#And there are several different Fandoms that interact with each other

[bluegiragi]

I hate to ask this cause it feels stupid but I dont wanna do a bunch of research on whatever the recent cod mw fandom discourse is,

but I saw the reblog of someone accusing you of supporting people who write sexualized pedophilia and that really is personally my only """"moral"""" with nsfw shit, (I'm a patreon subscriber and ig I just wanna know where my money's going) is THAT true?

i used to follow an artist who, 5-6 months ago made racist art featuring gaz and soap in a slave context, which I didn't like, retweet or interact with in any way. they also made under-age art of ghost soap, which I also didn't interact with . people on twitter called me out yesterday, for retweeting (months before this incident) other art they'd made as evidence I stood by/encouraged/was an avid fan of all these tropes. The art I retweeted wasn't either of these previous examples of art, but one where ghost and soap were sleeping in a bed together, as adults, peacefully. I can't emphasise enough that I have not interacted with this artist at all, for over six months. The callout in question has framed me as a close friend of theirs when, in truth, our total timeline of interactions could probably be counted on one hand, and I haven't interacted with her in so long that I genuinely forgot I was still following her.

The crux of all is this is that I did not unfollow + block this artist earlier on when the racist art was posted months ago, and then I retweeted a fic tagged with "non-con" (ghost gets soap off in a context where he can't really properly consent, they're in front of a crowd of strangers and they have to fuck, but both parties are into each other) written by a friend as I wanted to support their writing.

The pedophile claims are because I retweeted a fandom bingo post that defended loli-con without reading all the squares properly, and then immediately un-retweeted it when I properly read it. All in all, the post was on my account for maybe a few minutes.

The zoophile claims are because people say i support someone who wrote zoophilic fic and called people slurs, and I genuinely don't know who they're talking about there.

The anti-asian racism claims come from the original accusers in the callout thread thinking that I made Horangi's eyes in the monster!AU sensitive as a way of making fun of Asian eyes. The real reason is because he's a cat hybrid in that AU and cats are sensitive to light.

I tried addressing all this in a casual way earlier on in a misguided attempt to sort things out more 'civilly', and responded to an ask talking about my "support" for the artist who drew the slave Gaz art by saying the fanart in question was tone deaf and in poor taste. It wasn't enough for some people, so I'm happy to say it clearly- yes, it was racist, and the reason why I didn't want to be more aggressive is because I didn't want to extend all this mess by throwing this artist directly to the wolves - I genuinely believed them at the time when they said that wasn't that their intention, and think they should've deleted the post at the time, but not unfollowing was a decision that I made. I know now upon reflection that it was naive of me, unwarranted and frankly irresponsible to take a stranger at face value and believe they had good intentions, when the act of not deleting the post in question was evidence of a lack in remorse. In the moment, I'd thought back to my own personal experience with a friend of mine who used an asian slur in my company, who later sincerely apologised and legitimately cleaned up his act after I gave him a second chance. It informed my choice to not unfollow at the time, but there's a difference between someone you know irl for months and a stranger on the internet you've interacted with a few times. I shouldn't have coddled them in my response, and I'm sorry for not treating it with the severity it deserved. It was callous, and stupid, and indicative of internal biases that I ever thought it was a light enough offence to "see through", and I deeply deeply apologise. I promise from the bottom of my heart to do better.

That's everything so far. I didn't unfollow an artist when I absolutely should've, which i'll always strongly regret. I also retweeted a properly-tagged fic on my clearly 18+ nsfw account. I've undone both of those actions now. I hope this can be the end of it.

[ollycohens]

oh no you guys. i’m going to spew things i’ve realized while rewatching umbrella academy. I’m realizing were all being too sucked into fanon things after being stuck without canon content for so long. We have convinced ourselves Five acts like a mean mean dude to everyone but rewatching, i’ve realized he’s only stressed and is saying things out of panicked anger, especially in s1 with the apocalypse dooming over them. he acts soft to his siblings multiple times, he’s really not as mean as we write him in fanfiction. he is a little crap though, that’s for sure, and i love him for that <3

also realizing that the siblings don’t hate five. they just literally don’t know him at all. he came back a completely different person after 17 years for the siblings, they don’t know five, he’s a stranger so of course they’re gonna be cold to him. it’s like, “i don’t know you well, but you’re always going to be my brother in the end”.

ALSO. for those who ship some of the siblings, uhm… i’ve seen a lot of you guys try to prove that they don’t see eachother as siblings and more like academy students, but they very much say in just about every episode that they see eachother as siblings. they don’t actually SAY that word by word but they say things like “she’s our sister”, or “our dad”. if they say OUR dad… bro. i’m not even going to continue, you can put it together yourself. But, i do realize why people ship the siblings. I am not defending incest shippers but with umbrella academy i can see why people have resorted to it. only 3 of the characters in the main sibling cast has romantic partners. people like shipping people, people love writing romantic relationships, but with only diego/lila, dave/klaus, and sissy/viktor, (i’m not going to count five/dolores for now) people are desperate with the need to ship the rest of the siblings with someone, and since there are only a few actual canon characters in the show that interact with our main 7, people start shipping them together… yikes. anywho, that’s all for that peice. i blame the show writers as well for shipping luther/allison, they did not have to do that, but i’m hoping it was only to convey the severity of what childhood trauma does to people.

ALSO THIS HERE SHOOK ME. I actually think Reginald cares for the siblings. i hate to say it, but it’s true. caring for them does not mean being good, though. he was a horrible father, and person, but he genuinely did care for the siblings, in a like, “being the best is the best thing for you, i will make you better, for your sake, even if you don’t know it now, you will see that i am right” kind of way.

also why has NOBODY MENTIONED THIS. in season 2 when diego first reunites with five in the asylum, while he’s walking into the visitors room, he’s staring at five with this heartfelt, soft look, and then says “five…” in the most soft spoken voice ever 😭 your honor i love them

ALSO UGHHH THIS. IM GOING TO FREAK OUT ABOUT CAMERAWORK AND METAPHORS HERE SO BARE WITH ME. we as a fandom complain about the lack of flashbacks five has due to his ptsd. we’ve seen his first flashback since getting back to his family in s1 during the van scene when he gets triggered by those kids playing and starts thinking about his own childhood, i’m guessing. i ate that scene up, and was sad to see that be one of the only deeply vulnerable scenes he has in the season, and during my first watch i thought they’d never bring it back up. but they do!! i may be stupid for not realizing but whatever. in season 2, when five is trying to explain at elliot’s with all his siblings around that another apocalypse is coming, everyone starts talking about each other. as someone who studies film and camerawork, i love this scene. we see the camera focus on five as it slowly zooms in. it doesn’t switch scenes at all as the siblings voices overlap and echo over eachother. this whole scene conveys him getting overwhelmed and he starts to zone out, starting to think of the nuclear war he saw his siblings in. the scenes of the war start quickly switching through, showing many different scenes of it before it switches back to five, who says “guys, you all die. i want to forget it but i can’t” which just UGH its so well done there. if you think about it, he was starting to slip into another flashback. he was triggered by talking about their deaths in the war but was handling it well until the siblings started fighting, where we see the overlapping voices happen. it portrays him losing control and being unable to pull it back together with too much going on for him to focus on grounding himself. we DO however, see that five was able to pull himself out before he fell too deep into the flashback. i love how they show this through them still having the scene showing the war, but then fives voice starts talking over the scene which is still focusing on the war as if he was pushing it back and forcing himself to come back to the present.

thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far, i will continue to freak out another time <3

[davidtennantgenderenvy]

Addressing The Tinhatters: A Statement in Solidarity With @dtmsrpfcringe And Others

I've been active in this fandom for a little over a year, and in my time here I've kept my slate pretty clean. I try not to involve myself in drama and discourse, and when I see something I don't agree with online, most of the time I keep it to myself. I've been aware of the blogs I refer to in this post basically from the onset, but I've stayed quiet, partially to not come across as disrespecting others' opinions and preferences and partially to protect my peace and my own life as a creator. But what started as mostly harmless, if a bit unhinged and delusional, behavior, has turned on some fronts into unimaginable cruelty the likes of which I never imagined this fandom to be capable of. As someone who it seems people in this fandom have come to respect, I think it would be unfair and selfish for me to stay neutral any longer.

Fanfiction has been a genuinely transformative force in my life. It has helped me discover so much about my own relationships to love and desire, and I would never want to tell anyone that it is wrong for any ship to be that source of inspiration for them, including RPF. Nor do I think, as I've said, that it's inherently wrong to have speculative thoughts about David and Michael's sexualities. As someone who has been lucky enough to interact with David several times now, and probably will again, I choose not to do so myself in a public forum out of respect, but curiosity doesn't have to be invasive, and David and Michael being in loving partnerships with women certainly doesn't mean they can't be attracted to other genders too. There's nothing wrong with liking the idea of a relationship between David Tennant and Michael Sheen, or even, really, with believing they might have feelings for each other. If that's all you're doing, this post isn't about you. What I absolutely cannot excuse is the proliferation of hypocritical, nonsensical, and nasty rumors about the women in their lives.

Nothing Georgia Tennant or Anna Lundberg seems to do is ever good enough. Every expression of positivity is curated and phony, anything that could be perceived as negative vile and mean. I see these women attacked on a daily basis as partners, as mothers, as actresses. Georgia is simultaneously presenting a false ideal of a perfect, happy family for her own gains, while somehow at the same time being too irresponsible and incompetent to be a proper parent. Anna, a still young and up and coming actress herself, is expected to perform the ideal of an affectionate partner on social media, is perceived as unsupportive of Michael when she doesn't, when in reality she may simply be trying to make a name for herself in the industry without people solely associating her with the man she loves. Both of these women share in David and Michael's advocacy for marginalized communities, sometimes in different, more or less obvious ways. David and Michael are always brave and sincere, while Anna and Georgia's actions are always self serving and performative, though no evidence is ever given to indicate that the things they post or charities they support are any sort of cover or deflection. Nor are there ever any reasons given for their perceived lack of onscreen talent, other than that they're "boring" or don't have as many jobs as their husbands- never mind that both of them are in an extremely competitive industry and get perfectly respectable amounts of work, especially for mothers of young children. Worst of all, I've seen them accused of things as awful as child abuse and rape, all for the crime of simply being married to the wrong men. It's all so horribly gendered too, David and Michael often referred to as the "men" while Georgia and Anna are reduced to negative stereotypes of nagging, shallow gold diggers. As a fandom populated with so many queer people, many of whom, myself included, have found freedom from gender roles with Michael and David's characters' help, I thought we knew better.

I've been lucky enough to meet both David and Georgia now, and have witnessed firsthand the easy, joyful affection they have for each other when no one of consequence is watching, the way they giddily hold hands on the street and make each other laugh while tenderly looking into each other's eyes even and especially after sixteen years together. Georgia when I met her was incredibly kind, down to earth, and approachable, and my partner, who's met her several times more than I have, gushes about her constantly- how funny, authentic, and intelligent she is, and of course, how much she and David love each other, how they look out for each other and adore each other's flaws and quirks. David of course still gushes about Georgia every chance he gets in speeches and interviews, her strength and brilliance as well as her beauty, and Georgia, while maybe not always as effusive, shows her love for David in plenty of ways, the beautiful candid photos she takes of him, for instance. There's such a soft, painterly tenderness and fondness in them, for the man, not just the dazzling star everyone else gets to see. Her David, gentle, devoted, goofy, aging, melancholy, imperfectly perfect David. Where would we be without Georgia giving us these little glimpses of him? I suspect the same people who deride Georgia's social media presence as try-hard, cringeworthy, artificial, would feel a bit differently if one day they stopped coming.

I can't speak as clearly on behalf of Anna and Michael, but the accounts I've gotten of her and Michael's relationship from eyewitnesses have presented it as no less loving than David and Georgia's, albeit in slightly different ways. Even then, why should I have to? She doesn't owe me anything. I doubt anyone who's made the posts accusing Anna and Georgia of being nasty baby trappers has ever had children. There's no such thing as a perfect mother, and even one child is a massive task. It's normal to not be a shining ray of affection all the time, and Georgia I know more than makes up for it with her fierce love and support for her children in all of their endeavors. Georgia is also a diagnosed neurodivergent woman, and so many of the remarks I see directed at her are clearly discriminatory and often directed at women with her diagnoses. Everyone coos over how charming David is when he shows signs of being AuDHD, but the second his wife does too, she's careless and cold. And don't even get me started on when photos of Michael and David looking anything less than beatifically happy get interpreted as them being miserable due to their wives treating them so poorly. THEY'RE HUMAN BEINGS!!! NEUTRAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS EXIST!!! WOULD YOU BE A SPARKLING RAY OF SUNSHINE IF YOUR DISNEYLAND RIDE GOT STUCK!!!

I say all this now not even because I think I have any hope of stopping the people in question, but because one of the main fighters on the front of the opposition, @dtmsrpfcringe, has been both a wonderful online friend to me and dealt with even worse abuse than that which gets hurled at Anna and Georgia on the daily. When my blog was briefly overrun by TERFs in light of the Tennant/Badenoch/Sunak drama, Tori was the first person to stand up for me, and as she recieves more vitriol in one day than I've ever experienced in my entire life online, I think I've taken far too long to do the same for her. This woman has dealt with doxing threats, attacks on her character, and most horrific of all, wishes of death upon her and her baby. No one would blame her for stopping, but she has remained steadfast in her mission to call bs where she sees it, and she shouldn't have to do it alone. Tori, I think you are so brave, and I am proud to stand in solidarity with you against the misinformation, meanness, and misogyny that threaten to corrupt this fandom we call home.

Even after all we've been through over the past couple of months, I still believe the Good Omens fandom and David and Michael's individual fandoms to be places of kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. Which is why such cruel behavior (because there's no other word for it) is utterly disappointing and baffling to me. You should be utterly ashamed of yourselves. You're the exact kinds of people David and Michael speak out against on a weekly basis, and I guarantee that if you engage in the kinds of behavior I've highlighted here, they would be disgusted with you. Or maybe they'd simply pity you, because your lives are so empty that you've decided the only way to fill them is to sacrifice the reputations and peace of innocent women on the altar of a relationship that in all likelihood takes place solely in your own heads.

And if you read all this and find you still ship David and Michael, which even I do sometimes, well, there's always polyamory.

I'm sleepy! good night and kindly fuck off! - Lauren

[bc-jpeg]

so uh- I didn't see if this theory already exists in the fandom, or no one really touched on it, but after a long time in both fandoms, one funny pattern is noticeable. I’m so obsessed with watchers lore so much, which is why I started to go beyond only one universe, and this gave the result. so the theory is that dreamxd is a watcher. after digging into the dsmp lore, I found several points that may indicate this. dxd’s nature may differ from the canonical nature of the watchers that we see in evo smp and in the life-seasons in martyn’s lore, but we also already have a watcher!grian, whose watcher's nature also differs in its own way from that very canon, he has his own lore, so this will also work here.

now this will be only my personal version of watcher!dxd lore, there may still be holes in it, but this is only as a possible base:

presumably dreamxd is an ex-manhunt!dream, who could not get out of the world and stuck in the spectator mode of the game, becoming a watcher. in the initial attempts to escape from such a fate and get out (I don't think dream would just accept such a fate), he was crippled either by other watchers or by himself, having lost his "eye". this explains the basic visual interpretation of the dxd, where the place where the eyes should have been is now a familiar cross pattern.

isolating himself from other watchers, dxd created a time loop from the existing world, from which he initially could not get out, closing access to the end dimension for players, preventing both the players themselves from escaping, and the possibility of capturing these players to other watchers for their own time loops. the world with the manhunt seed was restarted, defaulting almost everything to zero, which eventually became the dsmp server. all interactions between players and server events began to give dxd so much energy and power that eventually the essence of the watcher completely absorbed him, dxd himself began to provoke events, interact directly with players, and all for the sake of energy, emotions, deaths that made him only stronger. dsmp became an excellent loop-feeder for him only, in which he completely lost his original humanity, becoming a monster, creating only chaos.

one of the risky but effective dxd’s moves of was giving the revival book and the book of death to players inside the time loop, which in a peculiar way gave them access to part of dxd’s powers. he realized how unpredictable players can be in their decisions and actions, which gave a ton of events possibilities. he wouldn't have to provoke events himself, when players can do everything for him, giving the same amount of energy.

so in the final of the dsmp, after that nuclear explosion, dxd simply restarted the entire time loop, as it was shown. the players don't remember anything that happened, they don't remember each other, the whole world was defaulted to zero, where they started all over again.

it’s also interesting that the concepts of limbo and dreams/illusions exist both in the dsmp lore and in watchers lore in life-seasons. limbo is the space where players end up with the loss of all their canonical lives, and there is no return from there, only at the whim of mystical powers (dsmp — the revival book, as part of the dxd’s powers, life-seasons — the watchers, more specifically watcher!grian).

both concepts somehow intersect with each other:

> in the dsmp, they intersected in the c!george’s lore, he had partial access to limbo through his own dreams, where dxd himself was also often present. someone also had the opportunity to watch server events from limbo.

> in life-seasons, according to cc!martyn, limbo is the space where all players get to after the final death and are there between seasons in a state of sleep, in which they see their own smps/universes.

again, this is just a possible version of how exactly this theory/head-cannon can work, there are a lot of things that I could not explain yet, because there is too much information from different dsmp povs. some things I remember, some not at all, but I left a hint of their possible intersection visually in the diagram. the theory of the smps-multiverse is here simply by default, all the other main points are indicated in this diagram. all of this will be easily editable at any future time, my job is just to throw in the base for this theory :D

[stars-and-the-min]

☆ the wrong way to hard launch (11) | OP81

summary : oscar's girlfriend is a walking pr problem for literally everyone (including herself) social media au

pairing : oscar piastri x zhou!fem!singer!oc

a/n sometimes people aren't the nicest (and people can be severely delusional)

masterlist | last part | part 11 | next part

TWITTER

june @linafesting · 42m you look like taylor swift

↳ june @linafesting · 41m not quite mother and daughter, more like aunt and niece ↳ emme @flowersforcami · 32m lina is hayley williams and lana del rey's lovechild and i've been say this for years ↳ lukas 🔛🔝 @lukiepookie28 · 13m oh no... that's not...

INSTAGRAM

emptybottles_official Bangkok, Thailand

liked by chrisyamada and 298,426 others

emptybottles_official All suited up 😎 tagged: lukaszhang, eb_jonno and cameliazzz

chrisyamada who managed to wrangle kas into a suit 🤣

cami.png as much as i love cami content, no lina or aid was a... choice ↳ mrslukaszhang @cami.png right like ur not sending the frontwoman??? what's going on??? (omg kas 😳)

emptybottlesbar Looking sharp!

MESSAGES

from the phone of selina bui

TWITTER

↳ 🕯️manifesting EB3 🕯️@ linabelles · 2h what are y'all up to? ↳ lina !!! @EB_selina · 2h we went out to dinner tgt! authentic thai food and the night markets bc only grandpa aidan knows how to speak thai <3 ↳ Aidan Park @EB_Aidan · 2h Alex gave us recommendations 😊 ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h deluding myself into thinking this is a producer-songwriter meeting

opal @pxastrixxx · 1h enough time has passed, i think we need to talk about how weird l*na is, a 🧵 ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 1h and ik ur all gonna try defend her by saying its a stage persona yada yada but it's still weird the way she interacts with guys ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 1h starting off with kas and lina, they keep insisting that they're just childhood best friends or smth but the massive shipping fandom they have just proves that ppl aren't blind and they're flirty ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 57m idk how u comfortably flirt with ur so-called 'friend' in front of thousands of ppl each night and even in front of ur boyfriend??? and she's always the one instigating it (e.g. the glove thing) it's weird, does kas have a gf bc i feel sorry for her ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 56m the whole thing with tommy howard is also childish, like its been 3 years and she's still so petty, it's giving: not over him, the whole comment on not dating athletes and then dating oscar just seems like she's trying to rile tommy up ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 54m and that's not even covering the trouble she causes her management team, i swear, the past month i've known of her existence has been her causing drama, going viral, her pr team burying it and rinse, repeat, cycle ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 49m whatever is going on between her and chris yamada is also WEIRD and it's always been weird bc she's mentioned having a celebrity crush on him and then they become friends? and then suddenly they stopped interacting in 2021? ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 43m u think that maybe he's realised smth but then he comes back to perform with them in seoul and they hang out again which is just weird weird weird bc their 'friendship' back then was also shipped ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 40m and i know i'm onto smth bc not all her male friends get shipped with her. her other male bandmates are seen as just friends bc she treats them like friends, the way she acts around kas and chris is just flirty and ppl latched onto that ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 39m and ppl are so brainwashed they think her bluntness and lack of filter is 'authentic' and funny but she's being a self-entitled bitch and her fans keep inflating her ego ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 36m and i haven't even mentioned her actions right after her final break-up with tommy like, going out to parties every week? seen with a different boy every time? making it a very public affair that then needs to be scrubbed from the internet by ur pr team? it says everything u need to know about her imo ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 32m on top of all this, we all know oscar doesn't like the media and would want to keep his relationship private and l*na's blatant disrespect and showboating feels like she's just with him for the virality, it just looks performative ↳ opal @pxastrixxx · 30m i literally just want oscar to go back to his quiet life of just racing and stay away from that kinda lifestyle

kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h is it just me... or did that lina post and reply not quite sound like her? ↳ june @linafesting · 1h was literally just thinking the same thing, that is not my girl ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h i thought i was being paranoid but like, when was the last time she posted??? do you think management banned her from socials?

INSTAGRAM

emptybottlesbar

liked by zhouguanyu24 and 332,293 others

emptybottlesbar Oh, hey there Jonny 👋 tagged: eb_jonno

moonbeamlina release the pic he took of admin ↳ emptybottlesbar @moonbeamlina Admin is really shy 🙈

linasgirl4 no snarky lina comment OH THEY'VE TAKEN HER ACCOUNT OFF HER 😭

REDDIT

r/EmptyBottles · Posted by u/buisms84 8 hours ago lina radio silence

does anyone else find it so weird how little promo lina is getting? like she's by far the most popular member esp since she's the FRONTWOMAN and she's been completely radio silent on socials since last weekend?

and not to discount any of the other band members ofc but everyone is noticing, like this is so not like the EB pr method?

so does anyone have any clue what's happening lol

dreamofbees · 8 hr. ago didn't she tweet a pic of her and aidan like last night? buisms84 OP · 8 hr. ago i think everyone and their dog knew that wasn't her

niaphilia283 · 7 hr. ago there's a twitter hate train rn it's causing a bit of a commotion and i think they (management) took her socials off her to prevent escalation buisms84 OP · 7 hr. ago wait, what twitter hate train? niaphilia283 · 5 hr. ago one of her boyfriend's deranged fans (user pxastrixxx) had a long ass thread basically calling lina a slut and saying she's just using him for clout but they priv'ed their acc now (i took screenshots if u wanna see)

TWITTER

EB Updates @emptybottles_news · 1h 4 years ago... Lina and Kas did a zoom interview/catch-up during the COVID-19 lockdown

↳ oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 51m oomfie this was NOT A GOOD TIME TO POST THIS 😭 ↳ kaslina on my mind ☁️ @kaslinatruther · 22m they're in love ur honor

MESSAGES

from the phone of oscar piastri

TWITTER

↳ emme @flowersforcami · 6h hey bestie... how you doing...? ↳ president linami @ linaminami · 6h NOT WELL 😭

piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h what happened to that one oscar user who had that fuck-long thread bitching about lina? ↳ piaa⁸¹ @ papayaeightyone · 2h i mean like i was also pretty against about her to begin with but i think anyone with eyes could figure that was a bit... right??? ↳ oscalina real ?! @emptyginbottles · 1h ppl aren't that smart and my girl is a pretty convincing actress

kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h why was bangkok kinda robbed like 👀 ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 1h it's one thing to put ur frontwoman on a social ban but to stop her from giving it all on stage is an insult. i firmly believe that it's criminal that the band management told lina to 'tone it down' on stage bc of the online noise which straight up isn't fair for the thai fans ↳ kayla @luna_apocolypse · 58m and she looked so miserable btw like it's the only thing you can notice in the tour videos, she's pissed off and she's trying so hard not to let it bleed into her performance

liv is SEEING EB LIVE!! @olivielina · 31m hot take: people have always been weird about lina's dating life and it's gone far beyond anything reasonable ↳ liv is SEEING EB LIVE!! @olivielina · 27m nobody take this the wrong way! i love her and oscar together, they seem really happy and enjoy spending time together, from what i can see they both put in effort to see each other (which is esp difficult with their jobs) but we need to leave them ALONE. she likes privacy and oscar is a very textbook introvert. those bitches do NOT want you prying into their lives, trust me on this

pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 2h the lack of individual content from both lina and oscar is convincing me those two are shacked up somewhere, trust 🙏 (i'm delusional) ↳ pookie piastri @op81ln4 · 2h YES IK LINA IS IN BANGKOK AND OSCAR IS IN MIAMI, THIS WAS A JOKE

✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:✧･ﾟ: ✧･ﾟ:

taglist @ririyulife @ashy-kit @fionaschicken @namgification @cherry-piee @urfavsgf @eiaaasamantha

[akookminsupporter]

ARE YOU SURE?!: FIRST EPISODE.

MY IMPRESSIONS.

I want to preface this by saying that this is not an analysis post, and honestly, I don’t want to overanalyse their interactions—everything they said and did. Many others are doing that. My intention with this post is to share my thoughts on the episodes, my impressions, and perhaps my conclusions.

I’m writing this while watching the episodes for the second time.

So, Jimin was really the one who came up with the idea for the show and the one who got it started, while Jungkook just went with the flow. That’s so them, isn’t it? It reminds me a bit of Malta, not just what they did but also what Hobi and Joon said at the time.

The first episode is interesting for several reasons. The most obvious, I think, is the initial dynamic between Jimin and Jungkook. I feel there were things we obviously didn’t know, but at the beginning of the episode, there was a certain… pettiness? in their interactions. At times, they were a bit passive-aggressive with each other, but not in a malicious way. However, when they said something, they would look at each other as if to imply there was more going on than we could see or know.

Many in the fandom always say that Jimin and Yoongi bicker like an old married couple, but Jimin and Jungkook do it too, and this episode was a perfect example of that. Jimin and Jungkook are very similar, and that means they know which buttons to push to annoy each other, which seems to be the intention of both, especially Jimin’s. Jungkook is a bit calmer and tends to react when Jimin is being a bit more bratty than usual.

The start of the episode also confirmed something we already knew and that was obvious last year: Jimin was busy for a while and Jungkook wasn’t, then Jungkook was busy for a while and Jimin wasn’t, and it didn’t fit into their schedules. And I don’t know, but Jungkook sounded a bit bitter talking about it ajajajajajaj. It makes sense if we remember all the times Jungkook mentioned Jimin in his Wlives and invited him to do things.

At the beginning of the episode, we also saw that slight awkwardness Jimin and Jungkook sometimes feel when it’s just the two of them in front of a camera. It’s not a bad thing; it’s just that they seem to be so on guard that they don’t know how to act. This reminded me a lot of the Vlive they did in 2020.

As the episode progressed, they became more comfortable, but they continued bickering like an old married couple, which is very much Jimin and Jungkook. From what I’ve seen, that has surprised some fans. In my opinion, Jimin and Jungkook have always been like this; the difference is that this time it’s just the two of them, so it’s more obvious.

Jungkook saying that he and Jimin should buy the same clothes doesn’t help the allegations that they like to dress alike or at least coordinate their outfits, haha.

Jimin and Jungkook boxing out of nowhere at the checkout is peak Jikook, but something that hasn’t changed, and which we saw in both episodes, is how gentle they are with each other. Even when they were pretending to “fight,” there was always a certain tenderness in the way they touched each other. It reminded me of those times when Jungkook would playfully hit Jimin but would do it so carefully that it ended up being cute. Remember when during an ISAC, Jungkook hit Jimin with an ARMY Bomb and immediately hit himself to confirm that the ARMY Bomb hadn’t hurt Jimin too much? Well, something like that happened during these episodes. Jungkook, in particular, is always super careful when it comes to Jimin—except when he’s asleep, I guess, haha.

There were definitely moments when they said or did something that was an inside joke or something only they understood. For example, when they were at the brewery, Jimin started laughing, and Jungkook told him not to laugh alone. I’m not sure if that was because of the interaction just seconds before or what, but it happened several times in the first episode, in particular.

So, was bickering their new thing at that time? Okay, haha.

Jungkook falling off the kayak, Jimin laughing, and the staff running to help him, while Jungkook was only concerned about his phone, is peak comedy, haha. Jungkook being salty because he fell and Jimin didn’t, and wanting Jimin to fall off the kayak or knock him over, is too funny and very Jungkook. I think that fall bruised his ego a bit; he’s the cool and athletic guy—things like that don’t happen to him! Haha.

Jimin saying he had to be careful preparing the ramyeon because he knew how particular Jungkook is about it is just too cute.

It’s funny that Jungkook was complaining at the beginning of the trip about his bad luck with water and his sore throat, but Jimin ended up with stomach issues, his meat falling on the ground, being bitten by mosquitoes, and getting hit by Jungkook’s shoe, haha.

Why does stuff like this always happen to these guys when they do these kinds of shows? One loses his passport, another gets lost, another can’t travel with the others, and now someone gets a stomach bug, haha.

I demand to see a clip of them sleeping in that cabin. I refuse to believe those cameras didn’t have night vision or whatever it’s called and didn’t capture what happened. I hope some of that is in the behind-the-scenes footage because Jimin and Jungkook made a big deal of it in the last Wlive they did with Joon and Tae.

Also, I know the bed wasn’t very big, but how close was Jimin to Jungkook that he elbowed him right in the nose? I need answers; I need the recordings of that moment!

Honestly, I’m not sure if all of this makes sense, but I don’t want to change it because I wrote it all while watching the episode, and I don’t want to “perfect” it.

My conclusion about the first episode:

Jimin and Jungkook were very much themselves at the beginning: awkward, sassy, shy, and with a lot of complicity that could be interpreted differently. From what I saw, many understood it differently. I don’t know, maybe I’m the one who’s wrong. The only difference or more obvious thing is that Jimin and Jungkook tend to bicker quite a lot, with Jimin almost always being the instigator. I suppose he still likes being scolded by Jungkook.

The first episode was perfect for them to get into the flow of their dynamic. As they said, they hadn’t travelled together or seen each other for a bit, although I imagine they meant they hadn’t spent so much time together, maybe alone. 2023 was a year when their schedules didn’t align for various reasons, until July.

In the first episode, I saw the same Jimin and Jungkook as always, a bit more independent and sassy, but nothing really new. Their dynamic is the same but different.

I hope all this makes sense, and if not, well, I’m sorry. Remember that English is not my first language, haha.

I think I’ll do this for all the episodes; I’ll definitely do it for the second one.

[btr-rewatch]

Big Time Rush Fandom lore from back in the day

The fandom during the years the show was on was booming with constant content being churned out, especially fanfics. Most of the BTR fanfic community knew each other and formed collective headcanons and lore that were then spread and picked up by the rest of the fandom (ie tumblr). I had only just recently discovered online fandom spaces at the time, so I didn't contribute fanfics or anything (which is good because I was young, and they would have been terrible), but I did absorb a good deal that stuck with me. Thought it might be fun to share. A lot of this might still apply today but truth be told, I don't really know much about the current fandom headcanons. I'm still learning things as I continue to interact with people on here! Also! Idk if anyone currently in the fandom was around during Miss Fenway's reign, but she was the Queen of the BTR fandom and most "famous" of the fanfic community. A lot of the headcanons adopted by the fandom started with her and were quickly picked up by others.

Kendall • Pretty much unanimous agreement that his father was a deadbeat who had walked out on the family very shortly after Katie was born. This explains why there is ZERO mention of him in the show, no family pictures in the background that hint at a father still being in their lives, etc. He caused them a lot of pain, so they erased any trace of him. • Some people took a little bit of a kinder approach to him, where he was a genuinely loving dad when Kendall was very young, but then things unraveled, and he ended up leaving. • He was big into hockey, which sparked Kendall's love for the sport. • Lots of sad fanfics involving Little Kendall dealing with his parents deteriorating marriage and being forced to "take charge" once his dad left. • Also agreement that he likely dealt with a decent amount of anxiety and very clear abandonment issues, along with a hero complex. • Naturally, Kendall was very often the focus of intensely angsty fics. He was always being pushed to the limit, ignoring his own issues, sacrificing himself, etc until he reached his breaking point.

Logan • Prior to the airing of Big Time Moms, it was generally headcanoned that Logan's mother had died when he was very young, and he was being raised by his father. • It was also headcanoned (in the fanfic-sphere at least) that Logan's dad was an awful person. Don't ask me how this came to be because I don't actually know. All I remember is discovering fanfiction, reading fic after fic of Logan's dad being horrible, and going, "Huh, I guess that's a thing." • Logan's dad ranged anywhere from being a raging workaholic who totally ignored & neglected Logan to being outright abusive. • The main reason Logan threw himself so hard into school and being "smart" was so his father would notice him. It did not work. • Because of this, the fandom headcanoned that Logan was pretty much "adopted" into the Knight family from the moment he befriended Kendall. Mrs. Knight is the one who raised him and gave him love, and so he and Kendall grew up as brothers. (Several fanfics even had Logan be officially adopted into the Knight family at some point) • If there was an award for most tortured character in BTR fanfiction, Logan would have won hands down during the 2009-2013 fanfic era. This guy was put through the wringer! He was always experiencing trauma. When he wasn't being emotionally scarred by his dad, he was dying tragically or losing an arm in a shark attack or getting brain damage or being kidnapped. Logan suffered constantly lol the poor guy.

Carlos • He likely got the best, most lighthearted side of fandom headcanons and probably suffered the least in fics. Largely because he's Carlos, and nobody wants to hurt Carlos. • From a big, loud, happy family. Definitely the healthiest, most stable upbringing of all the boys. • Babied and loved so so much by his parents. • People had different ideas regarding the actual makeup of his immediate family, but most people headcanoned him as the oldest and only boy, with 3 or 4 much younger sisters. • His father was often written as having a special bond with Logan. I remember a trend in fics where Logan called Mr. Garcia "papa" and looked to him as the main father figure in his life. • It's still assumed that Carlos has a serious case of ADHD, right? Because that was a given back in the day. James • Honestly, I remember the least amount of James lore. Let's see... • Only child • Uses his superficial exterior to hide the fact he's deeply insecure • Actually feels everything so deeply that he has to pretend he doesn't care to avoid getting hurt. This was used to many fic writer's advantage. • Loved by his parents, but they don't show it well, and he grew up feeling disconnected from them. And that's about all I've got!

I should dig back through my old list of bookmarked fanfics at some point and make a post of the ones that were my favorites.

[the-kestrels-feather]

I know I'm SO late to the party, but In light of the hbomberguy video, I wanted to drop a list of some of my favorite video essayists on here who are all great. Some are well known, some of them not, but all deserve a lot of love thrown their way!

Any creators I know are Queer will have a * next to their names if that's what you're looking for! (Note some of them might not have a star that should, that's not me trying to invalidate anybody I just didn't know, please feel free to correct me!)

Dominic Noble- book content! Has a series called Lost in Adaptation that judges how faithful movie adaptations of books were to their original source material, but also does some reviews/summaries as well. Very publicly denounced JKR after she was revealed to be a TERF and stated he will no longer review anything by her on his channel. Also deleted ALL of his HP videos after finding out she was a TERF (which were his most popular videos), so I have a really deep respect for him tbh. Former Channel Awesome member who publicly denounced them on several occasions, and an all around swell guy.

*Overly Sarcastic Productions- channel run by 2 people who go by Red and Blue. History and Mythology/Literature content, as well as analysis of tropes and media! I've been told their History content can be a bit... Iffy, but I'm not a Historian so I don't know, however if they get something wrong they're good about correcting it for what that counts for. Very interesting to listen to, I've watched Red's Videos roughly 100 times each. Also has a podcast.

*Strange Aeons- fandom/Tumblr history mostly, as well as some history, and weird businesses too. Reads a LOT of cursed content for her channel.

*Lindsay Ellis- Media/film analysis. obviously not as unknown as some of the others on here, but I absolutely adore her content and will forever be sad that she isn't on YouTube anymore.

Cruel World Happy Mind- MLM/explanation of controversial figures. I'm not sure how best to explain her content, but she seems genuinely lovely and is interesting to listen to. Also a victim of Illuminaughtii's ire and deserves some love. The video she made on Blair is a bit outdated since she made it at the start of when this all came to light, but imo it's definitely worth a watch. Her talking about her interaction with Blair genuinely broke my heart.

*Night Mind- Analog horror/Unfiction/ARG content! Analyzes and explains various internet horror pieces, and also has a very nice voice to listen to.

*Lola Sebastian- Film/Media Analysis!

Li Speaks- Deep dives into various nostalgia, mainly flash games!

*Princess Weekes- Media/film/literary analysis!

abitfrank- summaries and analysis of various "darker" children's content such as Coraline (book and movie), Nightmare Before Christmas, and various dark fairy tales

Hello Future Me- writing advice and world building information!

Curious Archive- deep dives into the various bestiaries of video games and the animals in real life that they're similar to, I love his Subnautica video!

In Praise of Shadows- Horror media analysis! Will often focus on specific franchises, but also covers things like horror comics and tropes as well.

Wait in the Wings- theatre! Deep dives into the back stories behind the production of various musicals! His video on Rogers the Musical that he did for April Fool's last year is comedy fucking gold

Weird Reads With Emily Louise- conspiracy theory/cult/weird thing analysis! Looks at things from an objective and skeptical view, and is very in depth. Recently served as a consulting producer on an HBO Max documentary on the Love has Won cult.

Ask a Mortician- death content! Covers various historical events and darker stories of death from the view of a Mortician.

*Izzzyzz- deep dives into fandoms, as well as well as different video games and kids' virtual worlds.

Disney Dan- Disney content! Covers the history of different mascot costumes at Disney and Disney-like parks! Has collaborated with Definctland in the past too!

Yesterworld- theme park content! Discusses history behind rides and parks, as well as some Disney movies. I think has also collaborated with Defunctland and Disney Dan?

Legal Eagle- legal content! Breaks down news about ongoing legal cases in a way that feels approachable. I like him because both my parents are paralegals and his videos have helped me understand what they mean when they're talking about work a little bit

Super Eye patch Wolf- media video essays! Mostly about anime/manga and video games, but also covers things like influencer scams and pro wrestling. His "what the internet did to Garfield" video is SO GOOD

*Jessie Gender- Media Analysis, loves Star Trek

*Laura Crone- Media Analysis video essays, her videos on the Swan Princess are fucking great I highly recommend!

*Lady Emily- Media Analysis, did a whole video on Spuder-Man turn off the dark that is SO good. Co writer for Sarah Z

Tale Foundry- covers different forms of fiction, their xenofiction video is great, as is their Angelarium one!

Defunctland- Theme Park ride and Children's TV History channel!

Jenny Nicholson- one of the sort of "big three" commentary channels with Lindsay Ellis and Sarah Z imo, covers all sorts of stuff but her most recent one is a 3 hour video on the theme park Evermore Park!

*Sarah Z- Fandom history and Media analysis! I really enjoy their content, the Johnlock Conspiracy and DashCon videos are my favorites!

Li Speaks- Flash games/virtual world analysis mostly! She has a very soothing voice to listen to, if you played like. Any MMOs or virtual worlds growing up I Highly recommend. I've watched her video on Horseland SO many times.

*Codex Entry- Video game coverage! Her videos on Pathologic are great if you're like me and wanted more after the Hbomberguy video!

Wendigoon- ARG/Spooky content! One of the early proponents of the Mandela Catalog and best known for his conspiracy theory iceberg, but has also covered things like various weird/unsolved crimes, Assassination conspiracies, and other things. His videos on Faith, Blood Meridian, The Mandela Catalog, and his Religion/Cult iceberg are some of my favorites

Dino Diego- Dinosaur fiction, like movies, video games, books, short stories, etc. his 2 videos on West of Eden and Winter in Eden are two of my favorites!

Haley Whipjack- I don't know how to describe her content really? She does a lot of deep dives (her Shrek one is my favorite), currently doing a recap of Once Upon a Time by season that is very fun. She's an elementary school teacher by day (that's not me dozing her she talks about it on her channel), and so she has fun unhinged teacher energy!

Other channels that are a sort of collection of different people talking about different things rather than 1 or 2:

TEDx

PBS

The Exploring Series

[bengiyo]

Only Friends: They Are Probably Their Only Friends

I haven’t been writing much more than Stray Thoughts about Only Friends, other than my post about how they’re just dudes, because I feel like I’m engaging with the show very differently from most of the bloggers. I don’t usually like to talk about this too much, but I think the biggest disconnect I’m having is that I’m a melancholy gay man and most of the other writers are women or femmes.  We joke a lot about Tumblr staff saying that 75% of the userbase is straight, but I think we forget that inside of our fandom spaces we’re overrepresented. In Tumblr BL space, I feel like I know of less than ten other self-identified guys that I’m able to interact with on the regular. Almost everyone I talk to about BL through this website is a woman or a femme.

This is not meant as a complaint, but to highlight how small the community is. Some of the commentary about this friend group has suggested that they should all just walk away from each other. While that might be for the best and what maybe happens (I don’t really hang out with my proximity friends from my early 20s anymore), who else are they supposed to hang out with? They held a party at their hostel and it was all about their group and the people immediately attached to them.

I’ve been trying to maintain friendships with other gay men for the last 14 years and it is not easy! So many of your early interactions with other gay men are about sex. Will we have sex? Will you help me get sex? Will your presence detract from me getting sex? It’s so awful. I have two rock solid besties who I managed out of that, and a string of acquaintances, but you just don’t throw people away in this small community. We are all we have, so it isn’t easy to just sever ties with other queers. As a result, I think we often put up with a lot more from each other than we might in other settings.

I may have more to say about this in the future, but just consider that they might literally be each other’s only friends.

[tavyliasin]

Disability Pride Essays - Gale, Neurodivergency, and Chronic Illnesses

The third of the disability parallel essays is going to focus on everyone’s favourite wizard, the legend of Waterdeep, Gale Dekarios. Immediately I can hear the neurodivergent (ND) side of fandom sitting up and pointing at the screen: “He’s like me!” and you’re absolutely right, but there is even more to him than this too! Gale can arguably represent several chronic physical conditions as well as being the chosen of the god of Autism. Sorry, god of Magic. Both? It’s probably both, isn’t it…

So with this in mind we will be discussing neurodiversity as well as long term chronic conditions and “spoon theory” (don’t worry if you don’t know what that is yet, we’re going to go over it along with “spell slot theory” in a way that might help abled people understand how many of us manage long term illness). I may also touch on the plot point around the Orb and Gale’s fluctuating relationship with his will to live, as well as the desperation to find a cure - so please be aware that if these are things you may find to be triggering. As always, look after yourselves and each other first and foremost. And, of course, your input and thoughts on these topics are more than welcome!

What is Gale’s Disability?

Gale has several conditions that we can see affecting him in the game. Whilst “armchair diagnosis” of real people can be a harmful exercise, and not something we would usually encourage, when we look at him and his behaviours it is easy to see a lot of traits common in Neurodivergent people. So this can mean Autism Spectrum Disorders as well as ADD/ADHD traits, though as anyone with either (or both) diagnosis will likely tell you, these can vary wildly from person to person. The same diagnosis can present completely differently between two people, so we will be looking at specific traits rather than an overall diagnosis for Gale. A more subtle thing shown with Gale is some joint pain, stiffness - he will complain about his knees aching when rain is due, and generally casually describes a lot of aches and pains that are common with ageing as well as in chronic conditions that affect joints. This is potentially easily missed as it’s in just a few lines of dialogue here and there and some background conversation, but we can see it sometimes too in how he moves and reacts. And then, of course, there is the Netherese Orb… One not quite so fun little fact here too is that in the real world there can be a lot of overlap between chronic pain conditions and neurodiversity. Not necessarily causative, and there’s no strongly established link that I’m aware of, but it isn’t uncommon at all to come across in disabled and ND communities. I’m sure more research can be done into specific genetic conditions that may have a stronger and potentially causative link to them, but that would be going too far down the wrong rabbithole for now. Did I mention I have ADHD? What do you mean “obviously”?...

How Do We See The Disability In The Game?

With Neurodiversity, a lot of the “problem” from the condition does not actually come from the person themselves but in how the world and people around them react to them and their behaviours. We can see this in the player base, where some people just cannot stand Gale’s infodumping or talking in depth about his special interests in magic, or how they find some of his personality and interactions to be more frustrating than endearing. There’s also how he was treated by Mystra - if we remove the relationship and abusive part of that for now, he went from being a gifted student, a prodigy in his field, to being rejected and cut loose from that validation.

Plenty of players found they disliked Gale, that his romantic advances and compliments to them were unwelcome and “too much”. In terms of Neurodiversity, Gale is expressing himself relatively openly with his feelings, and could potentially be seen as attaching to the player on a deeper level as a “favourite person” which can be a trait for some. Of course this was changed in the game to a degree after some backlash from those who weren’t keen on him expressing romantic interest after very little interaction, but not all of that is gone from his interactions or the speed with which he forms a strong attachment to someone he trusts. Then there is his “specialised diet”, which in this case is that need to consume magic objects. Honestly there are several ways we can look at this one. From a more literal point of view, we can consider him as literally eating the items like a food source which might be akin to people desiring to eat non-food items. It could also be similar to having “safe foods” which are things that have familiar flavours and textures. However the theory I find most interesting around the “consumption” of magic items is thinking of it more as medicinal.

Either way, Gale needs regular “doses” of the “cure” to stave off some very visceral symptoms. We not only see the relief when he is able to take the “cure” by consuming the item, but we also see the pain and struggle if too much time is left between “doses”. It’s shown in his character model, how he holds himself, you can hear it in his voice breaking as he’s overwhelmed by the symptoms of the Karsite Weave trying to eat away at him. If he doesn’t find any help from the player, too, he will simply leave to find his own solution. There isn’t a choice to just “ignore it and it will go away” - much like any serious illness it needs to be treated or it will get worse.

How Does This Reflect Real Life?

The real life reflections of Neurodivergency are quite easy to see for those of us familiar with those feelings and behaviour patterns. I could spend a while going over them, but then in my experience the fans who are deep enough into the fandom to be reading an essay of this length dissecting the character and the nuances of him…well, if you’re still reading and you’re neurotypical then I will be a little surprised. I mean this in a lighthearted way, of course, I’m sure there are a good number of neurotypical fans and those interested in this kind of topic (in fact it would be lovely for more NT people to spend a little time listening and learning when possible) but there is a very strong correlation between those of us who are ND and having a hyperfixation on one topic. A little like Gale’s hyperfixation on magic and learning everything about it, even to his detriment. It’s a special interest - he could never be satisfied just knowing most things about magic, he needed to know everything. That’s how he ended up in the situation with the Netherese Orb - he found a problem and became quite fixated and determined to solve it. That’s what problems are for, after all, to be solved. And he did it all with good intention, hope, and unfortunately without thinking through the greater consequences either. The single-minded devotion to a task, without seeing the bigger picture, can be a boon as much as it is a curse to ND people. The pain is also one that will feel familiar to people in the real world - whether through age or chronic conditions, this can often be affected by things like the weather and changes in temperature and air pressure. We need more rest, we complain casually, we make small pained noises when we move, and we adjust our actions to fit our needs. In some ways, we could see Gale’s need for magical items to stave off the condition the Orb gives him is like a need for insulin or similar long term medicines. It’s not optional and the consequences of putting it off - or avoiding it entirely - can be dangerous or even deadly. The way he feels around the outcome there could also be similar. Whilst in the real world someone isn’t going to just explode and take out a 10 mile radius with them if they don’t get their medication in time, if they were to pass away then the loss would be felt keenly amongst those around them, leaving an impact on their loved ones. 

Neurodiversity

There is just so much we can say about neurodiversity, but rather than dissecting it piece by piece I think it might be better to take this opportunity to reflect on how meaningful and validating it can be to see these traits in characters we love. These aren’t things that are shown to be flaws or undesirable, simply a part of the entire personality of the character - connecting can really just be, well, validating. That’s the thing with representation. It’s not about making a huge fanfare over every little thing, it’s integrating characters and character traits naturally and treating them normally - the way that we would rather like it if the real world around us might do. It’s also a way to learn to love ourselves through the love of the character - to think something like “I adore listening to him ramble on about his favourite topic” and perhaps feel a little less self-conscious when we ourselves talk more in depth over a hyperfixation or special interest. Something like, oh I don’t know, writing a long series of essays about subtle disability representation in a popular video game…

Chronic Illness and Spell Slots

This is where it gets interesting with the comparison to game mechanics. An old theory that people have used to describe the long term impact of chronic illness is “spoon theory”. Spoon Theory was a way that a chronically ill person described their energy levels to a friend to help them understand more clearly how we have different limits. So the idea is at the start of a day, you have a certain amount of “spoons”. Every task in the day requires one of these spoons to be used - that might be going to the shop to buy food, taking a shower, going to work, socialising with someone, making an important phone call, or even something as simple as getting dressed. You have to be careful where you use those spoons, because once they’re all gone, that’s it. No more. You can’t just get more from nowhere, and if you try to borrow one of tomorrow’s spoons you’ll have even less for that next day. A newer and far more accurate comparison, at least in my opinion, is spell slots. So different tasks are like different spells, and might take a certain level of spell slot to complete.

Easy tasks we can repeat a lot without trouble, like perhaps talking to a friend online or taking a nap, those are like cantrips. We can do them whenever we need to. Small tasks might be a level 1 or 2 spell slot, which we have more of, but a large task that is very tiring and/or causes a lot of pain need a level 5 spell slot. And there’s the trick - you can spend your level 5 slot on a lower level task, potentially doing more than you might usually do with that task, but you can’t spend a level 2 slot on a level 5 task. 

There’s no way to refresh those spell slots without adequate rest, too. In the tabletop version of D&D if you’re suffering levels of exhaustion or don’t get the right amount of uninterrupted rest, you won’t get back all of your spell slots. Which is quite accurate to real life, where not getting what you need means you may not be fully refreshed and replenished for the new day either. 

When we talk about chronic illness too, depending on the person there might well be things that would be cantrips for other people - things that don’t feel like they expend any real energy at all to do - which take a whole spell slot for us. Having a shower might make an abled person feel refreshed and energised, but someone with a chronic illness might instead feel drained and tired after expending that energy. This can apply to both physical tasks and mental or social energy too. People who are introverted will likely understand when I say that for some of us it takes away our energy to socialise with others and we need time alone doing our own thing to recover some of that. Extroverts might find this strange, as they more often feel like a positive social interaction is energising to them and gives them a real boost.

So there you have it, spell slots! A way that might make it easier to explain how tasks take energy, and how we’re simply not able to conjure more energy out of thin air.

The Cure and The Desperation

I’ll preface this section straight away with a very simple part - most neurodiversity neither wants nor needs a cure. What’s needed is understanding and adaptation, patience and compassion to work with what the individual needs in order to succeed. Child has a special interest? Let them indulge that passion and learn all they can about it, that might become their career or long term hobby later in life and bring them a great deal of happiness and satisfaction. This section, when we’re talking about a cure, it’s for those chronic conditions that cause suffering. The parallel being how Gale researches and is willing to trade anything to end the agony that the Orb causes him. He’s ready to throw his whole life away because the torment is too much, until another option becomes available. Even when there are other choices, he’s still willing to detonate, potentially because he feels he has become a hindrance or a burden to those he loves. This…honestly this is something that those with complex and/or long term care needs can struggle with. It is hard not to feel like a burden when you need someone else to take care of menial every day tasks on your behalf, or need to keep asking for aid from those around you.  That’s where the right support is absolutely vital. In those lower times, to remember in ourselves and sometimes to hear from others that they choose to care for us and that there is more we bring to the world. That our worth is not tied to what we can and cannot do, but instead in who we are and what our presence means to those who love us as we are.

It’s something we don’t always talk about, even within disabled communities, because these are deep and difficult feelings within ourselves and we don’t want to inadvertently cause more upset in those who are struggling or have been affected by loss of this kind. So to see that reflected too, the sorrow, the struggle, those very heartfelt and genuine conversations with Gale as he weighs up his options…that’s important to recognise too. Particularly for abled people to try to understand the depth and complexity of our feelings around the exhaustion of dealing with an illness that never goes away - we want to live, but sometimes we feel the weight of that struggle burying the will to keep fighting it. Even if the condition itself is stable, not degenerative, and not deadly, it is still a burden to ourselves. 

What We Can Learn From Gale’s Story

Gale’s parallels to disability are complex, but there’s a lot worth learning from it. Whether it is about fully loving someone’s eccentricities and neurodivergent traits, or learning to understand chronic health through the lens of spell slots, it’s important to know more about ourselves and those around us. For Gale, I see so much of people finding him to be a comfort - “he’s like me”, “I can relate to him” - and that’s what we need. Of course not every person playing the game will feel a connection to him, or even like him as a character, but he is there and to a lot of us he has been an important and meaningful influence through his story. We can also look at the different ways his story can end - several options all quite drastically removed from each other. The ambition is a cautionary tale, the temptation of a “simple fix” is another when the crown can arguably lead to worse endings either under Mystra or losing sight of the better parts of himself beneath the allure of power and godhood. I could probably ramble on for another thousand or so words, but I’ll leave it here for now, with that reflection on everything he can mean to different people and disabilities.

Remember to be kind to yourself, and allow proper recovery of your spell slots before you try to spend levels you don’t have available.

[chronically-ghosted]

i totally agree that it’s ridiculous for people to write fics for films that haven’t been released yet, but the problem isn’t the smut itself. people have every right to write porn if that scratches the itch.

i think your main point is the most important: it’s impossible to write a thoughtful, inspired fic when we don’t even know the story it’s based on. no one knows who this character is or what he’s like.

at this point, everyone should just call a spade a spade and write pedro rpf. all they care about is seeing his face in different situations.

so my earlier post was not so much a statement on Pedro Pascal Character fanfiction/porn, but the commercialization of art and I interpreted the thoughts and opinions of others through the lens of the medium I most often express myself with, which is fanfiction.

let me be clear: i have no problem with smut - pwp or otherwise. people are allowed to write whatever they want, about whoever they want, with whatever tropes make them happy.

my overall focus (and granted it was probably very muddled by the end of those - what, like three reblogs?) was an interrogation of fanfiction as art, and the state of art in this modern era. and after doing some more thinking and listening to more people much smarter than me (thank you to everyone who dm-ed me directly to talk further about this), my opinion is thus: the creation of content (not art) is more ubiquitous today is not because we are getting more stupid as a society, not because of our failing attention spans, not because we are on the brink of moral collapse but because we physically do not have the mental strength to be intellectually curious as a direct result of constant, distracting, emotionally-draining stimuli.

i can explain what i mean below the cut with two primary examples, specifically regarding the shift in fanfiction cult, and yes, the prominence of smutty oneshots in the pedro pascal character fandom of which this blog is a part of.

I have been in various fandoms for almost twenty years. I have been writing fanfiction for almost that same amount of time. In recent years, I've noticed two trends that initially discouraged me, but that I now believe is a symptom of our adjustment to a modern, constantly online era.

A severe lack of engagement within the artistic artifacts of a fandom

The quality of the fanfiction itself (because yes I do consider fanfiction to be an artform) has gone down hill - mostly.

Lack of engagement:

Art is inherently created to be shared. This is especially true for fandom because the community lives or dies by how many people are interacting with each other and sharing ideas (news, theories, fanart, fanfic, etc). If you say a fandom is dead, it means there haven't been any new posts or fic about it in years. So I don't wanna hear it when people say, "oh write for yourself, you shouldn't be chasing engagement" because that is antithetical to the very concept of fanfiction.

In recent years, I have seen and experienced myself engagement in my work only so far as a like or kudo. This is not how it used to be. Message boards (yes I am that old) and niche fandom sites were constantly abuzz with media sharing and excitement, and everyone enjoyed some version of praise (unless you got hit by the antis but they're never fun anyway). Initially I blamed this drop in engagement on laziness: people just want the next thing, they can't be bothered to appreciate the hard work writers put in and they just see content and art as the same thing - stuff to consume.

But I myself am GUILTY of minimal reblogs and comments and I LOVE what I'm writing - the impact certain works leave me with is long, long lasting but for some goddamn reason, I can't sit down and praise the author's works. Am I lazy? Possibly, but this is also not an isolated behavior and it's on the rise: people do not have time to engage with fandom/fanfic like they used to. Most people I know have worked at least two or three jobs at some point in their lives to just to make rent. This gen z is the first generation in DECADES to be worse off economically than their parents. With an interest rate at 8%, who the fuck can afford the security of a home anymore? We work ourselves to the bone for scraps and the realization that The Dream has officially died. And so what do we want to do in the free time we do have? Engage with the very bare minimum. We want to read things that we can at best skim, things we don't have to think about or engage with in any meaningful way. We want a way to turn off the noise of the next apocalypse and sometimes the best we can do is the tap of a thumb.

Which brings me to my next point: what the fuck happened to thoughtful fanfiction?

But this question is inextricably linked to the points above: oneshots are easier to write, faster to write, and if you write fic that is basically "Mad libs porn" (without ever engaging in the actual medium because it is literally not released yet), you are doing the most minimal work for the most amount of engagement. But I can't fault ANYONE for doing that. It feels good to be told your smut is "so hot" or "this exploded my panties" and in this era where the time available to create is so fucking small and minimized of course you're going to write for the most popular character, whether or not you're interested in the source material because we want our art to matter to someone. Intellectual pundits loooove to lambast our "shorter attention spans" but fuck, when are we allowed the time to think - in between this "100 year storm" that's happened twice in the past five years, or the global pandemic that turned millions of deaths into a political punching bag, or the next video of a white woman crying wolf to the police over an innocent black man, or - or - or - or

In a day where reality and the world as we know seems to be holding onto a thread, we turn to comfort: comforting tropes (dbf to rape/kidnap fantasies), comforting fanfic (pwp), and comforting ways to engage with fandom. There is nothing wrong with wanting your art to be appreciated and there's nothing wrong with inherently wrong with pwp - but I do believe its symptomatic of a MUCH larger and more sinister movement within ALL art right now.

I come from the generation who banished fanfic authors for scrubbing off the filing numbers to their fics and publishing it as original content because, in our communities, they were selling out. Fanfiction is inherently an act of rebellion. Every time you write fanfiction you break canon, an established structure with its own rules and boundaries. So by trying to appeal to the masses, to curb your own writing to fit whatever is mainstream, you are doing a disservice to yourself AND to the art of fanfiction. If something you write becomes popular, wonderful, great, you are very lucky and there is nothing wrong with that either. But do not sell out your 13 beloved fans who WILL take the time to leave a comment, who WILL take the time to reblog because your weird little fic spoke to them on a fundamental level and now is with them for the rest of their lives - in favor of a 100 thumb taps.

If you've made it here, thank you very much for reading. I've added some links to some additional references to see how this concept of "populist" art is having a serious negative down turn in the quality of art, but is also not any one individuals personal failings:

Why the world is addicted to background tv by Kayleigh Day

How Modern Audience are failing cinema by Like Stories of Old

Rupi Kaur episode of Rehash podcast

I'm always here to talk fic and art and what makes you excited about your writing. Much love and please rest. We need you here.

[tare-anime]

Dear SxF fandom

I've been here eversince this place is a spec of small nearly non-existence fandom, until it grow this big and merry nowdays.

All this time, I've encounter numerous people that express their gratitude and happiness, about how supportive this fandom is. Supportive in apreciating fics, arts, opinions, speculations, etc.

Unfortunately as of late, I've starting to encounter discourses, difference in opinions that sometimes lead into unhealty war.

Not to say I've encountered numerous art reposters without the artist permission, and worse, the artist is here on tumblr too.

Please people.

Let us keep our place a happy and chill place where people may express their opinions, creations, and love for the series we all love with happiness and joy, just like how the Forgers found home in each others.

Please don't make unnecessary wars that has happened in several other fandoms, which in the end will make people don't want to interact in fandom activities.

Fandom can only be enjoyed when there are people interacting in healthy and mature way.

Because at the end, we already have our troublesome real life. And we dive into fandom to relax and enjoy wonderful times. Again, just like how the Forgers has to keep up with their harsh outside activities and pasts, but then they can have their warm place at home.

This is our home. Let it be a wonderful place for all.

I hope this wish of mine can be accepted in a good way.

Best regards.

[finnofamerica]

The Next Future Mrs. Malcolm- Ian Malcolm X reader | Smut

Summary: Reader enjoys a very romantic night out with Dr. Ian Malcolm.

Word Count: 2,234

Date Posted: 03.25.24

Prompt: Could it be a smutty romantic fic of Ian with a GF with a praise kink?

TW: AFAB LANGUAGE USED, Toy use in public, dirty talk, praise, oral (giving)

Note: The toy Used is the Lovense Lush 3. Linked so you can get a visual.

🔞MINORS DO NOT INTERACT🔞

|| Masterlist || Request Here || Fandoms/ Characters || Req by @melonpire

The package left on your doorstep was a large brown box unceremoniously taped closed. There was no return address, but you suspected you knew who it was from. See, your boyfriend Ian just got back from his book tour, and he loves to surprise you with a romantic night out. 

You opened the box, the true surprise inside. There were several beautifully wrapped boxes of different sizes, each completed with a neatly tied bow. Sitting on the very top of the pile was a note. 

Y/n,

Pamper yourself today. I’ll pick you up at 7:30 for dinner, and your outfit is included in the box. I can’t wait to see you, Beautiful. 

Ian

You did exactly that. You spent the morning in the shower exfoliating, shaving, and doing anything else that you could think of in preparation for your surprise date. Ian had bought you an entirely new outfit—new lingerie that contrasted your skin beautifully and gave you the perfect amount of cleavage. A small box contained a pair of thin, silvery dangling earrings that looked like stars falling from the sky when the light hit them just right, as well as a matching bracelet. A large champagne-colored box contained the dress that hugged your body like a second skin. But there was another box, baby pink, wrapped in a champagne bow. 

Your brows furrowed, and a complete outfit was sitting on your bed in front of you; you couldn’t imagine what was in this box. Gently, you untied the bow and opened the lid, a note falling from it as you did. Inside sat an oddly shaped hot pink silicone device. It was kind of egg-shaped, with a long, thin “tail” extending from one end to a small circle that had a button. 

You inspected the smooth surface of the device before picking up the note. Ian gave you directions to the app to download and instructions on how to share control of the device. Taking it to the bathroom, you gave the device a quick wash with mild soap before setting it on a clean towel to dry and setting an alarm for six-thirty. 

Your heart raced as you stood in front of the mirror, dressed in the gorgeous black body con dress that accentuated your features. The vibrator was surprisingly easy to insert with a little bit of lube, and the shape allowed it to sit inside your vaginal canal without slipping out; it was quite a snug, comfortable fit. The tail sat outside of your body, curling up toward your stomach, held against your skin by the crotchless panties Ian had bought you. 

You inspected your appearance. You looked hot. Ian really knew how to dress you, and telling you what to wear was one of his favorite things. He wasn’t the type of guy who told you what to wear because he didn’t want other men to think you looked sexy. In fact, his intentions were almost the exact opposite. Ian loved buying you clothes and dressing you because he wanted other men to be jealous. He wanted to show you off to the world and show them the gorgeous woman he bagged. 

Seven-thirty on the dot, there was a knock at your door. Ian stood on the other side, towering above your short stature, with a single rose, dethorned, and a mischievous grin on his lips. 

“Hi, Sweetheart,” He scanned your outfit and caressed your cheek, “Don’t you look beautiful.” 

You couldn’t fight the smile on your face as heat rushed to your cheeks. He’d just arrived, and he was already turning you into a melty puddle of girl goo. “Thank you.” 

“Spin so I can get the full view.” 

You obeyed his request, turning slowly as he inspected you. The second your back was fully turned, he landed a swift smack to your ass, making you yelp. 

“Just as I thought,” he mused, “You’re perfect.” 

His praise filled you with warmth and an inexplicable desire to please. You were frozen in place as he leaned in to whisper in your ear, “And after dinner, I’m ruining that beautiful makeup of yours.” 

And there it was. A rush of arousal shot through you, making you shiver in anticipation. 

“Are you ready to go?” You asked, swallowing down your nerves and taking his hand. 

“Just waiting on you, Beautiful,” He grinned, leading you downstairs to his car. 

The restaurant wasn’t the fanciest in town, not that that mattered to you. You didn’t care if you went to an Olive Garden as long as you were with Ian. It was a lovely white tablecloth restaurant located on the bay with outdoor seating that overlooked the sea. Once parked, Ian reached underneath your dress and turned on the vibrator, connecting his Bluetooth to it so he could control the vibration. 

The lowest setting was a soft steady rumble that pressed against your G-spot with every step as Ian led you to the host stand. 

“I have a reservation for Dr. Malcolm.” He said suavely. 

“Oh!” The host beamed, “Right this way, we have your private table ready.” 

She led you both outside to the patio seating, half of it blocked off with beautiful flowered hedges on rolling planter boxes. You passed through the deliberate gap in the hedges, your table sitting center in the decorated space. 

“Ian,” You squeezed his hand, nerves crawling up your spine, “This is so fancy.” 

Of course, by fancy, you meant expensive. Expensiveness made you nervous - guilty. You didn’t want to be a financial burden. 

“Hey,” He gave you a comforting smile, “Only the best for my gorgeous girl.” 

You let out a shallow breath, letting him guide you to your chair. He pulls it out for you like a gentleman before scooting you in. 

“Here are your menus,” the host said, placing the hard-covered menu books on the table. “Your server will be by shortly.” 

Every aspect of the dinner was lovely, only heightened by the vibrator buzzing inside you. Throughout dinner, Ian had adjusted the settings, making it difficult for you to sit still, but somehow, you managed. You were more worried about wether or not there would be a wet mark on the butt of your dress from how much you felt like you were soaking. 

The vibrator suddenly stopped, making your brows furrow in confusion. You honestly missed the sensation now.

“Y/n, I often used to make jokes about how I’m always looking for the next future ex-Mrs. Malcolm. But I’ve realized I don’t want another Ex-Mrs. Malcolm.” He paused, and your heart sank. Was he breaking up with you? 

“I just want the next Mrs. Malcolm.” Ian got down on his knee. Your breath caught in your chest. “I want you to be the next Mrs. Malcolm, and I am determined to make it last this time. Will you marry me?” 

Tears welled in your eyes as you nodded. You hopped out of your chair and pulled him into a hug. 

“Yes, I will.” You kissed him, refusing to let your tears spill over and ruin your makeup. Ian slipped the beautiful moss agate ring on your finger and kissed your hand. You chuckled, “For a second there, I thought you might be breaking up with me.” 

Ian laughed as he helped you back to your seat, “I don’t want to break up with you ever.” 

Finally, the bill was settled, and the server brought out dessert and two glasses of sparkling wine. 

“Congratulations, you both,” The server, Richard, bid his farewell as you enjoyed the final moments of your meal. 

You were completely filled with warmth as Ian drove you both back to your shared apartment. The second the door clicked shut behind you, Ian’s lips were on yours, and his arms wrapped around you. 

“Ian!” You protested with a giggle, “Can we at least make it to the bedroom first?” 

“I don’t know, Sweetheart,” He growled slightly, “You just look so damn good as my fianceé. I can’t wait to make that makeup run.” 

Arousal rushed through you again, practically making you salivate. You managed to separate yourself from him just long enough to get to your knees, hastily undoing the belt to his sleek dress pants, freeing his thick member. 

Ian let out a groan as you licked him root to tip before taking the head of his cock in your mouth, smudging your recently reapplied lipstick. 

“Fuck you’re good at that,” His hand fell to your hair, pulling the strands away from your face. “I remember we we first got together, you could barely get it in your mouth without gagging.” 

You relaxed your throat, inching your way down his cock until your nose pressed to his groin. 

“Look at you now.” He praised, “Deepthroating like a champ. I’m so fucking proud of you.” 

Ian slowly rocked his hips, gently fucking your mouth as you forced yourself to sit on your hands and relinquish control to him. You loved pleasing him, listening to the string of praise falling from his lips as he fucked your throat until tears spilled from your eyes, and arousal was practically pooling on the floor underneath you. 

“I need to feel you,” He pulled his cock out with a satisfying pop, helping you up from the floor. Ian stripped off his shoes and pants before ushering you to your bedroom, swiping the boxes off the bed. “Be a good girl, and let me strip you.” 

You gave him a grin, turning so he could unzip your dress, letting fall to the floor around your heels. 

“You’re so beautiful,” Ian praised, running his hands over the lacy lingerie that he’d picked out for you. Large, warm palms cupped your breast as he kissed your shoulder, taking his time with you. You let out a satisfied sigh at the feeling, relaxing into his touch. He undid the clasp to your bra, letting that, too, fall to the floor, leaving you in nothing but crotchless panties and heels. 

He laid you down on the bed, pulling out the vibrator with a wet pop and tossing it to the side. Your hands fumbled with his shirt buttons as he caressed your pussy. 

“So wet already, Sweetheart?” He teased, making you huff. 

“You’re the one who teased me the entire dinner,” You spat back, pushing his shirt off his shoulders, light glinting off your new ring. 

Ian stroked his cock twice before lining the head with your entrance; you let out a breathy sigh as he slid in with ease. As always, his cock filled you to the brim, making you feel pleasurably stretched out. He kissed down your neck to your shoulder as he slowly pumped in and out, taking his time, allowing the pleasure to build in you. 

“God, you feel so good.” He praised, reaching over to grab the Hitachi wand sitting on the bedside table, slotting it perfectly between the two of you. Even the lowest setting built a wave of pleasure in you, “I missed this pussy on my tour. Next time, I’m bringing you with me so I can have it every night.” 

You rolled your hips up into his, moaning softly. “I’d like that. I love pleasing you.” 

His lips met yours again, moving in unison as each thrust pressed the vibrator harder against your clit. 

“Ian -“ you whined slightly, wanting more from the vibrator between you. 

He turned it up to the next setting, stating his condition, “You’re not allowed to cum until I tell you to.” 

You nodded helplessly, grinding into the vibrator. Ian picked up his pace, clinging to you like you were the last life preserver on a rocky ocean. Each wave builds that pleasurable pressure within you. A hot coil of arousal burning in the pit of your stomach. 

“Ian -“ You moaned, this one like a warning. “Ian, please, I can’t last much longer.” 

He gripped your hips as he leaned up straighter, one hand holding the vibrator in place. “Come for me, Y/n, be a good girl and come for your Finacé.” 

It was like he pulled the ripcord as your building orgasm released and your entire body spasmed around his cock.

“Good girl.” Ian praised. His name fell from your lips, fragmented by moans as he turned up the vibrator again, fucking you stupid. “Good girls get rewarded.” 

It was like you were floating into space as he held the vibrator to your oversensitive clit. Every thought left your mind as you drooled into the pillow, riding out the aftershocks being sent through you. Another orgasm built in your core as he continued to rock into you, washing over you the second it hit its peak, no longer able to maintain control. It was wave after wave of orgasms rolling through your body.  It wasn’t until you hit your fourth that Ian’s hips finally stuttered as he spilled his seed deep in your cunt. 

He collapsed on the two of you, turning off the vibrator and removing it. His heart pounded in his chest against yours as you regained your breath and your soul returned to your body. 

Ian peppered kisses to your cheek as he held you close, both of you exhausted from your romp. 

“Good night, future Mrs. Malcolm.” He whispered in your ear as you both drifted off into a very restful night of sleep. 

Tags: @melonpire

[utilitycaster]

Do you think that Laura and Marisha are deliberately making their relationship somewhat toxic and unsustainable or do you think they see the relationship as healthy? It is just so different from all of the other relationships they have been a part of and not really in a good way. Would love to get your perspective on it if you have one

I am honestly unsure. I would like to say it's deliberate. Prior to it becoming canon, in fact, I, and a lot of other people who were less than enthused by Imogen and Laudna's romance and weren't entirely sold from the start, made the case that we expected they would be talking to each other and would put together a compelling story, not the dull fluff so common in fanon. While whether it's compelling is a subjective judgment, we know for a fact they didn't talk to each other. We know for a fact Marisha was surprised by the question of "Can I kiss you," and Laura was surprised by the answer. We know from a 4SD not long after (4SD #16, Kiss and Tell) that several episodes later they still hadn't talked. We know that Marisha perceives Laudna as holding Imogen back (and that Laudna perceives herself as doing so) from the Rose City Q&A. We know that from 4SD #20 (Episode Twenty) that Laura doesn't like conflict in narrative and Marisha does, and that Laura was thrown by Laudna's regression following Ashton's attempt to absorb the shard (4SD #19, Shard Candy).

I don't know if it's deliberate or not; I don't have any extra insight that isn't public knowledge any fan can easily access. But man, it doesn't feel like these are two actors on the same page about what's going on.

I've touched on this before but mostly in tags or whisper posts but I've always felt ill at ease with a number of for lack of a better term "fandom-approved opinions" and one of the ones that has baffled me the most is this idea that Marisha and Laura have exceptional chemistry. I watched Campaign 1 knowing the endgame ships but deliberately avoiding the fandom, and Vex and Keyleth did not even once occur to me as a thing. I watched the first year of Campaign 2 without a ton of fandom interaction because I was avoiding additional C1 spoilers and it seemed crystal clear that the obvious ship was Beau and Yasha; it felt like Beau and Jester only even had enough potential for me to multiship it as my general "whomever Jester picks" for like, 30 episodes. And yet people - people who didn't even ship either of the above ships and in some cases disliked them- would just say "oh man I can't wait until we get to a campaign where we can finally explore Marisha and Laura's incredible chemistry!" and it's like. I feel like I'm the kid in the Emperor's New Clothes on this! I understand that chemistry is to an extent a matter of taste and subjectivity, but it just increasingly feels like people looked at two campaigns of tables where Ashley was frequently absent and said "well, if I want an F/F ship that's between two of the women in the cast, I guess this is what I have to work with" and repeated to themselves that a flat pamplemousse La Croix was a Piña Colada until they started to believe it. I mean if someone wants to explain it to me in good faith I suppose be my guest and I will try to take it in, but it feels like people just treat this as incontrovertible fact and if you doubt it they're like "don't you have eyes" and it's like, well, pretend I don't. Explain like I'm eyeless and five because I have never understood this. They both have more chemistry with every single other cast member; it's not all romantic but man, I didn't even buy Laudna and Imogen as platonic best friends of two years. I have never had this problem with any other pre-existing character relationships Marisha and Laura have played, platonic or otherwise. It's literally just them. I just never feel like they're quite on the same page.

Back to the relationship between Imogen and Laudna onscreen, this was easily the best conversation since the start of the gnarlrock fight, and it is my hope it doesn't fizzle out the way that did. You can't keep kissing Laudna whenever she fears she's lost forever to Delilah, Imogen. Or you can, but that won't fix the problem. Again: are you disgusted? Do you feel betrayed? If you're not, why did you say that? If you are, how will you move past it? Do you want to be with someone who never feels like they're good enough for you? Laudna, do you want to be with someone who, no matter what they say, you feel you're holding back?

Early in the campaign, my feeling was that of our current situation, switched - Imogen felt her powers were a burden and a curse and Laudna kept referring to them and to her glowingly. It's just...ships passing in the night, no pun intended here. I hope it's on purpose and whatever comes from it is a good story - and either a tragedy or a happy story could be a good one. But I have a nagging sensation that Laudna wants out but is afraid to say no, and Imogen is afraid to let go, and I honestly don't know if the actors have realized this impasse and how the characters might resolve it, one way or another, besides the insufficient bandaid of a kiss whenever the conversation gets too uncomfortable.

[tyttamarzh]

BADASS MISSA!!

In the last few days there has been an overdose of sugar on my tumblr, so it's time to shake it up a little… and I wanted to take the opportunity to touch on a topic that has recently been a topic of discussion in a certain part of the fandom.

Missa can be badass. Yes, he can be, many of us have seen it, he has shown himself to be capable many times, he can go crazy and become bloodthirsty. Probably if you have only seen him in his interactions with Phil, you will see him as a simple shy and a little clumsy boy (just a wet cat), but if he puts his mind to it he can get strong.

Several months ago, he somehow managed to survive traversing a forest full of mobs at night, thousands of blocks away, with only an ax and a dream and it was as if the mantle of death covered him, protecting him and guiding his steps and his blows, because against all odds, he managed to survive…

Missa's sadistic flashes have existed since his time in Minecraft Extremo, it is somehow a residual effect of growing up among so much violence and madness.

Most of the time you will see him as a calm and quite kind boy, he is, he has never dared to kill other players (I think only once, when he put a mine in Vegetta's house and killed Roier and Mariana, but my baby was just playing), because he has essentially a good heart and is a pacifist. But if the situation warrants it, he will let out all that anger and strength that boils in his gut, to defend what he loves.

Missa can be a wet cat, but he can also be someone tough, funny, cheeky; He is someone with multiple facets and I hope everyone can get to know each of them, because he is great!

I really love the fans of Missa who has emerged thanks to QSMP and Phil, but as part of the Hispanic fandom, I feel like I have to mention these things every time I can, so that they can get to know him, I would like our different perspectives not to be a reason for disagreement , but rather it is an interesting way to unite us more and learn.

See you!

[ripplestitchskein]

I just saw the funniest thing about Stolitz and it really reinforced my belief that people just cannot handle the long period between episodes indie animation requires. They just cannot make connections for that long and their own personal expectations and imaginings of what it should be have too much time to percolate. As a recent comer to the HB fandom who watched the entirety of the series in a single afternoon and skipped the Pilot because it’s not canon I am having a completely different experience. I attribute this mostly to the Pilot, as that seems to have colored peoples opinions of Stolas and subsequently Stolitz in such a wild way and they had to sit with that characterization for so long they just cannot fathom that the story is playing out much differently than the Pilot set up. And yes a year is a long time to sit with expectations of a show direction and a characterization I won’t fault them for that.

“They turned Stolas into sad clown boy”. “The show is all about Stolitz relationship drama now”.

Did we watch the same Season 1, Episode 2? Because our first “real” introduction to Stolas is immediately good dad, sad owl boy, relationship with Blitzo. The first episode sets up the current state of the Blitzø/Stolas relationship, sets up the business and overall character dynamics but doesn’t really give us any information on their backgrounds or current emotional states. It hints at a few things coming up, a few things to look into further but nothing beyond surface level. As you’d expect from a first episode. The 2nd episode shows us that some major things were gonna be exploring are Blitzo and Stolas, Stolas and his family situation, Blitzo’s history as a clown and why he hates Fizzarolli bot so much, the Moxxie/Millie dynamic and brief brushings on Loona and how Blitzo interacts with his employees, but I’d say we actually get more information on Stolas and Stolitz earlier on in the show than we do anything else. It was setup from the beginning that these were all major premises we were going to explore and….WE DO. We start the season that way. We end the season a little further down the road but still focusing on those basic things setup in the first two episodes.

I see a lot of criticisms of the writing but from my perspective, watching them all in a row the writing is pretty spot on in terms of set up, change, payoff. And the structure is exactly what we expect for a multi season show. They introduce Stolitz at one point in their relationship in S1 Ep 1, and by Ozzie’s we have a very clear change that was progressed through the other episodes of the season. That same narrative thread, introduced at the beginning of the show is carried through into S2 and the underpinnings of reactions we saw in S1 episodes 1 and 2 are revealed throughout, we now see why Stolas and Blitzø react the way they did in S1Ep1 via the storytelling in S2Ep1 and the structure of those two being the first episodes of their respective seasons is exactly what a writer should do. They feed into each other perfectly. A person watching only those two episodes would have no trouble filling in the rest of the seasons or the story at large and that’s exactly what a serialized writer should do. The show didn’t change anything midstream, it didn’t shift plot points, it very clearly setup these pins to knock them down as we go on. Fizzarolli backstory? Done. Blitzo’s relationship with Millie and Moxie had several episodes of exploration, we see a bit more about Loona and Blitzo and Stolas’s marriage drama is the main catalyst for overall big drama and they are exactly where they should be if you are plotting this out using a three act structure for a television format.

Things are REVEALED they aren’t changed, and while real life concerns and schedules and business things do affect how episodes get released or how things play out or which characters are available to appear, not knowing any of that background until AFTER I had already watched the show I’d say the writers are doing a pretty remarkable job keeping the flow, of developing the characters and relationships and paying off what they setup waaay at the beginning 3 years ago when they released eps 1 and 2. They’ve also done a great job of giving every character a little moment to shine even though, as they established in episodes 1 and 2, the main focus is on Blitzø, Stolas and how their relationship is the catalyst for everything. That it’s why I.M.P does what it does.

I highly suggest people watch it from start to finish without the Pilot, or at least just the first two episodes and S2 Ep 1 and take into account what is shown and setup at the very start versus the story we are currently at and I really think it will show that nothing has changed, the story is progressing as it should, at the pace it should, and that the characters are growing and changing as they should based on the things that have occurred.