#APPARENTLY HASHTAGS GET YOU MORE ATTENTION

[hanselplusgretel]

I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO MAKE A GOOD FIRST POST!!

HI GUYS HOW ARE YOU GUYS DOING I’M DOING HORRIBLE AS ALWAYS!

FUNNY STORY I WAS SCREWING AROUND WITH MY BIKE AND I ACCIDENTALLY RAN OVER THE CAPS LOCK BUTTON ON OUR COMPUTER SO THAT’S WHY IT’S LIKE I’M YELLING

HERE’S A COOL MEME BECAUSE APPARENTLY THOSE GET YOU MORE RECOGNITION AND ATTENTION

PRETTY RELATABLE HAHA YEAH OKAY UH FOLLOW ME I MEAN US FOR MORE POSTS AND GRETEL IS GONNA POST HERE TOO SO MAKE SURE TO NOT LIKE OR REBLOG HER POSTS!!!

[amessforlife]

PAY FUCKING ATTENTION TO IRAN

I am FURIOUS and BAFFLED that major news outlets are not covering what’s going on in Iran right now and I don’t fucking have a twitter so I can’t make noise over there, even though apparently that’s the only social media platform people pay attention to????

Students at Sharif University of Technology in Tehran have been one group of many students and professors across the nation protesting, and NOW, the regime’s security forces have LOCKED THE STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY AND ARE ARRESTING THEM IN MASSES AND SHOOTING AT THEM IF THEY TRY TO ESCAPE OUT THE GATES.

You have DOZENS of teenagers running for their lives in the dark while their parents and fellow citizens are protesting outside the gates chanting “free the students”. And NOW, the they’re sending more repression forces to the University!!

A BBC article says it’s unable to verify the events at the university in the same space it writes that VIDEO FOOTAGE on social media shows students RUNNING FROM SECURITY FORCES ON CAMPUS.

THE AUDACITY.

Share as much as you can about this on all of your social media platforms. Tag as many human rights activists and groups and news outlets you can think of to get the information out there. And if you have any friends or family in Tehran, let them know if they already don’t that people are mobilising to the university. Help the students!! Use the hashtags that are going around on social media (#mahsaamini, #jinaamini, #opiran, #iranprotests, to name a few).

I’m adding photos from instagram that give more information. Follow @1500tasvir on instagram for on the ground footage, @middleeastmatters, and @golfarahani to name a few.

[If someone has the time to ID these, you are more than welcome to.]

EDIT: This was posted October 2, 2022, please keep this in mind when engaging with content.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/17/2024 Crew Recap

Well, today was once again a day of new and exciting things happening, and some fun progress on all fronts. Anything I missed -- as always please add. Links to all the threads are in the pictures so please visit them, I want to make sure people who actually posted them are credited :) I realize this is a lot, so if you don't wanna read it all, please at least hop to the bottom for a special message.

===Today's Impact===

Petition Status: We broke 58,000 Signatures! Great job everyone!

Our Flag Means Death Status on Television Stats -- Numbers went up a bit!

#SaveOFMD Trending #4 in Hungary, way to go friends!

Source

Wondering if your calls are working? THEY ARE! Apparently they are cataloging and categorizing calls.

Warner Bros Discovery Inc is still trending downward!

Our Flag For Palestine - Care for Gaza Fundraiser is up to $7535!

The team on this is pretty great about transparency, feel free to check out the twitter thread here

===Cast / Crew Sightings===

Chaos Dad, David Jenkins posted about the 35th Annual Glaad Media Awards Nominating Our Flag Means Death for Outstanding Comedy Series!

Con O'Neill started posting stories on IG with #SaveOFMD and also he showed up in a Screen Rant Plus interview! Our Flag Means Death Interview: Con O’Neill On Izzy & Blackbeard In Season 2

And our Pirate Queen Ruibo Qian was reposting save ofmd art on IG!

=Latest Twitter / Other Platform Insanity=

So apparently someone updated the Our Flag Means Death Wikipedia page to say one of the Production Companies was Astroglide, you cheeky little fuckers.

Source

Squishables joined the fun with Astroglide.

Astroglide Announced a Live Reaction Video to OFMD they'll be doing on Friday. Thanks to IG: _Irene_Adler for bringing this to my attention! Somehow I missed it looking at this post this morning.

===Articles===

1. Could HBO’s Beloved ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Jump To Another Ship After Cancellation?

2. Our Flag Means Death's "numbers weren't there" for renewal says MAX's boss - but it is welcome to sail to another platform

3. OUR FLAG MEANS DEATH CANCELED AT MAX, BUT IT COULD FIND LIFE ON OTHER PLATFORMS

===Ways to Help===

So I found of a new way to keep engagement up that I hadn't heard of before-- I apologize if you all already know about it and I'm repeating it! Daily Clicks to help with Engagement: Clickable Links below:

Our Flag Means Death Wikipedia Page Google Search for Our Flag Means Death Google UK Search for Our Flag Means Death Our Flag Means Death IMDB

Fundraiser for LimbPower

Looks like another fundraiser going on by our fellow OFMD Crew, right now is by For Our New Unicorn, that benefits LimbPower. This has been going on since December but has had some ramp up since the cancellation announcement. If you're looking for somewhere to donate, seems to be a good cause!

Calls / Emails / Faxes

I don't believe anything has changed in terms of calls and emails but here's the latest info in case you're just joining us, there's a lovely post over at @renewasacrew's post.

Postcards / Outside the US Fans

@renewasacrew has the following awesome post about how to send mail from outside the US: Are you outside the US and looking to send Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav a letter? 🏴‍☠️

Petition

As usual, sharing the petition with posts is super helpful, and @merryfinches has a cool guide on how to get additional email addresses if you want to help send more signatures here

Hashtag Updates from yesterday

#RenewAsACrew #SaveOFMD #TheNumbersWereThere.

================================================

❤️❤️Lastly because even if you are tired of hearing it, I'm going to keep saying it, so suck it up buttercup here comes some love ❤️❤️

================================================

Every single one of you is enough.

If you bust your ass for this campaign, YOU ARE ENOUGH.

If you signed the petition and that was it, YOU ARE ENOUGH

If you lurk and keep an eye on things, YOU ARE ENOUGH.

If you do nothing at all, and just take care of yourself, YOU ARE ENOUGH.

There is NOTHING in this world that you could do to make you not enough.

Remember that.

You are amazing-

and beautiful-

and everything you do every single day is wonderful-

and YOU are worthy of love.

You are doing a great job just being you. Keep doing that.

We are so lucky to have each and every one of you here on this planet with us.

Remember to drink some water, and take care of yourself if you can. Even if it's just a few minutes a day. You got this, and you're loved. 🥰

Love you crew. Have a good night/day, wherever you are on this little blue dot. <3

[thisapplepielife]

Written for @corrodedcoffinfest.

Eddeth

Day #30 - Fame & Fortune | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: Language | POV: Eddie | Pairing: Fake!Eddeth, Steddie | Tags: Modern AU, Stop Trying to Make Eddeth Happen, It's Not Gonna Happen, Eddie & Gareth Are Best Friends, They Are Also: Idiot², Paparazzi, Social Media, Luddite Eddie, Steve Harrington Has To Clean Up All Their Messes, But What Else Is New?

"Did you know they're shipping us?" 

"Shipping us where? I hope they poke holes first," Eddie says, looking over at Gareth as he's scrolling on his phone. Gareth isn't listening to him, doesn't even laugh, which Eddie thinks is rude. That was a great dad joke.

He's picked up dad jokes from Steve, because Steve's corny as fuck. 

"Not like that," Gareth says, "like, shipping us together. We have a name and everything."

"Speak English," Eddie demands.

"You know, like Bennifer? But we're Eddeth," Gareth says.

"Who's Bennifer?"

"Which version?" Gareth asks, "Nevermind. You don't care. It's the ship name for Ben and Jennifer together. Do you never read the tabloids?"

"No. And I don't like that," Eddie says.

"Well, I knew you wouldn't. But now they're thinking about us. Together. Romantically. Enough that we have a mash-up of our names together."

Eddie barks out a laugh, "Well, alright. Whatever floats their boat."

Gareth sits there quietly for a bit, then says, "Maybe we can use this. Drum up some attention for the band. Get our name out there. Be a trending hashtag."

"I don't know what that means," Eddie says. 

"I know you don't. But we could, like, get in the zeitgeist."

"I hate everything you're choosing to be right now," Eddie says.

"Eddie. This could blow us up."

"Well, sure, in that case I'll tell Steve to just step aside."

"Not for real, dummy. Just for the paparazzi. Get our names talked about more. If they see more of the band, they may like the band more."

Eddie says he'll think about it, but he has no intention of doing any of that. They are exactly the right amount of famous. He can walk down the street without being harassed, but they live comfortably. He isn't about to upset that apple cart.

But it persists. There's buzz, apparently. At least according to Gareth, anyway.

So, at the next show, Eddie hops up on the drum riser and covers Bang Dem Sticks, while flirting with Gareth. It is possible to flirt platonically, and he does it very well. 

The next day, Gareth shows him all the chatter. The tiktoks. The commentary. And, well, maybe they could use this to their advantage. Just for a minute.

So, they walk down a dozen different sidewalks, and no paparazzi cameras pop out to snap pictures. Which is normal. He isn't sure why Gareth suddenly thought they'd make TMZ. 

But Gareth persists, and they even go to the Ivy, and still nothing. 

Even LAX is a fucking bust. 

That night, Eddie crawls into bed next to Steve, and sighs.

"What's the matter with you?" Steve asks, tipping down his iPad to look at Eddie.

"Nobody will take my picture with Gareth."

Steve laughs, "What the hell are you talking about?"

So, Eddie tells him their grand plan, and Steve is laughing his fucking ass off before Eddie can even finish. 

"Eddie. You have to call the paps if you want to do a pap walk. They aren't mind-readers. They don't just show up. Do you think all those pictures of celebs you see are actually candid? They definitely aren't."

Well, Eddie never looks at pap pictures. He has no fucking clue. He likes to fly under the radar.

"Really?" Eddie eventually asks. 

"Really. Do you want me to organize a pap walk for you?" Steve asks, his eyes sparkling with mirth.

"Well. Kinda," he says, "we're Eddeth."

"I know, honey. I've seen all the videos of you flirting with him on stage."

Eddie laughs, "You know that's not real, right?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm not new here," Steve says, "I'll call it in tomorrow. You can be photographed to your heart's content."

And they are. As if it were magic, a handful of photogs are suddenly very aware of where they'll be on various outings. Eddie holds the door for Gareth. Hugs him on the street corner. They get an inordinate amount of coffees that Eddie doesn't even like.

The pictures run, and not a lot of people care, but they are being discussed in some circles. 

So, they keep doing it. Dinners and movies and trips through the airport where they're not really going anywhere. Only going through security, as if they were.

That's a brand new kind of torture. Who goes through TSA when they don't actually have to? 

More coffee. Coffee, coffee, coffee. Eddie's never bought this many drinks in his life. 

And then the bottom falls out. 

Someone makes a video that goes extremely viral, explaining everyone in their Corroded Coffin circle. 

Including Steve. 

In fact, it's almost mourning the breakup of them. Steddie. They're Steddie, apparently, and now the fans, the real fans, those that actually have followed them, are upset. Pointing fingers, assigning blame. Some to Eddie, some to Gareth.

Fuck.

"Uh, we've got a problem," Eddie tells Steve, and Steve just shakes his head, already aware of the situation.

"Do we have to do a pap walk now?" Eddie asks, worrying his hands together. 

He never did anything romantic with Gareth. It can all be explained away, swept under the rug. 

He thinks.

He hopes.

"I really don't want to," Steve says, and that's that. They won't.

Now, Eddie's either a cheater in the eyes of their actual fans, or they think Steve's gone. 

Instead, Gareth does a couple pap walks with his girlfriend, and she's branded a beard, immediately. They really fucked this up, big time. 

"We'll go to dinner. The four of us," Steve says, "I'll call it in."

And Eddie kisses his cheek, over and over.

Just to be safe, Steve has their publicist send TMZ a copy of their marriage certificate, and some boilerplate that Eddie and Gareth are just best friends, and always have been.

As they settle into the booth at the restaurant, pictures still being taken, Steve asks, "Are we done trying to be tabloid fodder? Have we learned our lesson?"

"Yes, Steve," Eddie and Gareth both say in unison.

If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @corrodedcoffinfest and follow along with the fun! 🦇

[wingzie]

The Mirrorring of Army: Then and Now

I didn't expect my previous post to gain some hate, so here goes my third post of the day: There are good and bad side to every fandom, but if you spend so much time with the negative. All you will see or feel is that negativity. Yes, some of my experiences with Army have been frustrating, but it's like a sibling relationship. I will still be there for other Army and A LOT of my experiences have honestly been life changing in a good way. I'm sure I'm not the only one that feels this... In 2019 BTS performed at the GMA. Spoilers: Jikook were very cute. Army there at the time were told to leave quickly and they did, but then returned to pick up their trash or belongings. Last year when Jungkook's concert, also at GMA, got cancelled there was a lot of confusion and fear. Army helped each other to get shelter and reach home. Especially those who were not from the area or who had flown in from South Korea. This is simular to what happened at Busan when the mobile network went down and some I-Army got stranded. K-Army helped them reach their destinations when they got turned down by local taxis. When BTS did their recent concerts, there were A LOT of complaints about Army not singing along enough. It was obvious that the sound wasn't coming through properly on the stream, because you could hear the chants in fancams. However, there was a delay. Now that we have the PTD Behinds, the members THEMSELVES mentioned about how bad the sound reverb was. There was a delay on the sound in the stadium, depending on where you stood. That's why in some clips it sounds like the fan chants are massively out of sync.

There was also the belief that certain members would get zero cheers whilst on stage. I still do not understand where this lie came from, but it spread very far and hashtags were started. All the members got the loudest cheers I have heard. They always will. It was started to create fear and it started a chain reaction for no apparent reason, because so many like to assume the worse before getting their facts right. Army also helped each other whilst waiting in lines. Again, simular to what happened at James Corden in 2020.

Back in 2019 there were a lot more scandals or hate aimed towards the members than some of you might know of. However, they were dealt with in GC's or in private to prevent those hateful words from spreading. Now it's almost like this hatred is used to get engagement. Paddington, a know anti back then, even said that they would say things to try to get on Report Pages because it would help get them more attention. Antis follow our report pages to know which posts or accounts to boost. Boosted accounts are harder to take down because of the Twitter algorithm and it's why so many do beg to not engage with such posts. This includes using their name, responding or quoting. Is there an easy solution? I don't really know. But if you ever start to feel unsure, please step away and remember those good times: When MMA 2020 Jikook happened. When we donated money to the Beyond the Rainbow Foundation in South Korea after Yoon won his election. The happiness each Bangton or Run Episode brings. The joy we'll feel once Jin is back...

[my-mt-heart]

Apparently Daryl and Carol in season 3 wind up accidentally sailing to Spain instead of America via London. I just feel like we could have had two seasons of Carol finding Daryl and the two of them discovering love was there between them all along as they journey home, then it would provide an epic conclusion to their story arc. Instead we have nun ship baiting, rumors of Beth being rammed in as a lost love memento mori with the nun echoing her as a copycat Beth (Emily Kinney is reputedly recording Walking Dead songs why I don't know but it is heavily causing me to side eye with scorn because Beth was a teen and we have Carol a beautiful mature woman who is his equal) , Daryl negative to Carol and now Zabel shitting where he lives. People want Caryl, AMC has been baiting us with hashtag Caryl and artistically it makes absolute sense. Instead we have middle aged white men EPs who can't accept love interests don't have to be attractive blondes of childbearing age.

I saw the post about them "accidentally" ending up in Spain and granted if the o.g. source was an extra, then they aren't a reliable narrator, but at the same time, I don't underestimate Zabel's carelessness, so let's discuss briefly (S3 is the furthest thing from my mind right now tbh). What's frustrating is that there's a perfectly logical reason for Caryl to sail south first instead of west to get home, but because he doesn't bother doing any research, Zabel chooses something convoluted and hokey that also makes Caryl look incompetent. Which, as we know, they most definitely are not.

To me, Bethyl conspiracy theories are just that, so idk if there's really anything to talk about there, but as far as AMC should be concerned, even just suggesting the idea of Daryl having romantic feelings for a teenager or a nun is not a line they want to cross. Case in point, fans calling them out on multiple platforms right now for Zabel's comments.

Daryl and Carol don't need to discover they're in love. They are in love and the EPs insisting that they can't be is a reflection of some really deep ageism like you said. A relationship with a nun Daryl barely knows makes perfect sense to them, but a gray-haired woman he's shared a deep connection with for 14 years? Well, that would make their non-existent dudebro viewers run for the hills, and they certainly can't have that. I want to talk more about the ageism and misogyny in a separate post though. The other reason for such a definitive stance is their resentment over Carol disrupting the story they were trying to tell in S1. Contrary to what they say, they did not "always" plan for her to be involved. I know some people don't want to trust me, so then trust your eyes. Go back and watch how Carol is positioned in the trailer. Pay attention to how Zabel and Nicotero talk during the SDCC panel and in their interviews. Again, some of the things they say are nonsense, but they also give themselves away quite a bit. I'm not comfortable with either of them making any decisions for Caryl's story.

[stupendousfoxthing]

Like clockwork, everyone's bitterness about Jungkook becomes apparent as lowkey/highkey shade thrown at him because his solo success is the biggest outlier. People wrongly interpret this as him being the fandom priority. He is not. I've been Jungkook biased the entire time I've been in the fandom, and he's the target of hate from every other member's akgaes as well as the group fandom because of his perceived privilege. There is a large part of the fandom who think he gets enough and so they don't push for him, or they'll favor every other member to try to balance against Jungkook's numbers. Everyone has their favorite. This is natural. They're all established solo artists with their own fandoms, in addition to ARMY who each have their favorites as well. So the numbers are never going to match. Even if every ARMY gave the same energy to all of them (which would be extremely difficult on an individual and group level) their numbers are not going to match. Unless you stomp out their solo fandoms entirely and forbid anyone from being a fan of them as solo artists (some ARMYs are trying this) the numbers will never be the same. When I see people complain about the numbers their favorite is getting, it's usually comparing to Jungkook and thinking he's getting all of the fandom attention. He actually gets treated like shit though because of the resentment anyone who has another bias feels. He's had fandom lead campaigns to boycott his music, and the fandom at large supported those boycotts. The only one that had the fandom trending hashtags to kick him out (not solos trending hashtags to leave). He gets just as much fuckery "from the company", like song credits disappearing from streaming sites, as any other member. BTS gets credited on his solo releases so they can funnel his numbers to the group. When the company tried to add BTS to the Seven credits, that was the literal definition of sabotage. It would have blocked him from ever charting higher than the group. But it's hard to defend or even praise Jungkook without some perceiving it as slight to the others. As I saw someone rightly point out, every Jungkook stan has at least once thought about tweeting praise and decided not to to avoid getting jumped by not just stans of other members, but even supposed "OT7"s. This is how it is, but I'm not going to try to argue that people should be doing anything different other than not being hateful. There's no use in trying to argue that the fandom should do more. Never Let Go was made for ARMY to release during festa, and yet it got carried by the solo fandom. OT7 funding accounts only gathered a few hundred dollars, while Jungkook's biggest solo fanbase raised $30k. The infamous radio "payola" was actually an extreme uphill push from his solo fanbases who had people organizing specifically for that (see link below). He didn't get radio play immediately, even with Seven's huge success it took weeks. So my suggestion is to focus on your fave in the most positive way you can. None of them is getting success handed to them, they are all working so hard. The fans also work for this. As far as streaming goes, I "work" for Taekook. But I also listen to what I like. I think RPWP is a masterpiece, it may be overall my favorite solo release so I streamed that a lot. I just found Taekook/RPWP playlists. Focusing on inequality in numbers as an injustice perpetrated by everyone else against your fave is a fast track to becoming an akgae. It also turns every release into an absolutely miserable experience. I can't imagine that any of them would be happy if they saw the way these things go every time, and the amount of hatred that gets aimed at the other members.

[wreckitremy]

Hurt to see a for-Israeli Zionism on your page. I urge you to go to Jewishcurrents (dot) org. Listen to genocide experts. Even the Israeli people of Tel Aviv are protesting whats going on. This is a war thats been going on over 70 years. I denounce Hamas, as they destroyed the democracy of the Palestinian people and for their attacks on the Israeli people. But I equally denounce Israel for the horrors they've been committing for 75 years. As a Jew, many of our celebrations are about surviving such evil. Who is Israel to be weaponizing the very trauma that we lived? I'm hurt because I thought this blog was a safe for Jews like me. just. fuck.

i know nothing i say will reach you. my friend. and that alone hurts more then anything

That's pretty vague, anon. Makes it kinda hard to figure out what caused you to say this, and without context, it doesnt make your anonymous message look like its in good faith.

And as far as I'm aware, I've only been reblogging stuff about the antisemitism that has resulted from this situation.

To be honest i wanted to ignore this whole thing bc I do not have the spoons to sort thru a very complicated history. I still have a lot of the hashtags blacklisted so I can choose when to use my spoons on it.

But I watched my jewish mutuals and the jewish people I follow and trust to have nuanced opinions on a wide variety of marginalizations we have in common, get increasingly hateful messages, for simply asking people to not derail their posts about war in a country they do not even live in.

I watch them get dragged into discussing the conflict bc no one was listening to them.

I watched people move/deactivate their blogs bc people wouldn't stop.

I watched leftists spread posts that had such obvious antisemitic rhetoric, even I noticed. I've only been actively paying attention and learning about antisemitism for about 4 years now, but it was apparently quite a headstart compared to the activists that only started learning and posting about this whole thing last year.

I dont claim to have an opinion on Israel or Palestine. My stance is the same as it is for everything. Nothing makes bigotry okay.

You don't get to misgender a trans person bc they are racist.

You don't get to be racist to a person of color bc they are transphobic.

You don't get to suicide bait people, period.

[the12thnightproject]

Chapter 40: Alternate View: When it comes to time travel, it’s good to have a moderately awesome ninja in your corner.

Mitsuhide x OC; Hideyoshi x MC (Mai)

All Chapters Archived on Ao3 

Logline - With Mai, Hideyoshi, and Aki missing, Mitsuhide and Katsuko reluctantly team up. Disguised as a merchant and his concubine, can they outsmart the man known as the God of Deceit?

As it turns out, it is not possible to grow penicillin in the kitchens of a feudal Japanese castle. Granted… I had no idea what I was doing, and as easily as things had molded over in my fridge in modern Japan, it is not as simple as leaving food in a warm place and hoping for the best.

“What are you trying to do, Kats… er, Kaya?” Yuki peered at the bowl of yuzu peel that … hadn’t developed any mold in the three days it had been sitting out.

“Ummm, hopefully something medicinal.” At Yuki’s expression of complete skepticism, I added, “It’s better than doing nothing.” By this point, Aki had been delirious for over a day, and prior to that had had little energy for much talking. The evening he and I had arrived, Katsuko had managed to claim his attention for one, long private meeting. As much as I knew she deserved her time to be with him, to rebuild whatever it was that made things awkward between them, I didn’t miss out on what might be his final days. I was the one who pulled him off that battlefield. I was his daughter too.

“I don’t know. When Shingen was still sick, some of the medicines he tried made him sicker.” He poked at the hardened peels. “Seems like a waste.”

“It’s not like anyone eats this part of them anyway.” Probably they just would have been tossed into the baths to make them smell pretty. “And don’t touch them. I’m trying to grow penicillin, not boy germs.”

“Peni… um, boy what?” He made a face. “You’re weird. You look like Katsu, but you don’t really act much like her.”

Well, we hadn’t been the same person for seven years. Or eleven, depending on which date we were using, and… “This whole situation is weird.”

He scraped his hands through his hair. “I’ll say. But you’re still weird.”

“Did you come in here just to poke at me, or was there an actual reason?” Although at least he was willing to talk to me, even if he was kind of rude. The way most people here at Tsutsujigasaki castle avoided me, I was beginning to feel like the Yokoi that my sort-of nephew had accused me of being. Even the servants, who thought I was Katsuko’s younger sister, did their best not to look at me.

“Oh. Yeah. I was right. Sasuke got here already.” And then, because I was already halfway across the kitchen, he yelled after me, “Does this mean I can throw these out?”

By the time I caught up with Sasuke, he was just about to enter Aki’s room. “Greetings and salutations, Alternate-Katsuko.” His face was as impassive as the Sasuke from my timeline, but I was just happy to connect with someone who didn’t treat me like I was a demi-demon. “Katsuko-prime and Shingen have filled me in on the situation.”

“Um, hi, Alternate-Sasuke… um… do you have any idea how to make penicillin?” If anyone could, it would be Sasuke. Well, or Toshiie, but he wasn’t due back from China apparently for several weeks. Aki could not wait that long.

“Er… no, it’s not something I’ve thought to attempt. I have considered making a battery out of a potato, but it’s going to be another fifteen years before potatoes are cultivated here… so… hashtag time travel goals.” He glanced through the doorway where Aki was fitfully sleeping. “On a more serious note, I am happy to meet another Katsuko, even though it’s not under the greatest of circumstances. Has there been any improvement?”

I shook my head. Two days before, Shingen had fetched another healer – one who hadn’t fainted at the sight of Aki’s shoulder. She had packed the wound with some sort of poultice, which stabilized him somewhat, and the other-me had proven skilled at getting him to swallow willow bark tea, explaining that she had had a great deal of practice with that.

But now, even the effects of the poultice were gone, and no matter how much tea we forced down his throat, Aki’s fever still raged. “It feels like we’re running out of options… here.”

“I can hear you.” Apparently having one of his moments of lucidity, Aki signaled us to enter. “Hello Mister Mikumo.”

Sasuke greeted Aki formally, which was all the conversation that my father had energy for. Immediately he dropped off into sleep again.

“Ah. I see the need for antibiotics.” The smell of Aki’s wound permeated the room. "Although I am a theoretical physicist, not a doctor." The joke was stated with just a slight quirk at the side of his mouth to indicate the humor. "Have I made that joke to you before – your timeline’s alternate version of me?"

"No." I was not in the mood for humor. "What about modern medicine? I mean, I’m not a doctor either, but doctors in our time can cure infections, right? You can help me get him home, can’t you?”

After all that had happened, I refused to let Aki die.

"I've already checked." Sasuke pulled out what looked like a hand sewn notebook and flipped through it. It was full of numbers and calculations. "Honno-ji won’t open until the winter solstice – Togakushi a month later." He didn’t mention that Aki couldn’t wait that long, but the unspoken words hung in the air.

"So Shingen and Katsu didn’t tell you about the device?" A device, that during Aki’s lucid moments, he explained was a prototype. Maybe they’d forgotten (unlikely) or decided to leave that story up to me. “It… I’m not sure how, but it opened the wormhole that dumped me onto that battlefield.”

"Device?” He slapped his forehead. “I didn’t even think to question how you ended up here. But of course, if there had been wormhole activity, I would have known.”

“There was a wormhole, but before that, it wasn’t.” Once again I explained how I had ended up in 1586, this time to an audience who had scientific questions that were far beyond my patchwork high school attendance. After my third ‘I don’t know,’ I gave up and turned the device over to him.

“Fascinating.” Sasuke pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He cautiously flipped the thing over in his hands, but it still just looked like a somewhat advanced version of a cell phone. He glanced at Aki. “He said it’s a prototype? That suggests that it’s still a beta. Do you have any objections to me studying it?”

“As long as you don’t zap us all into prehistoric Japan. I don’t think my heart could take the Jurassic period.” I paused, waiting for Aki to interject whether or not he had problem with Sasuke taking control of the device, but if he did, he wasn't saying. “This” I waved my hand to indicate my alternate’s home, “is already unsettling enough.”

"You mean the rare experience of meeting another version of yourself?" Sasuke seemed almost envious. "Have you noticed any unusual physical phenomena? Do you find yourself fading, or do you feel like you are losing parts of your memory?"

"No. In fact it feels like I'm instead gaining memories I've never had." I wasn't sure how to explain it further, although it had been a relief to confirm my theory that those odd moments of deja-vu-esque images were not my memories, but some kind of multiverse effect.

"Yes." Katsuko entered the room carrying another pot of tea. "Me too. Like the memory of a spider crawling down the front of a pink kimono - and I don’t even own one."

"I've not had that one, and I do have a pink kimono." Well, I did have one. I'd left it behind with Mitsuhide. "But a spider never crawled down the front of it." Just a kitsune. "Aki yelling at me for jumping out of a tree."

That one had been pretty vivid. Katsuko tapped her chest. "Actually happened. And then he abandoned me there." She sent Aki a look that was half anger, half exasperation. "It turned out to have been a con, but of course he didn’t warn me first."

"How very Mitsuhide of him." That dang kitsune. We’d been apart for over a week (not counting that one hour at Genba), but he was still hacking my brain.

The ninth thing I hate about Mitsuhide, even when I’m four years and an unknown number of timelines away, I can’t stop thinking about him.

She looked at me. "I have questions about that but-" She sighed. "It feels so surreal to talk to you."

Ah. That's why it had been so easy to avoid her. She'd been avoiding me, too. "I know. We're not twins, or clones. I've been trying to think of you as an older sister." Since this Katsu would have to be four years older than I am. Or maybe just three? Yuki had told me she'd been stuck in the wormhole (or a wormhole) and missed a year.

"Could you guys not talk over me?" Aki muttered, in another moment of lucidity. "I haven't departed this Earth yet." His eyes flicked over to Sasuke and greeted him as if he had not done so just twenty minutes before. "Hello Mister Mikumo. Still climbing things?"

Ok, not as lucid as all that then.

Sasuke bowed to him again, as if he had not done so before. "Professor."

“Katsu. I told you. Don’t bother me unless the world is ending. Don’t bother me then either.” He closed his eyes again.

"Not yet old man," Katsuko set the teapot down with a clonk, and poured a cup of willow bark tea. "Time for your medication." With Sasuke's help, she propped him into a sitting position and got him to swallow the tea, before he slumped back on the bed with a moan.

Again, I swallowed that feeling of envy that she, my other-self, had managed to get Aki to obey her. It wasn’t important. The important thing that was he had drunk it. That everyone was doing whatever we could to keep him alive until Sasuke could figure out how to get the device to open the wormhole.

Stand back! He’s trying science.

“I wondered where you were hiding.” I looked up from my failed experiment (Yuki had not thrown out the yuzu peel as threatened), to see my other self, my older self, who had returned to the kitchen with the empty teapot.

“Well, I figured it would just be easier if I stayed out of everyone’s way.” I sat back and watched her bustling about with some kind of wooden contraption, before I realized that it was a pulley system that retrieved fresh snow from outside without anyone needing to trek out into the weather to get it themselves. “That’s pretty cool.” I’d never seen anything like it before.

She smiled. “Shingen built it. He’s really good with his hands. Er… in an engineering kind of way.” The blush on her face suggested he was good with his hands in all kinds of ways.

“Of course he is.” Oh shit. I said that out loud. My sarcasm turned our moment into something seriously awkward.

“I’m jealous of you too,” Katsuko eventually said.

“Me? Why?” This version of myself seemed to have it all figured out.

“Because Aki told you he was our father. He didn’t leave you on the side of the road, feeling like everyone had abandoned her.” She slammed the now full of snow kettle on the brazier. “I mean, I know he did it to fool Shingen into taking me. I learned pretty soon after that he didn’t mean it. But it was cruel, and … he’s said a lot of hurtful things to me that he apparently never said to you.”

“Oh.” I reached in my kimono and pulled out Aki’s letter. It was the one thing I had on me when Iekane pulled us into the wormhole. “He didn’t tell me. He disappeared, left me holed up in an Inn for weeks and when I finally went in search of him, I found this letter at Francisco’s. I imagine, that if you were to go to Sakai, you might have this same letter waiting.”

I sat back on my heels, and watched her read the letter, noticing when she smiled – she must have hit the ‘cloud city moment’ line. Finally she folded it up and gave it back to me. “Thanks. I don’t know why it helps… but it does.”

“Well, good. I’d hate it if I hated me. Er, well… you know.” Yup. Still surreal.

“Yeah. I do.” She paused…. Then. “Um I sort of don’t want to know, but I also do want to know. What is up with Mitsuhide and you?”

Ugh, I can’t even pass the Bechdel test with myself! “It’s a long story that probably doesn’t even matter, because he’s in love with Mai. Unrequitedly, but it’s still not something I want to hang around to watch.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I kind of thought he was in this timeline too. But, I only met him for like two hours, during which he threatened to kill me, beat me at shogi, then turned around and gave me some really good advice.”

Well…. That’s on brand at least.

It was another day before Sasuke emerged from the room where he was mad-sciencing it all.

Once again, we were gathered in Shingen’s private office, and again drinking tea that Yukimura had prepared and Katsuko had helped to distribute. Shingen also produced another basket of pastry that he claimed was from his private stash. Given that he always seemed to be able to produce a basket of pastry from somewhere, I suspected his ‘private stash’ was actually a sweatshop full of bakers kept prisoner somewhere on the castle grounds.

“First of all, some background on our wormholes. It isn't merely that the atmospheric conditions need to be correct, for the wormhole to actually form, there needs to be enough charged ions to, in layman's terms, shock it open." Sasuke took a moment to to gulp down some tea, and rubbed the corner of his eyes. "That’s what Iekane's device does, it concentrates a jolt that opens up a corridor to the closest wormhole."

It kind of sounded like something out of Back to the Future…

"A mini flux capacitor?" There went Katsuko, voicing aloud what was in my own brain. Aki aside, I needed to get out of this timeline for my sanity.

"Flock's capacity? You want to bring birds into this?" Yuki bypassed the pastry and glared a bit at the double serving on Shingen's tray. "What will that do?"

The others ignored him beyond giving him a fond smile.

Katsuko nodded to Sasuke. "Makes sense. Thunder-snow. Yuki, do you remember there was thunder and snow when we encountered Iekane at Togakushi? But our timeline’s Iekane didn’t have a device – or I suppose he didn’t need it. We were already expecting that wormhole to manifest."

"And unfortunately, we don’t have time to wait for the solstice. Therefore, I believe our best course of action would be to try to use the device to send Kaya and Aki to the future. Her timeline." Sasuke pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Theoretically, this timeline’s Iekane does not have the prototype, or one would think he would be using it often.”

Shingen looked at Sasuke and nodded. “I trust your best guess. That said, we don’t know where ended up after he and Katsu went into the wormhole, so my spies will keep searching for Iekane."

"As will mine." Katsuko grabbed a scroll and brush and jotted down a note.

“You have your own spies?" Not only does this timeline's Katsu have what appears to be a perfect partner, she gets her OWN spies?

"Birthday present," she murmured. Ok. That might blow Mitsuhide's gift of a lock pick set out of the water.

He also got you that pretty robe, and he played the flute for you when you were unconscious…

My inner voice was apparently feeling especially snarky today.

Sasuke brought out the device. "I've managed, theoretically, to override the device’s initial coding." Sasuke proceeded to go in to a technical explanation that was at its basis, a pretty sophisticated form of hacking. "So, Kaya, all that I need is your thumbprint and you can use it to take Aki into the future."

That’s all?

I was a bit nervous to have control over the device. "You don't want that honor for yourself?" After hearing about Katsuko’s terrifying experience, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be the pilot on this adventure.

"While I would, in fact be otherwise thrilled to do so," Sasuke exchanged glances with Katsu and Shingen. "I’m afraid I could set it off course."

Oh right. If Sasuke had control over it, we'd just end up going to his future - which would be fine for Aki, but would keep me in the wrong timeline. Although at least if that happened I would never have to run into the version of Mitsuhide who was in love with Mai (although apparently he loves her here too, so… I was kind of SOL no matter where I went).

The thought was brief, and somewhat selfish. Who knew what kind of chaos would come about if I continued to stay in the wrong timeline? And, I still needed to return to my timeline’s Sakai and follow up Aki's information on Toshiie.

“For a similar reason, I have come to the conclusion that I will be unable to accompany you on a journey to your own timeline.” With a slight attitude of reluctance, he set the device down on Shingen’s desk. "I would relish the opportunity to have a long discussion with another version of myself."

Was I imagining that everyone else seemed a bit scared of that idea?

He looked down at his paperwork. "However such a conversation could present a danger to the balance of the multiverse, and with no guarantee of returning to this particular timeline-" He gave a sideeye to Shingen, "although I am relatively certain between myself and I, I could figure it out- I have decided not to make the attempt."

Subtext: he had been planning to go anyway, and Shingen talked him out of it.

With Aki’s condition worsening by the hour, we decided not to waste any more time waiting. Shingen and Yuki helped carry Aki to a deserted area behind Tsutsujigasaki Castle. In the distance were some archery targets, so I figured that was what it was normally used for. Good plan to leave from here – the castle inhabitants would avoid this area when Katsuko was out here, to avoid getting hit by stray arrows.

Although, since she was me, there wouldn’t be any stray arrows. We’d both learned accuracy one stable wall repair at a time.

Sasuke handed me a packet containing his contact information and a letter I was to give to his other self. "I hope, that at some point, he will be able to figure out how to communicate with me – or however many versions of me there are."

Unlike me, Sasuke seemed not at all weirded out by the prospect of a multiplicity of selves.

While Katsuko took a private moment to say whatever she needed to say to our father, I gave my goodbyes and thanks to Lord Shingen and Yukimura. "It must have been strange for you two, thank you for putting up with me."

"Surrounded by another vision of my devil? Not strange at all." By now, I knew Shingen well enough to know that the flirting was second nature, as was a dry sense of humor, so I simply bowed to him again.

Yuki just grinned at me and punched me in the arm. "You’re not so bad, dummy." High praise from that one.

Katsuko left Aki’s side and I found myself in a long hug with my alternate… no this isn't weird at all. "Good luck. With everything." That was all she said. But maybe she figured I would know what she meant by 'everything,’ since she was me.

Then, per Sasuke's instructions, I put my arms around Aki, activated the device, and once again, hoped there wouldn’t be any dinosaurs.

There was that sharp buzzing noise, and the world dissolved into grey once again.

All sounds muffled, then faded out.

@selenacosmic

@lorei-writes @bestbryn @lyds323 @tele86 @akitsuneswife

[dehvours]

SHIPPING INFO. Answer the following for your muse(s) so people know how shipping works on your blog.

What’s your OTP for your Muse(s)?

avenchi and wriochi. and it's all shrimpy's fault LMFAO.

What are you willing to RP when it comes to shipping?

I mean. I'm not super picky. I have a few specific ships I won't do, but other than that, I'm open. I don't mind crossover ships, rarepairs, ships with muses who don't meet in canon. My thing is, as long as there is chemistry between the muses. I won't change how I write my muses for a ship. I also don't mind darker or 'messy' ships, especially since, with ch.ilde, uhhhhh *gestures at it*

How large does the age gap have to be to make it uncomfortable?

my hard line is muses under 18. it is in its early 20s so that's a no. other than that, with this muse, i'm not really super picky? especially since this is a fantasy world where there are 500+ year old beings.

Are you selective when shipping?

I would say yes. I like there to be a dynamic that lets us both explore our muses. I love building plots and developing them together, because that's what really hooks me with ships. It's why I do tend to limit how many of a certain ship I write, because I want to make each dynamic unique and give the other mun's muse attention as their muse, and all the individual thought they put into it. In the same vein, I don't really enjoy feeling 'collected', or that the same plots are being reused with my muse that are being used for others. I want to create something together. So I tend to mostly feel comfortable shipping with those I know are willing to do that with me, and who will respect my portrayal, and who will let me gush to them about our muses.

How far do steamy moments have to go before they’re considered NSFW?

uhhhhhm. I honestly have no idea, I tend to tag suggestive with any sort of making out, and nsfw when the clothing comes off, mostly to be safe bc I struggle knowing what others consider nsfw. hashtag bible belt life.

Who are other muses you ship your muse with?

idk what I did with my ship tier LMFAO but. other biases include lumine, lyney, thoma, and kaeya. though I am also a sucker for yoimiya and ganyu, and a writing partner got me hooked on navichi, because ch.ilde is weak for compassionate, badass ladies, apparently

Does one have to ask to ship with you?

yes pls because I need you to whack me over the head with it, I am dense as fuck and I will not pick up on hints you want to ship.

How often do you like to ship?

I do enjoy it, but like I said, I need that chemistry between both muses and mun. I'm here to have fun

Are you multiship?

yes. I only will do ship exclusives in rare cases (ie, for other muns I talk to and trust/vibe well with, and with whom we've created a well-fleshed out dynamic that me and my muse get very attached to)

Are you ship obsessed or ship more-or-less?

ehhhh, kinda? I don't go looking to ship to start out, but if it happens, I do very much get invested.

What is your favorite ship in your current fandom?

wriochi..... also not this blog but aster has me hooked on skk so bad i'm crying over them on the daily

Finally, how does one ship with you?

if we've had some interactions and you're interested: tell me!! I love talking about it, but,, I also need that communication. I really enjoy creating those stories, but only when we're both invested in it and having fun. I love rambling and bouncing ideas off each other, but I need to be comfortable enough with someone to be able to do that. my adhd brain will go nuts, and I bring a lot of energy to the table, but I also very easily feel annoying, so that chemistry between muns helps a lot tbh.

I stole this from the dash so go ham and yoink it if you want.

[silverasks]

earthspark season 2 episode 3 thoughts spoilers ahead

Heard cosmo was going to be in this episode so excited for that

HASHTAG IS SAD NOO BABY NOO I WANNA HUG HER

I think jawbreaker would give good hugs

”no ice cream trucks”

Hashtag just looks like an awkward intern here

bumblebee really likes ice cream trucks, makes me wonder if ice cream trucks are all really friendly

is hashtag gonna get really attached to Val and then loose her when she gets the new alt mode

really hope hashtag is an outlier and all her abilities aren’t connected to her ghost van alt

ok I know she gets a pickup truck but I can’t help but hope that hashtag grabs something that can fly, preferably a jet

in the tone of a platypus? Perry the platypus: DR MERIDIAN

New arcnimechs are brutal, the ones from before were pretty friendly, I miss those ones

jawbreaker just used a Pokémon move, has he played Pokémon

oh my gods jawbreaker is always such a mood

lil anxiety ball I love ‘em

scuse me what is that

oh it’s shockwave, was wondering where you whent

is shockwave going to have bonding time with hashtag and/or nightshade

not arachnimechs goids apparently

Ooh who is that

oh it’s Ravege! Love them they were such a menace last season

oh, ravage can just scan a disc and get all the info aperantly

oooh nightshades meeting ravage

wait do they know each outher

hashtag always pay attention to the road it’s like rule number one

facial expressions feel a bit off, and getting a bit more uncanny valley effect then usual

shockwaves alt mode is is goofy everytime I think it’s going to be a tank and everytime it’s a war table with wheels

Fabulous deception hashtag

love shockwaves weapon a grappling hook is excellent when utilized properly

hashtags new root mode feels like a soccer player, not football soccer, that’s how much I don’t like it

how the hell did ol screamer get shockwave to follow him

no cosmo but it was still a good episode

[vihattu-thethoroughbredofsin]

i just got into the show and came across a few of your posts (sorry that this is long). i'm surprised no one talked about this more but home part 1 and 2 made little sense for why the malto kids went to philly. robbie wanting to bring them to the place he grew up in made no sense when the terrans are suppose to be in hiding.

that and i thought he was over the whole "i wanna go back to our actual home" stuff back in part 1 of this season? me and my friends thought with hashtag being linked to the internet she was going to find evidence of bumblebee being in philly or something like that.

then there's the fact that they just decide to wander about without some kind of disguise. i mean i really thought nightshade was going to pull out some devices to give them human forms. they did work with tarantulas on his device to be human so i was expecting some pay off there.

but then the humans. THE HUMANS. why are they so chill with these terrans being there??? they should be freaking out and be scared of them! none of the terrans are wearing autobot symbols so these humans don't know that they're safe to be around!

the discrimination thing been talked about a bit (should be more agreeing with you guys honestly) but really...it should be in reverse. humans have been discriminated in transformers for so long that it's crazy that the one time we get a show tackling it...and it's favoring the aliens??? the same alien species that came up with 13 different ways (actually 14 but we won't count "terran" since its already used) and 11 of them are insults!

it boggles my mind how disconnected the episodes feel! like the things the characters go through don't get mention in some way (parasites in the bear episode...shockwave's lab...) like a semi-reset is happening. still going to watch part 3 with my friends when it comes though. the show's a blast despite some of the problems it has.

Hello! I'm sorry that I'm not responding so quickly (oh, these time zones). In fact, somewhere there was an opinion that the second part of the first season is a little more chaotic than the first. And, to be honest, it feels that way. This is the effect of a sitcom, when the consequences in one episode are reset in the next.

It cannot be said that this did not happen in the first part of the season. For example, the episode "Friends and Family", where they found a cave with water that Terrans feed on, and no one mentions it anymore. "Traditions" — Arachnamechs attack, where Alex identified the technology of his former colleague. No attention. "Decoy" — remind me, what is the whole mission of Ravage? But with all this, the ratio of other plots and these forgotten storylines was such that they were not in the main focus of the stories and there were few of them.

In the second season, there were noticeably more such lines.

"Hashtag: Oops" — okay, we'll forget that the GHOST had a massive Decepticon escape with possible victims thanks to Hashtag.

"Missed Connection" — that is, caring parents did not ask themselves how and at the expense of what resources Nightshade does all these things and builds a bunker? And no one in the family either? And where did this knowledge come from in principle? Well, okay.

"Bear Necessities" — apparently the ecology on Earth is so bad that everything that happened does not surprise anyone. Although you can't say that from the narrative. "Warzone" - that is, no one wants to ask Megatron why he hid the location of Shockwave for so many years?

"Home, Part 1-2" — where to start… And, that is, we will literally forget the previous episode, where we were told that the Decepticons wanted to take over the Earth, mentioned human losses in the war and showed photos of the destruction, and then we will wonder why humans don't particularly like being next to huge war machines? I understand everything, but the parents of the Malto family are a historian and a soldier. Again, in these series, a good opportunity was missed to show the victims, for example, the parents of a friend of Robby. I have already said about the stupidity of underground fighting.

By the way, a great reminder that Terrans, in fact, should be hiding! Thanks for the tip on this plot hole! Everyone somehow forgot that the GHOST is not a small local organization, and since the children could have time to go to the city overnight, survive all this and return, then what prevents the GHOST from patrolling these territories too? Well, witnesses, maybe cameras… Moreover, the GHOST can roughly know what Twitch and Thrash, which were already on the base, look like.

It would be a very good option that they really decided to take such a risk for the sake of Bumblebee, whom they began to consider a member of the family, but did not even mention anymore after he was forced to hide again. Which is very strange for an animated series with the main theme of family and a character who literally adores Bumblebee.

There is a feeling that the authors are trying to cram everything in at once, and either do not have time to think through these storylines and twists (and why then shove them into the plot?), or do not know how and cannot do it all.

There is an option that they tried to show as many "exciting" things as possible in order to get permission and budget for the next seasons. It can also be.

Personally, I don't think the cartoon is bad, although it may seem from my posts that I hate the series. This is not true, but the second part and especially the finale have cooled my ardor for this series very much, and I expect new episodes with caution. Mainly because of the rhetoric of "humans are real monsters" and protecting the Decepticons against the background of humanity's lack of the right to be justly angry at those who brought the war. But this is interspersed a little with the personal area, so this is probably an irrelevant remark for many.

I had a hope that this series would not repeat the path of many media on transformers in relation to humans where they are useless or evil, but it is unlikely that something will change. Good human characters are only those who, no matter what, treat transformers well, and if not, then they are caricatured evil. Very sorry. Although the Malto family as characters are worked out pretty well, and this is a big step for the media on transformers. I just want some event to change their unconditionally positive attitude towards cybertronians (not Terrans).

I hope you enjoy the new episodes when they come out, I will also hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

01/19/2024 Crew Recap

TLDR; HoistTheAds; LubeAsACrew; CastAndCrew Reactions; Petition/Fundraiser Updates; TheCozyPirate Update; Taika Pictures; The back of Rhys' Naked Legs

Edit: Rhys put his reaction up after I had put this together and I missed it, see it here or on his IG while the Story is still up.

---------------------------------------------------------------

There just isn't enough room on tumblr for the amount of crap that went down today, let me tell you.

Well, as many of you know, shit got real today with the #HoistTheAds campaign and #LubeAsACrew going live.

#HoistTheAds

Last night at 12 PM EST the 2 day , every 15 minute ad campaign that @renewasacrew set up with the money gathered from the ad fundraiser kicked off in timesquare. You can still view them here Expect our ad every hour at :00, :01, :02, :15, :38, :42, :50

Throughout the day you could see the plane messages:

The Trucks went by!

And probably the most exciting things were the reactions from the cast and crew over the billboard!

There were a LOT of reactions so bear with me, there will be a lot of pictures. Chaos Dad David Jenkins, Kristian Nairn, Samba Schutte, Madeleine Sami, Samba Schutte, Leslie Jones, Vico Ortiz, Linds Cantrell, Alex Sherman, Eroll Shand, David Fane and many more. Some sent messages, some just emojis.

One special one to point out was David Fane's adorable reactions:

Some good news too, apparently Chaos Dad was able to actually go to Time Square and see the billboard, but wasn't able to interact.

#LubeAsACrew

Then there was this crazy thing... LubeAsACrew, where the Social Media person for Astroglide did a simultaneous watch with everyone on twitter. Then live-tweeted the episodes. Some of the stuff that came from it.. was unhinged and so much fun. There was too much to get into so I'm just including some highlights, feel free to check out the thread here:

==== Articles ====

The billboards obviously got a lot of attention of the press because the amount of articles out today are nuts:

PinkNews: Our Flag Means Death fans buy huge Times Square advert to demand its return

Pride.com: Our Flag Means Death fans buy Times Square billboard to save the show

Them.Us: Our Flag Means Death Fans Bought a Billboard in Times Square to Demand Renewal

TV Insider: ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Fans Take Renewal Campaign to Times Square — David Jenkins Reacts

Gay Times: ‘Bracing for battle’: Our Flag Means Death fans rally together for season 3

Now This News: Its Flag Meant Death: The Uncertain Reality for Queer-Driven Shows in the Streaming Era

Popverse: Our Flag Means Death fans launch Times Square billboard (and more) in series renewal campaign

Marysue: ‘Our Flag Means Death’ Fans Have Really Made an Impression With This Effort To Save the Show

The Geekiary: Fans Fight To Save Our Flag Means Death From Doggie Heaven

==== Impacts / Stats ====

=Petition=

Up to 67K+! Holy crap yall! That's almost 7K today! Great job!

=Fundraisers=

Renew As a Crew for Rainbow Youth has almost met the $17K Goal everyone! Almost there!

OFFP Care for Gaza - up to almost $8300

===Twitter Trends/Stats===

Twitter trends got pretty high with all the hashtags. I tried to get pictures at peak times but Im sure there were move, so take these numbers with a grain of salt, they were probably more!

=== Hashtag Update ===

Looks like the hashtags today are the following, and as always emails, and instructions are here: #HoistTheAds #SaveOFMD #RenewAsACrew

= Stuff I Dont Have Categories For! =

Just some more industry info from our local @TheCozyPirate

And for whatever reason, Taika Archives came out with new Taika pictures today. So enjoy some black and white Taika.

Wow I actually reached my picture limit on this one, that's crazy.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final note for the night-- I saw SO MANY OF YOU CALLING TODAY! And expressing your call anxiety and how you overcame it, and oh my gosh I just have to say you're all so friggn amazing! Stepping out of your comfort zone is scary as fuck and you did it anyway! Great job everyone! And if you haven't done so yet-- no worries, if you want to, you can, if you're not ready, that's okay too!

Other than that-- I've seen a lot of folks really taking a step back from the trolls and blocking/ignoring, great job all! Enjoy your celebration and happy times! Don't let the haters get to you. You are awesome and beautiful and we all continue to be so incredibly proud of this community! The Cast and Crew SAW you today as they have for days since all this started and they know we love them!

Now, I'll end with a picture of the backs of Rhys' legs (on the right) and a censored butt. Enjoy the muscles, I know I do.

[collectate]

hey im kinda new at being in the swiftie fandom even tho I've been listening to her music since I was fourteen. I'm trying to catch up and I saw ur hashtags in the jack meme. What did u mean Joe's reaction at the long pond sessions? Why do u think Jack hates him??? I wanna gossip ngl lmao

i would LOVE to get into this thank u for asking (obvs i don't actually know any of these people and this is all pure speculation, so this is just what i've seen/people have pointed out) but BASICALLY. basically. wayyy back during folklore/evermore season, when the long pond sessions were released, there's a part where taylor is talking to jack antonoff and aaron dessner about how the 'fake writing credit' on some of the songs is actually joe alwyn under the name william bowery. so basically saying how he's actually also a great songwriter and helped her with a lot of folklore/evermore. now this is suspicious just in general bc joe alwyn is as bland as a piece of white bread and I, personally, do not think he's capable of contributing entire verses to some of taylor's most devastatingly personal and insightful songs. BUT THAT'S JUST ME. who knows. jack antonoff definitelyyyy knows the truth, whatever it is, so his reaction to taylor saying this about joe is verrry interesting: he kind of acts surprised, but sort of disparagingly, as if he either knows it's not quite true or doesn't like it (or joe!!).

then, fast forward a bit - the bleachers anti hero remix comes out, and the lyrics jack antonoff sings? definitely seem pointed

'an art bro' joe is relatively unknown as an actor and usually goes for projects that are, frankly, a little pretentious, and has in the past refused to answer questions relating to taylor during interviews - he refused to even say what his favourite song of hers was. like, bro. i get being private but that just comes across as if you don't think her art is worth anything. and 'talking shit about your famous baby' COULD THAT BE ANY MORE POINTED?? it's very well known that taylor is on a whole other level of fame compared to joe, and considering he's been trying and failing to break into the kind of roles that would place him more on her level, it's fair to say that he might have been a little resentful.

also in renegade (written with aaron dessner and i think jack may have contributed as well) taylor sings about loving someone who isn't ready to commit properly, specifically the line 'is it your anxiety that stops you from giving me everything, or do you just not want to?' and 'is it insensitive of me to say get your shit together so i can love you' like. it's clear things weren't going well

AND THEN. yesterday. jack antonoff posts a story of taylor from when they were recording you're losing me, and specifically draws attention to the fact that it was written in DECEMBER OF 2021. nearly two years before they officially broke up.

jack is being v messy when it comes to joe, and it comes across as if he's been waiting to drag this man for agessss (and recording songs like you're losing me with taylor and seeing first hand how upset she was feeling for, apparently, TWO FULL YEARS)

like i think he's definitely been holding a LOT back for a long time now

[coochiequeens]

If men don’t want to be accused of being a “gym weirdo” they could just let women have women only spaces.

For a long time, women have been hyper-vigilant regarding the unwanted male attention they receive at the gym. With the technological advancements, recording the offenders in action has become a sport of its own on TikTok, as women place their phones covertly on record and then watch the recording to know the person who was staring at them when they were doing squats.

On TikTok, the hashtag “gym weirdos” received over 1.9 million views, as videos showed men trying to flirt or harass women who were trying to complete their exercises unbothered. 

One such TikTok detective is Gina Love. She visits the gym around four times a week because the endorphin boost helps counteract the daily stress. 

“Watch this creep come over to my personal bubble while doing (Romanian deadlifts),” wrote Love in the caption of a video she posted on TikTok which received more than 50,000 likes. 

 “The gym was practically empty, and so many corners to be in and he chose this one," she added. In the video uploaded, the man is seen staring at Love from behind as she lifts dumbbells. 

“I would say I experience creeps 15% of the times I work out,” Love, who lives in Atlanta, said. “It’s almost like they’re trying to undress you in their heads,” she added.

Talking about inappropriate male gazing, she said, “It makes me feel disgusted, anxious and my survival instinct kicks in. I’ll typically cut my workout short because I can’t get back into feeling comfortable with that person around me.” 

Other women also posted similar experiences on her post. Several women agreed that gyms have turned into predator spaces. However, others dismissed the complaints of women as overreactions.

“It’s not your personal space,” wrote one person. “WTF is a personal bubble at a public gym?” another quizzed.

One Year Ago

My gym used to have a women only space before this court ruling, yeah I’m in CT. After the ruling it bears still women only in understanding but not in name. Now the gym is getting rid of it. Apparently other gyms in the state are doing the same.

[cenobittten]

How I figured out who Patient 46 was in Security Breach

This post contains an introduction to the theory, why I am so confident and a guide to understanding what the heck I am talking about.

Parts list:

Part 1 - coming soon

Or follow hashtag #CenoFNAF

Warning for Spoilers! This introduction makes references to unreleased stories from Tales of the Pizzaplex volume 5. While no spoilers are discussed explicitly, just knowing what this theory is titled may spoil the future twist of unreleased content. So, if you don't want to know, don't read. Just head on over to the spoiler-free Part 1 and beyond.

Click the read more for the real, summary title.

:readmore:

Gregory was always sus: How I figured out he was Patient 46 and inhabited by Afton

An introduction

Right so, to introduce myself, hi! I'm a long time sort-of FNAF fan who likes Security Breach a lot. This is my second time ever writing down a fnaf theory.

A year ago, my first ever theory was this:

In which I theorised that Gregory was 46 and a vessel for Afton intially from game content only.

Why is this relevant? Well, recent leaks from Tales From The Pizzaplex #5 are very strongly hinting that I was on the right track.

My post got no attention at the time, but that didn't matter much. It became immediately apparent from the reaction to Matpat's theory that… well. Not many agreed with me and I ended up not sharing any more of my theory.

But now, I bring you #Gregtrap theory

I came up with the pivotal evidence for this theory from my very first full watch-through of the game, which was a blend of multiple YTers. I kid you not, I was so enamoured by this game for some inexplicable reason, I watched a mix of YTers to finish the game asap so I could get theorising. I was virtually unable to move for pain at the time so it was a good mental distraction - gotta have hobbies kids!

Since making the initial theory, I have been in the unusual position of watching more and more evidence to support my theory come out. This isn't a humble brag, I literally couldn't have told you what was even happening in my first watch of any of the other FNAF games so I'm thinking I just… tapped into Steel Wool's vibe inexplicably. I was honestly expecting to be completely wrong and some alternative theories posted had even convinced me. However, for Security Breach, I watched Matpat's GT videos echo my theories in real time and I have seen even more evidence building in the lead up to Ruin. This is all so funny to me, it's ludicrous but here we are!

So, I thought the fandom may find it useful to hear from someone who independently came to the conclusion Gregory was Patient 46. There is a lot of nuance to some of the writing/story crafting that I picked up on as foreshadowing but were easily lost on paper. In fact, I remember thinking "Either this game is nonsense and has no clue or Gregory is a villain and the writing is insanely subtle/clever".

I am not joking. There is actually a certain level of sophistication to the writing and the visuals of the Pizzaplex that subtly tell a story. The Steel Wool team used to work at Pixar! And their writing/game design is more similar to a Pixar film than Scott's style. Some of the Pizzaplex scene/setting design is legitimately art imho. The clues were there, just in different places than you might expect. Perhaps these notes will put the game in a new light for you. I want to bust this game open! Lets put our minds together and solve this fazgoo!

These notes reflect my final conclusion after stewing on it for a year, so they are much more refined and based on piecing everything together. But I will point to my thought processes and point out pivotal evidence from the initial stages to show how the theory developed.

My approach to lore investigating is a little different to most FNAFers. Rather than focusing on small lore details or timelines, I put myself in the developer's shoes and make broad observations from a storytelling perspective. I consider what the game might be setting up/trying to say, what did and didn't make the cut in terms of content and what the fans might want to see. Real detective mode.

In my view, Steel Wool were essentially soft-rebooting the franchise. Their goal was to make a game that could broadly appeal to gamers of all sorts, not just the fans. A story base that could be built on via future entries in the franchise, honouring the old stories but remaining understandable to a casual fan. After all, Steel Wool did essentially give themselves the licence to retcon the story via the "pissed off developer" excuse in Help Wanted. I strongly felt that the game should be solvable without knowing the exact details of past lore or obscure details from the books. The mysteries within the game had to have a plot & twists that the ordinary person could follow or piece together. They didn't quite manage it but enough was there to give me an inkling.

I kept my eye open for anything amiss in the dialogue/Fazwatch messages, game missions or in-setting clues like posters - the areas most likely to contain intentional lore clues. In game development, often the last things to be completed are the writing, mission creation and game story which - given SB's rushed development & possible story change - means I focused my attentions on those.

But where on earth do I even start with a game this big? Well, since I don't have access to the game, I'm going to pull out all the things I observed while watching playthroughs as they come up. That way, if you want to check for yourself, anyone can access the same footage used. For reference, my main footage sources are Matpat's GT live and Markiplier. I watched Dawko, FusionZGamer, FuhNaff and Jacksepticeyes playthroughs as well. (Game is such a glitchy mess, it's beautiful!)

It's all too much to do it one go, given my health, so I'm gonna break these linear observation posts into instalments. I'll list all the posts here so people can read at their leisure. Then, I'll make a post summarising the key evidence.

Also: Big credit to all the other FNAF theorists and LPers too - this theory wouldn't have become what it is without you.

I welcome questions, counterpoints or suggestions. Just reply or pop me a DM.

Also note:

- I was and still am a Gregbot supporter. This theory ties into that.