pockets. He was carrying this.’ Snape pointed at the parchment, on which the words of Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were still shining. An odd, closed expression appeared on Lupin’s face. ‘Well?’ said Snape. Lupin continued to stare at the map. Harry had the impression that Lupin was doing some very quick thinking. ‘Well?’ said Snape again. ‘This parchment is plainly full of Dark Magic. This is supposed to be your area of expertise, Lupin. Where do you imagine Potter got such a thing?’ Lupin looked up and, by the merest half glance in Harry’s direction, warned him not to interrupt.

First of all: "A large shape had appeared in it, revolving very fast." Excuse me? 'Revolving very fast?' What direction?? That's fucking hilarious

Severus knows that Lupin made this parchment. He recognized the nicknames. Snape is better with Dark Magic than Lupin, Harry especially suspects Snape is keen on Dark Magic - it is ridiculous to call Lupin there to inspect the map, and everyone knows it. Snape wants to corner Lupin (for once) and get him to slip up about letting Black into the castle. Remus, of course, puts on another mask so he doesn't react to anything - and shoots Harry an 'I've got this' glance. Which is all very well and good for a confident Remus that's had Severus under his heel all year... But OUR Severus? The Severus that's made Remus look (and feel) wimpy? ...I think they're both going to get a shock.

‘Full of Dark Magic?’ he repeated mildly. ‘Do you really think so, Severus? It looks to me as though it is merely a piece of parchment that insults anybody who tries to read it. Childish, but surely not dangerous? I imagine Harry got it from a joke-shop –’ ‘Indeed?’ said Snape. His jaw had gone rigid with anger. ‘You think a joke-shop could supply him with such a thing? You don’t think it more likely that he got it directly from the manufacturers?’ Harry didn’t understand what Snape was talking about. Nor, apparently, did Lupin. ‘You mean, from Mr Wormtail or one of these people?’ he said. ‘Harry, do you know any of these men?’ ‘No,’ said Harry quickly. ‘You see, Severus?’ said Lupin, turning back to Snape. ‘It looks like a Zonko product to me –’ Right on cue, Ron came bursting into the office. He was completely out of breath, and stopped just short of Snape’s desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and trying to speak. ‘I – gave – Harry – that – stuff,’ he choked. ‘Bought – it – in Zonko’s – ages – ago …’ ‘Well!’ said Lupin, clapping his hands together and looking around cheerfully. ‘That seems to clear that up! Severus, I’ll take this back, shall I?’ He folded the map and tucked it inside his robes. ‘Harry, Ron, come with me, I need a word about my vampire essay. Excuse us, Severus.’

To Harry - Lupin didn't seem to know what Snape was talking about. He is stunned as the teachers have their little battle - as Severus tries not to say too much, and Remus lies through his teeth about things he doesn't need to lie about. His name is written on it. Dumbledore would know who 'Moony' is. Given the chance to defend Lupin, Harry and the Weasleys would come clean on how they got it. But OUR Harry? He knows Lupin is keeping secrets. He cuts off conversations when he feels stressed, he stammers excuses for odd behaviour - and now Snape has suggested he knew James more intimately than just 'being friends at Hogwarts' - yet has told him nothing of note. He might be a little protective of Lupin, but he has never trusted any adult fully... and he is starting to smell the lies.

‘You mean, from Mr Wormtail or one of these people?’ he said. ‘Harry, do you know any of these men?’ ‘No,’ said Harry quickly. ‘You see, Severus?’ said Lupin, turning back to Snape. ‘It looks like a Zonko product to me –’ 'But you do, right? Professor?' Harry cut him off. The silence was palpable. Remus' soft smile was missing at he stared back, wide-eyed. Snape was just as speechless. He realized, with a sickening drop in his stomach, he had essentially just come to Snape's defense. Before anyone could say anything more, Ron came bursting into the office. He was completely out of breath, and stopped just short of Snape’s desk, clutching the stitch in his chest and trying to speak.

Harry does what Severus has done all year: Snapped back at Remus' attempts at bullshitting. It's Remus' fear: his student is suspicious of him. Severus is just plain confused. He never thought James Potter's son would jump in to take his side on anything... he hasn't had anyone on his side all year, either. Not that thats unusual. Is this history repeating? A Potter defending Severus from Remus...? Nah. Not quite. (Not posting the original quote - because it's long. Remus says he met the mapmakers, and that they would have wanted to lure Harry out - but otherwise just tells him off like a good little teacher - leaving Harry feeling guilty.)

Harry didn’t dare look at Snape as they left his office. He, Ron and Lupin walked all the way back into the Entrance Hall before speaking. Then Harry turned to Lupin. ‘So you do know them.’ Harry asked directly. 'That's why Snape called for you. Your name is on it.' Lupin looked pained for a moment, like he was sucking on a sherbert lemon. ‘That is correct.’ said Lupin shortly. He glanced around the empty Entrance Hall and lowered his voice. ‘I helped make the map. It was a long time ago. Last I knew of its whereabouts it was confiscated by Mr Filch.’ he said not looking any less pained about having to say it. Ron looked amazed, but Harry's expression hardened as Lupin continued. ‘I don’t want to know how it fell into your possession. I am, however, astounded that you didn’t hand it in. Particularly after what happened the last time a student left information about the castle lying around.’ Harry was too keen for explanations to let him continue. ‘Why did you lie?’ Harry asked sharply. 'If Snape knows one of the names was you, why lie about it?' ‘Because …’ Lupin hesitated, for longer than was comfortable. ‘because... I didn't want you thinking I was suspicious.' Lupin smiled, chuckling slightly as he continued. 'Theres a dangerous man about, Harry! One who wants to lure you out of school-’ ‘One of your friends.’ said Harry, correcting him - and getting more indignant. 'Is his name on the map too? What about my father?' ‘...You're quite sharp, aren't you.’ he said slowly, his smile falling as he looked at Harry more seriously than ever before. 'Yes, they are. It was a long time ago, as I said.' 'Give it back.' Harry snapped, reaching for the map - but Lupin snatched it away. 'I can’t let you have it back, Harry.' Harry's jaw stiffened. Ron looked almost disgusted. 'You said his dad's, yeah? He has a right to it!' ‘I have a right to it too, as one of its makers!' Lupin stopped himself, as if catching that he sounded ridiculously petty. '...I covered for you, Harry - at risk to myself. You can't expect me to do it again. I cannot make you take Sirius Black seriously. But I would have thought that what you have heard when the Dementors draw near you would have had more of an effect on you. Your parents gave their lives to keep you alive, Harry. A poor way to repay them – gambling their sacrifice for a bag of magic tricks.’ He walked away quickly, leaving no room for a response. Harry felt far worse than he had at any point in Snape’s office. 'Sounds more like he was covering for himself...' Ron mumbled, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder.

I wanted a Harry hurt by Remus' lies. Harry never quite see's his teachers bad qualities while he is at school - because he is only 13. But if Snape being a snappy little bugger has one consequence: It's eroding Remus' projection of a confident man without secrets. Harry can sometimes ignore things he isn't directly interested in, but he is interested in both Remus and Snape. He wouldn't miss that. With some added defensive Ron, because Ron is a good lad.

There are many ways to spin this to be more overt, I took a very soft-handed approach that hasn't ended up changing too much. Baseline, I think: Remus would bend the knee to Severus more often than not. His one true goal is to look good - and Severus' goal is to not let him do that. Snape is BETTER at these games than Remus is. Remus has Dumbledore on his side to stop Snape from getting too loose-lipped, but we all know Snape is clever, witty, petty and vindictive. He finds ways around the rules and does his best to get information to the children that will keep them safe. The only thing holding him back is a slight fear of Lupin. If Remus were to confront Snape, beyond dragging him into a Dumbledore meeting, it would be a 'pretending to be nice, full of backhanded-compliments and cheeky remarks' argument in private. In Snapes office, so Remus can leave rather than have to demand Snape leaves. Because the moment Snape actually becomes angry he would leave - with one last biting remark, so he can feel like he had the upper hand.

....Is this like.... what you wanted? I sorta fell off the deep end... I feel like I've been on some sort of bender...

[firecrackerhh]

I got tagged to look at this but I blocked this particular person forever ago so I didn’t see it in my mentions at first but I love sharing my opinions on retarded bullshit.

It is not that Stolas doesn’t care for Octavia at all, it’s more so he’s…easily distracted.

The whole ‘plan’ he came up with sounded like he was coming up with excuses on the fly in desperation to keep Blitz alive. Especially during that part where he went “Fuck it! I am the mastermind!” When you’re in that state of mind, you are going to have fucking tunnel vision, Stolas wasn’t fucking intentionally forgetting about Octavia.

These people act like Stolas is so fucking malicious when it’s beyond obvious to anyone with any actual critical thinking skills that Stolas has done NOTHING but sacrifice his own happiness for others, the trial is just more confirmation of that fact.

Yes, what he’s done in mastermind is certainly selfish, it sucks he didn’t think about Via and how she would react, but every other time we see them together he always eventually comes around and realizes he fucked up! I’m betting that’s how the next episode will play out. I’m so fucking tired of these fucking retards always assuming the fucking worst out of every fucking character all because these fucking shitheads are incapable of understanding how character arcs work and just assume bad intent on a character’s part because of…god I don’t even know the answer to that. I wish I fucking did.

Honestly, if these fucking animals are that fucking mentally retarded that they don’t see how obvious it is that Stolas isn’t a shitty person, if they deliberately keep choosing to put the villains in good faith while shitting all over the characters we are supposed to fucking root for, if they so heavily disagree with the narrative that Vivziepop is so obviously writing out for us, if they’re that fucking delusional…

I dunno man. I dunno. No getting through to these empty headed ingrates. They’re living in a seperate reality. I just…fucking hell, what else do I say here?

These people just don’t accept the premises of the show. They don’t agree with the narrative so they make up their own and act like Viv is wrong for not writing it the way they want. like these people are so fucking retarded, I don’t know how people like this function.

Also the person who made this post is one of those shitty ‘Christian’ trans/homophobic types, so yknow, that’s not surprising at all. Bet God feels real proud to have someone like that using His name to spread bigotry, disgusting.

I wish I could study these people like rats, put them in a maze and see how long it takes for them to reach the exit kinda shit, these people obviously have some kind of mental impairment, like Christ, if your reading comprehension is that fucking bad, I don’t know how the fuck you graduated elementary school.

Seeing shit like this really makes me think this country is doomed.

“Media comprehension isn’t at an all time low!” I’ve heard it said by people who clearly have no media comprehension themselves. Go through my fucking werebitch tag, see the degree of mental illness and retardation and lack of media literacy I bear witness to and fucking explain to me how fucking maggots like this aren’t a symptom of a bigger fucking problem. I’ll fucking wait.

This may surprise some folks, but I don’t like thinking I’m smarter than other people, in real life I am the dumbest bitch alive who can barely do Jack shit on my own thanks to a near crippling degree of lack of self esteem and social anxiety but hoo BOY, do ‘people’ like shown above make me feel a thousand times smarter in comparison. Jesus Christ give me strength…and maybe give shitty so called Christian’s a kick in the ass while you’re at it.

You think if someone threw a rock at this idiot’s obviously empty head the sound would reverberate throughout their skull similar to a bell’s chime? Would it be a low pitch or a high one? Hmm.

🧨🔥~Firecracker out~🔥🧨

[witheredbonnie]

@randoms-random-blog-of-random since you were a coward and blocked me after whining on my post, i'm making this here for you and everyone else still defending scott cawthon in 2024 since yes i "found something" and i'm letting you know. also next time, if youre scared of debate, keep your shitty little opinions to yourself.

i made this post three years ago when scott posted it. its picking up notes again because his actions have been so washed over by people like you that there are fans today who had no idea and are discovering this for the first time. for three years his minority fans have been argued down and our feelings belittled by people like you.

this is not a reaction for notes or popularity or for "drama". scott cawthon has not changed, he has in fact doubled down on his feelings about being "cancelled" with his shitty self insert fanfiction Monster. scott cawthon didn't just make "dumb mistakes". im frankly stunned at your lack of reading comprehension, that or your willful ignorance. scott cawthon donated as much as he legally could to almost every dangerous bigot in power in the american government, and also to Trump himself, one of the biggest catalysts in the popularity of facism and radical bigotry, and who is a bigot and a rapist himself.

scott admitted in his post that he doesnt care about all of this, in fact he might agree with trump when he mentions he wants "america to be strong against its enemies" which i find interesting because if you remember the "enemies" that Trump insisted were a threat to america, it was all just racism. scott has a huge Mexican fanbase, and yet he insisted that Trump had a great foreign policy, Trump's foreign policy being that Mexicans are all drug lords and rapists. scott has a huge LGBT fanbase, and yet he insisted that actually the monsters in power who want to take our rights away are better for us

scott admitted that although other politicians have "nicer things to say" about his lgbt and minority fans, he claims to actually know whats better for us and that happens to be the american economy, not having our bodily autonomy. speaking of that, he admitted to being against the choice of abortion, he probably popped the biggest fucking bottles when Roe V Wade was overturned. and when people expressed that he was literally contributing to the oppression of 90% of his fanbase, he pretended he was being witch hunted just like his favorite president did. he cried cancel culture because he will not and probably will never actually reflect on his beliefs and actions. evangelical christians are kindof like that.

these aren't "dumb mistakes". these are purposeful, unapologetic actions he's taken to fund facism and bigotry in america. he knows this, he's an adult. he's also not just "some guy" anymore, he's a fucking billionaire. he owns probably the most popular indie IP in the world right now. we already were willing to give grace to scott's imperfections, but what cannot be tolerated is using thousands of his fans dollars directly against them. being anti choice, loving racist predators, and acting like you know better for minorities when youre a cishet white christian man is not "being imperfect", that's being a proud bigot. he and you can both pretend and delude yourselves into thinking he ~actually cares and is a nice guy~ but no one who ACTUALLY cares about basic human rights would proudly admit to literally being against them and supporting every GOP freak that is actively stripping human rights away. i dont know what more to say. if that's something you can ignore, you live with an immense amount of privilege.

also, its funny that youre asking for proof when scott's public political donations were brought up June 2021 and are the WHOLE REASON that scott even posted this on reddit in response to the backlash. it appears he's managed to scrub his own information off of opensecrets which is, fucking incredibly suspicious, but here's the original screenshot of some of his faves that he thinks are sooooo much better for minorities actually because theyll make the economy better and nothing else matters right? i cant imagine anyone who agrees with Mitch Mconnel actually gives a shit about you.

[bulkyphrase]

AmeriHawk: a Clint Barton/Steve Rogers rec list

A few of my favorite fics from an underappreciated rarepair!

Found Your Husband by sara_holmes (@captn-sara-holmes) (Teen And Up Audiences, 8,824 words, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings)

Summary: Clint was never any good at strategy. He's pretty good at putting his foot in his mouth, though. Never to the extent where he ends up accidentally marrying someone he's not seen in twenty years, though.

Third Wheel or 20 Dates by cakeisnotpie (Explicit, 9,748 words, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings)

Summary: Steve and Clint are the third wheels around the tower. Basketball, classic movies, plays, and late night workouts ensue. Turns out, they may have been dating the whole time.

More below the cut!

Contractually Obligated, at Least Out of Uniform by snack_size (Explicit, 57,833 words, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings)

Summary: A chance encounter in the SHIELD hallway leads Clint and Steve, post-Avengers, to get to know each other better when everyone else is off having adventures. Things develop slowly, and awkwardly, and probably only thanks to one well timed comment by Tony. From there, Clint and Steve try to navigate a new reality, each other, and their various past traumas.

You were good for her by marmolita (@marmolita) (Explicit, 2,364 words, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings)

Author's Note: "This fic is a followup to quigonejinn's Beast of Burden. It may not make much sense if you haven't read that one first, so please do."

Summary: "Clint, I want--" Steve says, pulling back. Clint looks up at him, one hand on Steve's shoulder and one on the side of his ribs. Steve blinks, looks away. "I want you to hurt me."

Ghosts by AvaKelly (@intermittently-ava) (Explicit, 22,931 words, Graphic Depictions Of Violence)

My Note: This fic and the next one are the reason I ship AmeriHawk. Before I read them I hadn't even considered the ship as a possibility.

Summary: "Under the ice, I was awake." When the words settle in his head, Clint feels dizzy with comprehension. And yeah, there it is, the ripping that slices into his ribcage, sharp and painful, as if trying to erase everything that had touched his chest before. He shudders violently. "How are you sane," a whisper slips out unabated, voicing Clint's realization. "I'm not really."

Illusions by AvaKelly (@intermittently-ava) (Explicit, 26,362 words, Graphic Depictions Of Violence)

Summary: Hawkeye looks at him unblinking, unwinds his muscles with an upturn curl of a corner of his mouth that flashes a hint of teeth into the sunlight. He extends a hand, grips Steve's jaw a little too tight. "This is what kills people," he warns, like he refuses to acknowledge it as part of him. It sends a pang of hurt through Steve, because Clint can see a lot, but how can he not realize that it's Clint speaking through Hawkeye's mouth? They are not separate, but of one being, killer and conscience. That is what makes them soldiers instead of murderers.-- Alternate telling of Ghosts from Steve's perspective. Why you should read it: It has about 3 extra chapters from Ghosts of the boys in the tower. Here we dive into what reality looks like for Steve, after the years in ice. The Cat was here.

A Lifetime Of Dreaming by shatteredhourglass (@shatteredhourglass) (Explicit, 15,541 words, Graphic Depictions Of Violence)

Summary: "Clint," someone calls out, and Clint blinks. Alternatively titled 'Clint Barton And The No-Good, Shitty, Very Bad Day.'

If I Don't Wake Up Dead by copperbadge (@copperbadge) (Mature, 30,756 words)

Summary: Clint Barton -- subby, ex-carnie white trash, spy -- isn't the kind of guy Captain America goes for. Nobody informed Captain America of this.

in the day by harcourt (@haforcere) (Not Rated, 2,586 words)

Summary: For this prompt, where Steve is a man out of time, and things really were better way back when. Today, Doms control every aspect of their subs lives, more like ownership than a partnership. And when Steve wakes up, every one expects him to slot neatly into society because he comes from a time when "Doms were Doms and subs were subs," right? Also available as a podfic read by GoLBPodfics (@godoflaundrybaskets)

Chase Away the Winter's Chill by drmcbones (Teen And Up Audiences, 4,461 words)

Summary: Everybody sees Steve as the invincible Captain America, the hero who bounced back from being frozen for 70 years and went straight back to kicking ass and taking names. People forget that he's still a human being who underwent a horrific trauma. So Clint is thrown for a loop when he visits Steve's apartment and finds him in the midst of a panic attack brought on by his first winter since his near death in the arctic. Cue Clint doing whatever it takes to look after his teammate and remind him that he is not alone.

Boundless by AvaKelly (@intermittently-ava) (Teen And Up Audiences, 931 words)

Summary: Steve gets rewarded for his sacrifice with the choice of roaming the world as an invisible spirit while he's frozen and he takes it. One day, he meets a boy and makes a promise.

(my heart is) A Church of Scars by Kangofu_CB (Teen And Up Audiences, 4,384 words)

Summary: "Steve." It was a gentle correction, but implacable all the same. "It's Steve. And you never belonged to Loki because I'm pretty sure you belong to me." He reached for the buttons at his throat and began loosening them, revealing pale collarbones and smooth, hairless skin, but before the stripping could get really risque - and some distant part of Clint was deeply disappointed - Steve stopped unbuttoning the shirt and instead pulled the edges of it aside, so that his right shoulder was showing. A right shoulder that was marred by a very distinctive, starburst-shaped scar. The kind of scar an arrow left. Clint's vision narrowed to pinpricks, and he could feel himself panting in short, choppy bursts. In the aftermath of the Battle of New York, Clint finds something to hold on to.

Another First Kiss by Sineala (@sineala) (Explicit, 22,645 words)

Summary: Clint and the rest of the Avengers are alive and safe, home again after Onslaught. The team is getting back together. Life is great. And, what's more, Clint has woken up to one of his longtime fantasies, come true at last: Steve Rogers is naked in his bed and is very, very happy to see him. Everything would be perfect... if only Clint could remember anything at all about how Steve got there. Uh-oh. Okay, so he has a bit of amnesia. There's only one thing to do: wing it. The memories are bound to come back, any minute now. In the meantime, Clint can absolutely, definitely pretend that he knows what he's doing, who all these new Avengers are, and how the hell he ended up dating Captain America.

[death-in-a-handbasket]

I have to send this here bc idk anyone else who will listen to this complaint.

Someone on Instagram commented on a thread I’m on about BSD fans and horrible takes and she’s talking about how she agrees bc “nobody in the fandom seems to understand these characters are morally gray not everything is about good and evil” and agreeing that nobody here has basic reading comprehension or “media literacy”. I go to check out her page and like most people in the fandom she does ship SKK, SSKK, and also Fyolai, also reposted things about being enemies AND lovers. But it’s also funny stuff so I want to follow. I realize she has a byf so I check it out and she says “DNI if you ship problematic ships”.

YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS SHIT UP

Both with the tone deaf shipping things that are frankly problematic and not even realizing it bc “well I like it so it must be ok, problematic is what I don’t like” mentality most ppl in fandoms have, and the complaining about media literacy and realizing this manga has a lot of gray characters… but not realizing that bc of that most ships are gonna be problematic especially if they’re enemies AND lovers. I just…

hmmmm, I see why you're irked tbh, it seems like quite the foolish thing to put down when you're already working on the premise of characters who are morally gray and/or shitty individuals, especially if they're going to ship really deranged/violent dynamics. now, no shade to fucked up and weird dynamics, I LOVE those, but yeah that technically falls under the umbrella of problematic ships. I will give you the point for being correct on how people can read rancid dynamics and be totally willfully blind to the level of rancid these dynamics are and not acknowledge it at all. hence the romance novel community referring to things that are evidently really deranged as just "dark romances" etc

however fandom and discourse had worn the meaning of problematic rather thin to the point where it sounds downright overused, it's become the new iteration of toxic, where it's really anyone's guess to what degree of severity they mean. giving the benefit of the doubt and because I haven't personally seen this person, I assume by problematic they likely mean more along the lines of pedophilia/incest and the like and are using an umbrella term to cover that field. whatever man, people are going to be vague or use a word for their own personal meaning, it's not my job to police this or pass righteous judgement on a pretty joe average fan for something rather benign

this is especially not in my field simply because I'm not a shipper, I don't ship anything from any fandom for the most part and that's not my scene, so this is even less of my area to comment

I get where your frustrations are coming from but terms these days have gotten so vague, idk man I'd just block and move on if it really bothers you

[rabbitindisguise]

I think in literature there is an emphasis (probably because of the pretentiousness of academia) to focus on the value in all readings to encourage people to participate and find a love of literature analysis etc

But ultimately at some point I've had to remind myself you can just be flat wrong. Like people can have flawed analysis. And wrong theories. And their criticisms can be completely baseless.

I wish alongside "there's value in pursuing even wrong and dumb theories, and something that seems dumb may be correct" there was also a lesson on "don't just mindlessly accept whatever someone else says just because they're criticizing something." Teach people to go to media with an open mind. Give alternatives to yelling at it for having tropes and fitting genre expectations.

We joke about reading comprehension on this website, but more than that when I try to frequently catch people with shitty reading comprehension and ignore them for having meritless ideas I enjoy media more. Because then it doesn't matter how shitty someone's reading comprehension is- if they're not going to be believed automatically to have an accurate good faith reading of the text, then the impact is far smaller

Tldr I'm remembering the full extent of what "question everything" actually means

[synonymouswithanonymous]

to anon lol

Responding/snatching quotes from the hate blog. Sorry to tag but as always please skip if uninterested. 😊

I'm calling out ridiculous hate posts full of delulu. Why would I call out nice decent respectful posts? Again you don't make sense. To be fair: edited: I have quoted several quotes I do like, as recent as circus review press.

and lol i also only see what's on my dash. I'm sure I've missed lots of things like someone told me there were calls for JM to be raped, I hadn't seen that one, but am also disgusted by whatever shitty asshole said that. Bc lets face it you/anyone say things like that, you are in fact a shitty person. I don't usually judge people but there are clear boundaries of what's ok and not ok. What I will and won't post. Any person fantasizing about self harm or rape bc she's dating your celeb crush is a shitty person.

"They provide inaccurate translations"

Nope. I do not. That's another lie, you just can't help yourself. But i wouldn't expect the person dedicated to mistranslating and lying about their celeb crush's GF's every word, bc they're too delulu and jealous to understand that lol. I've never provided inaccurate translations (except shakes instead of trembling but it was close!😊) . he never said for "other people" "for others", clearly meaning other birthdays. Not other people. You literally inserted a word that was not there to create a fiction you want to be true. Lol

Someone else also provided the same translation I did. They also didn't feel the need to insert words that were not there. I'll check it again later just to be sure, but "other people" wasn't in there "for others" was clearly, in the context of the convo he'd done a lot for other birthdays, but was disappointed he didn't go big this year. Then the other guy talked about going big for his next bday. It's a short blurb, but you want to add words and instead of an inch take 20 miles! Lol it only doesn't make sense if your reading comprehension is lacking lol.

Just like when someone (you/haters) took "my parents are simple people" and changed it to "simpletons." Changing meaning and context from a nice sentiment to an insult towards his parents. Why? Bc you wanted to bash his parents?

Reading comprehension is important. Context is key.

"So far as checking people’s vpns and accounts/posts"

I've not checked any vpns/IPs but thank you for confirming my hypothesis as accurate. 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 but it really wasn't hard to figure out that it's 90% you. Multiple accounts one IP. Lol I'll wait and see if the same "personalities" come back later saying the exact same things again, and again just like the last 50 times lol. But you said specifically "checking" lol you didn't have to tell me I was right about the soap operas either, but thanks for the telling remarks. Lol

AHA's Joe Goldberg like fan"s" just mad they got called out accurately. 😂🤣

Also why would I try to communicate over there? I have my own blog and am not at the whimsy of whatever they decide to post either lol. I've been told they don't post every ask by more than 6 users. Lol better off here.

Now I have made clear, I believe, that I wont post hate messages about AHA/JM or about their haters. He has some dedicated haters. Who knew? I don't believe in telling people, even jealous delulu ones, to "kys" or "themselves."or spreading that type of hate. 8 usernames said that about haters and that they should do that. 8. Shitty people like that have no business on my blog. I also will not post exploitive images of celebs naked so that grown men can get their fix (it's called google or buy the movie and watch it yourself damn).

But I will call out lies, mistranslations, and all the ridiculous delulu I see. And there's a lot of it.

[onetruesirius]

In terms of artistry and homework... I think that there's a fundamental disconnect when it comes to AI, broadly, about what the fucking point of all of this, even is??

If I am grading a paper about anything, there is fundamentally one thing and really one thing only that I am looking for, at all. Right, because we all call it AI plagiarism, you took SOMEONE ELSE'S INTELLECTUAL PROPE—

*GUNSHOT*

No. I don't even necessarily care all that much that you tried to pass someone else's work off as your own. Realistically, that shit happens all the time—I could give a shit but people steal/unduly take credit for each other's work CONSTANTLY in industry and business and generally out in the real world. We see it happen all the time, historicially and in the present. There's a huge precedent, actually, for people being very VERY financially successful when they steal other people's ideas, hand over fist. That's just a reality of life.

What I care about is that I heard from you. I care that I heard YOUR thoughts, from YOUR head, conveyed in the way that you and ONLY YOU can convey them. Yeah, maybe they aren't organized the prettiest way, but that's a skill that can be developed, with time and practice. The point of writing at ALL is to start a conversation. If you're not even willing to fucking start a conversation with your thoughts, with a discussion of someone else's opinion in your own understanding? Then there's no point to even submitting it.

I'd literally rather you submit a shitty hand-scribbled outline that I can barely read but that consists of your own thoughts. Maybe it's harsh, but I don't need you to open your mouth at all if only other people's voices comes out of it.

If you'd rather a computer speak for you, then there's just nothing to start any sort of conversation with, beyond how utterly disappointed I am that you completely missed the point of what you were even doing, period. You don't necessarily have to hold respect for me, or for the class, or even the material, but I would hope that you have a little more respect for yourself than that. I would very dearly hope that you think your own ideas are worth sharing with others, because I think they are, if you can coax them out of your head with a little thought and care.

If I cared about just getting 48 copies of what an LLM thinks a good essay about [topic] is, in my inbox, I could just as easily [if not more easily] ask ChatGPT myself to generate 48 different essays—that's not even hard. But it's also not what I want. I don't want to hear what a computer thinks [and dubious if it actually thinks and is able to transform ideas from given information, in its current state, or if that's a whenever sort of thing, but regardless]. I want to hear what YOU think. Speak YOUR words. If you're not willing to say YOUR words, it's exactly the same as if you never said anything at all.

And here we resolve to a massive underlying issue: Is the goal of creation a product, or the act of synthesis of thoughts and ideas + self-expression?

Because if all you care about is a file in a submissions box, to get a grade or to just make money off of it... then yeah, who cares? Fucking steal if you want to. Acknowledge that it's not fundamentally yours, but it's whatever, right?

However. If the goal of a community space [a classroom, fan spaces] is the integrity of self-contribution, of thought and the process of personal comprehension and individual synthesis and the joy of bringing fundamentally personal ideas into reality by the direct mechanism of human metaphorical hands [i.e. the act of creation], then.... I don't think that there can be a meaningful defense of people just.... not bringing their own voice to the table? Use of AI tends to not really match the ethos of these sorts of spaces, because the goal of AI generation is a marketable, consumable product rather than the labor of love to an idea. Again. Please have SLIGHTLY more self-respect than that.

If you personally didn't love an idea, a bit of writing, a song, a picture, enough to spark an idea that you loved enough to create something about it? That you loved enough to learn how to create what you wanted to make, about it? That you loved enough to ask other people about it and make a community of people to talk about it and enjoy it together (which is... what fandom is?).... That's a clear indicator to me that we don't love this thing to the same degree. You don't care about this thing or yourself enough to even bother adding your own fucking voice to a conversation, and if I wanted to hear what a logistical regression curve through nth-dimensional space, had to say about Good Omens, I honestly just would have fucking asked it myself.

do people have no shame anymore?

[localgardenweed]

What are your tips for learning another language like Spanish?

Opened my phone ay work to find this and i honestly not sure because i grew up with the language, it was technically my first language before english became more dominant but i also still very much struggle with spanish but know i have a much easier time learning it than people who literally only know one language so like im like ehhh i’ll try my best to explain some tips. I AM NOT A PROFESSIONAL SO TAKE THIS WAS SO MUCH SALT BRO SO MUCH DROWN IN THE SALT

Just start off slow and choppy, don’t rush into it and just start with the alphabet and like children’s stories. They’re simple for kids to learn to read and simple for you to learn and understand. Keep advancing the reading levels to your likings. I used to read this one like kids book that was English one way and you flipped it over and it was Spanish the other way. Also the ones where they have it in English one sentence and translate the sentence below/above it is good too. Just go to the store and loiter at the spanish book section

Write short paragraphs or sentences whatever you’re comfortable with, put them into either like google translate or test em out in the wild or someone you know who knows spanish to see if it’s understandable. It doesn’t matter if it’s like really wordy or choppy, all that’s matters rn is that you’re understood about what you want to do/say. Just get the basic message across and build from there by adding slang, shortcuts etc etc.

Context clues. Do you remember in grade school when your teacher was teaching you how to figure o it what a word meant by the worfs around it? Yeah use it while you learn. Honestly a lot of reading comprehension is carried over so do a lot of that.

Rn to brush up on my comprehension and just to get more comfortable with Spanish since im in AP Spanish and scared shitless ill suck im rewatching Amphibia but in Spanish. So try to watch your favorite shows in Spanish, try with your preferred language subtitles (warning they might not always match up since certain things can’t be translated directly/ not enough time to execute) and then switching to Spanish. Or just hop straight into Spanish if you know how to read it. I love doing this cause if i dont understand what was said i still know the context of the situation so i can try to piece together what was said

Watch videos and follow along, make charts with all the tense endings, WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN DAWG I STILL HAVE MY VOCAB SHEETS FROM SPANISH 2 SOPHOMORE YEAR I DID NOT TRUST MYSELF TO REMEMBER ANYTHING.

Know that Spanish varies from country to country especially the vocabulary because in my house a swimming pool was un alberca but in class i was taught it was un piscina. Both are correct like how in the US people said soda or pop. Don’t think you fucked up too hard it’s probably just called smth else according to some people. Try to learn a few just in case.

Have fun with it, and be humble about it do not be that person who is like super snobby that they know spanish (this applies to any language too) and then like say something so horribly with such confidence like be humble know you will fuck up and it will happen. Its better to say “this is gonna be so shitty im still learning spanish” than try acting like you knew it all along. You will try and fail, and you just gotta get back up. Don’t try to push the process too hard, this takes time and i mean a lot of time. Make sure you surround yourself with people who are gonna support and help you as with any task

I still struggle saying 60 and 70 like that is a struggle do not be ashamed. I already have a minor stutter and that hits hard when im saying either or

This is all the wisdom i can bestow upon you anon, i have tried my best and i hope you can find the strength and wisdom to carry on my teachings and one day surpass me

[lordmushroomkat]

Sometimes you reblog a post because you go "wow yeah it is crazy that people say x character is an evil little freak and responsible for everything that goes wrong while y character doesn't get shit for anything" and you leave a little tag saying that 'yeah the little guy is fucked up but that's the juicy part and he should not be blamed for his many crimes because he is doing his best' and you think that's the end of it because you and that post agree with each other.

But then op comes back to yell at you for your shitty tags and say that you have no reading comprehension and how dare you imply that the character ever did anything and why would you find it fun to watch him be oppressed into crimes. And it starts to dawn on you that you are most likely in for An Experience because literally where did you get that impression of the words that I said. And you realize that this is one of those people who is Very Serious about fandom and does not approve of people being too weird about fiction. And so you try to explain your own words to this person and clarify your intent and you hope and pray that maybe they will actually listen to you when you tell them that the purpose of fandom is to be weird about fiction and it's a hobby we do for fun.

But they come back with more! And they think you are very very stupid and incapable of understanding things and you're like "??? How did this become an argument what the fuck is happening? I was moisturized unbothered and in my lane and suddenly someone is trying to fight with me??? Why are we so serious about this I literally wasn't even beefing with you?" But like of course everything is always an argument for no reason at all out here, so it's useless to try to be calm and chill at people when they will always always yell at you, but we try anyway!

We try anyway and people are always mad regardless and imply that your words are heinous enough to require brain damage to remove from their head and you have no idea how you got here. You never know how you got here, you can do your damn best always and forever to be chill and accepting and encourage others to do the same for the sake of their inner peace, but it will always go horribly because other human beings are physically incapable of not astronomically misconstruing you. Nothing will ever change from how it was in 1st grade. Life is hell and suffering and birth is a curse and existence is a prison and you are so so tired. How did we get here? I'm out here relaxed and in my lane and optimistic about other people and then someone comes to yell at me. We try to be chill and accepting and unbothered and it works until someone else decides that you are the worst thing they have ever seen. Gods, I would just like it so very much if other people would also do the thing where they are unbothered and in their lanes, could we please do the basic courtesy for each other of being more open-minded and kind and relaxed about other people in our hobbies?

Literally how did this happen. I am so tired. Next time maybe I should just read the warning signs on the walls and walk the other direction instead of looking to see if there's anything interesting there. I am so so tired. How did we get here.

[gayspiderl8ver]

if you are being misinterpreted it's because you worded that post extremely badly and i would love to know what point you are actually trying to get across. i am extremely confused. is your girlfriend not your friend? or is she your friend and youre in an incestuous relationship with her? has anyone ever told you that you need to be related for a relationship to be incest?

I know reading comprehension is failing in the United States but to think you'd come to me about it. I'm shocked. The point I got at was that if you only see your friends as "the only option" then it's pretty harmful. It's harmful in the way that incestuous desires are. Maybe I should have framed it the same like saying "siblings being the only choice"? I don't think incest is bad and after being raped by my dad you'd think I might have a bit of an issue with it. Nope. Because being related is not the problem to me. Sorry to people who think it's gross. The problem I explicitly pointed out that you failed to understand was that I made a comparison to shitty behaviour in two areas.

The post was about a lot allosexuals often expecting sex and treating those of us under the asexual umbrella like shit. And I figured I'd try to make that relateable to the rest of you by saying the expectation looks like "they're the obvious choice so of course that means we get together" and it's a real thing that happens a lot.

I've been blown away all day by people calling me an idiot, while applying a million things I never said. You could be any one of them as far as I know. If I was wrong about allosexuals that should have been the target of the discussion. But no actually, all of you got hung up on the coolest part of it like I committed a crime.

I'm demi so to answer that other absurd question; I kind of require being friends with someone before I get into a deeper relationship. Partners should be friends of course, but you don't have to start as friends. You wouldn't know that was possible just from reading all those comments and tags tho.

Did you think you were being fair when you asked this? Or did you intentionally make fun of me with this? Your premise assumes everything I never said. You assume so much already and none of it can be read from me. You read it from the context everyone else said there was.

[survivor-marieta-islands]

Cast Reveal #4 - Sin Sazonar - New School

TANNER | HE/HIM | 24 | MONROW, WASHINGTON

First Season: Trinidad & Tobago (May 2023)

Intro: I traveled USA

Three Words to Describe You: Social, loyal, well-spoken

Hobbies and Passions: Golf

What You're Most Proud Of: Being focused

Why You'll Win: I'm A king

TRINICA | THEY/SHE | 29 | AUSTIN, TEXAS | LITERARY AGENT

First Season: The North Sea (October 2022)

Intro: I've got a big ass and an even bigger heart. 💓 I work with books but my reading comprehension is abysmal. I live in Texas (I hate it here!) with too many animals and just the right number of wives (one).

Three Words to Describe You: I contain multitudes

Hobbies and Passions: Reading (mostly YA), writing, cooking, video games (gimme recs), making hyper-specific playlists for fictional relationships nobody cares about anymore

What You're Most Proud Of: Overcoming a shitty family/upbringing and building a found family that loves me for me

Why You'll Win: Listen....hear me out....I probably cannot. I'm too damn hot and cool and funny and lovable. Why has God cursed me so...

ZEE | SHE/HER | 19 | PORTUGAL | UX DESIGN STUDENT

First Season: Trinidad & Tobago (May 2023)

Intro: Hey there, I'm Zee! I'm a Poledancer and UX Design Student who really enjoys the game of Survivor. I'm a very kind and loyal person, so I'd like to be more like my normal self this time around and play more openly(last time I was just way too paranoid and didn't trust anyone LMAOO) and from the heart, since that's how I function in my day to day anyway :P I'm excited to start this game and make friends who also enjoy Survivor! I don't really know what else to say so yeah I'm excited to meet everyone and hyperfixate on this for a bit!

Three Words to Describe You: Loyal, Gay, Creative

Hobbies and Passions: Crochet, Making Friendship Bracelets, Art, Dancing, Languages, and UX Design!

What You're Most Proud Of: My ability to adapt and try new things

Why You'll Win: Because I put my heart and soul into everything I do ✨😌✨

ARVIN | HE/HIM | 25 | PHILIPPINES | ANALYST

First Season: The North Sea (October 2022)

Intro: Hi y'all, it's me again, Arvin. I'm an accounting analyst in a beverage company in the Philippines. I really enjoy watching reality TV shows and survivor is my favorite. I also like to listen to music and watch TikToks on my free time.

Three Words to Describe You: Cheerful, Energetic and Fighter

Hobbies and Passions: Watching movies, listening to podcasts

What You're Most Proud Of: I'm proud of being me. Haha.

Why You'll Win: I believe I can win this because I've learned a lot now and I have developed my skills that I can use while playing the game.

SHAWN | THEY/THEM | 23 | FOREST, ONTARIO | CHILD CARE WORKER

First Season: Halsingland (August 2021)*

*On the New School tribe because they were 2nd boot and have not played since

Intro: Hi! I'm Shawn, I'm new to this but excited to start this season right! I love my job working with kids but I love my dogs more and will never stop talking about them!! I am more than happy to help with every and any challenge!

Three Words to Describe You: Funny, bubbly, competitive

Hobbies and Passions: I love my dog and knitting

What You're Most Proud Of: My career. I never knew I could do something that would better life for so many people.

Why You'll Win: I am fill of fire and spirit and the petty level of a white man

[roseofcards90]

It honestly baffles me how people are dunking on Sada and Turo for being shitty parents much more than I saw when Sun and Moon first came and Lusamine was first revealed to be the villain like huh 😭 where was that energy before??? Because I feel there’s more nuance with Sada and Turo’s characters and their motivations than there were with Lusamine’s (I’m talking about her in the games of course, not the anime. I will also leave discussion for what happens in Ultra Sun and Moon for another post, so I’m only talking about the plot of the original Sun and Moon here). I’m honestly just tired of all the bashing on the Professors and them being watered down to “typical shitty parent in Pokemon” when the game clearly states and implies the exact opposite.

Lusamine is very much shown to have abandoned her kids, openly berating them and saying she has no children right in front of her daughter’s face because they “abandoned her love” and going forth with her plan to open the wormholes and summon the ultra beasts with no consideration for anything else. She doesn’t have the headspace to care about her children anymore in her plan, in huge contrast to Sada/Turo’s plan where despite how extreme it was, was at the core still centered around their son and their family. I think chalking it down to just “well they’re still both bad parents anyway” takes away some of the complexity surrounding their characters in the first place. Also I’m only bringing Lusamine as a comparison mostly because Ghetsis and Giovanni do not have any other depth to their characters in the core games lmao, and I feel Lusamine is a great example of a parent who used to care but had lost that love after her husband’s “death” and along the way of achieving her goal, while Sada and Turo are examples of the complete opposite: parents who still held onto that love and care throughout their goal, but took it so far that they hurt the one person it was for the most out of everything. It really feels like people are portraying the professors’ flaws in the completely wrong way. The problem was never “they never loved their son at all and intentionally abandoned him” it was “they became so invested and deluded in their plan they ended up neglecting the treasure it was supposed to be for.” which is exactly what distinguishes them from all the other parent antagonists we’ve seen so far. There’s a certain tragedy present in seeing a broken family that used to be so happy together that I feel was also in Sun and Moon’s story, but was muddled due to the story focusing on other aspects.

And I’m going to address this right now because I know people are going to say something because they lack reading comprehension: I am not excusing Sada and Turo’s actions in the game and how their neglect had affected Arven. Explanations are not Excuses. You can acknowledge that they loved their son while still hurting him in the end, both ideas can coexist. I merely just want to analyze wtf even happened here for the professor to go down this path. And it’s also worth nothing that we don’t have much answers in the game itself as of right now, since well—the original is dead and we’re dealing with an AI version of them for the entirety of the game. Most of this is coming from the original’s journals in the lab, but I think the game makes a clear distinction that they still loved Arven even after everything. Despite their delusion taking over them, I think they genuinely believed what they were doing was the best for them and their family despite otherwise. The whole point at the end was to highlight how they didn’t need to create that paradise. They had that loving family already, and it was too late for them to realize that Arven only needed them and nothing else.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I want the DLC to address Arven’s other parent and what exactly happened to them (or better yet, meet them in the story which would honestly be an interesting parallel where the professor of the opposite version is the one you get to know more than the original in game one). I know the in game Professor’s journal entry says they “walked out” but what does that even mean in hindsight? Keep in mind this is from the point of view of someone who’s continuously being deluded into their own idea of paradise, who most likely felt grief after their partner left them that they built an entire AI of themselves to help complete the project.

And yet they still say they’re going to build a paradise for “the three of them.” Does that mean the in game professor was also trying in some way to bring the other parent back? What if it was an accident? What if they were sent through the time machine and couldn’t go back, and the in game professor was so distraught their delusion out of sheer desperation made it so they processed it as “(s)he walked out on me, and now I’m all alone.” Of course this all a lot of speculation, but it just doesn’t make sense to me how Arven’s other parent would “leave” like that. Maybe I’m being an optimist about it, but it really does feel like it was unwillingly in some way, where the in game professor’s increasing delusion was the reason why they “left” so to speak.

And that’s not even addressing the 3rd legendary of the game and its role in all of this is. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was meant to parallel the snake/the devil in Genesis, as the sin of temptation since the professor and Area Zero have a lot of similarities with the Garden of Eden and this idea of “paradise” for their family. Where the 3rd legendary gave them the opportunity to create their paradise by giving them access to the paradox pokemon and terastalizing, and thus influenced them so much, it eventually led them down to a path of their own destruction consumed by the delusion that they could create a paradise for their family, but failed to recognize they ended up hurting the one person they treasured most in the end. If the other professor did indeed return in the DLC, maybe it would give the chance to separate themselves from their spouse and make things right with both the region and Arven. Having them be the antithesis to the other Professor’s motivation and making the choice to stay with Arven in the present would be a really cool way to wrap up the story ngl.

Anyways people who portray them as apathetic and uncaring to Arven in fan art and fics I wish you a very “play the fucking game again please”. Even their character design sheets say otherwise, especially with Sada like I cannot imagine the woman described as “not being able to hide her emotions well” would be a cold and uncaring mother like come on 💀 I played Violet for crying out loud and I’m still able to recognize that.