#I appreciate people wanting my opinions and to elaborate on stuff

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

"We do want Buddie to be canon, nonny, and in my opinion we are going to get it. All this recent PR supports that, (again: in my opinion)"

Can you go into this if you don't mind, honestly I think Ryan at the premiere all but confirmed it and even now he says so much without saying anything at all. His expressions give away so much lol. He has a terrible poker face. But i would love to hear your thoughts on this if possible.

I'm gonna be honest nonny you really answered your own question there: Ryan's behavior and the fact that they're continuing to let him do press.

As I discussed previously, it's very difficult to promote a couple of characters that fandom ships without falling into queerbaiting. Because of this it would be the smart thing for ABC to keep Ryan and Oliver separate, disallow Buddie or Buddie-related questions, and so on.

Instead they are allowing Ryan to do press, Ryan to do press with Oliver, and are allowing these questions while trusting Oliver and Ryan (on a leash) to handle them. Now, part of it is probably the Barbra Streisand effect i.e. the more attempts you make to hide something the more people notice the very thing you don't want them to notice, but given the sheer AMOUNT that Buck and Eddie's relationship has been put front and center and the fact that Oliver and Ryan have been doing all these interviews together, I am hopeful and see that as a positive sign for Buddie because I trust ABC not to want to shit the bed by being accused of queerbaiting.

I think also as I've mentioned in another ask I answered a week or so ago, Ryan being in PR jail was a joke for a reason. Now, please note, EVERYONE except Oliver was pushed to the side in PR by FOX. FOX seriously pushed Oliver to do all the promo and be the "face" of the show, something nobody in the cast appreciated (including Oliver). So Ryan not doing interviews nearly as much was, in part, this issue by FOX.

However, Ryan also historically is... bad at keeping his mouth shut. He never quite spills the beans but he tends to throw his personal opinion out and hint/tease at stuff he shouldn't be hinting/teasing at. He likes to be goofy, to tease fans, to have fun. Which not only gives public relations managers migraines and anxiety, but in the case of a queer ship can land the show in trouble if Ryan's saying stuff that fans think is hinting at Buddie and then Buddie doesn't happen.

As we have all seen, the second they let Ryan open his mouth on live camera, his cute tipsy little puppy face word vomited all over the carpet. I suspect the fear of god was put into Oliver that it was his job to Make Ryan Behave.

Now, there are actors who have ignored this and enjoyed teasing about a ship anyway and the network has let them because they only cared about getting people to watch the show, they didn't care about being respectful or not. But nowadays that's not something you can get away with and most networks understand they'll get a lot of backlash that's just not worth it. AND most actors understand that even if they personally want a ship to happen, it's only going to hurt the feelings of fans if they (the actor) try to hint at it and then it doesn't happen.

It's more often that an actor will later say after the fact "yeah I would've liked it if X happened, but the writers chose to go in a different direction." Past-tense. They have a lot more freedom to speak on past things than on present storylines or possible future ones.

ABC is taking a risk in letting Ryan do all these video interviews, and to do video interviews with Oliver because the second those two are doing anything together everyone assumes it hints at Buddie. The latter, that's not really on ABC so much as on the fans, but either way, the solution is to keep 'em separate and keep Ryan locked up. Instead, they're allowing the actors to do things they know will get fans excited over Buddie, without crossing any lines into disrespect.

[lazorbeanz]

Why do you personally ship, like, or appreciate Sonamy? What got you into Sonamy? What’s your favorite moment between the two?

Why do I ship Sonamy?

Okay, ima admit it..for someone who is a diehard sonamy fan, and thinks about AND ONLY about them literally every waking second, I can not think of ONE reason why I ship them to begin with….

“So you just ship them for basically no reason WHY?!” Pretty much 😅

And I’ve seen so many other people give their really good reasons and opinions on why they ship sonamy, and I full on agree with ‘em, but as for myself, I rack up nothing…and it’s my favourite ship too I mean come onnn TwT

I’ve also had my sister ask me this same question not long ago, and all I could do was just sit there and think “Damn your life almost revolves around these 2 HOW CAN YOU NOT HAVE AN ANSWER?!” I constantly beat myself up for this because I know I should 😭

And I mean, stuff like being the dynamic duo that they are, (whether in battle or not) their attitude and affection for each other evolving over time, respecting the other’s wants and needs, respecting boundaries (kinda the same thing tbh lol) , enjoying each others company, and just how the whole idea of sonamy has turned from what some people may see as “toxic” or “forced” (that might be the better word for it) from early 2000s media, to something more laid back and healthy like recent media because of all the character development over the years… etc, etc…are all fantastic reasons, and even reasons I would now apply as to why I love the ship even more…BUT they’re not the reasons I began to ship them in the first place, because these things I NEVER took into consideration when I starting doing so.

To put a long story short, I just saw pink and blue hedgies and was like, “ooooh I sense chemistry”

I feel like I could be going no where with all this. But all I’m tryna say is that I LIKE sonamy simply because of who they are…just a speedy blue boi and his hammer-wielding pink girlie. I APPRECIATE them solely because of their existence, especially in my life. They are like- one of the few things I ever look forward to these days. I SHIP them because unlike any other ship that has sonic or amy in it, sonamy just… “works” (I don’t know how to explain it but you know what I mean right??) And despite not being canon, (YET! 😏) they have got to be the closest ship to becoming canon (besides vectilla) ..unless I’m just biased :p

What got me into Sonamy?

Well, I did kinda just answer this in the previous question lol but I have to elaborate!

So yeah it started off with just seeing them 2 together and thought “I like where this is going hehe” tho tbh it never really went anywhere…because I was watching Sonic Boom at the time XD, the first piece of Sonic media I consumed since regaining an interest in the franchise. AND WE ARE NOT going back to like 2015 or 16 when I first discovered Sonic…idek what I did regarding shipping back then…I think I like shipped blaze and shadow or something OH LAWD-

Also to think that those short lived Sonamy moments in Boom didn’t even bother me in the slightest?! Present me is disgusted by such lack of interest or care! 😫

Okay okay I’m straying from the question, I’m sorry!!

There are a few things that got me hooked on Sonamy. First was definitely the tv series’. Boom, Prime and X all had adorable and wholesome moments that I could’ve almost died of cuteness from! Some of it was also hilarious too. In Sonic boom for instance, sonic and Amy would fight like a married couple lololol

Another thing (and this was the game changer) was the fanart and animatics. These became the addiction for me; one comic would lead to me reading another, which lead me to read another and so on. Or I’d find an animatic on YT and watch that and then begin scavenging trying to find more animatics to feed these cravings of sonamy I was beginning to gain all of a sudden.

And it just got worse and worse to the point I practically need a daily dose of Sonamy or I just might go feral

But I mean, how could I not?! YOU GUYS ARE SO GOSH DARN TALENTED AKJDJSJDND

Sadly now my food hath runneth dry over the months…so if any of u like come across anything sonamy pls don’t hesitate to tag me or send it to me pls I need it ajhshsjs

On top of all that, came the brainrot. My growing love for this ship and all the incredible media really sent me into a serious Sonamy delulu era. Literally almost ANYTHING can send me into deep thoughts about those 2, no kidding. I literally planned out in my head an entire story of them a couple days ago. Sometimes it’s a head canon or 2, other times just something extremely wholesome I’ll imagine them do and I’ll be deceased. Those rats live in my head rent free omg-

As I said, ANYTHING can trigger this brainrot; a song, a scene, a quote, a random object…you name it, I’ll come up with a Sonamy headcanon in relation to it.

I can’t also forget other sonic media that also boosted it like game cutscenes and IDW. Lately IDW has been CARRYING it for me with the little Sonamy moments like in the 900th adventure, #67 and other tidbits I’d find in former issues. The amount of frames I’ve seen of them hugging warms my heart waaa🥺🥺

Overall, this fandom has really impacted me and my love for Sonamy. (and sonic in general) all the things I’ve learnt and discovered have made me love them all the more because of it. My life has almost become an Sonamy aesthetic now…I am NOT joking when I tell you my PJs are Sonamy coded, and that was hardly intentional…🤣

Favourite Sonamy moment?

Arrghhh why just one?? Pretty much ANY moment involving those 2 cotton candy hedgies are bound to be my favourite!

Totally not saying this cuz I can’t pick a favourite *cough cough*

Take this, it’s the only Sonamy image I really have in my photo album rn.. (I should be in jail for this)

Its one of my favs so it counts :)

Woowee that just about covers it! Now you know all about my weird and wonderweird love for my favourite ship :D 🩷💙

[aki-bara]

A while ago, I made a small headcanon about Percy Jackson being Cassgender, and I'm only realizing now that your reply of "Send It" had meant you actually wanted me to elaborate. Lol my mistake, at least I'm here now.

I don't really think Percy really cares all that much about his gender identity, most of the time he uses He/Him and doesn't mind being called They/Them or other pronouns either.

I have been agonizing a little bit about about what I think his assigned gender at birth is though. When I first read the books, I interpreted him as AMAB (Since I am), but transmasc Percy is a very popular headcanon here on tumblr, and I've often found it rotating around in my head. I don't say that I dislike it, or that I disagree with it, I just hadn't thought about it before hearing about it. Do you have any strong opinions about what you think Percy's AGAB is? You seem like a good person to ask.

There's nothing I would love to do more than talk about Percy Jackson's gender identity. This ask is such a gift. Thank you. Before I share my opinion, let's talk about my biases. I am a white queer USAmerican. I'm also a millennial. Okay, glad we got that out of the way.

Anywho. I'll admit I don't personally see Percy as being AFAB.

By the time the books start Percy is 11, and his identity as a boy among his peers is well established. If he was AFAB this means he would have had to transition before the beginning of this book. And for that to occur he would (likely) need to have a strong desire to transition from a young age.

It's definitely not impossible for people to feel strongly about their gender identity from a young age. I'm not trying to suggest it is impossible!

But given everything we know about Gabe, and given that transidentities weren't something many people discussed or had knowledge of I think it is unlikely Percy would have felt comfortable discussing transitioning at home even if he did feel strongly about it. I think even if he did talk about it, Sally would have had to weigh his safety at home with Gabe against the benefits of being "out" and though I don't doubt she would support Percy's transition and stand up to Gabe for him if she understood how important it was to him... It would have changed a lot of stuff about his home life, so I just find it unlikely for thay reason.

It's definitely not impossible! And I'm not trying to tell anyone what their interpretation of Percy's gender should be

I think it's really cool how varied everyone's interpretations of the characters are and think there's so much value in seeing all these different ideas of who Percy is! This is just my personal opinion and explanation for why it's not my specific headcanon.

Actually, like you, I see Percy as being someone who doesn't give much thought to his gender identity. But my explanation of that and what I do think of his gender got SUPER LONG so I'm going to finish talking about it in a seperate post.

@irishskeptic Sorry it took me a while to answer. I have a really hard time organize my thoughts in a written format sometimes, but I really appreciate you letting me share my opinion on this. Thank you!

[thats-h0w-th3-light-g3ts-in]

• G A M E A L E R T •

Tagged by @theluckydimecaper and as always glad to participate!

RULES: put 5 songs you actually listen to, then tag 10 people.

Okay first of all — let me explain:

I do listen to other musicians than Fleetwood Mac I have actually 10.000 songs on my iPod (yes I still have an iPod, no I don’t use spotify) and some of my favorite songs are probably, subjectively spoke, even ’better’ than some of the Fleetwood Mac songs chosen here but right now I just CAN‘T listen to anything else. I am sorry. I haven’t listened to anything but Fleetwood Mac for months. That‘s just how it is.

Also, I‘m gonna elaborate a bit on the songs I chose because I like to force myself and my opinions onto people.

Here we go:

1. Sentimental Lady - Fleetwood Mac

From the Bare Trees album vocals by Bob Welch

I just love that song, it has such an enchanting chorus I could just sing it all day long. Plus Chris‘ voice in the background of the original FMac version is just the cherry on top of the … you know what I mean. I love Bob Welch, so underrated.

2. Show Me a Smile - Fleetwood Mac

From the Future Games album vocals by Christine McVie

This song isn’t particularly special melody wise but I just wonder so much about the lyrics. Chris never had any kids and I highly suspect the song was written about the men surrounding her. They were merely boys back then especially Danny Kirwan. I think she sometimes must have felt like the only grown up in the room. Sadly, we‘ll never know, but it‘s a beautiful and sweet song for sure.

3. Sweet Girl - Fleetwood Mac

From The Dance live album vocals by Stevie Nicks

I‘ve read somewhere that Stevie wrote that song for Christine and that makes me tear up. She wrote it for The Dance in 1998, they hadn’t been very close back then and I think Stevie very much regretted that. It reflects in the lyrics. I think she wanted so much to let Chris into her life during that weird period of her klonopin addiction but she just couldn’t and she felt sorry for that.

4. Only Over You - Fleetwood Mac

From Mirage vocals by Christine McVie

When she sings: ‘Angel please don‘t go.‘ my heart shatters into a million pieces. I‘m actually a strong advocate for John McVie but the true story is that their marriage didn’t last and at some point Dennis Wilson came in and Chris loved him very much. She just couldn’t keep up with him and so it wasn’t to be and I think she was sad about having to face reality.

5. Bleed to Love Her - Fleetwood Mac

From The Dance live album vocals by Lindsey Buckingham

Man The Dance is a great album. I chose this mainly because shit you‘ve gotta give Lindsey some credit. He is a god on the guitar and his songs are more than worthy. Bleed to Love Her just sticks in your head and I love that.

Sorry for the novel. You may comment, I love hearing your views.

I‘m tagging my homies always there for me liking my stuff — you are great , I appreciate you and if you feel up to it you can participate in this game.

@stevienicksquotes @zeharah @gifterscrews @whatso-never @tusktrek @bluelamps @tinatina6 @lightning-str1kes @lovesahscoven @thewolveswithin @neuroprincess

[saltydkdan]

Pleasant tidings Salty, here to say your iceberg videos where one of the main things that actually got into jojo’s, incredible series, and now i’m caught up on everything i’d be interested to hear your opinion on (as a ultra based jojoer) the end of JoJolion. Personally i loved it, from the connections to part 7 and Gappy’s development through the part, but i know some people found it rushed or confusing, and i’m wondering what your thoughts were?

(ignore the fact i’m a dead weezer gimmick blog)

I’m EXTREMELY MIXED on Jojolion. There’s a lot I love, but also a lot I dislike.

WARNING: JOJO RAMBLE INCOMING

My opinion is very fresh, as I dropped off of modern Jojo back in college. It was only recently that I decided to finally catch back up, and do a weekly book club for Jojolion with a few friends.

My personal recommendation for reading it:

Do it weekly with other friends if possible. Have discussions with them about it. There is so much that I either didn’t pick up on while reading, or completely didn’t register at the time. And trying to extrapolate what Araki was trying to say with his story was very fun. It’s clear he tried to pack a LOT into every chapter. Which has it’s pros and cons. Binge reading doesn’t hit the same for me for Jojolion. I gained a far bigger appreciation reading in batches with other fans :)

The way I like to think about it, is that it had the ingredients, but I feel like the cake didn’t come out right. Although it tastes just as delicious as I would have wanted.

I just feel like Jojolion had a bit too many moving parts that even Araki couldn’t keep track of. There’s plenty of early Jojolion stuff that feels very tonally different with later Jojolion stuff. It’s clear that Araki had to course correct and change the plot several times throughout it’s run. And it’s because of Jojolion that I just feel like Jojo isn’t built for longer stories/publication. I think its length caused a lot of issues long term. It’s because of how long it took to make that there seems to be much more room for Araki to have second thoughts, or flat out change his mind on the story several times. (Josefumi having the Joestar birthmark and having it later removed in the volume releases, the characterization of Norisuke, etc)

Plenty of things go outright unexplained or elaborated on. I know it’s parroted a lot, but the “Flashback Man” from the first arc is the biggest example of this issue. If I had more time I’m sure I could type up a more definite list (how the Wall Eyes work is another example, as well as why the fuck Josuke and Kei Ninimura never really interacted past her stand fight, given that they are siblings and JOSUKE IS LITERALLY SEARCHING FOR FAMILY. HE LITERALLY SAYS THAT HE “HAS NO ONE” MULTIPLE TIMES LIKE, BRO, TALK TO YOUR SIBLING)

Now, I’m not saying that EVERYTHING needs explanation, but for 70% of the story, Jojolion posits itself as a MYSTERY. So to have so many pieces of that be unaddressed just feels… strange.

I also just feel like Jojolion has SO MANY AMAZING IDEAS, and has plenty of time to explore them and just… doesn’t.

Tooru is an incredible villain, probably one of my favorites in the entire series, but his presence in the story is soured because of how late he’s introduced into the plot. He’s amazing, but he feels like a very last minute inclusion, especially when Araki wants us to believe that he was totally a part of Yasuho’s life before and we’ve never even heard a rumbling of that before.

Anyway that’s enough complaining, let me hush about what I love about it real quick.

This is the case with everything he writes, but when Araki nails it with Jojolion he REALLY nails it. The Vitamin C arc is incredible, and ties Josuke’s story together so well and has some incredible lore drops. Not to mention that I think that Jojolion has some of his best written characters. Yasuho is one of the most deep and complex female characters in the entire series (didn’t stop Araki from writing that she gets sexually assaulted once or twice, but that’s just an issue I have with his writing overall)

He also goes really strange with the stands and designs, and I love it so much. When Araki gets weird, he really goes wild, it’s crazy fun. Blue Hawaii is such a fantastic arc, and really highlights his mastery of art and choreography in manga. Josuke’s combat is the best in the series imho.

And although the final arc stumbles in a few places, Wonder of U sticks the landing for me regardless, and in a way that didn’t feel cheap. Araki has come a long way from him writing that “Star Platinum can ALSO stop time”

At first, I thought that Josuke gaining the power of the spin last minute was cheap. However the more I reflected on it, the more it made sense. It isn’t outright confirmed, but I feel like Johnny’s spin was passed down to Josuke through his fusion in the wall eyes. Much like how Autumn Leaves absorbed some power from Johnny’s spin, I think that Josuke being in the wall eyes allowed him to absorb the power in the same way. I can’t tell if that was Araki’s intent, but if it was, dude is a genius. It makes complete sense, and in a roundabout way, directly connects Johnny and Josuke in a final battle.

Anyway yeah, I’ll stop the rambling here.

Believe me, I could go on for hours about Jojolion, and especially Jojo in general. I have so many things I can gush and complain about, it’s why I love it so much.

So yeah, I’m mixed on Jojolion, but overall I enjoy it a lot!!

[stupendousfoxthing]

To your last anon, I always thought that hybe would have loved to monetize on tk's huge clout together if that didn't posit a risk( they are a corporation it's all about clout and money) i know people think differently as in them being shown together wouldn't have been risky but if they were the official company ship the ppl who like them as a couple would have been the triple than they are now, that means more people paying attention to them in that context, more ppl who wants to find something more, just like jikookers do, the difference? Jikookers won't find anything ever bc there's nothing to find, they are friends and bandmates, so them being the official company ship is as safe as it can be, tk's case is not the same.

Now it's funny bc the moment the tae//nnie bs started I told my friend that we probably could except a bit more of tk content coming from the company and I wasn't disappointed lmao, this is my view: thanks to that rouse Tae is seen by the world as a straight man who was/is (many locals dont even know about the break up news)in a relationship with a female idol and that also takes off legitimacy from the ppl who noticed stuff about him and his bandmate, it's just shippers delusions, even many ppl who suspected tk left the wagon after that.

So yeah I think hybe can afford to slightly show them more and monetize (and that also includes aiming to not lose much of the many different demographics that "consume" the BTS members during their absence and shippers are part of the this) that compared to before and still in a very controlled way, there is a bit of a risk mitigation with this companies' pushed rumor which is of course still not enough and hence the still controlled bc the risk is still present and as you said we have to take into account tk themselves, their priority is protecting what's important to them too, if you see the most content from the company we have seen of them together lately is just them being close (which they always were);and supporting each other, nothing super big or elaborated, not them putting on a show or being put on a show or anything, the only reason is noteworthy and has jikookers crying is bc years ago even that was something that wasn't shown (eg burn the stage etc).

I have a lot more opinions on the company's way of moving but I'm keeping it short 🫶

There are so many interesting layers to the way the company deals with Taekook, and to how the fandom perceives and feels about them. Where a lot of Taekookers think they've been too extreme in underselling or undermining their bond in official content, I don't think it's been quite as bad as most do. They still get featured quite a bit, I mean BV and In the Soop have shown us some classic Taekook moments. And they did start out capitalizing on that, the Bon Voyage cuddle was teased in promo images and then eventually included in bonus content. That moment making it into official content still blows my mind. I think it's a pretty intimate moment, I've gone over the clip so many times and believe there are kisses exchanged. It's wild. But 2016 is where the most noticeable shift happened. At the same time, I have also felt they do a little too much at times with the editing and it results in some weirdness, and that because heteronormativity covers for _a lot_ they could probably get away with showing more. That bias is so strong and engrained in everyone. But you make a great point about there being an added inherent risk for something that would need to be hidden, even if it's something most people would brush off. Like I've said before, I'm not a fan of the company for many reasons but if what they're doing is what they actually think is the best way of protecting them it's easily understandable. I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, sorry it took so long for me to get to answering this.

[nooblord9001]

Are there any particular types of asks that you would mostly want in your inbox?

:D

Questions about my amateur attempts at writing and/or game development (OCs, Settings, Thematic Intentions, Inspirations, etc.) would be the Dopamine shots directly into my bloodstream.

NSFW questions are also a topic I'll gladly get into if prompted; years ago, this account was supposed to be my NSFW alt, after all.

Speaking of which, I will acknowledge requests to elaborate on specific parts of my history on the internet over the years and how that's affected me as a person For-Better-and-For-Worse-- including matters of politics, drama, content creators I've engaged with over the years, oversharing about my personal life (within limits), etc. --provided everyone in said discussion agrees to behave themselves. I will attempt to hear out criticisms of my own behavior over the years that's made in good faith, and I'll at least flippantly respond to criticisms I sense were being made in bad faith... but I will NOT dignify attempts to weaponize me or my words against the people whom associate with me either online or offline.

Generally interesting questions or even just little Icebreakers, while not at the top of my wish list, would be appreciated as well.

Last but not necessarily least, I'll gladly attempt to provide hot takes on this-or-that media (as well as attempt to provide opinions in individual characters within said media via this ask game; see the "Character Takes Ask Game" tag for characters I've done prior), provided I've actually engaged with the media in question enough to comfortably have opinions about it. In fact, I might as well provide a non-exhaustive list under the cut:

Stuff I've engaged with and am confident enough in my experiences with it to have Opinions on:

TCoA&L (Duh)

Huniepop 1 (LMAO)

Doki Doki Literature Club

Wizard 101

World of Warcraft

Kingdom Hearts

Nier: Automata

Metal Gear Solid

Deus Ex (not quite as much the first game, but definitely HR & MD)

Halo MCC (Fucking SOMEHOW!?!)

Mass Effect Trilogy

Star Wars

Haven

Portal Duology

Most Nintendo Stuff (remind me to elaborate at some point. or don't. whichever floats your boat), particularly Pokemon & Super Smash Bros

Most Superhero Films (remind me to elaborate at some point. or don't. whichever floats your boat)

Most Pixar Films (remind me to elaborate at some point. or don't. whichever floats your boat)

ATLA

Owl House

Hazbin Hotel

Various, Assorted Science Fiction Films

Dungeons & Dragons 5E 😒

Stuff I haven't directly engaged in, but thanks to cultural osmosis I've absorbed enough information second-hand to have Strong Feelings About (almost always negative, unless specified):

The Legend of Korra (I don’t hate it like most of the other entries in this category; I just wish it was Better)

Soulsborne games

Warhammer 40K (and by extension, Helldivers)

Baldur’s Gate 3 (Karlach & Wyll are cool though)

Catradora

Stuff I've engaged with, but for one reason or another, would struggle to provide anything remotely insightful or interesting to say about them other then either "yeah i like it" or "yeah i should finish watching/playing that at some point":

Bionicle

Honey Girl

The Big Bang Theory

Baldur’s Gate Duology

Horizon Duology

Fighting Games (Namely SoulCalibur, Tekken, with a bit of Street Fighter and Skullgirls)

Soulstice

Control

Helltaker

Fallout: New Vegas

Resident Evil games

Dragon Age games

Sanic stuff

Metroid

Final Fantasy XIV

Magic: The Gathering

Pathfinder 2E

Lancer

Battletech

Transformers

[idontplaytrack]

Hi! I just wanted to pop in her to request something with Jos Cleary-Lopez :) maybe where she's being protective of reader when her brother says something to reader

Flipping the bird

Jos Cleary-Lopez x fem!reader

Warnings: coarse language, Jos kisses reader, Jos’ brother being a little shit(unintentionally and otherwise)

Requested? Yes / No

You’d been to Jos’ house a few times, but never once as her girlfriend. Once the two pf you started dating, you never really spent time at her place anymore because there were always people at home- for one. For two, you wanted to avoid questions from her parents and siblings. Which would be hard to do if you were constantly around the people you were trying to keep the relationship secret from. Ever since Jos got The Power, her mother’s been a little…overbearing. She was worried about Jos over every little thing, which technically is great that she’s concerned about- that means, she cares but Jos was not a little girl. She could very well take care of herself, especially now- with The Power. Jos has since had a newfound freedom and sense of security whenever she was out and about, not having to make elaborate plans with her friends or for herself to get out of any potentially dangerous situation. That’s what she’s shared with her mom, but still, her mom couldn’t help it at times: it was like they say- it was a mother’s job to worry.

Your plan worked out well and was still working out well, but you two were getting a little bit…tired of the limited time you could spend together. And so after a week-long discussion/conversation on how to go about telling her family, you were finally at her house again after a month-long absence. Which, her mom and dad brought up immediately.

You let out a strained chuckle, the stress of this situation hit you like a truck. After coming out to your mom(which went south), you and Jos decided to lay low about your relationship to minimise the stress and opinions of others. “Just…had some stuff going on.” You managed

“If you need help with anything or talk about anything, you can always come to us, sweetie.” Her mom offered, turning around to look at you and Jos completely. She was cooking, but has turned the stove off.

“Honey, is everything okay? You two seem very stressed.” Margot pointed out. No shit. You and Jos shared a look, as if to quietly discuss if you both should just announce your relationship right now.

“Oh, my God. I told you it was her.” Matt remarked once he’d arrived home with their Dad and Izzy. “My friends and I were at the park and we saw them.”

“Matt, get over here. What are you talking about?”

“About how I saw her kiss Jos.” He points to you, then to Jos. The blood drained from your cheeks. Jos, who’s had her hands on your shoulders felt your body tense up at her brother’s revelation. Your vision had blurred, unable to focus on anything once you felt the tension in the air.

“Jos?” Margot asks, ignoring Matt’s words and focusing on her daughter instead.

“Uh.” Jos began, pulling out a chair for you to sit down on, “This is exactly why we were trying to keep our relationship out of this house. This is what we were afraid of - him blabbing about anything and everything.”

“You knew about this?” Margot asked her husband. She had an unreadable expression on her face.

“Matty just told me this as we were walking in. I thought Jos already talked to you or something.”

“Oh God, okay- one thing at a time. Jos, y/n: very happy for you. But you two, please don’t be afraid to talk to me about anything. Though I know some things…you don’t have to share. Matt, I’m sure they don’t appreciate you revealing all that to us. Please don’t do something like that again.”

“Really? It couldn’t have been more obvious. Awhile ago, Izzy was the one who saw them kiss.”

“And?” Rob walked up to Jos’ side.

“You can’t do that. Especially when you know that haven’t said anything about their relationship or whatever it is for them.” Margot sighed.

“Matt, I thought you said you weren’t going to say anything.” Izzy came downstairs.

Oh, God.

Jos didn’t know what came over to her but she just flipped the bird at Matt. Izzy gasps, her parents were a little shocked, but not surprised.

“I’ve had it with you.” Jos grumbles, “I’m sorry I accidentally hurt you but it really seems like ever since then, you’ve been purposely making things difficult for me. It’s you that she’s worried about- the way you say things without thinking. Those comments you’ve made about her- outfits, her damn shoes, her hair, her skin. We’re real people. Not fucking models in a magazine centrefold.”

Rob smacks him on the arm with a displeased look on his face, “Tsk. Do you wait until we’re out of the room to say all this things? About someone our family’s known for years, no less?”

“Oh, poor y/n. If she was so mad about it, why can’t she say something about it for herself? Why rely on you, Jos? Or any one of you?”

————

Dinner was very tense- for you. Matt kept glaring at you, his eyes looking right into your soul. “Can you stop doing that?” You reached your limit, patience running extremely thin. Your fork drops onto the plate with a loud clatter. Your outburst startles everyone at the table but him, Jos’ parents were impressed you finally raised your voice at him.

“I’m not sorry being with Jos. If you don’t like it, if you don’t like me. I don’t give a shit.” You started, “Because I’m in a relationship with Jos. Not you. And if your parents are okay with it, that’s all that matters to me. I’ve had it with you being a little shit because I don’t reach your unrealistic expectations of a woman. Why the flying fuck do you care anyway? I’m not your girlfriend- worry about getting one because with your mindset, we’d be so quick to tell anyone to get the hell away from you.”

Jos was enamoured. She adored this side of you that rarely made itself known, but she knew it was there. You were usually nonchalant and didn’t care what other thought of you, because you’d just brush it off. But this one really, really hit a nerve and you’ve simply had enough of putting up with his crap without retaliation. Without hesitation, her hand finds its way to your ass to give it a squeeze. You shot her a look. “I’m sorry about the language. I’m just done shoving everything down and ignoring the fact that he’s been hurting me feelings repeatedly.”

“Completely justified.” Rob assured, “I would’ve said worse. You’re better than me and Margot.”

Margot laughs, “Rob’s right. I’m even surprised it took Jos this long to flip him off.”

“Whatever.” Matt scoffs, “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.” Jos spat harshly, “You can’t expect a couple of words to undo the damage you did.”

“You know what? Margot, thank you for dinner- it was lovely, as usual but I’m tired. I’m done being in the same room as him. I’m gonna go. Good night.”

“Aw, you’re not gonna do my hair anymore?” Izzy frowns.

“Next time, Izzy. I promise.” You gave the younger sister a hug. She agreed, hugging you back. Rob and Margot both gave you a hug too before she left you alone with Jos so she could talk to you.

“Are you okay to head home?” She asks softly, her hands holding onto yours as the two of you stood in front door. Jos pecks your lips.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. I can just zap anyone who tries to mess with me.” You joked.

She chuckles, “That’s not exactly what I meant.”

“I’m angry and I want to punch him in the face, but that would make me at fault.” You shrug.

“I’m sure they’ll let me stay over at yours if you want.”

“No, Jos. This evening’s been a lot and I’m sure you’d want-”

“To get out of here actually. Mom and Dad have been great, but I just cannot look at Matt without feeling the same way you do. Especially after he basically outed you.”

“Cry about it.” Matt chimed in.

“Oh, my God. Shut the fuck up! I’m not talking to you here. Stay out of our lives.”

“Don’t make me punch you.” You seethed.

“Do you want us to ground you?” Rob shot a look at his son, “Why are you being like this? It’s not any of your concern that your sister likes girls.”

“Okay, you know what? Jos. You go to y/n’s with Izzy.” Margot decided, “Your Dad and I need to figure out this whole thing. I don’t think any of you should be here when we do. We don’t want to yell at anyone we don’t need to.”

“Okay.” Jos looked at you, you nodded. “Come on, Izzy. Let’s go pack you a bag- we’re gonna have a sleepover at y/n’s. Isn’t that fun?”

Izzy agreed eagerly, following after yours and Jos’ lead. Once that was done, the three of you were swiftly out of the house and headed for yours.

“Will you do my hair now?”

“Of course, Iz. As soon as we get there. Okay?”

Jos laughs lightly at how excited she was about you being able to tie her hair into two dutch braids- she tried to do it and she could, but it never looked as nice as yours did.

The younger girl smiled, leaning forward in her seat to talk to you two in the front, “I’m sorry Matty’s so mean.”

“Fasten your seatbelt, Izzy.” You reminded her before Jos drove off.

“Oh, right.” She sat back and does so.

“Thanks, Izzy.” Jos flashes her a smile.

“I like y/n. She’s fun, she’s really pretty, and knows how to do my hair real nice.” Izzy remarked, bringing a smile to your face.

“You’re such a sweetheart.” You said.

“Are we gonna watch a movie? It’s Saturday. Can I stay up late?” She asks excitedly.

“Yes, but you cannot stay up too late.” Jos agrees, “Alright?”

“Alright. But I get to pick the movie.”

“Do you mind, y/n?” Jos asks with a smirk on her face to bite back the laugh.

“I do not.” You confirmed.

“Yaaay.”

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Hello, i wanted to ask you why people haven't been liking taylor's newer album. I don't really follow her but i've seen a lot of videos that criticize it. But i still don't understand what's so bad about it, they don't really even talk about the music.

Lmaooooooo. Classic! (as in, that they'll complain about an album without elaborating on what they think it lacks).

I mean, I don't think you can separate the critique TTPD has received from the widespread general Taylor fatigue which has been building up for years, due to her being kind of constantly in the news for almost 2 years now (and also a fair amount the 2 years before that on top of that). So one part is definitely just "she's annoying because I see her everywhere".

However, here's a rundown of the musical critiques of the album I've seen and my thoughts on them:

1) It's not sonically adventurous, within the context of her discography.

I think this is a fair criticism, overall, though it's not true that she broke zero sonic ground with it, and I'd say there's a lot of new stuff in terms of theme, which makes up for this at least a little. TTPD isn't exactly like any of her previous work (or merely a worse version of it), but I understand finding the production lacking in a lot of places.

2) It's too long.

I mean, it's 31 songs. I think all albums of this length will catch criticism like this, and it's valid IMO. Albums being of digestible length has advantages, but I also love having as many songs as possible. There aren't many songs I personally would cut.

3) It's too self-referential.

Honestly, this one kind of annoys me, but I also can't fully blame people who make it, because there's a type of swiftie who will insist on a lyric being important because it references some deep piece of Taylor lore only fans know – I get finding it eyeroll-inducing to be told you have to do "homework" to understand a song. But here's the thing: those swifties are wrong lol. It's not that I'm against their way of interacting with the music but it's just not true that you need to know Taylor's life to appreciate it. Case in point. people routinely relate her songs to their own life or to their blorbos. And, honestly, TTPD is IMO mostly thematically consistent and thus works well as an isolated work of art if you're actually willing to just engage with what it has to say.

4) It's cringe.

There are songs on TTPD (especially the first few) that are highly stylized and include lyrics which feel clunky. I think these lyrics are either a) literally fine, you just need to hear them in context (thinking of beloved "Aristotle/Grand Theft Auto" in particular), or b) they're blunt or strangely worded in a way I think is kind of intentionally off-putting, but I also get it if it just doesn't work for someone and they have trouble taking the line seriously.

I feel like that sums up most issues people have that are specific to the album. There's other critiques which are applicable to all of Taylor's music, which obviously some people don't like, but it wouldn't be relevant to people who like her previous work.

Also, btw, I kind of admire you for asking me about this. As in, being genuinely interested in people's opinion on something you're not that invested in :)

[banamine-bananime]

opinions on wash? for character bingo ^_^

I do love wash but for me he’s like, blorbo by proxy to soooo much of the fandom that i’m like aight he doesn’t need me there’s other people appreciating him way better than i would anyways. It’s also kind of that “zone of compelling mediocrity vs having nothing to add to a complete concept” thing for me. Like his character arc is arguably executed the best, at least one of the best-executed, in the show, and then any things to elaborate on have been elaborated on so well by so many awesome writers in this fandom that i’m like *thumbs up* tight story I have nothing to say. But since i don’t talk about him much i’ll take this opportunity to just list things i do love about wash:

really funny guy in both intentional dry sarcasm ways and unintentional ways through being so fucking… how to describe it… sort of a Stoic Military Man who Endures Things and represses Unnecessary feelings and denies himself pleasures when he does not need to do that. He does such weird things and he’s like so serious about it, sighing deeply and resignedly at Yet Another Time The Universe Is Testing Him, yet at the same time recognizes the absurdity in these situations but just… doesn’t take that recognition to the point of removing himself from the situation or refusing to engage and instead he just Endures but also wisecracks about it.

obviously all the epsilon stuff. Man. situationship of all time

LOVE the marathon-winning grudgeholding in a way that he’s entirely silent about it until suddenly he is very not silent about it. guy who CANNOT just fucking let it go but you’ll never realize that until it’s too late. reactive dog with growl violently trained out of them “bites out of nowhere!!!”

going along w that, yay repressed anger issues!!! sorry that’s flippant but i have so much love and sadness and anger for ~Troubled Kids~ railroaded into violent professions and places based on being branded with labels of violent/oppositional/defiant/angry/dangerous instead of being helped. “hey you’re struggling with something that’s making you so angry you can’t contain violence or feel so unsafe that the only defence you’re left with is aggression or feel that you need to make people fear you to feel a little less unrespected and powerless or so that they get a taste of it for once. instead of addressing that i think we can use it. you know how people believe you’re Bad and that you’ll never change and lots of doors are shut to you? well, this one’s wide open and it’s what you’re meant for, as a person who is good at violence and not trusting people. come here and we’ll train it into you some more.” i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: cop-dog-coded motherfucker

really really good juxtaposition of this with being the goofball rookie. i know some people get frustrated with the inconsistency between pfl-recruit-era wash in book-extras vs in the show but to me it really adds something. a guy can both be goofy and have repressed anger. that guy might play up the goofiness trying very hard not to again be railroaded into Being The Crazy Angry Dangerous Kid. he is friendly and wants friends! that guy might also internally chafe at the kind of friendship that exaggerated “i’m not a threat! i’m not a threat! i swear i’m not a threat i’m just a little goofy guy!!” presentation begets. being treated as the dumb hopeless class clown sidekick is demeaning and makes you resentful no matter how hard you’re trying to make yourself think “hey, they’re my friends, this is good, they like me, they’re joking with me so they don’t hate me, this is so much better than being disliked”. and then you’ve got this internal spiral going of fear of your own capacity for anger and resentment -> overcorrect -> more things to resent

YAYYYYYYY JUSTIFIED VILLAIN ARCS MY BELOVED. love s8 washie so much.

as with carolina, really well-executed redemption arc of growing to accept friendship and rest and forgiveness and hanging onto hope that there is something better (frands and luv for them) you can shoot for than just getting revenge. wash: life is just unending cycles of violence forever change my mind. *blues offer him forgiveness and unconditional acceptance* wash: wait. i didn’t know they could do that. brb recalibrating my entire worldview to account for the power of friendship.

i actually don’t like a lot of fandom “wash and cats” content because it often hits kind of a woobification tone i’m not interested in, BUT i love imagery of alleycats, cats with nine lives, cats that always land on their feet (even when they fall off something in the goofiest, most clumsy way possible. wash paradox of dexterity/somehow surviving against all odds and dumb clumsy accidents/bad luck real). cockroach kitty wash : )

otoh my Hot Wash Take is i think sometimes some fans swing the pendulum too far the opposite way from All-Characteristics-Erased-Except-Trauma-And-Protectiveness-And-Cats Woobie Wash. yeah he’s obviously extremely competent but he’s far from the most skilled character in rvb (not his fault the competition is insane) and he is a bit goofy. let him goof up a little i promise it’s okay he’s gonna land on his feet

[kebriones]

hi! i saw your tag about not using "hellenismos" to denote modern hellenic pagan practice. could you elaborate why? google is not very helpful im afraid, and i saw a lot of non-Greek people use the terminology very loosely. id appreciate your explanation if you care to give one, and sorry for your time if you dont want to explain :)

have a good day either way!

Hi!

Okay so, I need to start by saying that I'm not like....super serious about this, personally, because I think people can use whatever words they want, I just know it bothers a lot of greek people, it's slightly jarring to see, and it's just in my opinion not the best term to use. I know it's wide spread, I don't have any delusions that it can change at this point, but it's still a little pet peeve of mine.

The main thing is that hellenismos/hellenism as a greek word is used by greeks to describe the whole of our culture, or, on occasion, both the culture and the people. So seeing it used to describe hellenic paganism/polytheism is kinda off putting, if only because it means something else to us, and i know many greeks who don't like the use of it as describing spiritual/religious practices, and many who don't know about these things but i guarantee they will still find it weird. And it's in my opinion an unnecessary term, when hellenic polytheism/ paganism exist and work much better.

That's the main argument i have.

Now some other stuff:

Hellenism was used by emperor julian in the 300s CE to describe the old greek/pagan religion and even that, it's more of an assumption from the context/choice of translation if my understanding of the source material is right, which might not be because I'm not an expert in any way in these things. If it was actually referring to the religion, we must still understand that before that, we don't have any similar use of the term, nor was it widespread somehow afterwards. It's very recently that it started being used to describe hellenic polytheism, well after it had started being used by greeks to define themselves, if my understanding is correct and I'm not missing historical info.

Now take this with a grain of salt but

I have seen people mention the term being promoted/ used by the YSEE (you might find them mentioned as the council) which is absolutely not an organization i think you should support or listen to in any way. I'm not going to go into detail for that, and I don't know to what extent they have contributed to the spreading of hellenism used as a term for their religion but I have seen them use it a lot. If i manage to find more info on that i will update the post, but i had to mention it because i really, strongly recommend that everyone stays very far away from them.

Hope that helped somehow. Basically the word means something else for us greeks and it's kinda weird to see it used as the name for hellenic polytheism and truly unnecessary.

[monokumafightclub]

I have no idea if you done Genocide Jack for that ask game or not

i have not, but better late than never! bonus toko as well bc why not

Sexuality Headcanon: obviously syo presents herself as a boy-liker and boy-killer, feels like she might be bi after her experiences with komaru, eventually settles on pan. toko insists that she's straight, but she's prob more bi than anything (once again, after the komaru thing). Gender Headcanon: toko rings off as cis female to me, syo probably doesn't give a shit especially when she goes by so many gendered names/nicknames in true crime circles that sticking to one is just too much effort. so agender/genderfluid on syo's part, probably? A ship I have with said character: syomaru and tokomaru, obviously. :'D admittedly i do enjoy syomaru a lil more than tokomaru, if mostly because i feel like they could've been showcased a bit more in UDG. that, and the shenanigan potential with syo and komaru is endless, i want silly casual antics with these two!! A BROTP I have with said character: i feel like syo and kotoko would be good friends, given the proper opportunity? i think she'd be a good guardian for kotoko! as for toko, i'm kinda growing to have a fondness for her and either aoi or sakura, if only toko would give either of them a chance, dangit!! A NOTP I have with said character: for the sake of both syo and toko, keep byakuya several leagues away from them. that being said, i do like syo fucking around with him just to piss him off. also people shipping syo and toko romantically is kinda weird, i don't like it A random headcanon: syo knows how to work with sheet metal and refuses to elaborate how or why. post-UDG, toko and komaru are attempting to collab on a novel together. key word being attempting. General Opinion over said character: even during the somethingawful LP days, i loved toko and syo and that love still holds strong even now. syo's a very fun character, but even beyond that, she adds some interesting facets to toko's character even if she wasn't exactly handled the best in her inception. as for toko, i'm probably one of the few people who did like her even before UDG; comedic assholes are my weakness. i do agree toko felt like she wasn't really fully utilized in DR1's main story though, so it's nice she got some expansion in UDG, as well as a genuine friend. ;o;

obviously there's people more qualified than i am in talking about them (esp in regards to their histories, their arc in UDG, and the whole DID thing), but i can still appreciate syo and toko as characters even if i can't articulate all the more complicated stuff regarding them.

also i REALLY enjoy seeing fun and fluffy stuff with syo, and your animations are a fantastic example of that! yandere/yangire stuff is kinda overplayed, so it's really nice seeing silly stuff with the silly serial killer!

[jayflrt]

hii akka !!! thanks for the tips and i hope to follow. actually whenever i see some youtube videos, most of them use didgital planners like notion, good notes (?) and some aesthetic apps like those.

and i thought i could do like them but figured out that written ones are best that planning digitally, hehe. but i still remember how people romanticised having digi notes, digi planners and etc. omg i used to cry why i didnt have those. but i realised things which are available for me are the best 😊

i want to ask a few things about these enha writers who are literal teenagers 😭 they write about suggestive content and say they dont write smut. i hope i am not wrong with knowing the meaning of suggestive which means leading or making them thinking in a sexual way right?? or suggesting them to do something like that?? and then they say they are literally minors and nsfw blogs, dni !!!!

and the way the (most) enha writers romanticise the term 'aesthetic' so much like using small texts, aesthetic pictures and aesthetic layouts. its like so hard to find their about me or rules or masterlist 😭😭 like why do they use small text, i cant see shit.

i wonder who started like having aesthetic blogs and made new writers create like that. its so burdensome to do something here and you get criticism of how your blog should be.

and these enha writers– i never saw them appreciating enhypen, be it about jay's whodunit solo and going to glay's concert and performing and nor did they appreciate sunghoon on becoming hince's new ambassador.

i am not saying it's necessary as a fan but atleast during the bare minimum for them. and the amount of smut content i see on tumblr about enhypen is 😠 so much. everything they do, people here sexualize them.

i still remember when i first came on tumblr, 2021?? the 01 and 02z werent even 20 istg, i see smut about them everywhere and now wonie is 20, and they be like "lets goo!! he's 20" and im afraid for riki these day.

i just dont want these stupid people and standards to become popular. wherever i see, its smut, suggestive content written by minors and those small text and aesthetic layouts.

i hope someone agrees with me, and i am ready to get cancelled to rant like this. come over to me, i want opinions from people who stay silent about situations like these, especially writing smut or suggestive content.

— 🦔 anon

hihi 🦔 anon!!! sorry for the late reply, i got so busy for a bit 🥲 but omg i use goodnotes and notion too but i don't think mine are as aesthetic as the people i've seen on tiktok on stuff 🤧 i remember i took an architecture class and made my notes really nice for like the first week and after that it was back to regular note taking LOL but yeah i prefer writing stuff down in a physical planner because i feel so satisfied when i cross out a task 😌

tbh i haven't been reading much on tumblr lately but in my understanding (which i also answered in the previous ask), suggestive is an implication of sexual content but not explicit sexual content, but i also think people use it just for writing like makeout sessions or smthn like that 😵‍💫 at least that's what i think idk if things are different !!

omg i remember when people on twitter used to make their carrds so elaborate and i'd be spending 5 minutes just trying to get to their dni list because there was a whole minigame to get to the actual information 😭 i get what you mean tho! i think people are free to customize their blogs however they like but can also be mindful that some things aren't exactly reader-friendly, especially for people who rely on screen readers

oh yes honestly there is a LOT of smut content that goes around for barely legal members and it is a little concerning how people jump to sexualize idols 😵‍💫 as for appreciating enha, i give more people the benefit of the doubt on that because i personally use tumblr more as a creative outlet and talk about enha more on twitter, so i assume others do the same if they don't talk about enha on their blogs

honestly i'm not surprised that smut is such a big genre on tumblr (not only tumblr but most if not all fanfic spaces) because a lot of people crave intimacy but do so in private because most people are in sexually repressed societies. it's the same reason why porn is one of the top searches on the internet and why romance and erotica are becoming the top genres for published books. BUT with that being said i do agree that sometimes that creative freedom is abused with how some people jumped to sexualize maknae line as soon as they were of legal age :/

[sapphyreopal5]

https://www.tumblr.com/sapphyreopal5/747966155961122816/full-disclosure-i-am-a-jared-leaning-j2-fan-i?source=share

This is me and thanks a lot for your detailed assessment of my ask. I genuinely appreciate it. Like you said, I do still like Gen very much along with all her limitations in my opinion.

I connected with her videos and the things that she has spoken about in the past quiet a bit. There is a certain honesty and vulnerability to her especially in the SPN fandom context where most extras seem toxic. I also think she is a great mom who really prioritizes her kids.

However, I do find her lacking towards Jared and feel that she could do more to offer support to him like you very much mentioned in your post. I know it isn't easy being in a relationship with someone who suffers with depression, anxiety and has had struggles with suicide ideation. It must take alot but I feel she could do that public support a bit more instead of trying to act aloof at those moments. Like I really appreciated the note that Sandy (it's heartfelt) put out for Jared even after their breakup but I've never seen anything like that from Gen.

Jared is a very supportive husband who constantly props her up so even if everything is not about money, I would understand why she wants to be with Jared even when she may not be that fully in love with him anymore. That's the kind of partner every women wants and very few men are like that.

For eg, I wouldn't consider Jensen making Danneel the EP on TW being supportive as that was just him sort of using her in his agenda of taking over SPN.

If Gen and Jared are not the ones for each other I would still wish them both well individually.

Welcome back Anon. So there are some good points you make here but also some I can't agree with which I'm going to explain why. Know that I'm speaking from a point of view where I look at things more objectively and am not going about things from a petty stance. "Oh what is she wearing here" or "she looks terrible" kind of thing. Instead, I'm going to talk about things more or less that come straight out of their mouths and will do my best to elaborate on the context of things as well.

As far as the parenting thing goes, I'm not 💯 sure I can say she's a great mom. Yes, being a parent is challenging. It's the hardest job to do but it's the easiest one to have an opinion on. I think however she gives into this "woke culture" a bit too much and it is alarming at times. For one, she talks about the kids' problems too openly and why on Earth she decided to openly say on a podcast from 2020 that her kids are all in therapy along with her and Jared and calling it "brain exercise" is questionable at best. First of all, why would you talk about the kids being in therapy under the age of 10? Outside of the whole HIPAA stuff going on there where therapists can't talk about their patients especially when someone doesn't need to know as part of their treatment plan, why would you air your dirty laundry about your kids being in therapy? A lot of the grown world is aware that people don't go to therapy and PAY for it just for shits and giggles or as she puts it "brain exercise". This is what puzzles, books, etc. Are for, not therapy.

Therapy is to address some kind of trauma, emotional disorder, treat a psychological condition, etc. Calling it brain exercise and generally trying to normalize something like therapy, sure lots of us go to therapy and there's nothing wrong with it. Heck, I do too for depression/anxiety reasons because of a lot of things that I went through as a child pertaining to how I was treated by the school system in elementary school and other things (thanks to being neurodivergent). But for Gen to talk about it casually as if everyone is going to view it the same twisted way she does IS a problem. Don't talk about your kids' issues, let alone use it in your affiliate marketing crap as, I'll dive into below. I took the below screenshot on April 16, 2024, around 11:27am EST and from the time stamp given being 53m (indicating 53 min Instagram style), this makes it so she posted this around 10:34am EST (or 9:34am CST since that's her time zone). I'm going to touch onto some of the stuff these books tap into based on Google searches, as I sadly don't have the time to read as much as I'd like. Going based on the covers here, it seems to me she have some insight as to what kinda issues her kids have, what her flaws as a parent are, etc. "Raising Good Humans" talking about breaking the cycle of reactive parenting.

The Anxious Generation, I didn't read this book but I did watch a documentary called The Social Dilemma tapping into how social media websites are designed to keep people interacting as much as possible. It also talked about how AI behind sites like Facebook can know things about your personality, interests, people who are likely to get into a relationship based on their interactions, if you're struggling with mental illness, etc. The answer to this problem? Don't let your kids be glued to electronic devices or even have social media for a long time. I mean hell my 8 year old son has a friend in his class who already has a Facebook. Like really, why just why?

As for The Explosive Child, based on some comments she's made, general vibes their kids give off in how they react to certain things and behave, etc. It is not difficult to guess which child this is. There are also plenty of easy solutions to this problem, like teaching your child what the word no means. But we're not there to see or hear everything, I'm going based off of what had been observed from publicly available videos, posts, etc.

To define Reactive Parenting as a synopsis from this site here,

"Reactive parenting is a parenting style where the parent’s reactions are primarily driven by their strong emotions toward a child’s behaviors rather than a thoughtful understanding of the situation. Reactive parenting is characterized by the following.

* Emotions such as anger, frustration, and fear drive impulsive responses.

* Over-reactive, punitive, aggressive, and explosive reactions.

* Yelling, threats, punishment, or bribes.

* Lack of self-control.

* Inconsistency in reactive discipline is confusing for the child.

* Focus on immediate control rather than teaching the child or the long-term results.

Then here are 10 examples also from the same website as to what reactive parenting is:

* Yelling or screaming at the child

* Punishing out of anger

* Reacting physically, such as spanking or grabbing a child in anger

* Using shaming or name-calling

* Resorting to threats or ultimatums

* Getting easily frustrated and snapping at the child over small issues

* Caving in to whining or giving in to tantrums

* Making fake promises

* Feeling personally attacked or insulted by a child’s misbehavior

* Making sarcastic or hurtful comments in response to a child’s behavior

Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say that any parent is perfect. Everyone had moments where they don't react the best to situations and we all have our boiling points. Based on other clips like from the FanX or Atlanta con or maybe even Scotland in a panel Gen and Jared did together, it is clear both Jared and Gen probably have issues disciplining their kids at times. One of the comments made was sobering to the effect of "this is what it's like trying to discipline our kids at home" in a joking manner. I can't for the life of me recall which panel it was but I know it was a more recent one.

Also, if we want to talk about how the boys don't seem to really like being filmed especially Tom, that bizarre vampire cake Odette got for her birthday that doesn't look child appropriate in my personal opinion or even how Gen admitted she lets Odette be mean to Shep from being a sensitive oddball, it's clear to me Gen is permissive yet also strangely territorial against Jared to the point where it seems he doesn't even fit in at home. Just like everyone else, I do have my opinions on raising kids even if they're not mine because guess what? All kids grow up and are meant to be productive members of society, I'd like to see as many of them grow up to be healthy, well rounded individuals who contribute to society as possible. Isn't that what we all want?

Good for Gen on admitting to her flaws as a parent on multiple occasions, seeing something is wrong with what you're doing and admitting to it is the first step to addressing a problem. But seriously, I say she needs to stop airing her dirty laundry and frankly, not everything is meant to be some monetizing opportunity.

Now onto your comments about being with someone with depression and/or anxiety and suicidal ideation. I know I know, it's all just a chemical imbalance right? (Sarcasm to be duly noted here). Gen admitted to having some issues with anxiety in the Rise Together podcast she did in Nov 2020 with Dave Hollis I've mentioned several times lately ha ha. I am going to say no it really isn't that hard, especially if she supposedly has anxiety like he does. She should have some better grasp on his issues as his wife than she does, let alone more than the average person. She made it pretty clear she's very tone deaf when it comes to Jared. Don't get me started on her yellow sticky note talking about "the empaths" and whatnot from this post she made below. It honestly isn't THAT hard to be with someone who has depression or suicidal ideation at times. I think with suicidal ideation people get very uncomfortable when they hear someone thinking about it. I understand why as this is something a professional should deal with but in all honesty, sometimes what these people need is a listening ear.

It's ironic you mentioned the letter Sandy wrote about their breakup as I'm aware she ended up getting her Masters degree in Psychology per her Etsy page. She also sells some sensory kits which seems to stem back to her interests in psychology. It is slightly ironic she is Jared's ex fiancé, got her masters in Psychology and we're talking now about how hard it apparently must be for Gen to be with Jared given his history with mental illness. Ironic given the black magic stuff, how him and Gen met merely within 2 months after he and Sandy broke up, etc. and the educational background she now has. Hmmmm... did Gen's black magic result in this "surprise in the bag" (referring to what that psychic guy I mentioned before said about sorcerers, black magic, and how higher powers always throw in these surprises for them "be careful what you wish for") because Gen's black magic actually "took" Jared away from someone who was maybe a little more better suited for Jared than she is? And now the struggles she must have marrying into these problems. By the way, I was told on a side note Jared and Sandy aren't true love soulmates either but that Sandy would've still been a better fit for him. It could however in a way be said that maybe Sandy's life is more simple and seems overall at least somewhat happy from what I've seen on her posts, where she's at in life and whatnot. I think things with Jared may have ended up less tumultuous if he were with Sandy instead but at the same time we always have a choice in how we behave. We may not always be in control of what emotions arise from things but we all can 100% control HOW we react to things, which I think is a lesson both Gen and Jared have yet to learn (and was implied in the reactive parenting book choice she chose to picture in her story and is trying to monetize off of).

Now with the most recent book post I provided screenshots of below funnily enough, this wasn't something she underlined but it is relevant to the black magic stuff I was talking about. In one of the screenshots from the post she made the other day from the book it says: "This shame is wrapped up with the morality of the sins and baked into our culture, invisible to our eyes. I believe envy is at the crux of woman-on-woman conflict, the unleashing that pulls us back from expression. It may seem unyielding but it's a spell we can break: we need to examine the instinct then unbuckle the col-..." and stops there. It's a spell we can break. Hmmm... funny page to post given the timing of my making these posts about her black magic. Of course this isn't the context from the book but I just found the timing to be rather funny and how she picked that page to take a photo of and post. As for what she sacrifices and whatnot, she lives a very comfy lifestyle and has nannies to help with the kids. Only thing she sacrifices is freedom due to having kids. See Gen, isn't the idea of having more kids just silly at this point? Sure it would be nice to have that kind of lifestyle (oh no ENVY on my part) but I do not see what else I would have to ENVY her about lol.

I remember one conversation I had with my grandmother years ago before she passed away when I was having some issues with my own mom. She talked to me some about how when she came to America from India after marrying my grandfather, she knew next to nothing about sewing, cooking, raising kids, etc. She had to learn real quick after she started having kids and said that my oldest aunt helped her with the rest of the kids (my mom is the youngest of 10 along with her twin sister, my aunt!). Now THIS is sacrifice to me on my grandmother's part and my aunts. She was trying to convey the point that parenting is hard and to try giving my mom some slack on things.

For a bit of some backstory, She grew up in India back when it was taken over by Great Britain and the British families were given Indian servants. Now, families like my grandmother's hid their Indian ancestry or didn't talk about it because of this lifestyle they were given. Point is, my grandmother lived a relatively comfortable lifestyle prior to coming to the USA and had to sacrifice her lifestyle in India to move to the USA with my grandfather and start a family. I'm aware Gen comes from a wealthy family and has a more parallel movement socially if not upward. I'm not sure what she sacrificed as it seems she enjoyed being pregnant and talks a lot about how her source of strength is in being a mother and such. Hmm...

With Jared and Gen, true love soulmates/divine matches my ass, they definitely aren't. You don't need to be a psychic or have any intuitive gifts to see that if you look closely enough. I laugh when people say they clearly have a rock solid marriage because of you know enough about them, it starts to become clear as day that's not the case. Jared definitely is a very good man, even if he comes with a lot of baggage. I think even though he has many great qualities (very kind, affectionate, supportive, wealthy come on I had to lol, handsome), he also is flawed like anyone else. I think the mental health issues he has however serve as a deterrent for a lot of people. We also can't forget how he has in the past doxxed customer service people online and has said some rather mean stuff about others, which maybe why Charlie and such takes over his page at times.

I am curious about your comment regarding Jensen using Danneel in his agenda to take over the SPN brand. I will say a lot of people blame Danneel for how things with The Winchesters went down and for announcing it publicly when it was announced. They also blame her for starting off Prequelgate. The reality is, it was going to be announced at some point no matter what day they picked. Jensen should've talked to Jared about his plans from the get go and not later, but what do I know? It's debatable as to whether Jared really knew nothing about the show prior to it being announced or not, and also how much of this was Jensen or Danneel's fault. I personally think Jared should've talked to Jensen behind closed doors about it instead of taking it to Twitter but hey I guess he needed to rant, right? Can't blame him for feeling at least left out of this one but then again, I find it interesting Jared came up with the idea for Walker first before Jensen ever came up with the idea for The Winchesters. Jared already had a deal to do Walker before Jensen did for The Winchesters, let alone before Chaos Machine Productions ever came into existence. I say things do not add up publicly as to who is to blame here honestly but I think it boils down to bad communication on all parts. It's also up for debate about Jensen taking over the SPN brand as there's things he's done that suggest this is true. For example, getting the FBBC LLC registered and trademarked back in about 2014 or 2015 before they opened doors on 2018. Also doing The Winchesters could be another one but then again Jared had his Walker deal first and was hoping Jensen would play Cordell. I can't seem to find a source for this but some peeps told me Jensen told Jared he isn't interested because he didn't care for the script, but he did show up for a cameo and ended up directing an episode of Walker. Then there is the whole YANA versus AFK stuff that went on back in 2016 which was at the very least questionable.

I do love your sentiment Anon that even if they aren't soulmates you wish them well anyways as individuals (no sarcasm here, I promise). I can never condone the idea of parents staying together for the sake of the children. Happily married, yes unhappily no. If there are fundamental differences that are leading a married couple to be unhappy, it isn't gonna work. Kids do eventually figure out mom and dad aren't good together if they aren't. It always trickles down to the kids when parents aren't happily married. I think there are definitely worse people out there and far worse parents who do horrific things to their kids. However, I can't say Gen is a great parent but maybe a more average parent or so coming from an objective point of view.

Thank you for the wonderful thoughts and having this conversation with me Anon. And also thank you for taking the time to read my long response ha ha. I hope this post gives some more insights as well, even though we don't entirely agree on everything.

[h-worksrambles]

Hey there!

I just finished Future Redeemed and I wanna know what is your opinion on the eventual Na’el discourse thats going to erupt in a few weeks after everybody else finishes the game

I personally like her and the dichotomy of her selfishly wanting to preserve the city and repeating Klaus’s and N’s mistakes compared to Matthew’s ability to empathize and drive to save the Soldiers of Keves and Agnus

But on the other hand, I can totally see people hating her because of her forsaking almost everybody in and out of the cycle for the naive dream world she wanted (and couldn’t even hear the Lore Dump Radio™️ talking about the absolute shit show that Earth was becoming)

She also reminds me of N and well…guess the selfish pacifist gene runs strong though the family line

I think Na’el’s a really compelling character. I loved watching the slow breakdown of her psyche over the flashbacks as she gets more and more disillusioned with being caught in the middle of the Keves and Agnus war. She reminds me a lot of character like Jin and (as you point out) N. She’s what happens when a deeply loving person has the things they care about ripped away from them, so those powerful emotions take a darker turn.

And I’m glad you brought up her parallels to Klaus, as that stuck out to me too as something I really appreciated. She becomes entranced by a higher power, Alpha, just as Klaus was by the Conduit. And it drives her to act on her cynicism towards the world by selfishly discarding it. But this is contrasted by her genuinely touching sibling bond with Matthew, who is able to pull her back (I could go on a whole tangent on how I how I love how emotionally intelligent Matthew is in a way which is so refreshing for this kind of ‘reckless musclehead’ archetype, but discussion for another day). She’s a great antagonist and a poignant, engaging character (helps that her voice actress kills it). And god that scene where the radio elaborates on every hellish thing on Earth at the time while Na’el’s talking about what a paradise it is, that’s a damn good bit of cutscene direction.

As for any kind of ‘discourse’…I don’t go there. I don’t get involved in online arguments over character ethics because I want to save my sanity. Especially because of how much of it seems to boil down to “you’re not allowed to like this character because they did bad things!” Which is just…such a bad way of looking at art.

Still, for the sake of argument, I guess I’ll say that I get that a character’s likeability is an important factor in getting you to empathise with them. And if a player found the game didn’t successful get them to empathise with Na’el and so her actions made them turn on her as a character, I guess I can understand. God knows I’ve had times where I couldn’t sympathise with a character the story clearly wanted me to.

But as a rule, I’m more concerned with a character being highly motivated than being likeable. A character could do some incredibly messed up stuff, but as long as I can parse their motivations and thought process, I will engage with that character, likeable or no. Na’el is a motivated character. And I can empathise with and follow the logic of her decisions. She’s not just making irrationally bad choices because the plot demands it. Therefore, I would enjoy her character even if it happened that I didn’t find her likeable.

Fortunately, I did find her likeable and sympathetic. I genuinely felt for her in every one of those flashbacks. And I was right with Matthew on wanting to help her before she made a terrible mistake. And getting her back and having her join in the fight against Alpha felt really satisfying.

Long story short, I like Na’el a lot. Really good character. Let’s just hope that discourse won’t be too hellish. Thanks for the ask!

[everybody-loves-purdy]

While I love the animations that recreate the books even with some changes. I feel like stuff like fan animations that would use OC’s and/or AU’s are a hard pass because I dislike that they try to emulate the style of it. It just feels like copyright infringement. I can appreciate the hard work that goes into them, but I wish people spent that kind of effort trying to make their own original thing instead.

To elaborate. I think there is a large difference between taking elements from a book series lore, and making your own sequel to another book series set in the same world with some of the same characters you didn’t create yourself.

And don’t like it when people say “This fanwork did things better than the original”. For one a lot of things people see as flaws WC are just something to the creators taste. It doesn’t make them bad. (Even if I can agree with the more problematic aspects of the series) and it’s also easy to make whatever you want when you’ve got a fan project without deadlines or exclusives or needing to make a profit.

Sorry if I didn’t word some stuff correctly or sounded really negative. I’m not trying to defy them of course. It’s just my opinion when people would often try to make AU’s/Fan Continuations. Take all of this with a grain of salt.

I think I see what you’re saying, but I do have to disagree. I think that AUs and OCs are a good way for people explore their creative side, and I have seen that I OCs and AUs for one thing become their own story eventually. That fandom space gives the creator a space to share their creations and if they want to keep it in that universe then fantastic, but sometimes they can reach beyond that. Some examples off the top of my head is how Rick and Morty was originally “Doc and Marty” which was a back to the future parody, and the whole thing about fifty shades of grey originally being twilight fanfiction, and I’m very sure Beastars started off as a fan creation in the world of Zootopia before it took on its own life.

I think fandoms are just an overall great space to allow people’s creativity to be nurtured through OC and AU works. And it’s not just writers, but so many artists and animators in recent years have gotten a start in fan spaces before going beyond that. Not everyone’s OC or AU is ever going to leave the fandom space, but if these things weren’t accepted, then some future original works, authors, or artists may never come to be.

It’s like now, as far as I understand, I’m no artist, but many budding artists go through a replication stage, where they try and replicate works while learning skills before eventually going on to make their own thing once they become comfortable enough replicating, I personally feel the same principle can apply with the creations of fandom OCs or AUs.

I think that “fan works Vs original” thing is just about individual taste myself, it certainly isn’t common for people to wish things had gone another way, especially in something like warrior cats where whether something is preplanned or not seems to be decided on a coin flip. But I think it should always be done respectfully and good faith unless it’s calling out something specifically problematic that the narrative presents as correct.

I hope I understood what you were saying correctly, and I’m just expressing my personal take here on it but I do get where you’re coming from