#I'm having fun. aren't you having fun?? and if not. why not anon?? its supposed to be funny!!

[attonitos-gloria]

Sansa stans dont compare her or ship her with rapists. you only ship Sanrion to use Sansa as self-insert because you want to fuck Tyrion, you don't actually like Sansa

anon. I'll be honest with you. I'll not be taking this ask seriously because I have no interest in proving to you that I like any fictional character whatsoever but I want to answer because I think it's so funny that through your hate and ignorance you can see right through me. yes I confess all my Tyrion stan act is because I think he's incredibly hot. Do I think he's the main character. Do I think he is the character that best embodies the heart of the series. Do I cry for him as if he were my friend, do I feel his chapters pulling at my heartstrings. Am I fascinated by the relationship between the way he's treated in-universe and the way he's treated by fandom. Do I believe he is the author's vessel to do meta about his own work more than any other character (for more on this also read: adwd) well yes. Yes of course to all of this. But at the end of the day im just..... thinking with my pussy because I'm a simple girl. when you do it, it is boring but when I do it.... It is actually praxis

[sailor-aviator]

Hey.

Go ahead and get settled because this will be...long, in true Liz fashion.

So, by now I'm sure most of you have heard what's happened. If not, you can search this blog for some answers or others for more.

I joined this fandom offiicially at the end of September after being a long time lurker. I had just lost my job and times were uncertain for me. I felt inspired to write, and as someone whose formative years were shaped by the fandom experience, I wanted to feel that sense of belonging again - to feel like a part of a community. I've talked about it on here before, but I started my fandom days in the original Hunger Games fandom when the first movie had just come out, and then I shifted gears towards the SuperWhoLock fandom. If you know anything about SuperWhoLock, then you know you had to have pretty tough fucking skin to be a part of any of it.

Of course, this was back in the day when fandom was an actual community and not authors having to beg for scraps of engagement and people thinking its a numbers game. I was a fairly large blog within the SuperWhoLock community (Waywardly-Carrying-On was the username), but I left fandom for a few years because life got hectic and I felt like I had outgrown the fandom itself as I was no longer watching any of the shows. As the years went on, I started to yearn for the fandom experience again, which is how I found myself dipping toes into several different ones.

I was so excited to publish my first fanfic. I had convinced myself that I wasn't a good writer (much to the chagrin of my irl friends), and I had put a pause on writing my original story. I wanted to write this idea about a cowboy and a girl using characters that I had grown to love like I did way back in my older days. So, I started posting, and I was so excited for the story, that I kept posting almost daily. MamaMay was one of the first people to embrace not only my story, but me as a person into the fandom. She made me feel welcomed and wanted.

Pretty much right off the bat I was already getting anons telling me that I was being too much and that I needed to calm down with all the posting. I was confused because...this is Tumblr. It's literally a blogging website? Why wouldn't I post? I decided to ignore the mean words (not before giving my opinion, of course) and kept on doing my thing. Well, the anons got continually worse and worse. I had a suspiscion as to who the anons could be, but I never had concrete proof. So, I experimented with blocking suspects until finally it worked. I'm not naming names because that's not my style, so don't even bother asking.

The fact of the matter is, some of you have entered fandom spaces for the first time, and you don't know how to act. You don't care to learn fandom etiquette as you've made abundantly clear by calling fandom olds every name under the sun while utilizing the anonymous feature. Newsflash, you're part of the problem. You're the reason why authors don't want to publish anymore. You are the reason that something that's supposed to be fun is starting to feel like a goddamn chore.

How many times can authors on here say that we aren't machines? We have lives outside of this website: family, friends, jobs, school, etc. Some of you really are just hellbent on making everyone around you miserable, and it's sad. You can't just leave well enough alone and let people enjoy something, no you feel like everyone has to enjoy it the same way as you.

Some of you go after authors on here because of some weird sense of jealousy too. I don't know why my shit blew up, babe, I really don't. But I started out with no followers and no support just like everyone else. I'll tell you what helped me though: following fandom etiquette and reaching out to other creators to build an actual community. None of this "I've reblogged three of your things and now I'm messaging you so that you return the favor." No, I reached out to make actual friendships which is what fandom is SUPPOSED to be. If someone was clearly not interested, it was fine!! I backed off and kept doing my own thing.

Some of you think being mean on the internet makes you big and bad. Guess what! It doesn't! It's loser mentality and I feel genuinely sorry for you. I'm sorry that people in your own life made you feel so small as to feel like you had to lash out at strangers on the internet who are just trying to have fun.

Anyway, this is my really long way of saying that I am taking a break for a little bit. I have no idea how long it will be - could be the weekend, could be a couple of weeks, could be forever. I need time to decide if this is something I want to keep persuing. If I come back, I don't know if I will remain a TGM blog or if I'll shift gears and hop into another fandom with a rebrand. Guess we'll just have to see.

To the people on here who have been a constant source of joy, laughter, and support: thank you. From the bottom of my heart. Your presence has meant everything to me, and I hope that my break sees me wanting to come back and giggle about the silly plane movie with you all again.

Nothing but love,

Liz 💛

[shadowqueenjude]

omg you're back!!! i missed anoning you about misc. grievances about these stupid books now, I've been a Beron hater since day 1, but you cannot tell me he didn't lowkey eat during the high lord's meeting in acowar. also lowkey, why does helion do nothing? like i'm not trying to be dismissive or anything, but like in the books i'm not seeing anything at that same high lord's meeting: rhysand: i know i was actually the worst and allied myself with the enemy for all of their reign and did atrocities but its not the real me, promise!! </3

somehow everyone except tamlin and probably beron: wow we believe you and we trust,, we don't even care that your court in this meeting has started 2 physical fights and that you literally said it would be easier to just go into our heads and force us to do what you want

tamlin: okay, i know i kind of messed up on the hybern thing, but i literally was trying every way to fight for her after someone kidnapped her and after the fact i was going to figure out how to break the alliance. I was with hybern for all of like 5 minutes and also here's all of their attack plans and everything you would need to take these guys down.

everyone: EWWW Boooooo we don't like youuu go home!! we aren't discussing shit with you here tamlin: i actively have a better track record in terms of all of this stuff and overall just being a stand-up guy for someone who didn't even want the job in the first place everyone: you suckkkk we're taking the word of the guy we hated up until literally today over you L bozo (or that's just my interpretation, also just realized Dawn is supposed to be East-Asia inspired, or at least the people are... I see actually none of that, dawn had like one koi pond and that's it, where's the architecture, the fashion, the idk... everything)

And I hate Beron too, but why did SJM write him being soooo right?

It’s fucking hilarious that SJM wrote the High Lord’s meeting fully expecting us to take Rhysand and Feyre’s side when Tamlin and Beron came in serving cunt and FACTS!!! Like yeah, they were bitches, but where did they lie???? As for all the other High Lords siding with Rhysand:

Logically: SJM just wanted us to side with Rhysand and make him out to be the good guy because look! Everyone agrees with him!

Fun Headcanon: The Prythian High Lords never liked Tamlin’s progressiveness and therefore rejoiced at his downfall, even if it did come at the hands of Rhysand.

Is Dawn supposed to be East Asian? Wouldn’t know since SJM worldbuilds like a 12 year old girl on Wattpad…

[waterparksdrama]

ok track by track review of Intellectual Property. GO!

as you wish anon. be warned this is literally like one of maybe 4 times i've listened to this album in full again

st*rfucker - a bit too saccharine on first listen but it has better replay value as time goes on. the beginning of the shoehorned jesus lyrics and the continuation of limo imagery to represent fame which is actually fitting admittedly bc just like a limo that is supposed to represent glamour and celebrity living, they are just as widespread and accessible as him and aren't really that glamorous at all. also this is me saying again wow he complains a lot about fame for someone who isn't really that famous. i still hate the cutoff at the end bc. cmon man. 7/10

real super dark - ok i did like the gilbert gottfried inspired melody i think that's fun actually. the song lyrics? uhhhhhh. just more complaining. if you have listened to any of the albums since fandom you are not missing much there other than the otto serial killer jokes he has inserted here? which is a choice i guess. instrumental is great tho. i feel incredibly stupid listening to a lot of the other parts of the song tho. 7/10

funeral grey - god i can't bear listening to this one on my own i'm sorry. live it's fine, but the studio recording i would rather kill myself than listen to again. IT'S SO ANNOYING. the terrible overenunciated vocals. awsten's attempt at humor by writing these wattpad fic lyrics that make me cringe to my core because i know there's a part of him being genuine. the one direction ripoff hook because he managed to get one of 1d's actual songwriters to help write the track. the only saving grace is the ending but at that point it's too late for any redemption. 2/10

brainwashed - ironically this was written with the 1d guy again and. i'm actually fine with this one LOL. it's simple and lowkey so it's considerably less annoying than funeral grey. considering awsten said the lyrics on this album were hypersexual, but it's 2023 so this is fairly tame, it just makes me wonder how much he has repressed in his psyche. 6/10

2 best friends - ok now we're back to simple annoying. if you tune out the lyrics enough, it sounds like disney channel filler music. but it's actually about ~~sExxxx~~ hahahahaha everything about this album so far is like reading fanfics clearly written by middle schoolers. awsten's sad about his situationship so he goes out with his 2 best friends to forget but it doesn't work :( but he could just fuck his friends bc it wouldn't hurt to try at this point. hey what if this was what the song was actually about that because in travis' insane songfic he made jawn and awsten hook up during this chapter #neverforget #riptravisficeventhoughmebitchingontumblrmadehimkillit 4/10

end of the water (feel) - hearing awsten try to hit those high notes reminded me of people saying brendon straining on his high notes on the last panic tour was like hearing a dog that needed to be shot out back for its own good. this is very obviously a charlie puth ripoff to the t because not only does he hit high notes that no man should ever reach, but i'm pretty sure the verse instrumentals rip off "light switch" by charlie. anyways more of "ughhhhh i'm not getting a text backkkkkk" that makes me want to throw awsten's phone into the pacific. i still don't know why kurtis conner is here and how this is supposed to relate to any of this at all. also actually now that i'm crossing checking the genius pages for these, the descriptions for these songs make them sound much better than they actually are lol. 3/10

self-sabotage - this one is mid on it's own but funny because i remember the amount of twitter discourse this song has spawned. "awsten's being toxic and misogynistic" did we not listen to some of the songs off fandom "awsten has bpd" what if he just sucks sometimes. the memories of this are more memorable than the song itself. 5/10

ritual - remember when i found out the soundbyte at the beginning was from an aids psa. good times. fine song other than the shoehorned soundbyte. the entire song is just a repetition of the verses and chorus like a ~~ritual~~ spooky! i like the flair vincente void adds with his screams i feel like this feature makes more sense because it's a song about protecting yourself from the doctrines of religion that harmed you when you were growing up and apparently vincente has known awsten since he was 13???? only thing i hate is the corpse ripoff ending so much so that i have a personal version where i edited that out. 8/10

fuck about it - BORINGGGGGG OH MY GODD. if you've heard one blackbear feature, congrats you've heard them all because they all sound the same and blackbear adds no energy whatsoever. he made a bayside instrumental sound boring you really can't underestimate him. anyways back to the song itself; the situationship has dissolved into pure sex and disinterest and annoyance outside of that and with the way awsten sounds like he plans having hate sex, i don't think he's ever had hate sex before. there's the ending synth i think is fun and that's the only reason this gets a point at all. 1/10

closer - it's a sweet song but um. haven't we heard this in a way before? *cough cough 21 questions* i think this is the closest (lol) parx comes to at a return to pre-fandom form, but when i listen to the chords too much i'm just like "did he lowkey rip off that one smashing pumpkins song". anyways it's just about needing to be closer to someone or ending the relationship completely. simple but effective but not nearly as effective as 21 questions for me sorry. 7/10

a night out on earth - ok i had physical tickets to the last tour bc i won them on idobi so i was like "THIS SONG BETTER BE AT LEAST DECENT BC I STILL HANG UP THE TICKET WITH THIS NAME" and it was at the least. it's like. a good waterparks song, but i feel like i've heard it already? my mind goes back to see you in the future but for these i can't tell who's ripping off who more lol. yeah i feel like other than some interesting production here and there it's a rehash of shit we already heard before. shoehorned religious lyric. fake ass band guys. "i turn my agony into songs and people only like when i'm hurt". "i've been dead since 2016" (part two). "i'm evil now. idgaf. wat ever."

and then i think the part that makes me go awwww but also confuses me is the im a natural blue radio interview snippet? like why does this all tie in together now. geoff's not even here bro how is this the only release where otto's the only one namedropped when awsten hasn't even named dropped him until last album. 80% the album is about some random relationship how is this supposed to tie into all of these.

idk i feel like i've just had this on my mind when when of my mutuals made their own analysis on awsten's mindsets towards life and said how he uses fear as motivation but his perfectionism keeps him from using failure as an editor and how this song was the peak example of this; the rehash of the same ideas over and over because despite his stubbornness, despite "ultimately -not- giving in to the perception that you’re worth ‘Demonizing'", he never confronts the problem for real, just compartmentalizes the problem away and doesn't truly overcome the root of his problems. that's what i feel like manifests in this album for me to be put off by it at its core. nothing ever changes, he just finds a new situation to complain at. maybe that's also why his fans never change even as new ones come though. maybe that's why we also stay stagnant in this with him.

again i get it, he's a public figure; if he did dive too deep into this and didn't choose to generalize the lyrics for his own sake, he would probably end up incriminating himself way too much and have a hard time performing some of these songs. but i can't help but wonder. if he's truly getting over a mental obstacle like that, or keeps himself so set on the future that he ignores the problems he never solved. like he always does. like he always seems to be doomed to. anyways, 7/10 song.

all in all, it's an album that tries to reach a concept of coming to terms with your sexuality and religious trauma all entwined in fame but in reality it's mostly just about a sucky situationship and awsten complaining again while putting in random religious references sometimes and the beginning and ending are about fame. my hot takes are: tennis imagery = gay sex, there's not enough of a distinction between "soulsucker" and awsten to make "album lore" when the overarching concept of parx's discography is "awsten's life sucks", and darth vader is luke's father. - iz

[ac-liveblogs]

Hello! Just wanna say thank you to you & kyogre-blue (and the anons) for being like the only people I can find that agree that Genshin's storytelling is wack lol I'm surprised how many people praise the writing when it's so confusingly paced and conflicts they bring up don't really go anywhere or the payoff is lackluster. There so much unnecessary dialogue & the last acts of the main story are always such a big rushed mess!

That being said, I wanted to ask if there's any series(game, anime, manga, etc) you'd recommend that does the things genshin wants to do but better, or even just series you'd recommend in general or wish more people knew about!

Hi anon! Sorry for the late response, I have been adding and removing stuff from this list for a few days. I genuinely don't know why people think Genshin is well written - I can understand people thinking it's good in concept and that some of its high concept ideas are interesting, but the actual story itself? Beyond me.

Thank you in return for the validation - the more I see people go on about how great it is the crazier I feel...

As for recs...

The real issue is that Genshin tries to do a LOT of different things, but there aren't a lot of games that do ALL the things Genshin tried to do. That's what makes Genshin stand out, though obviously a lot of what it does do leaves a lot to be desired... I am mostly going to stick to anime/manga/games per your request, but if you like fantasy worlds with lots of lore there's a lot of western high fantasy that might also be your thing.

And you know, these are gonna be subjective recs.

In general, if you're looking for more JRPG fantasy games - Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Tales of Franchise are good places to start. They're all self-contained stories and you can easily jump from one entry to another. My experience with anything except Final Fantasy is really spotty, but narrowing it down a bit;

Tales of Vesperia and Tales of Symphonia are generally the most well-regarded Tales of games; they're on my 'to-play' list so I can't rec them personally. I am playing Tales of Berseria (very slowly) and quite enjoying myself, but it's supposed to be pretty different to the rest of the series.

Dragon Quest XI is a very well-regarded entry into the series, and the most recent. It's a fun game with a cute cast; it doesn't do anything particularly exciting and is a very standard 'save the world from the forces of darkness!' plot, but it's very cute and I had a good time.

As an generally well-regarded MMO Final Fantasy 14 probably comes the closest to encapsulating what Genshin offers, though I never got far (no shade to 14; I just don't like MMOs). Apparently the guy that wrote FF16 is also a 14 writer, but I thought FF16's writing sucked so take that with a grain of salt. Actually, FF16's combat reminded me a lot of Genshin too lmao. Lots of waiting for skills to cool down.

Final Fantasies 6, 7 and 9 are generally pretty safe jumping-on points - 7 being the most well-regarded for a reason, though arguments on the 'best Final Fantasy' can get vicious. 15 is also open-world but, uh, I got bored and couldn't finish it.

Final Fantasy Remake, Intergrade and presumably the upcoming Rebirth are very good, I just disagree with some choices made (and every they're not ALL bad choices.) Rebirth will apparently be open-world, but it's not a cheap investment to get them all.

Games that have elements similar to Genshin's;

Legend of Zelda; Breath of the Wild inspired Genshin's open-world and though it's not as pretty, it's certainly more engaging. It's not as story-heavy as Genshin. It handles exploration a lot better in almost all regards, imo.

Bravely Default and/or Octopath Traveller (party-based RPGs with HEAVY party customisation options - if you wish Genshin allowed for more variety/options there. Very different experience, BD is a 'complete party' and OT is '8 separate storylines')

Similarly, if you like character/party building and strategy games in general, while I didn't love the story Fire Emblem Engage was really fun to play. If you want a cute party and story, Fire Emblem Awakening is a pretty solid entry too.

Ace Attorney, if you need to detox after Fontaine's attempts at writing trials. Ace Attorney vs Professor Layton has a batshit ending, but its about witch trials, which is cool.

I'd also tentatively recommend Kingdom Hearts. A game about traveling to different worlds, meeting new people, searching for people that you've lost but still care about despite everything. Very fun hack and slash gameplay from KH2 onwards; iconic villain squad and some of the best (bonus) boss fights in the business, incredible soundtrack and plays around with identity and personhood as concepts in more interesting ways than Genshin does. Clunky and cheesy, but still close to my heart. But yes the worlds are mostly Disney.

Fate/Samurai Remnant is both probably currently the best introduction* to the Fate universe and a good game in it's own right. And if you like series with a fucktonne of lore and world-building that take their own spin on history and mythology, you'll probably like the Nasuverse. The original Fate/Stay Night will be getting an official english release later this year, along with Tsukihime. Witch of the Holy Night is also already out - they're meaty visual novels. FGO walked so that Star Rail could faceplant into the ground, etc etc.

Some general adventure anime/manga;

One Piece Live Action: Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this. You might also enjoy actual One Piece, on the off-chance you haven't already seen it. (maybe that's the more sensible recommendation? I really wish I liked One Piece more than I do) After all this time, Romance Dawn is still my favourite One Piece saga.

Hunter x Hunter is generally just good and fun, though its a bit of a slow start. Finally finished 2011's anime adaptation. It made me cry. Also, the Phantom Troupe are just. So fun. Chrollo my beloved scumbag

Frieren: Beyond Journey's End and Delicious in Dungeon are two adventure anime with extremely different vibes. Though you might already be watching those. Frieren has themes of living longer than your friends and companions, and watching people you care about vanish while you stay young - what it's like to experience that, and how to move on. Delicious in Dungeon is a comedy in a well thought out fantasy world.

Trigun's anime, Trigun's manga and Trigun: Stampede are all very different but similar narratives about a semi-immortal inhuman character traveling across an apocalyptic planet humanity failed to properly settle. I haven't watched the original anime, but the manga and Stampede were both fun.

If you haven't seen Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood yet, rocket that to the top of the list.

I'm currently watching a mid-2000s shonen isekai - Marchen Awakens Romance - with a friend. We're enjoying ourselves so far... at ep 40/ out of 100ish. If it gets bad it's not my fault.

Classic old-school isekai I haven't seen in ages are Inuyasha and Magic Knights Rayearth. Didn't finish InuYasha, actually. Fushigi Yugi is on my to-watch list.

Tsubasa Resevoir Chronicles is a mid 2000s adventure manga that involves a LOT of dimensional travel and found family feels. It gets very mind-screwy by the end and has a sister series partially needed to understand what's going on - xxxHolic, which I also remember liking though it has been a hot minute (over a decade) for both of them. Go manga, not anime. More of a 'alternative to Star Rail' rec, tbh.

I think if you mentioned some specific characters or potential plotlines in Genshin I might be able to offer alternatives? Like, if you liked the House of Hearth as morally grey found family trying to protect Fontaine, I could say you might like Moriarty the Patriot or Bungou Stray Dogs, but a lot of that's gonna be way more subjective than broader fantasy/adventure story recs...

(If you wish Scaramouche had ever been able to confront his creator and his vague allusions to 'having a heart' and personhood/identity were more of a thing - Lies of P! If you liked Diluc but wish he still did anything vigilante-like, you'll probably like... some... Batman media! Depends why you like Diluc! Stuff like that.)

The thing I've watched most recently that I really, really liked was Scott Pilgrim Takes Off. I read the books in high school and revisiting it (and it revisiting itself) was really interesting. The show has some extremely interesting animation choices and generally looks incredible - it's also pretty funny, so there's that. I'd recommend either reading the books or watching the movie first (the entire movie cast returned to voice act Takes Off, actually - and do an incredible job).

I've also been playing a shitton of Castlevania lately. I didn't like the shows very much, but I found myself enjoying the games I got on the Switch store.

[gaylactic-fire]

Headcanons for each boy's most embarrassing/irrational fear?

Also, do you mind if I redirect an anon to you? They've been sending me hc list requests and while I'm mostly fine with it, I think I would be happier doing my own ideas on my own time.

Ohohoho. Now we're talking. This shit is my bread and butter >:]. A lot of these fears aren't necessarily irrational in their cases, but boy would they be embarrassed by them.

(Also yeah Idm. Can't guarantee I'll always be in the mood to write em but sure!)

Four: Statues. Specifically, those very detailed human statutes. He watched Zelda get turned into one at the start of Minish Cap and it left an awful mental scar. Whenever he's faced with them he'll avoid all eye contact and if he must get close he'll be sweaty and shaky. He can definitely shake hands with Wind on this fear, though I can't imagine Wind has the same adverse reaction. He's just uneasy around them.

Hyrule: Squeamishness is a pretty normal fear. But what embarrasses Hyrule is that he's arguably the least afraid of blood when it comes to other people's injuries (he's the fanon healer after all). When it's his own blood however, dude will literally start to feel faint and panic. Something something blood of the hero. Combine this with transmasc Hyrule having to deal with shark week for the ultimate whombo combo of torment. Sorry buddy.

Legend: Thunderstorms. Yep. You saw this one coming if you read Downpour. Legend has had SO MANY awful experiences during/because of storms and I cannot see him doing anything but going into blind panic when faced with one. I won't go into much more detail bc I've written about it. But yeah. Poor baby boy 🥺.

Sky: Being left behind. Yeah, you can imagine where this came from. If he's with a group of people and somehow ends up alone or lost he will get pretty distressed. Poor guy's like a lost kid at Walmart. When he finally reunites with his group he'll give them a tongue lashing once he calms down.

Time: Maybe not necessarily a "fear" per say, but I can picture him getting extremely stressed and on edge if they are ever behind schedule. If they were supposed to reach a village by dusk but it's already close to nightfall, for example. Yep, it's that Majora's Mask time crunch stress coming back to bite him on the ass.

Twilight: Bugs. I think it's Arbiters Grounds, but the dungeon in TP where yoy get swarmed by insects at one point? Yeah no. Would turn you off bugs for life. Twilight is the one sheepishly at your door at 3am, but instead of "I threw up." it's "There's a spider in the bathroom please help." I also think he would be too kind to actually kill any bugs so the dude just makes it hard on himself lol.

Wars: This one isn't even based on something in HW. I projected hard and wrote a fic once and it's stuck ever since. Dentists. Wars HATES getting dental work done. The thought of it even makes him sweat and squirm. Why? Because he's but a vessel for my own anxiety disorder.

Wild: I'm highkey projecting again. Wild's claustrophobic, but specifically he does not like the feeling of being trapped in a small, cramped space. It's definitely been spurred on by waking up in the resurrection shrine. He would not have a fun time in some of the other boy's dungeons.

Wind: Bridges. I imagine this fear didn't really start to set in until some time after WW. But now he cannot cross long bridges. He will literally freeze up. All can hear is the wings of the helmaroc king and the sound of Aryll screaming. Most people assume its a fear of heights but it goes much deeper than that. Poor lil guy needs a hug 🥺

[beevean]

Hey it’s so called this morning’s anon back with more things to say I suppose…

I supposed I wanted to elaborate on some things, I know you said you didn’t wanna start discourse but I really wanted to elaborate on what I meant by that proshipping comment. The term proship, from what I heard, has gone from let people ship what they want and if you don’t like don’t look to… This person is a disgustingly vile subhuman and their death should be celebrated.

Funnily enough I openly ship problematic stuff, but I constantly over complicate things to prove that I’m still better than ‘those guys’, to say that I have morality and ‘they’ don’t… But it’s so fucking exhausted. My life wasn’t good and moral and pure so why does my art have to be?

I’m sick of fearing I’ll have someone genuinely threaten my life because I cope differently than them. Ironically I used to get mad when people say it was their coping mechanism, calling it a shitty excuse to be a whatever [You can insert all kinds of fun and degrading terms there] and yet… I was doing the same thing.

So yeah… I don’t like everything but I’m realizing that everything has its place and if that makes me a proshipper then fuck it I guess I’m a proshipper

[After reading all those kind messages I wanted some way to reveal myself because surprise you actually know who I am! But I wasn’t sure how to do that without outing myself so openly… I read your Hevor fic and told you about it on Discord, it’s the only thing we ever discussed. So yeah if you manage to figure me out based on that alone then congratulations! Purity culture is ruining my life so bad I can’t even say my own name! ;3]

fdjskfksdngksjdhk talk about efficient secret codes lmao. Yes I understand now 😄

That's pretty much what happened. "Proship" started as a countermovement to the "anti" culture budding around 2016 who were all like "Sheith is actually incest because they're like brothers and that's gross guys!!!!", and at first it meant simply "ship and let ship", but then it got twisted into meaning "someone who enjoys problematic ships/ships with incest, pedophilia and/or abuse", which inevitably leads to "this person has Something Wrong with them and they're a Bad Person who Hurts people like me with their Degenerate Art! Pedo alert pedo alert! PUNISHMENT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS".

The problem is that "enjoys" means a lot of things :^) there is a difference between "aww they're so cute <3", "welp this is a kink now", and "wow this would be incredibly fucked up but I am intrigued to explore this story". But nuance is not allowed, apparently.

(fun fact: I don't really go through proship blogs because I swear they all ship sibling incest. I hate sibling ships lmao, especially when they're wholesome. But of course they're all in the "will accept anything" community, after being pretty much shunned and painted as horrible abusers who deserve to be hurt and worse - and just because I don't want to see those ships, that doesn't mean I think they're bad people who condone real-life abuse. So yeah, proship is not about having all the grossest ships in the world, you can be exclusively into the most vanilla M/F ships ever and still think "yo do what you want I'll respect you from a distance")

I also hear similar stories like yours, of people who twist themselves into pretending to be antis and be morally "purer" than others when in private they were doing the same things they were insulting others for, just with tons of shame and denial. Not judging you and I'm happy when people realize that this behavior is harmful, definitely more than being into the Problematic lol... I'm just disappointed and frustrated that the internet culture has come to this. I reiterate my points about surrounding yourself with friends who don't make you feel like you have to walk on eggshells.

Also real talk: you don't really have to psychoanalyze yourself. Maybe your tastes are tied to an easily identifiable reason, or maybe they aren't or the reason goes too deep to explore without outside help. In any case, it doesn't matter. You don't have to justify yourself in any way, let alone showing to everyone the "I'm Coping With Trauma" badge in the hopes they will forgive you - because it doesn't work. It's never about the mental health of victims, it's about "i feel icky and i don't want to :("

Disgust is not harm. You (general) have every right to be disgusted by something - I myself am not above it :P But it's not a personal attack against you, and it's your responsibility to walk away and coping with your feelings in private.

[askmadcomcrew]

ill explain the best i can since i have autism:

its a developmental disorder!! it impairs the ability to interact, communicate, or atruggle with tones! and sometimes autistic people have repetitive behaviors or interests that they fixate on greatly

I'm gonna answer this one out of character since this particular topic has crossed my inbox a few times and I never really gave it a proper answer.

The reason I never answer any of the "are any of you guys autistic" questions is simply because, well...I don't have autism. It doesn't really feel right for me as a guy with ADHD to try and be writing an autistic character, and also I personally want to leave it up to interpretation.

The MadCom crew aren't exactly ones to open up about their feelings or mental struggles, I prefer to have people infer what might be going on in their heads from the asks given. It's more fun that way. You can make headcanons about my headcanons, it creates a weird little feedback loop of fun.

It's also kind of why I was hesitant to confirm or deny any character sexuality, again, I like to think that's something people could just decide for themselves. Except for Hank being aro/ace, I knew for a fact that's what I would be doing the moment the question inevitably reached him. It's closest to what's deemed "canon", I suppose.

Krinkels gets asked about it a lot, if Hank is gay, bi, or some other variety of queer, and the usual answer is just "I don't think he's interested in that sort of thing." So I've tried to reflect that in this blog as much as I can, as it's really the most we know about a character's "canon" sexuality.

This also goes with gender identity, and I've tried to reflect Krinkels' viewpoint as well, which is the idea that all grunts are inherently some level of Nonbinary, due to physically lacking any reproductive organs, meaning they can choose to present however they want. It just happens to be that most of our dear protagonists present masculine.

And then there's the question of "do any of you guys have autism?" Where to even begin? Does Autism even exist in Nevada? Do they have people who can test for and diagnose it? How would Autism work in the Nevadean realm as opposed to the Human realm? Do I draw parallels to our world, or do I make it something different entirely?

It's questions like this that lead me into arguably the biggest question: What if I do it wrong?

What if I offend someone? Say something insensitive? Misrepresent a very serious condition that many people experience? Would it be right of me to play it off as just fiction, as it just being "like that" in this world?

I don't think it would, and that's why I've opted to never really confirm it.

So, the long and short of it is, I think that's a question that you, dear reader, must answer yourself. If you want any of these characters here on this blog to be autistic, go right ahead, I can't stop you and nor do I have any desire to.

And anon, in case this comes across the wrong way, I'm not attacking you or accusing you of pushing me into a corner, I'm just giving a proper explanation as to why this particular question has never been met with a straight answer.

(And, again, sorry for the paragraphs.)

[pynkhues]

Were you a Sex in the City fan? I do feel like a show for the girls that are in the early to mid late 20s trying to figure it out. Is kind of missing in the market currently. Anyways if you’ve seen it there was a reboot with a whole new cast. What would your fan cast look like?

I actually watched Sex and the City in its entirety for the first time during the lockdowns, anon! While there are definitely parts of it that have aged badly and is very deserving of criticism, there's a lot that's aged surprisingly well too, and even as a first time viewer, I could see why it was the pop culture juggernaut it was. I really enjoyed watching it! Although maybe not enough to watch And Just Like That, haha (after all, what is Sex and the City without all four women?)

It really does feel like there's a bit of a gap these days in TV when it comes to mid-late 20s/early 30s women figuring life out. I feel like the closest we've had for a while was Broad City and The Bold Type, but even those have both been finished for a while, and are decidedly their own animals in focus, tone and style. While I liked it a lot too, I'd also say that The Bold Type never fully knew where it wanted to sit in terms of audience which really shaped a lot of the components of the story.

But yes! A Sex and the City reboot! I love it when you guys ask me to fancast stuff, haha.

Okay, let's start with Carrie:

I hadn't seen Ashley Park in anything until a few months ago, and have since had the triple hit of seeing her in Joy Ride, Beef and now the new season of Only Murders in the Building, and I just think she's so great. She's so, so charming and funny and I think really nails that complicated mix of high strung but also kind of loose and flirty that Sarah Jessica Parker nailed in Sex and the City. I think she could bring so much to Carrie and add after Joy Ride in particular, I'd love to see her lead something again.

Miranda's kind of a tricky one in some ways - you need someone who can find that middle ground between snark and genuine vulnerability, and I think that's really an area Ritu shines in between The Umbrella Academy and Polite Society. Plus she's delightfully watchable, and I think a role like Miranda could really stretch her skills (especially because I don't think Polite Society let her actually do all that much).

Fun fact: Charlotte's lowkey my fave from Sex and the City. I know a lot of people find her annoying, but I actually think she had one of the most fulfilling arcs on the show (I'm a bit of a sucker for characters who get what they want only to realise it's not what they need), and she also reminds me of a close childhood friend who I don't see as often as I want because we live on opposite ends of the country, haha. I looooved Charithra in Bridgerton, and I think she plays naivety without ignorance, and that sweetness without being saccharine really well. Plus I think she could be a really good balancer between Ashley and Ritu.

Okay okay okay, hear me out: Samantha is supposed to be older than the other girls, and one of the things I think is so ingenious about the original casting of Samantha is how they cast an actress who was basically a jobbing actress who'd worked across TV and genre movies for decades but became famous / a sex symbol for a few roles across raunch comedies. While Jessica doesn't quite have a Porky's on her resume, she comes from a similar background of tv, low budget horror, and a few meatier roles that show she can really act, and I've always had a soft spot for her, and tbh, I think she'd kill it.

The guys aren't as fun, haha, but mmm, I kind of like the thought of John Cho for Mr Big? An older guy with the right amount of suave that you can believe Ashley Park would be on the hook for, and maybe someone like Anthony Ramos for Aidan? I'm less sure about them, haha.

[mishkakagehishka]

Not siding with enstars-gatekeeper, but I do see the point they're trying to make tbh. Nobody likes ooc stuff in any fandom community really and it is sad that like enstars-gatekeeper said that writers will get spam hate on their work for being ooc (it's more ao3 they were referring to I think as haven't seen it much on tumblr) and that's why fanfic writing is scary for some ig?

Again, I'm not siding with enstars-gatekeeper ofc but I agree with what they said about other communities acting that way towards writers but I certainly don't want Enstars to go down that way (honestly I thought there'd be more like gatekeeper with the likes of ES! not having an official English translation and how most lore apparently is shown in those stories, wouldn't know though as I've never read any).

What I never get though is why readers like that exist? Like isn't fanfiction supposed to be self indulgent and about having fun, not trying to basically extend what there is of canon content? Is it even possible to be 100% true to canon when writing considering fic writers aren't the creators of the source material?

I've been wanting to write fics myself but all the fandoms I'm in are like that and hate ooc fics. My main fixation is Enstars anyway and even tho I've been playing a while now, because I haven't read ES! I'm scared that I don't fully understand the characters now cause with the way some people,like gatekeeper, go on about it I'm under the impression that anything in ES!! isn't as accurate or I mean maybe as informative as ES! stories are and that I'd get a while new character basically if I read ES! (Its probably not that drastic but everyone is acting like it is so yeah)

Sorry if I'm venting by the way, seeing people like gatekeeper just annoy me as I wish no community had those "fans" 😅

Annoyance with OOC is understandable, but. Well. Exit the fic if it annoys you, you know? Out of all the (actually!) gross things that happens with fancreators, sending someone anon hate for writing smth OOC or writing a serial killer AU is just lame imo

That person said they wish more writers got anon hate for writing OOC, which is horrible, btw. Idc, if you wanna send someone abuse because they just misunderstood a character, that's loser behaviour. It's pathetic and it makes you a bully.

But you're right, as a fanfic writer, nothing I write will come close to canon-compliant. I can imitate canon and guesstimate what could be canon, but purely on account of "I don't work at happyele", everything I write today that "makes sense" could be contradicted by a future event. Hell, when this shuffle event comes out, they could reveal smth ab Shu that I never thought ab and that would render all my fics about him "OOC", that's just how it works with writing for ongoing media. It's why I don't like writing for ongoing media, but, alas, enstars is probably gonna outlive me at this point.

And yeah, fanfic is supposed to just be self-indulgent fun. Of course I believe certain topics should not be written about in fanfiction, especially if they're written in a romanticised way or a way meant to make certain immoral behaviour acceptable (as an example: the difference between writing yandere as horror vs as something romantic), but. Writing a character as OOC is just such a mild "misdemeanor". I don't like it, giving new fans and new writers grief over it.

I hope you'll feel comfortable to write in the future, I love seeing new writers and creators in general, especially considering the enstars fandom is small on tumblr. It really is just gatekeeper who's throwing us off tbh. ! is only "better" bc it's larger, it ran, like, 5 years or so? And !! has been running for 2, so it has a lot more content, yes, but I don't think it's that bad. The characters changed and evolved (a joy of enstars), and writing a character based on their ! characterisation would still end up as OOC unless you're writing them in the ! setting. Writing a character in the !! as you know them in !! should be fine, I believe. Like, ! might be good info to have for the subtleties, but most of what I know from ! are things I never explicitly mention, just weave through their characterisation. Making a character like Mika avoid eye contact when nervous isn't a big deal at all - but it's my way of saying, "It's hard to get rid of old habits, especially of ones so ingrained in a person. Even if he's learning to love himself, he still kept the habit of hiding the eyes he grew up hating when he feels threatened".

At the end of the day, fandom drama is childish. Fandom drama that starts because someone hates "OOC fics" (of all the things) is even more childish. It's really not hard to exit a fic you don't like. It's more effort to type up hate for it.

[willel]

No because yeah, I mean even Joyce doesn't actually think, by I mean really think, that it is weird. It didn't happen one time. Let's say the first time (kidnapping) was weird and coincidental. But then after that? It happened 3-4 times, so, it is a pattern. I am trying to understand the writing logic bc even Joyce, the brain and the one who is always right, doesn't actually think on this in a real way.

Do they think Will just ends up unlucky everytime or something? How many times it must happen for the characters to actually think, I just wonder because even Mike wasn't like ''wait Will, that is weird as fuck'' when he heard what Will said in S4 at the cabin scene. He was just worried. Are we just waiting for the moment where Vecna will give a long monologue and that is when it will click for the characters? Because that is weird af and kinda ridiculous from a writing POV. Because, even then, it still stands that the characters should have actually thought about this before the eventual villain monologue, you know? Will is the only character (aside from maybe El) who has been connected to that place since S1. And even El herself isn't connected to it in a literal sense, as she cannot feel the dimension or its creatures, she cannot sense them or the place. Will is the only one who can do that, plus, he also has been the only one to be targeted since S1 specifically without getting killed too. So where is the logic???

I guess if Vecna does give a long monologue about how Will was integral to his plans all along, it won't just be for the Stranger Things characters who are surprised.

WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING YET, but there is a slice of this fandom who are convinced that it must be a coincidence and nothing else. I'm not talking about the nice open minded anons that sometimes discuss/debate with me whether or not it was a coincidence (cause I find that fun and it makes me think), I'm talking about the malicious kind of people and even the general audience who doesn't seem to notice anything... weird about all this.

Maybe Will being a major part of all this is supposed to be a surprise??? Maybe the Duffers aren't expecting the general audience to be connected the Will and Vecna dots??? Maybe they want the characters to be just as oblivious as some of the general audience?

I'll give Joyce a LITTLE slack because she was not with Will in season 3 or 4 and I doubt he told her, "Hey um mom? I still feel Upside Down stuff." As we know, he really dislikes her helicopter tendencies no matter how justified she is. By the time she arrived on the scene, what he was feeling didn't matter. They already had a plan in the mall and when she arrived at the cabin most of the danger was over. Maybe once he tells her everything she'll start putting pieces together? Maybe she'll be like "Um, why didn't anyone tell me this sooner? Hello? This is bad! We need to be careful!"

But still..... it really surprises me that El hasn't really acknowledged it in season 4 either. We just saw how Vecna systematically torments and track his victims through Max. How a psychic connection between them is a dangerous link to have and that it doesn't just go away or go unnoticed. Isn't El like "Oh no, I think Will might be in danger?" Like... she KNOWS he can still feel this stuff because of what he said in season 3. Has she really not connected the dots yet?

El heard Max's "I can still feel him. I'm still.... marked." speech.

If this is on purpose from a writing standpoint, then all the main characters are a little bit too comfortable, too confident, and are NOT suspicious enough or being careful enough. Will (against his will) killed the entire Hawkins facility barely even 2 years ago because they were too slow to realize what was going on.

It's like one of the big answers is staring them in the face but they aren't connecting the dots. But as an audience member, these dots feel like freakin' lasers.

[sehodreamsthoughts]

ok wait not to double text but also i just saw ur post about teeth🤭🤭 i rly wanna write horror fics too… they were such a big thing in my exo days i feel like n i just think they’d be fun to come up with plots for… like i think i saw u talking about cannibalism at one point i hope that was u and honestly i would love to write nasty creepy things like that maybe with smut😔😔 but i feel like ppl already shit on dark content enough i feel like thag would just go too far… but like,, its for arts sake… and i think sometimes ppl just don’t understand that. maybe it’ll be hot too, but its not meant to be realistic, and idk if ppl are mature enough for that😓

- 🥟 anon

EXACTLY, IT'S FOR THE SAKE OF ART 😭

I loved horror fics so much! Exo had so many of them, and when I used to stan BTS they had some too! (however not as many as EXO, no one did let's be real, exo quality of fanfiction is otherworldly).

Yess I did talk about cannibalism but I guess riize!Tumblr is not ready? I found the opinion shared of fem!riize really sad too, I mean it is okay to say you don't like something but what's been said is... I prefer to not comment. I find it a bit unnecessary that people try to mix the real world with the fictional one but I suppose it's just not everyone's cup of tea. Personally I've grown up with a ton of stories, not only from fanfiction but from manga, anime, books, comics, I've been in a ton of fandoms and when I was young I'd read just about anything I found on my hand so I find beauty in a lot of things that aren't conventional, I think that limiting ourselves with things like morality in fiction is too boring to be truly enjoyed! A ton of people seem to not want to use their brains to interpret, read between lines and create more from the little stories we have in the fandom, and I have to admit that I'm not a great writer, I'm no nobel prize or anything wtf, but I can add my little grain in other's stories and at least not judge authors...

Still, I don't want to say it's not okay if some don't want to go beyond what's "normal" in fiction and just read the usual stuff, I like it too, the difference is I'd never judge someone from creating something different.

Gender, sexual orientations, culture, religion, everything can go beyond the lines of what's considered normal, we've seen it happening in real life (really hurting people, which, of course, I'd never wish to happen), so why should fiction have a limit when this one stays in a world different from the real realm? Of course I'd never support certain things even in fiction, I'd rather take my eyes out and choke myself than read a smut with a minor or bestiality, but I have a whole opinion about those cases and the existence of the factor of consent (in an animal, for example, how could you describe the line of consent? There's no consent in any case, and just like that, I find that the absolute use of an alive being not able to form an opinion or voice, disgusting as fuck. There are no conversations, no real interaction between two beings with a point of being equals in the sense that they can form a thought and express it, so to force one's wishes in something or someone that feels pain but could never, in any case, voice it, think it, or explain it... That's just not something I want to read).

Yeah sadly I also think that the fandom is not ready for it, which is so sad 😭, I remember 48 hours of EXO being a masterpiece , and if there was just one for Riize too... Sighs.

[mtraki]

I'm begging you to do your research on the holocaust and on the middle east before you continue reblogging islamist, antisemitic propaganda. You should be old enough to know better. Find a reliable source (hamasnik twitter and tumblr don't count) and read. Keep reading. Read more. Learn. And then maybe speak. You're causing actual harm, not only to Jews, but also to those you claim to support in this war you and your 'sources' have fandomized.

I considered just deleting this and moving on, but I think this is a learning moment-- if not for you, then maybe for somebody who ends up reading this. Hopefully it's one for me, too!

If you are trying to convince or inform, this isn't the way to go about it. You've come to my blog with a bunch of assumptions about me, my body of knowledge on the subject, my willingness to engage or be engaged on the subject, and then calling me to action with no incentive outside of your authority or approval. Except I don't know anything about you, either. Why should I care what you think?

Genuinely, you don't know me. If you did know me, you'd know that if you want to have a serious discussion, you just have to reach out to me personally-- which you'd know how to do. Because you'd know me. Because you'd know that this is my little tumblr blog where I mostly just post things I enjoy or find amusing. I don't really talk about myself, or the things I really believe in, struggles I'm having, or my life. Yeah, sometimes I do reblog other people's posts who make points I agree with on less light and fun matters. For example: I don't think it's a good idea or remotely excusable to blow up hospitals. I don't think it's okay for people in positions of power, who claim to be upholders of global justice, to pretend the relentless, systematic slaughter of civilians is acceptable. I think people have a right to food, and that any military or government that thinks withholding food from non-combatants advances a worthy cause, are wrong and immoral. I don't care about the religious or political backgrounds of either or any side of this. You don't know me. You don't know how old I am, actually. You don't know my experience or knowledge of the middle east, its history, or its political, cultural, and religious turmoil. You don't know what I do or don't know about the Holocaust.

And you probably don't care, either.

Now, honestly, I don't think you're a real person anyway-- and to be clear by 'not a real person' I don't mean to be rude or take away anyone's dignity or right to self-realization. I mean you're very likely a bot, or a shot-gun blast, copy-paste canned ask from a troll (that I shouldn't be feeding...). If you are not, then I apologize for my assumption, but you sure read like one. I don't know how I'm supposed to take you seriously and believe you want to have a dialogue about this important matter.

But then, you probably don't want a dialogue. You want to monologue. You want me to shut-up with my thoughts that are different from yours. Well, I'm not going to shut-up. This is my blog, I can talk about whatever I want (within the ToS). If you don't like it, you are welcome to block me, or my tags about the topic.

However, my Anon-friend, if you're serious about talking about this, come on back. Do your research, gather your sources. I'll do the same-- though you might not like how thorough I can be once activated-- and we can have this conversation. I do insist any claims you make come with sources, though, or I'll be forced to continue in my belief that you aren't even real, and therefore not worth having a reasonable conversation with.

[prowerprojects]

(Modern Tails anon) I'm not well-versed in the comic industry either, so anything is possible to happen. (I wager if we did get a webtoon, I kinda doubt IDW being in charge of it. But who knows.)

I don't really care for the concept either, and I'm sure if he did have magical powers , people will fixate more on that than his tech skills. (As fun as it is imagining him with a kitsune-looking super form, the idea of building a super form for himself one day sounds cooler.)

Yeah, I've noticed UK's humor and media tends be more crass than America's. So I understand a bit better why Sonic is potrayed the way he is, at first. (Though I don't blame folks for side-eyeing any Sonic that badmouths a Tails.)

Understandable, I don't tend to jump on hype waves right away either, and just prefers to indulge when I ready to adsorb the media properly. (If you just wanna skip to the Tails episode, just search up "Drood Henge". I'd think you'll enjoy that at least.)

I guess we'll see soon if these shatterspace counterparts are essentially broken pieces of each of their Prime selves. (It's amusing that despite all these animated adaptions, we still don't really have one that heavily focuses on using the game-verse and its locations for its stories. It's either alternate continuity or universe shenanigans. Maybe one of these days, there's some hidden potential here.)

Here's to them having more causal scenes together, alongside action ones. It was also a nice touch that the Sonic Symphony somewhat merged their Adventure themes together. Makes you wonder how a song describing their dynamic and bond would go if Sega ever made one. (Nah, I get you. Tails often expresses wanting to be cool, heroic, helpful, very empathic and has big ambitions. [Game] Sonic generally doesn't care about status, values independence, and will be the "bad guy" if stuff came down to it. His politeness, courtesy, courage and strong sense of justice keeps him from falling completely into neutral/anti-hero territory. But he's definitely not a straight-laced one.)

I agree, even if we do get a webtoon, it probably wouldn't be affiliated with idw. Personally I would prefer it being either short slice of life stories about the main cast when they aren't adventuring or a story with a definitive beginning and end that would run for 2 or 3 webtoon "seasons", opposed to "epic adventures trying to be a continuous narrative until we get canceled" of fleetway/archie/idw. (This is just all wishful thinking of course)

Ack! Anon, I'm embarrassed. I do love imagining him with a kitsune-looking super form. 😅 I suppose when it comes to super forms my first instinct is to get defensive, like "what makes him worse than anyone else, why shouldn't he have one?" But you're also right in that compensating for mythical abilities with his own skills also sounds incredibly cool and impressive.

Yep, the UK also really leaned into Sonic having an attitude, some advertisements are very... interesting. If you (or really anyone reading this post) are interested in the UK-style humor, but want to experience a much nicer Sonic (especially when it comes to Tails), I recommend the Martin Adams novels. (I suppose I personally have a soft spot for them since they really make Tails feel like a co-protagonist) They also try to incorporate game elements, like Zones, rings, little animals being trapped in badniks (except instead of little animals they're anthropomorphic animals), capsules at the end of levels, etc. I would recommend either the second or the first novel, the second one has a better plot, but the first one is funnier (?) probably. (Though warning for fatphobia, it being directed at Eggman doesn't make it better. Also ugh. Really "weird" treatment of the female characters. They try to make them cool, but I'm afraid some things didn't age well) And thanks for the satam episode recommendation!

I guess I'll either be validated or will have to eat my words but at least I'll know that I'm in the same boat as Shadow the Hedgehog. At least we have animated shorts for the recent games. I'm hoping Superstars would get them too, not just the opening cutscene. Maybe on how different Emerald powers work?

I think the next show we get might be set in a more canon-adjacent universe. Sonic Boom technically was that, for Boom as the sub-franchise, I think the show and the games were even canon to each other. And they're not gonna pull another "multiverse" adventure after Prime just did that. Though I understand why they might be hesitant with making a game-adjacent cartoon, if anything goes wrong with an explicitly alternative timeline, or multiverse stuff, you can just shrug it off, but it might confuse and upset the audience if you screw up characterization in a game-adjacent show. Cartoons could have a big affect on how people perceive the characters, so Sega might not want to risk it, I mean that's how we ended up with Game Sonic loving Chili Dogs, and that were the alternative timeline shows.

That Sonic Symphony mashup might have gotten me a bit emotional. And yeah! I think you explained it better than I could.

[softlittleheartsandsparkles]

yeah well my parents were abusive so like... if I can have a cg i wanna do coloring for, like i think about them etc then that feels more right. not all parents are perfect sae, i'm glad yours where.

I never said my parents were perfect...? I'm saying parents jobs typically is caregiving/taking care of their kids which means sacrifices. (I.e. your child is suppose to come first, not you or your needs/desires.) which also means not everything is going to be complimentary or about *you*. I also don't give a damn about the idea of coloring something for someone means "caregiver". It just means you wanted to color something. But because you wanna pretend you know my childhood, & be like mines worst... And this isn't a game I wanna play. Here's a new example: Your a caretaker/caregiver of a pet. (your pet, a friends pet I don't care. An animal exists in this situation and your taking care of it.) Your jobs/duties are to feed it everyday, give it water, offer enrichment items (whether they wanna play with it or not or play with you), and bring it on activities (I.e. dog.) or also finding a pet sitter. Other responsibilities include watching its weight, nail trims, noticing things like there teeth/gums and looking for other signs of possible illness. etc. (dang so exhausting. Too bad you can't tap that 'caregiver burnout card' =/ I mean I guess you COULD but it would mean getting pet sitter or rehoming) Eventually there is a point were the pet *has* to go to the vet. For whatever reason and sometimes that also means administering meds after. & this might mean there's a struggle. (animal unwilling/uninterested in meds) =/ its your job to still give them their meds, and some meds also have a window of time when you have to give them (ever so many hours)... etc and well yeah. Its apet, they can't administer it themselves. So it not all "rewarding" and "fun" and "hehe i'm in fucking pet owner space". Its a responsibility & yes there is things that are going to make you feel exhausted or tired& there is stuff that's going to be emotionally hard. But, that's what care giving/care taking actually is. & anon I'm putting YOU in those shoes. So you can't use the excuse "But my parents..." No strawmans. I'm putting you in those shoes in this thought exercise. I do this with my guinea pigs. I make sacrifices, and it is exhausting and i love them unconditionally even if they aren't always interested in being petted, or I experience allergies from there hay etc. So yeah. I don't even view my pet care as that much of a sacrifice but there is stuff I have to do. (I.e. can't go on trips or if I do, I gotta keep in mind of hiring a pet sitter... contacting vet/giving vet contacts incase, etc) Its why I got beef with *pretending* being a "cg" online is the same as being a REAL caregiver. =/ Color for yourself, color for others, let others enjoy your coloring, idk. Have friends you depend on, express struggles, etc. But don't call it being a "caregiver".

[noknowshame]

Hi, you may have noticed me spam liking your posts lol. I have a genuine question as someone who watched ofmd then black sails (and basically has no knowledge of historical or fictional pirates): what IS the lens that first time black sails watchers should have? Because of early season one, i cynically started seeing it as a misogyny fuelled Action drama. and yea i liked the other seasons better but that view of it kind of stayed for me. So i think i subconsciously interpreted a lot of the story choices as being made in bad faith. And i can't really get all the talk about the themes in the story, i didn't notice a lot of them. Do you have any advice on how to flip that switch like a different way to read the story lol i really want to Get this show.

Hi anon!

"What is the lens that first time Black Sails watchers should have" is a great question – and a complex one to answer. I know for a fact that you are not the only person who didn't vibe with it the first time (several of the persons in question now being some of its biggest fans). I have several pieces of advice for "getting it" (buckle in).

1: As you note, season one is quite different from the rest. It is a "product of its time" so to speak, that time being the height of Game of Thrones' popularity. That is the audience it was trying to draw in, and you can tell (I like to call this "straightbaiting"). Its criticisms are definitely warranted, but I would encourage you when (if) you rewatch to pay attention to how the expectations you draw from season one play into later seasons. Season one is all about theatre – the theatre of piracy. Sex. Violence. Action. But that's what it is, theatre. Notice how later seasons subvert expectations and drop the facade of the first few episodes.

2: As for the misogyny you mention. Yes, I agree that the first season makes some choices with its female characters that I would not. However, I caution against keeping such a skeptical attitude as the show goes on, because Black Sails contains and develops more female main characters than many of its contemporaries (and largely queer female characters as well!). None of them are there for set dressing or fan service. They are active agents integral to the plot. The role that women should/shouldn't play is one of the themes of "theatre" that continues through the show, like Eleanor playing the role of Mrs. Rogers (a choice that comes with great sacrifice).

3: If you follow my blog, there is absolutely no way you haven't come across the concept of "The Narrative". Black Sails is a story and knows it. Its basis on both history and fiction (and everything in between) imbues it with a ton of complexity, especially when it comes to inevitability (Treasure Island has to happen, the pirates can't win the war, etc.) Some of the themes you are having trouble seeing might become clearer when you don't suspend your disbelief all the way. See it as a story. And if you want to make it more fun, see how the characters themselves see it as a story. Jack want a legacy above all else. Flint sees himself almost as a Homeric figure. Silver (unfortunately ironically) fears above all else being locked into the role of a single character. Etc etc. It's all very self-referential and that's why I love it.

4: Overall, Black Sails requires a lot of deliberate critical thinking. It's not meant for you to take things at face value. You aren't supposed to agree with everything that Flint or Eleanor or whoever does. You're not supposed to believe everything they say, or assume that they themselves understand the motivations behind their actions. It's not straightforward, and that's what makes it great: you can come away with so many different nuanced takeaways and interpretations. Ultimately, there isn't really one "right" lens to view it through at all.

Anyway, I hope something in all of this helps! Thank you for asking, I'm always happy to provide my opinions!