#I'm all for ppl Suggesting Alternatives

[kuiinncedes]

what do u meannnnnnn i'm abt to be post college graduation 🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♀️🧍🏻‍♀️

[hyliasblade]

//added a point to my ooc page bc it's wrath month and i woke up thinking about it

for simplicity's sake i'll also post it here so y'all don't have to go look for it if u don't want to:

on the “q slur:” i’ll do my best to tag is as “#q //” that’s q, two slashes. keep in mind i identify with that word, strongly. if it angers you that i would dare use a “"slur”“ to label myself or whatever, remember "gay” has seen just as much use as a slur. i grew up in the american south, i’ve heard both words used for the same harmful reasons. sorry if this comes off as angry or petty, but if you were continually told that “gay” is a slur and you shouldn’t use it for yourself, you’d be tired and angry too, wouldn’t you? i’ll do my best to tag for it, but i will die on this hill.

anyway sorry again if it comes off as passive aggressive or something. it's like 6:45am and i couldn't go back to sleep bc i needed to get this shit off my chest somehow.

[safety-pin-punk]

firstly, I love your blog and it's been a great resource to have as I've been learning abt punk! I hope you're well & ty for everything you do <3 do you have any advice for finding punk communities, both irl and online? I really wanna talk to ppl abt everything I'm learning and loving, but it's really hard to find communities. besides the landmine of trying to avoid nazi punks and the like, I don't rlly drink or anything so bars/clubs can be weird -teacupqueer/persie

Thank you so much!! I’m doing pretty well!

Finding Punk Communities Online:

I’ll be honest, I can really only speak on behalf of tumblr here. I don’t use other socials all that much.

But! If you want to find a fun awesome punk community on tumblr, you are already off to a great start! Find a punk blog you like or who has similar music taste, see who they reblog from and tag in their posts. I’ve met a LOT of really cool people this way on here! (Shoutout to @polyamorouspunk and @my-chemical-ratz whose blogs you should check out simply because they are cool people). And I’ve also met people who are in bands, or involved with bands (like @necromancy-savant and @dopamineband (who don’t use their tumblr anymore 😭)). I didn’t meet these people right away, it took a while of steady interaction with tumblr to build up these connections.

There are also Discord communities too, I don’t use discord much but I *think* (?) I saw a post go around a while ago where someone was starting up a punk discord server? Honestly maybe I’ll take the time to start one up, it might make me use Discord more lmao

Finding Punk Communities IRL:

Bars and clubs aren’t the only places to find punks!!

I’d recommend checking out any queer spaces in your area, I doubt it would surprise you to learn how often these two groups overlap.

Also! If you are near a city, chances are you have an underground scene somewhere. Google and Reddit are great resources to find the places punks gather in your city. For example: in my city theres a cafe and record shop that are popular among the alternative crowd that I never would have found without the use of Google.

Otherwise, what are your hobbies? If you like gardening/are into solar punk, see if theres a local gardening club! (I’d say a 50/50 chance of punk or karens tbh with this one).

Start up a book club at a local library that focuses on books like 1984 and Brave New World.

Go to gigs that arent at bars or clubs, I went to one back in February that was at an abandoned church, that was turned into a concert venue. The place was child friendly so there was no alcohol, but there were a lot of cool people there!

And the best tip I have for you to avoid nazis is to just know their symbols and signs. Do a bit of research on it and familiarize yourself with what to avoid

As always, other suggestions for anon are welcome!!

[i-still-mask-because]

in the wake of all this new information during COVID, do you feel that maybe we should all just be masking all the time, COVID of no COVID? I mean it can't be the only airborne disease out there and immunocompromised ppl have always and will always exist so like. Following that thinking even if we don't have COVID we could still be risking other people's health (and lives) with other diseases we may have right? Idk I'm stressing a lot about this do I just need to wear a mask outside forever cos. Masks mess with my breathing and sensory issues and stuff but. I don't wanna?? Kill people by accident??? Aaaaa

Hello, thanks for reaching out about this.

I saw this ask about a month ago, and I needed time to think about how I'd respond to it (so I want to thank you for the patience!).

I'll try to answer all of this to the best of my ability, and I thought I'd answer this by going backwards (responding to the last things you said and then moving up with responding to the first things you said).

Everything is below the cut because this is very long!

First I'll try to summarize what I think you're asking here:

"Vulnerable people exist in this world all around me, therefore does this mean I'm constantly posing a threat to those vulnerable people's safety when I don't mask? The thought of this brings me feelings of stress, fear, and anxiety."

I find this is hard to answer candidly without risking stressing out you or anyone else who's aware of the consequences of their choice not to mask. Nonetheless, my honest answer is: yes, choosing not to mask means risking the lives and safety of vulnerable people, i.e. the disabled, immunocompromised, elderly, children & babies, and those that intersect those groups. That risk can take place directly (such as interacting with an immunocompromised elder) or indirectly (such as interacting with the parent of a disabled child).

I also want to add that it's not only those groups that need protecting. I firmly believe that regardless of your age and/or whether or not you self-identify as disabled or immunocompromised that everyone is at risk of the long-term consequences of this rapidly mutating, vascular, and immunosuppressive virus. No one is invincible to this, and I'll add: not even if you're vaccinated (still get vaccinated if you can, but know that you can still catch covid & develop long covid regardless of your vaccination status).

1. "Masks mess with my breathing and sensory issues."

I understand how that can be difficult to deal with, trust me. There are specific masks (such as most standard KN95s) that irritate the hell out of my face after a certain point. The way those specific masks brush against the hairs of my cheeks just make me want to rip the mask off my face completely. Finding alternatives has been a lifesaver, and they've allowed me to get through the day without wanting to maul someone lol. I don't know what masks you have tried out already, so I'll just recommend the one's I like as well as the one's I've heard good reviews on from people that also have sensory issues:

NIOSH 3m Aura N95 Respirators

Flo Mask

GATA Mask (Haven't tried this one yet, but I've heard a LOT of people say this has been a game changer for them because of how comfortable it is & how it doesn't trigger much sensory issues at all due to its silicone material. Probably the only con I've heard is the chance of the build up of moisture in the mask after a long period of use & water possibly dripping on your face— this happens to me sometimes with my Flo Mask. Edit on Sept. 26, 2023: I tried GATA Mask, and I personally have a tough time getting a comfortable fit & seal with it, even when getting the small/medium size for adults to see if it'll make a difference, and the nose bridge shape not fitting well for me is a huge con. Customer service is just suggesting I spend more, so I'll just give this one a break, for now at least. A lot of other people seem to like it though.)

Halyard FLUIDSHIELD [ASTM Level 3] Mask (My mom works in a hospital, and these are masks she brings home from work. They're VERY comfortable for me, especially when I'm masking at home. I recommend finding a way to tighten the loops that go around your ears to prevent as much gaps around the mask as possible. If tight loops hurt your ears easily, I recommend a mask brace.)

O2 Nose Filters (I haven't tried these out yet as well, but I've seen videos demonstrating how effective these are at filtering out SOOO many unseen particles. I don't recommend using these alone of course, because there's still a risk of inhaling harmful aerosols through your mouth. I would recommend using this as a reinforcement of the protective measures you take. For example: adding on a comfortable surgical mask— ideally one with a high filtration efficiency like the previous suggestion— with the nose filters. I think these nose filters would be great if you're removing your mask real quick to take a sip of water or if you're outdoors with enough distance from crowded areas & groups.)

In the ideal world, more people would mask during this on-going pandemic so those that deal with sensory issues and/or those that straight-up can't wear a mask due to medical reasons wouldn't have to worry so much about choosing between existing & risking their health. For now, we just have to find alternatives.

2. "Do I need to wear a mask outside forever?"

My answer to this is: yes until further notice. There's no foreseeable end to this pandemic right now, but it would be worth the patience to wait for adequate tech, treatment, and cures for covid-19 to be released before even thinking about getting loose with masking.

Societal mandates have been dropped way too soon, and public health in regards to covid-19 is being forced on us as an individual responsibility. As a consequence, this gives this rapidly mutating virus a lot of wiggle room to spread and do whatever it wants. This means doctors and experts don't have much answers yet for adequate treatment because there's a MAJOR lack of containment (such as masking & quarantining) and documentation (such as testing & reporting). This isn't to say there hasn't been any advancements whatsoever: for example, Washington University just developed a breath test for covid that gives results in just 1 minute! This is great news! And this is just one reason why it's very necessary for those who can mask to mask, so scientists are given more time to roll out helpful solutions & tools sooner.

Another thing I'll add is if you're symptomatic and/or are positive for covid, you should 100% be wearing a mask no matter what, point blank period. I say "and/or" because it is VERY much possible to have covid and not experience any symptoms at all; this is a major reason why it's necessary to mask up in public consistently, because you can't always know who you bump into that may have covid or not.

3. "Even if we don't have covid, we could still be risking other people's health (and lives) with other diseases we may have right?"

Yes, there is a possibility of spreading airborne diseases to vulnerable people unknowingly— without the protective & preventative tools that is.

I can only speak for America because that's the cultural zeitgeist I grew up in, but: I feel like many of us can agree that, unless you worked in a healthcare setting, what was "normal" (in America) before 2020 when it came to airborne illness prevention was definitely not the regular use of a mask. American health education mainly taught us if we're coughing & sneezing to try to do so in a tissue or into your elbow, as well as frequently wash our hands. That doesn't account for the way air actually works though. For instance, if someone with the common cold coughed into the inside of their elbow, the particles they coughed out are still able to linger in the air because their elbow isn't creating a tight seal around their mouth (their elbow may have caught the droplets from their cough— which are bigger & heavier— but the smaller, lighter aerosols would just spread around similar to how smoke does); it's the difference between 😪 vs 😶‍🌫️. The only sure way for the germs they've coughed out to be blocked from spreading to other people is if they wear a well-fitted, quality mask/respirator.

I feel like health education from a young age should include the benefits of masking; that way it would be easier to adapt to the need to put on a mask to protect ourselves & others as a collective. It would be phenomenal & wonderful if we as a collective were used to masking the same way we're used to putting on socks before putting on our shoes.

4. "Immunocompromised people have always and will always exist"

Yes, that is true. And that means necessary measures taken to protect them, as well as other vulnerable people, should be the standard.

5. "[Covid] can't be the only airborne disease out there"

Of course not. There's plenty of them. However, not all airborne diseases are the same, nor should they be treated as such. What's been observed in regards to the long-term effects of covid is not at all the same with other airborne diseases. Covid is a highly contagious virus that is more than just a respiratory disease. Its goal is to attack your immune system, nervous system, heart, brain, and/or other vital organs. That's what viruses do. They act smart and sneaky, and they have the capability to trigger illnesses in your body that you may not have had pre-infection:

Chickenpox is known to lead to shingles

Epstein-Barr is known to lead to mono

HPV is known to lead to cancer

Covid-19 has been found to lead to:

POTS

ME/CFS

Stroke & Heart attack

Alzheimer's

Dementia

"Brain Fog"; Memory & Concentration Problems

The list goes on, and these are only what we know of. Covid may not be the only airborne disease, but it definitely is a dangerous one with serious, long-term negative effects.

6. "Do you feel that we should all be masking all the time, whether or not covid-19 exists?"

In regards to masking with the existence of covid:

Yes. Masking is a vital method in the prevention of catching & spreading covid-19, because it is primarily spread through the air.

In regards to masking without the existence of covid:

See my answer for number 3, and also: given the fact wearing a mask can only do more good than harm for most folks, I don't see why not. Imagine a world where we don't have to worry about flu season or allergy season anymore because those aerosols are filtered out from consistent mask wearing. Sounds like the dream to me lol.

-

I hope this made sense! If anyone has anything they'd like to add to answer anon's questions, please feel free to share!

Thank you for reading 😷

[sculkcensor]

Quiiiiick (lying) analysis on a little theory I have about the 'species' (ig?) seen in QSMP

so on Quesadilla Island, we see two major sentient peoples. We have the census bureaus (CBs), of which we know Cucurucho, Osito, and the pink ears one, tho there may be more. There's also the faceless people, who I'll call Workers for simplicity tho they seem to encompass all residents of the island who aren't the players, not just fed staff.

The CBs may potentially have once been Workers, since they appear very similar, or indeed may have just been crafted to look like them. It's hard to say exactly what they are biologically, they may be robotic or not, too much to bother breaking down here but in summary it's not clear.

Conversely, Workers seem to be biological. They don't have the powers (flight, invis, etc). They eat and drink regularly, chat amongst themselves, get paid for their work, and importantly as we see from Walter Bob, can have families and children. They also seem to generally be free-thinking. They are as diverse as players personality-wise, but visually all look the same with a blank face, and communicating through books.

Fit's contractor also resembles a Worker.

Now onto the INTERESTING part, on Egg Island, we see three new 'creatures'.

We have the Watcher, who is a plain black entity with a single eye, twice the height of normal players. (I could go into the mythology significance here but I'm trying to keep this short lol). We have the Eye Worker, and we have the Little Buddies (LBs).

The eye worker is most likely to be a regular worker who defected to the Watcher's side. We know that Egg Island was once owned by the feds, and whilst we don't know the details, it's likely there were Workers on the island that remained when the Fed left. (alternatively, this could be the Worker that boated to the island, but that's less likely, we do see them dead and this eye worker has no black corruption.)

The ONLY visual differences we see between Workers beyond their clothes are player-created ones (Walter Bob's haircut), yet this Worker has a clear biological difference in that it has an eye. There's two potential routes from this: we can make a slightly jumping assumption that somehow, working with the Watcher gave it this eye - either a surgical change (it does have advanced equipment, tho there's no surgical implications) or a natural change a la the black corruption, something that just Happened to this guy because it works with the Watcher.

Alternatively, ALL the workers who lived on Egg Island could look like that, and they just have a general biological difference to Quesadilla Workers.

Where am I going with this - well. The LBs GREATLY resemble Workers, just small with eyes. We know Walter Bob at least had/has a child, and likely other Workers had children too.

People theorised that the LBs were the equivalent of Eggs, but I want to suggest - what if they are the children of Workers? Either the children of workers on Egg Island, or ones from Quesadilla that ended up there somehow? We know the rebels were trying to boat ppl off the island, and Egg Island is clearly not that far from Quesadilla. If the Watcher can make ppl have eyes, it would track that they could also have gained eyes. And they're not working for the Watcher as far as we see, and do act like little kids.

I'm not even going to start on Cucurojo or whatever we're calling it now, I don't even know what's going on there lmao but it does seem to be a similar entity.

En fin, this is just rambling speculation. But please guys, can we make it cool to like MCYT, so I can make a QSMP theory video on PT without my audience trying to kill me for it---

[bonefall]

Ask Etiquette

HELLO sorry for the intimidating post lmao, I just need something to toss up on the masterpost because I feel bad deleting asks and then people will never really have an idea of why I never answered them

I get a ton of asks (usually anywhere from 10 - 20 a day!) and I'm not able to get to them all! I try to answer as many as possible but I'm still just one guy. So with that in mind, there are some sorts of asks I will simply not answer, and some 'requests' I have for people who send them in;

Please keep your asks short PLEASE try not to send me essays if you want a response; I still love reading them! But if you send me walls of text/analysis you are asking me to write a lot in response, which I'd rather spend on actually writing or designing cats. (On that note if you send a bunch of questions at once, the likelihood I respond goes down.)

Do not send me personal questions Listen... I'm a stranger on the internet. I'm overjoyed to see when my art connects with people and helps you realize things! But don't ask me sensitive questions like how to move out of your abusive parents' house!! PLEASE learn internet safety and get less comfortable with volunteering that kind of information to people you don't know!

Do not ask me personal questions you do not need to know what i study or where i work. get less comfortable asking these sorts of questions to queer people on the internet, especially when they talk openly about having previously been abused or stalked. (not that a person should even need to be as open about that as i am)

If I don't have a good response I won't answer Especially for suggestions I don't vibe with. I try to only say "No" if I have a particularly interesting "No" to talk about, if that makes sense! If I had to write a full explanation for every veto or idea I don't vibe with, this blog would be 90% what isn't in BB.

No AUs within the AU. "What if Hawkfrost survived his impalement? What if Firestar never joined? What if Tigerstar was never born?" Listen, buddy, you're creating an exponential distraction for possible ways the story could have gone and I'm not looking to write several essays for the literal hundreds of alternative ways Clan history could have been written. It takes you 5 words to ask "What if X never died" but it takes me paragraphs to answer. (This isn't about suggestions btw, I very specifically mean ppl asking hypotheticals for fun.)

Don't be rude. I feel like this should go without saying but please mind the parasocial gap. Especially if you're on anon, I don't know you, your backstory, or your cadence.

And, lastly, CLANMEW ASKS!!

I make a hard effort to get to everyone!! Those are published on Clanmew Day (WHICH IS NOW JUST GOING TO BE THE 30TH OF EVERY MONTH SO THAT IT'S LESS CONFUSING) but PLEASE understand I get a ton of them.

As I write this I have more than 26 tabs open of unanswered Clanmew asks, a lot more in my inbox, and 9 already in the queue. So that you understand the sheer volume of asks I have there.

If I didn't get to you that month, chances are that I'll get to you on the next, but please understand why I ask for folks to not re-send asks

So here's Clanmew-specific requests;

PLEASE just try a translation on your own first! Don't just send me raw lists of OCs to translate, give it a go first using the Lexicon, just so I can see you tried. I will happily and gladly make more specific words for you when I see you try!

When you send OCs you've translated, ask me for a new word at the end if you didn't already in your list. Just in case I can't think of a witty comment or a word suggestion, you will help me a lot

Please try to format with lists like this one Folks will send me double or triple-indented lists and it will take up my entire screen when they've only sent like, 5 names. Remember that posts you send to me go on people's dashes, be considerate please You can open a list like this by starting a new paragraph, typing -, and then an immediate space. Hold Shift + Enter to indent without adding another bullet.

If you could put "Clanmew" somewhere in your ask, like even if you open up with "Clanmew: Here is my question blah blah," it would help immensely I physically can't get to every ask I receive on Clanmew Day, so if you have "Clanmew" in your ask somewhere, it makes it a lot easier for me to find it when I can finally answer! I really wish Tumblr had ways to sort asks, but currently, I've just gotta make due with Cntrl + F.

[eloquentmoon]

an update and a thank you

my friends, i just wanted to thank you for your support and kindness and advice over the past week, in regards to my post and the depression i've been experiencing - it means so much to me and i've taken all of the suggestions and well wishes to heart. i thank everyone who interacted and reached out for your time, love, patience and guidance. you really do heal me with your compassion and i am feeling a bit more like myself now. i am looking into further alternative treatment that some of you suggested whilst i have some time off of work for my birthday, and am focusing on my creativity and other wellness projects. thank you again, so very much. i'm going to be tagging specific ppl under the cut that replied to my post and/or have been in contact with me (hope u don't mind, pls feel free to ignore), just to express my gratitude, and to share that i'm feeling a bit more human again.

genuinely this space is so sacred to me and i thank my followers and mutuals for your warmth and concern. i appreciate you more than you will ever know. ♡

@frogunderarock

@gemini-mama

@unmarked-credits

@sarcastic-nebula

@ladysaturnsdust

@moonstrider9904

@fresh-orange-whispers

@kimageddon

@stardustbee

@rogue-kenobi

[oooocleo]

how did you find the courage/means to do full-time freelance? it’s something i’ve been thinking about for a long time (i take comms in between college work) but i just. don’t know where to begin? i’d really appreciate any advice. thank you!

ill start this off w a disclaimer that i live in a country thats considered a social security state so i've received rent support from the government ever since moving out when i started uni (bc i dont make that much, prolly below min. wage, meaning my taxes are also relatively low), as well as student loans that aren't so horrible here as there are in the US for example - i'm sure if i had to get a job next to my studies i wouldn't have had nearly as much time/energy for establishing myself as a freelance illustrator over the yrs...

for me my uni yrs were when i really started doing more private commission work, because i had a lot of free time outside of exam periods, and i was p motivated to do that bc i was studying history which u know.. doesnt rly lead u down a secure career path lmfao... as for courage i would say it might be more fear of the alternative? i have depressive tendencies sometimes and i think i would be very unhappy having to spend 40 hours of my life every week in a job that wud likely feel unfulfilling compared to making art for ppl... so i took those student loans and drew and drew and drew until it became Actually Feasible to live off of my labour

i would say... Really try to minimize ur expenses if ur wanting to get into freelance illustration, bc any amount of time u need to spend on say a diff 'regular' job uve got to make ends meet will make things harder - this might seem like kind of scary advice but moving somewhere where the rent is cheap is an option u shouldnt overlook (i lived in social housing before moving to a rural area), bc kind of all u need rn is a freaking internet connection to find folks thatll hire u fdjgdfg - also in the same vein moving in with friends and sharing costs🤔

besides that, all i can suggest is find things that inspire you, draw as much as u can manage and post a lot so that ppl can discover u !

[decolonize-the-left]

Hi, I'm also a police (and prison) abolitionist, but there is a question I have that I am unsure what the solution is if we're doing police abolition. So, I am Jewish, and I attend synagogue services regularly. Our synagogue has armed security, a panic button to call the police, etc. I am not a huge fan of this, not just as an abolitionist, but also as someone who's very aware that the police don't give a shit about Jews. However, synagogue shootings, bomb threats, actual bombs, etc happen fairly regularly. As a police abolitionist, what do you think a possible solution is to de-police synagogues but also still keep Jews safe? Thank you!

The same way we protect Drag Storytime from transphobes. The community shows up for you. The community is there for security and protection.

I was briefly a member of an organization that did Exactly that as a matter of fact, we were a co-op who went around listening to the radio and showing up to police calls, monitoring arrests, patrolling houseless communities, and standing on front lines since police often chose to protect MAGA/Blue Lives ppl instead.

Also, they worked with the community and gathered support from trainers who in turn offered us defense and offense classes. We never went into a dangerous situation without training for it first, despite just being people off the street. So that could be an idea as well if anyone involved has knowledge on security (or bombs) they're willing to share.

What happened was these Black anarchists showed up to a community meeting that PSL (party for socialism & liberation) was hosting and stated their cause. Then they said whoever wants to join them is welcome. So I did.

So it can also be that easy to find people ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

All that to say yes I have ideas & yes this is possible.

Since this would need to be done on a regular basis at a static place though, there should be a bit more organizing involved than what we did.

First things first, you gotta do some research specifically on security (since it's basically cops but Not) and then find people willing to carry that out. I'm sure there are plenty around, probably people who've been in security before it's just a matter of asking in the right places.

Then it's a matter of organizing your needs, making plans, and action. You'll need to lay out when you'll need them, if you want them armed, patrolling outside, guarding doors, go over escape routes, etc. I'm sure you know if you have a panic button. And if they need anything in return, especially to do the work better then help how you can.

I'd also suggest rotating these people out on a semi to regular basis so they don't get stuck in their roles and have it go to their head like cops do.

There are a lot of ways to de-police and each community's needs for how to do that will be different. Talk to who shows up for you and figure out what it'll look like for your community as a team.

And if you're just looking for an example of what that might like then the first ones that come to mind are the Black Panthers and AIM. Unhappy with police violence, they both organized alternatives to protect themselves and their communities. Not synagogues per se, but you could use some of the same ideas and tactics, I'm sure.

[tired-biscuit]

Didn't think i need to clarify that i'm talking about the ⬛️🟧 (which links you shared) so i apologize for that. But ppl should avoid it. No idea what i am allowed to say on tumblr, i suggest looking up vids about it whenever you (and everyone else for that matter) have time for it. It's a dark topic, really.

Doesn't matter if one "just" watches without interacting, visting the site and handing out views makes it work and makes an easy plattform for the most sick mfs. :/

i mean this in the nicest way possible, but you should have worded that better instead of coming into my askbox, trying to make me feel bad for watching porn on a site i didn’t even know was bad by saying “you as a grown woman” and whatnot.

you can’t just decide what i know and what i don’t know. not that i owe you any explanation whatsoever, but even though i write a lot of porn, i never really search for it when i wanna stroke one out. i don’t go on twitter all that much or reddit or other sites and search for “source material”. ever since i’ve started masturbating, ‘the hub’ or whatever you wanna call it, was my go to because it’s the most basic one, i guess? it’s what most people put as their go to website for that kind of stuff and guess what, i was one of them. it fulfilled my needs and that was enough.

but that is because i had no clue about the whole dark side of it; and tbh how could i? i open it every so often, look up the category i want, rub one out and close it — that’s it. meanwhile, you just painted me as the villain and assumed that i know how they’re treating women and people in general behind the scenes just because i jacked off to a vid that was on that site and shared a link to it when asked. what’s even worse; you then jumped in my askbox, basically telling me how disappointed you are in me between the lines, and tried to make me feel stupid and guilty about it.

i will be looking into this entire thing and will definitely find alternatives if all of this is true, but next time (if there is a next time) pick a more polite tone to speak with me because you just come across as incredibly rude otherwise.

[impishtubist]

Hi Imp, I came to cry in your inbox :')

I dont interact with the marauders fandom on twitter/X (I do use it for other fandoms) but now the algorythm is broken or sth and it's suggesting me tweets from those ppl and. omg. why.

one person reposted an old tumblr post about hagrid being good/supportive to harry and that fandom shouldnt see sirius as the (only) parental figure (that alone is.. debatable) AND another person replied that "all sirius did was compare harry to his father, hug him, then die"

huh?? (I want to die after reading this)

another person (who claims to be a wolfstar shipper) had such a weird take on wolfstar... apparently the werewolf prank is absolutely unforgivable and also sirius has other sins to anwser for such as *checks notes*... loving james more then remus...

now i understand your frustration with remus apologists. i dont remember encountering any in the wild before.

and i really dont want this to turn into shitting on remus bc i do like him (with all his canon flaws) so before you say anything: yes, i know, i acknowledge he fucked up in canon, but its not about him. its about people not understanding sirius and shipping a ship if the hate half of the ship

My inbox is always open for crying!

But yes, this is what I'm talking about with the Remus apologists! They shit on Sirius all the time. I don't know why any of the Remus stans actually write Wolfstar, tbh. There's a hugely popular author out there (no one who follows me, so if you're reading this and you're a follower of mine, it's not you) who has posted on more than one occasion about how Sirius needs to make it up to Remus for the Prank, for believing he was the traitor, etc. What! How can you ship these two if that's how you feel about Sirius? Lmao. The problem is that all the Wolfstar shippers project onto Remus, so he becomes someone who has done nothing wrong ever and Sirius needs to grovel to him.

Alternatively, they just want to fuck Remus, which is why he becomes this hot alpha jock and Sirius becomes their self-insert character.

And lol, of course they hate that it's canon that Sirius was closer to James than to Remus. How dare Sirius not like their boy the best! That is a crime!

I'm getting off-track.

The point is, you're 100% correct, this is what I have been saying all along! The fandom hates Sirius so much! I don't understand why they're interested in writing a ship that he's part of.

(also wtf hagrid is NO parental figure and sirius did more for harry than literally any other character in the series)

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

Why tf is harrymort something you ship? Not only is Voldemort constantly trying to kill Harry, has killed Harry's parents, threatened to kill all of Harry's friends, and actually did sort of kill Harry, but like. He's definitely over fifty in the books. IDK how old he is exactly, but he's old enough that he was a feared political cult leader missing 6 chunks of his soul and a Hogwarts graduate when Harry is a baby. It's creepy, man.

Bruh, all of my ships are incredibly problematic in more than one way. I'm suspicious over that being the only one you seem to take issue with.

1.) You lack imagination. HP is a very fleshed out fictional universe with many options at your fingertips for fanfic. Tom Riddle appears throughout the series, in the ages newborn, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20+, 30+, 50, and 70. Harry has appeared in the ages of 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 37/38. Time Turners exist. Alternate Universes exist. You can do literally anything because HP is a massive sandbox. I can have Harry find the Diary in his 6th Year and then he is actually older than Diary-Tom. I can have Adult-Harry Time Travel to any point between 1950 and 1970 and end up in a relationship with Adult-Tom.

2.) What attracts me is the potential. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean there aren't ridiculous connections between Harry and Voldy. People would see Voldy's obsession as some kind of mad crush if Harry was a girl and we all know it. Just because Harry's a boy doesn't mean Voldy getting touchy feely isn't weird, or Tom staring at him 'hungrily' many times isn't suggestive, or Harry remarking 18 times between 2 books that Tom Riddle is 'handsome' while doing nothing to tell people about how attractive the supposed love of his life(Ginny) is.

3.) My weakness is Protag/Antag ships. Ever since I was a child and a romance was happening in something I was watching, my first thought was always preferring the hero with the villain. I didn't understand why until I was about 13. Suddenly it's, how would that work? How can they realistically go from being enemies to being in love? Can any fic writers manage it since it isn't canon?

Bruh, I shipped Sailor Moon with almost every enemy she had(even Diamond tbh). I shipped Kagome Higurashi with Naraku and Sesshomaru from the moment those characters were introduced in the story(Inuyasha). Long before we learned any back story on them. I shipped Naruto with almost every member of the Akatsuki at some point out of curiosity the moment I learned about the organization. I shipped Kaname Kuran and Zero Kiryu(Vampire Knight).

As a result of my Protag/Antag obsession, most of my ships end up being unhealthy by nature. Even in cases where they are undeniably canon, like Luo Binghe/Shen Qingqiu | Shen Yuan, they aren't very safe or sane.

Something you need to remember is that it is fiction about fictional characters. Real people are not being harmed. And the only way someone could realistically be 'triggered' by such content is if they go to specific lengths to see it. You have options to curate your online experience. Don't follow blogs/accounts about topics you don't like, mute words/tags that bother you, block ppl who make you uncomfortable. It takes a few minutes to ensure your future is hassle free.

I'm at that age where I've been in fandom spaces so long I don't care about people's ships or interests. Spending my personal time worrying about some stranger's obsession with Tragic Non-Con Reylo fanfic won't do me any favors when I honestly dgaf. I'm here for the fandom stuff I like and only occasionally participate in discourse, and that is never aimed at ships and is always about characters and the people who wrote them.

So yes, I ship fucked up shit, and I could write the fucked up stuff(maybe, if I ever get emotional strength to) but typically I'm more into nuance and drama and slow burns that take 400K words to work through. I don't do Non-Con Triggering horrible stuff because mentally I can't handle writing or reading it very much. But I'm also not up in arms over the people who do. Let people like what they like. Ship and let ship. Live and let live. They're pixels on a screen or words on a page. They don't exist. They aren't real. They are meant to entertain us, and how people find their enjoyment in fiction isn't for anyone to decide.

[hoofpeet]

i'm remembering awhile back that you got an ask that suggested that ppl think Ingo's a werewolf (werezoroark?) now bc of zoringo and I just thought it would be absolutely hilarious if the return of the actual ingo just. does not clear this rumor up at all and in fact makes it worse. ingo thinks it's funny so he does nothing to discourage it.

Yeah 😭😭 emmet spends that whole year trying to diffuse werewolf rumors and then ingo comes back and leans into it full force bc he thinks it's funny.

Alternatively people keep showing up to the station and thinking INGOS the zoroark. Hes hunched over, distinctly hairier and more tired looking than the other two and apparently forages for his breakfast in the wild?? So passengers meet them and go ah! The subway bosses and their dog out on a morning stroll! :]

Then ingo points at zoroark like no THATS the dog. I'm the human.

[sothischickshe]

Please tell us how you would fix the wire tap strip search scene thank you!

Thank you for asking! 🥺🥰💜

...i feel like this might get long😅

1. Make the scene make sense

I find the scene difficult to take seriously, bc I don't understand why rio thinks Beth would be wired up. He didn't turn up when they were supposed to meet, and I don't think there's any particular suggestion he told Beth he was coming round so ???

Now the idea that rio has no idea how surveillance equipment works/believes it to have been permanently soldered to Beth's skin is very funny to me thus I'm willing to accept it as a headcanon pretty easily, but an alternative interpretation which I think kinda makes sense given his love of setting up his terrible dramatic punchlines is him doing all this purely TO drop the tracker as an almost gotcha 🤷🏼‍♀️ if the latter IS what's (supposed to be) happening, I think it comes off kinda both too creepy AND not horny enough. And if that's NOT what's happening in the scene then I think it just feels like a lazy handwave as to why exactly he might think she's wearing a wire, and they couldve put a little effort into eg making it clear he forewarned her but not with adequate time for the secret service to mic her up/equipment was malfunctioning again, or he stormed round (drunk) immediately upon verifying the tracker so wasn't really thinking it through.

Particularly in a scene which is to some extent intentionally jarring (espec in how the undressing begins, but also in its mostly-silence), I don't think it's a good idea to leave your audience this confused??

2. Use an appropriate body double (in appropriately sized bra)

This just feels lazy!!! Idk if shooting restrictions couldve played a part but if you can't do those shots well it would be better not to include them!

3. Make it hornier

I can def understand why some ppl find the scene offputting, espec bc of point 1. If it doesn't make sense for him to think she's wearing a wire then him starting to undress her with no preamble is really jarring. I know some ppl think it's an intentionally sexless and/or clinical stripping, but I don't think it succeeds in being that (if indeed that is its intention), especially with the demand for her underwear to come off but not her socks 🤯

I think this scene & the weird pool table groping one are in conversation with each other, espec bc theyre each in conversation with intimate s2 brio scenes, and i don't think it's possible to not view this as somewhat intimate and charged? Both scenes felt like they were trying too hard, but i do think they were attempting to ~remind the audience of their sexual history, and hint that it would be rekindled.

I think the show should have leaned into that MORE and made it more fucked up tbh. They're messy!!! Like hi she's married he's her boss he's threatened to kill her a bunch she's tried to kill him multiple times they've betrayed each other they've protected each other lather rinse and repeat. They love being inappropriate and weird!! The first time they have sex she's on a date with her husband then he beats a car up over it; his plan to kill her turns into a weird money making date where he stares at her ass for hours; her idea of gaining back his trust is dressing up and saying I'll do anything...within reason wink wink wink.

Maybe particularly bc I think the visual of rio going to unbutton Beth's shirt out of nowhere is probably supposed to parallel Beth going for fitz's belt in the exact same room in their unsexy standoff (and thus also Beth going for rio's belt subsequently in his grandma's bedroom) I do kinda query the choice to have her be all 'what are you doing' (though it's clearly a reasonable q lol), espec bc they were recently weirdly grinding on a pool table? I think even a momentary leaning in to it would give the scene a different (less creepy) flavour? (plus I do think that could have been played for humour lol.)

Basically if it seems like a silly sexy wire stripping scene that's fine I don't mind it, & I can handwave away rio having no real reason to think Beth's wearing a wire if she's being (canon typically) horny here. Without that it does come across as having an almost predatory vibe which seems strange to me given the show was pretty thoughtful about how it portrayed both the belt-reaching-for scenes it's sandwiched btwn :/

4. Not try so hard with the parallels

I get what they were trying to do with the 209 parallels, but they threaten the sense of the scene imo.

Demanding underwear come off but not socks (???🤯) In a context which can easily come off as creepy (espec bc see point 1) doesn't work for me 🤷🏼‍♀️ easily solved I think by still having the socks shot, followed by Beth angrily throwing her socks at him lmao (then watch, then earrings...)

The sunlight is nice and all, and I'm pretty into exhibitionist Beth so w/e it can stay, but the door is im sure unlocked lol and she's right by a window so idk a bit of Beth @ least glancing to see if anyone could see in maybe would've been cool?? Plus we've got too much of a gap from the night before to this scene I think? I understand why the meet up was at night & why they wanted this scene to be a daytime one, but along with everything else that gap makes it seem MORE like a premeditated plan to be like yea well w/e I found this tracker so ha! (ofc I can explain that away if i feel like it eg someone needed to check what it was properly & that took some time, but the show certainly isn't giving me any suggestion of that.)

Maintaining silence kinda makes sense in the context but idk, I think particularly cos Beth doesn't stop talking after being shushed (good for her!), it's a lil random that she does stop saying things? I reckon there should have been some confused mouthing or whispering or the classic scribbling on a notepad (the last, with his penmanship, couldve been an avenue for comedy haha), and/or if she's stuck in a situation where he's refusing to reply I feel like she should have called him a moron a couple of times for good luck lolol

I'm all for callbacks, but not to the point of sacrificing the rest of the scene, and I think these overall weaken it. Plus parallels can work very well in terms of inversions and contrasts, not only similarities!

5. Have some greater payoff

Beth is basically like yep fine sure I'll randomly strip no further questions (just not the socks, I shan't bare my toes, some lines can't be crossed). That's actually kinda funny in the circumstance, bc who would do that other than someone who knows (why) you suspect them of wearing a wire sfggdssg so her going along with it in a situation which makes so little sense almost feels like (it could be played as) a tacit admission of guilt.

I guess a scene of rio being like wait hold on she was being uncharacteristically agreeable now I think abt it 20 mins later or w/e wouldve been too much to hope for ha but among all the things which make it pretty blatant Beth's working with the secret service (such as her announcing this to rio at one point🤯) I think we deserved him bringing some of it up in conversation later in the season yknow?? Otherwise I don't know why I'm supposed to believe rio isn't imaginary in all his scenes and/or too drunk to retain any information 🤷🏼‍♀️

6. A better closing line

After demanding someone strip full frontal (without making them show off their toes bc some things are sacred) telling that person to watch their back merely highlights you haven't bothered to check whether they've got a mic taped over their spine 🙄

[autopotion]

Ppl always talk about how Penelo, Vaan, and Fran get very little content compared to the other three, but tbh Basch hasn't had anything to do for like. Hours. I think he had a couple lines in Jahara and that was it (I'm at the Stilshrine of Miriam).

Fran's content is slight but like, I think it actually has a leg up on the others for being complete; the Eruyt arc is short, but it is an entire arc, with interesting supporting characters, key character moments, and ties to the overarching plot that don't get in the way of the arc (the nethicite, the brief appearance of Venat). Balthier got stuff that didn't get in the way of Fran's stuff, and was the perfect supporting character for her. Vaan even had some good moments where he feels like the guy he was in the first five hours again. Like it's actually extremely solid as far as the story arcs in this game go, and a rare moment where I felt like every writer was on the same page, in this case about what kind of character Fran is.

I don't feel that way about the rest of the cast (barring Balthier who is so obviously the team favorite). Vaan is WILDLY inconsistent as a protagonist; he got over his hatred of Basch like an hour after he met the guy, and it's clear the dev team had conflicting ideas about what to do with him after that, so he slingshots between "hothead kid who is earnest but impulsive" and "the wise commoner kid who reflects sagely on his own shortcomings in earshot of the impulsive vengeance-questing princess so she can one day learn those lessons too." Like I'm not saying he can't be both--ideally he should be both!--but the writing absolutely does not straddle that line at all, but faceplants in one direction depending on what they want from the scene. It's such a shame because I actually really like Vaan and think there are a number of interesting ideas in his concept, but I don't think those ideas stick the landing. The most damning thing about him is he doesn't feel like the protagonist of the game. He doesn't even feel like a deuteragonist in an ensemble cast, he feels like the kid sidekick (like Laphicet). I just don't think that's any way to treat your leading man, and it leads to a lot of writing confusion, and fan confusion, about what the character arcs even are.

And I also don't feel like Ashe herself escaped the inconsistent writing! I think in some ways her plot is very clear, but in most of the scenes she's in, she's hardly interfacing with the party like... at all. I hate to say it, but she often has more dynamic relationships with the guests, most strikingly Vossler and Larsa, than she does with party members who aren't Basch (and later Balthier). She does talk to Vaan, like they're clearly trying to do the "commoner foil to the princess" thing with them, but... again, I feel like those Vaan scenes are written inconsistently, so it just kinda comes off as Vaan spouting off unearned platitudes while Ashe is like "oh I see! [continues to pursue vengeance for the next fifty hours until the last Vaan Speech finally sticks]"

Idk. I feel like a much more interesting arc for Vaan & Ashe is like... okay, so Ashe is the Occuria's candidate, right? But it's implied they're also grooming Vaan as an alternate if Ashe doesn't work out. While Ashe sees Rasler, Vaan sees Reks. But while Ashe still feels so much fury about Rasler, Vaan stops expressing anger about Reks after he's resolved his shit with Basch in the first five hours of the game... so he seems like a pretty weak candidate for the Occuria to pin their hopes on. I feel like an interesting pitch would be for Vaan and Ashe to actually be in lockstep for like, most of the game (which is what the Occuria's illusions seem to suggest anyway). Vaan learns Basch didn't kill his brother. Cool. Someone still did though, which means someone's still to blame, which means he can't let go of his anger yet. Easy enough to make Gabranth his new target. And then, in the later hours of the game, after their big adventure, Vaan is waffling more, thinking about what Ashe's vengeance would mean for his home, and the other common people of Dalmasca, and firmly plants his feet on the side of No Vengeance, Not Like This, just in time for the climax at the Pharos. In many ways I feel like the pieces of that plot are already there, and may or may not be what the dev team thought they were writing! But, as it is, it just kinda falls flat. Tbh I think that's because the writers had inconsistent visions about what Vaan's internal world is like.

As for the others... I mean, Penelo got all her shit cut, which is beyond sad. But Basch also gets his rough edges smoothed out after Vaan stops hating him--I mean, I think he gets some good stuff with Vossler and his own brother, but he's curiously absent from a lot of Ashe's conversations about power-seeking, mostly just kinda watching her from afar with either stone-faced concern or a bland smile. Though many fans point to Basch's existence as like "see! this one's not like the other Final Fantasies, it's got this grizzled old guy in it who's closer to the main plot of the game than the protagonist is!" (and also bcuz they're still on that Basch Was Always Supposed To Be The Protagonist theory that got debunked), Basch doesn't actually get all that much content, let alone enough to carry him as the protag.

Idk. This is the same criticism of FFXII that people have made many, many times, but it really is just a wildly inconsistently written game. The first several hours are extremely strong, and then not only is the story doled out in increasingly smaller portions with less frequency, but the writing loses track of what most of the characters actually want. No wonder fans attach themselves to Balthier, he's easily the most consistently written character in the game. Every other character either suffers from inconsistencies (Vaan, Ashe), or is consistent, but runs out of material (Fran, Basch), or has basically been written out of the story (Penelo).

DGMW I still love FFXII though. Definitely a GOAT for me. It just clearly and obviously suffered from the abrupt change in the development team and Matsuno's fraught departure.

[iszaranothere]

the day people make posts expanding on mcsm lore and relationships and making new ocs and scenarios instead of shipping lukesse/any other random pair is the day i die happy (cassden is an exception. i love cassden forever and ever)

not that shipping is bad but like i wish ppl touched more on the potential of mcsm and writing their own stuff instead of just…. Focusing on those two guys ™️

Then I have some good news for you friend, cause people already do that! I know lots of talented people who make great MCSM content, ranging from alternate universes to original characters to whole new stories, you name it. One of the many accounts I'm obsessed with at the moment is @mcsmremake, who are making a fully animated remake of MCSM! Might I suggest you check them out, I think you'll find their content to your liking. What I mean to say is, people have been doing all the things you mentioned since the game's release, I've seen it happen.

And did you know that all those things you said,,,, can still be done while shipping, for example, Lukesse? Or any other ship for that matter. Shipping and expanding on the lore can go hand in hand, it doesn't have to be one or the other. And yes, it is true that MCSM is so much bigger than just Lukas and Jesse, but you can rest assured that there are many people out there determined to create all sorts of MCSM content, not just about the two of them. Myself included :).

Personally, I find my forte when it comes to writing is character relationships, whether it be platonic or romantic, my published works make that much clear. Not that long ago I posted a short Lukesse fic over on AO3, and I'm currently working on an Aidrose/Cassden short story that focusses on their individual and joint growth and development, tied neatly together in a lighthearted ribbon for your pleasure. It's still very much a work in progress at the moment, but feel free to check it out when it's published. I know the Aidrose community has always been kinda low on content (stay strong Aidrose nation I love you).

If you want any more MCSM creator/content recommendations, my dms are always open :D