#I'm like unreasonably angry about this btw

[coockie8]

My mom's reading an article about food that claims Poutine is a "strictly American" dish and that we, apparently, call it "Disco Fries" in Canada and I desperately wanna know where they got this information.

A 2 second google search will tell you it was invented in Rural Quebec and "Poutine" is literally a French word. Like where tf did this person get their information!??!!

[beananium]

reminder that if you say the ableist r slur (and don't tag it) i'm blocking you

[olderthannetfic]

Hi, Ah weird question? So the default of fandoms usually is 'ship and let ship' right? Meaning even if you hate a ship you'll not harass the person, right? Now I'm asking this as someone who always headcanon and ship characters as queer. Here is this situation that I'm in right now: apparently a friend of mine who also agrees with 'SALS', found out another friend of theirs(A) used a mod to romance a queer character in a not queer way, you know what I mean? So then my friend called A queerphobic, they then fought and they are not talking right now. My friend came to me and told me about this, apparently expecting me to be as angry as them(I'm also queer/pan btw) and well I wasn't? Because why should I care what they ship or better say, how A chooses to romance characters. I suggested to my friend to talk to A about it and well, this made them more angry? I mean yeah it's awful when someone denies a character being queer in canon. But as far as I know A is not doing that? Now they are angry with me too although we still talk.....Am I in the wrong here? What should I do?

--

Using mods to make every NPC player-sexual is perfectly fine.

I get that it can be upsetting to see people "taking away" your few queer characters, but they're not actually taking them away. That friend is being unreasonable.

I'm not sure the default actually is SALS these days, but it ought to be.

Your friend may come back around to this once they calm down... or they may continue to be upset and think that being upset is a sign that something is morally wrong and not just a personal reaction.

I would avoid the topic with them for now. If they insist on talking about it, you can compare it to letting people ship ships you find gross. It's fine to keep finding them gross! But you shouldn't dump or attack friends over that.

This is, in general, a very touchy subject for a lot of queer people. Bob & Rose got a massive amount of hate despite reportedly being based on some real experiences. One Exception happens even IRL and even to people who thought they were gay... but it feels like talking about it gives ammo to shitheads who think they're going to be your one exception or that we should send teens to conversion camp.

So I get why people freak out about this, but... well... they need to chill when it comes to some friend smashing the barbie dolls together the wrong way.

[crumblinggothicarchitecture]

I was so impressed with your toe-to-toe comment on the French philosophy anon. So happy to have found you, omg! I heard Taylor called her ttpd set as the "female rage musical." I take it she knows the impact of the song Labour by Paris Paloma which has been dubbed as the female rage anthem. So naturally, here is the 34 year old culture vulture, can't-have-any-ideas-of-her-own that is Taylor Swift hopping there wanting to get the attention away from it when that song is quite phenomenal. One song compared to her 31 diss tracks that's nothing to me, at least, but the excessive sentimentality of an infantile woman in her 30s. It's gross the confessions she's put on that album. And even her own fans are comparing her to Olivia Rodrigo. That's she's copying everything about her - song, outfits, the "female rage" theme just to mock her. Somehow, Swift thinks it would do her a world of good. People are catching on to her antics which are absolutely disgusting, btw. I'm hoping one day you write about all these completely ridiculous gross things she's done using her own lyrics. You know what I mean? I hope someone write about her nasty lyrics and that it completely destroys her.

Thank you ha, I'm glad you found something meaningful in that post. I will not lie, that Anon actually hurt my feelings for a second (I got over it by writing my response), but I was upset at being so misunderstood. I'm not out here levying unreasonable criticism at Taylor Swift. All will be based on reality, or interpretation of her own lyrics.  I’m defs out to get her though- in the most legitimate way possible- and maybe someday I will publish for real on her. I have a couple of criticisms that I will not be putting on my blog- because I want to say it on a bigger platform. : )  

I do see a lot of harmful things in her music that I have been resisting the urge to write about for YEARS! Even back in 2009, listening to "Love Story" I remember thinking to myself, oh this is nothing like what Shakespeare meant and it's also a weird appeal to the patriarchy through the "I talked to your Dad/ Go Pick out a white dress." It's so clear that she's just reduplicating mainstream attitudes on romantic relationships by using Christian Conservative social standards of needing the father's permission to ask the girl's hand in marriage. She obviously wanted to attract the Christian- Conservative fan- base with that song, and that's exactly what happened. Her marketing is tied to the phrases she places inside her songs in a way that is extremely calculating. She, Afterall, learned from the best at attracting mainstream, Christian, conservative fans, Toby Keith (hate that fascist, white nationalist freak). (WHoops, that was mean- oh well, he’s dead anyway). (and if he wanted me to be nice- he shouldn't have been a fascist).  

It's so obvious, and I really figured everyone else was also aware of the ways in which Swift interpolates patriarchal standards in her music. I have many more examples- I could write a whole essay on it.  

Apparently, everyone thought she was a feminist? Bro, she became a "feminist" if only to evade criticism and capitalize on mainstream pop-feminist trends. She's not a real feminist. Her use of “feminism” to evade critique ties directly into her other marketing strategy of telling the world “I’m so innocent and young” all the time. 

Also, her co-opting of the phrase Female Rage has made me angry, exceptionally angry. I saw that she's trying to trademark the phrase. I am incensed. I will post about it soon. 

I wish Swift would stop co-opting legitimate terms and pulling only the most shallow- self-centered conception of the term out to use in her mediocre music. She’s like if Pinterest was a person- and I’m tired of it.  

Paris Paloma’s “Labour” is amazing, because guess what- it actually speaks about the experience of women under patriarchal standards in a way that respects the seriousness of the topic. I absolutely believe that Swift saw how viral that song went and decided she needed to cash in on that too.  

And she is totally copying Olivia Rodrigo. Can you imagine being 34 and trying to act 20? I would die of embarrassment. But it's so obvious that it's getting weird.

I have much more to say on this topic- sincerely I could write a book on the conceptual point of “Female Rage” in media. I have thousands of examples, and I’ve been studying this stuff for years. I will, however, ramble on no longer. Thank you for your kind words- and I hope you enjoy my upcoming writings.

[dazai-anon-archive-taketwo]

Your answer is complete bullshit. What the dazai anon did is nowhere as serious as what you are doing. You want her personal life basically sabotaged, and all she did was send you a couple of cruel messages that made you have a bad day, guess what? That’s everyday for the dazai anon. She’s just fucking tired of the treatment her favorite character faces form this shitty fandom, even his own “stans” join in the hate against him but there seems to be some hypocrisy against chuuya or even the fucking pedophile mori.

All she did was send mean things out of frustration and anger, she deserves to feel that way. I don’t agree with death threats, but nothing about her behavior is “harassment” or “grooming minors” you’re all dumb fucking idiotic children and it shows seeing how you label petty internet fights as “crimes”, at the end of the day, did you lose your degree? did you lose your job? are you in constant fear and suicidal ideations because you’re scared you’re going to jail over THE FICTIONAL CHARACTER CHUUYA NAKAHARA of all things???? No! You are completely fine and living your life with no fears or anxieties as she is. Your blog is also completely useless btw! No one is gonna make a case on this, your parents didn’t which is why they asked u to delete the previous blog. Follow their advice again and leave the Dazai anon the FUCK alone and have the balls to actually face her without holding legal threats over her head. You pieces of shits.

What she does is tell people to kill themselves and say that she hopes they die, that their pets die, that they fail their finals, that their mental health/life gets worse. All over fictional characters, and we are just documenting it. At most she might get a fine, or have her Tumblr/Twitter privileges removed. I'm not sure how that second one would play out but I know people have been banned from sites.

As for the. having a bad day bit. I've mentioned this to her before but I have several disorders that make everyday hard for me too, most notably that I've been either passively or actively suicidal for the last 6 years. How do you think her damn near constant hate and harassment of me and my friends affects my mental state? I say it doesn't get to me because it doesn't incapacitate me and I don't want my friends to worry. The shit builds up. I have blocked her, I have reported her, I have ignored her, I have asked her to leave me alone. None of that has worked.

I understand the frustration she goes through, that's the whole reason I don't interact with the pjo fandom anymore. I was taking everything personally, I couldn't play nice with others and I realized that I was problem so I stopped interacting with it. That is my oldest special interest that has kept me alive multiple times. I do not post about it. Because it is unreasonable for me to ask everyone else in the fandom to only see it my way.

She has become the problem here and needs to deal with that. It is not fair to everyone else here for her to decide that her way is the only right way and everyone who disagrees is against her specifically. She absolutely has every right to feel angry or frustrated but she does not have the right to take that out on everyone else, if she doesn't want to block people and respect people blocking her she needs to leave until she can play nice.

As for the legal action, she can stop harassing people right now and case will likely go nowhere. And I have tried to talk to her about the things she does without "threatening legal action" and she called me a cunt and stupid and jobless and a dickrider and a doormat. She isn't willing to talk things out and treat others with respect, so we have this blog. And we have gotten a few asks regarding legal action, we haven't answered them publicly because Kavya tends to harass anyone mentioned here.

-2

[crimeronan]

god i know i keep half-tongue-in-cheek saying that my dad is literally belos owlhouse but. i've apparently gotten a little desensitized to Just How Bad He Is (because i have ESCAPED, YAY) & so today has been a delightful adventure.

i wrote an AITA post from his POV about stuff that happened several years ago, bc i was curious about how bad he'd get dragged - i updated the timeline but the Only fact i changed was the reason for his Woes (i blamed COVID economic struggles, which actually makes him a Hero compared to the truth. the truth being so ugly i'm not gonna detail it here good god).

i kept it true to POV by only using things that he actually did say to me at the time about why he was doing the things that he was doing, & blocking out all the relevant info about why the wronged party (me) was so upset, & having him praise his daughter (me) and go "i love her so much :) she's so smart and independent and i would never hurt her :)", & having him half-assedly admit he might've sounded unreasonable/angry/malicious, in a way that was clearly supposed to earn Good Dad points for being so Willing To Admit Imperfections, despite a continued constant doubling-down refusal to answer questions about actual important shit or fix anything ever.

cannot emphasize enough that this was not a fictionalized/embellished/creative POV. the only points of fiction were 1) my dad did not write these things on reddit, he said them to me in real life word for word instead and 2) this happened many years ago, not like... yesterday.

anyway the thread blew up and the commenters were all so kind and genuinely worried for me (as in, the daughter) and offering so much help that i hopped on a diff account to be my past self so i could reassure people i'm okay & had a plan in motion for gettin' the hell outta dodge. because i felt REALLY BAD that they didn't know i..... did in fact get out. people were so nice it made me actually fucking cry jesus CHRIST. i had in fact perhaps forgotten that these things were all as bad and worrying as they were

now. this is all a very serious and harrowing-sounding prelude to the actual point of this post, which is. a bullet list of some of my FAVORITE FUCKING RESPONSES. revel in these with me i had so much fucking fun. i have taken DOZENS AND DOZENS of screenshots to peruse whenever i need a healthy dose of Perspective

here they r:

you are CARTOONISHLY EVIL?

HOLY ABUSE BATMAN

DO BETTER. RIGHT NOW.

did you even listen to yourself writing this. HOW

there's something seriously wrong with you. like on an intrinsic unfixable level

hey this happened to me too! my parent died and i had a party about it btw

your daughter is never going to speak to you again after this

(note from the future: yeah)

you're going to act confused and sad when she goes no-contact aren't you

(NOTE FROM THE FUTURE: HE SURE FUCKING IS)

i think you are creating your own problems and then getting mad at them. maybe instead you could not do that

is this ragebait. i can't imagine anyone this horrible actually existing

this isn't ragebait. i can tell this isn't ragebait because I Know This Kind Of Man So Intimately

you are the asshole on literally so many levels i'm going to write a 15 paragraph response line-by-line dissecting everything wrong with you

are you aware that you're lying or are you literally this incapable of 2 seconds of honest self-reflection

i need to donate to a gofundme for your daughter right now immediately

(note from the future: i am not going to scam people by pretending a long-done sitch is a current emergency on gofundme. have no fear.)

wow. okay i'm gonna go hug my mom and thank her for not being you

you are Actually Literally Empirically the Actual Literal Worst Parent who has Actually Literally Ever Existed

HOW FUCKING DARE YOU????

WHO DO YOU FUCKING THINK YOU ARE.

I AM A 57-YEAR-OLD MOM OF FOUR ADULT CHILDREN AND THE MERE THOUGHT OF DOING ANY OF THE THINGS YOU HAVE DONE HERE MAKES ME PHYSICALLY NAUSEOUS

these vibes are so skeevy. leave her the fuck alone????

along with ASTONISHINGLY accurate inferences about exactly what was happening with the daughter (me) in all the missing missing reasons & like..... exactly how the situation was So Much More Ugly And Horrifying than an innocently confused i'm-so-well-intentioned dad-POV post would have you believe.

so. anyway. that was literally the most validating experience i've ever had in my entire life. i know i've said he's a bad guy before but i also always forget just how far beyond the pale he is. like wow that was. that was not a normal average human experience to have growing up huh.

IN CONCLUSION.

if you guys are ever wondering why i am the way that i am about, like........ anything....... everything....... whatever......

just remember.

i was raised by belos owlhouse.

[peppertaemint]

Dear Peppertaemint,

This unnecessary mess with Taemin and fan behavior has made me think about different levels of disclosure within the fandom community, the industry, if there are limits and who should be aware of them. I have some questions, more like openings to get some food for thought because I don't think there's some definitive answer to this.

Do you think an idol should be more careful when they disclose information regarding career management? I couldn't help but think of a similar situation with Jimin when he casually revealed in an interview with Japanese media that BH considered having a music video for the entire album an unreasonable request. That led to uproar and I admit I was surprised and angry myself. But then again, Jimin didn't elaborate more on that aspect and the matter hasn't been brought up again. I believe that the situation with Taemin is sort of similar, as in he made a statement on a live stream which was taken as an indication of mismanagement by SM. Do you take they should be more careful on how idols phrase their statements? Perhaps either elaborate more, knowing how the fandoms are behaving lately? Should they take that into consideration? Or perhaps they have no part in how fans are reacting?

Hi @reflections-in-a-critical-eye <3 I love that you sent an official Ask, lol.

I've been thinking about this since the mess started, and although it is complicated, I think it's a mix of pervasive low EQ as well as the Western savior complex at play.

It would be a shame if artists felt they couldn't share what they already do with us. I appreciate Taemin's honesty, even if it creates chaos. I wouldn't want him to stop being himself because of fan behavior. Apparently, that's what happened with NCT Ten due to fan behavior, and now he barely comes to Bubble or anywhere to speak to fans. :( And we know Jimin really limits what he shares, too, so we wouldn't want that relationship damaged further.

What I think is required is EQ on behalf of the fans. This feels silly to write, but it's sort of EQ 101 that is helpful for everyday life. Emotions can be contagious and some people are more prone to catching them than others. Having healthy boundaries means not accepting everyone else's emotions. If an artist says "I'm upset" that doesn't mean you have to take on that upset.

Another part of EQ, complicated by social media, is how we interpret each other's emotions. In-person, someone can say, "I'm disappointed by this," and as the listener, we're using verbal and non-verbal cues to understand the full meaning of what is being said. How upset is the person, how much has it affected them, do they seem okay, are they sharing to unburden themselves, does the issue seem resolved? These are all questions that often go through a person's head when they're confronted with someone sharing their thoughts and feelings. When this happens in person, it's a natural process for most of us.

When we're encountering a piece of media, for some, it's much harder to engage in these EQ processes. When Taemin sends Bubble messages, unless he adds a specific marker of tone (like the Korean "haha" or "keke" or some other emoji or face), it's up to us to interpret the extra bits. We don't know if he was crying while sending these messages or playing Nintendo or something, totally fine (I don't think he was crying, btw; I am just using that as an example!).

I'm not sure what Jimin's non-verbal communication was when he dropped the bit about the label denying him music videos for all songs on his album. If he was smiling while saying it, that would be a signal that although a disappointment, what happened is okay. When Taemin said he was disappointed, he wasn't sad or distraught. Those non-verbal cues told me that, although it wasn't what he'd hoped for, things were okay and this wasn't something to dwell on. Instead, many people latched onto his disappointment and took an emotion that maybe seemed to be at like, an intensity of 3 (to me) and ratcheted it up to a 10. This isn't good for anyone, and especially not him.

The other side of this is fan as a Western savior (colonialist!). It's a constant issue when it comes to international fans of Kpop, many who are Western and perceive that Western ways are superior, and that success in the West is of greater value than success in any part of Asia. They also feel that they "know better" than industry people in SK (and often even their artist!), and that they must demonstrate activism on social media to "save" their artist.

A good example of this is that even when international SHINee fans were confronted with K fans asking them to stop engaging in online activism about Taemin's performances because it would be damaging to him to continue, they did not stop. Being confronted with cultural context (K fans were explaining that what they were doing wasn't good culturally and was reflecting poorly on him), they did no self-reflection but carried on, trying to "save" their artist.

There are a lot of nuances of Korean culture that feel counterintuitive to non-Koreans. I had a Korean friend tell me that I should use filters on my thoughts and opinions in writing so people understand clearly that I'm stating my thoughts and opinions, such as "I think that..." etc. At the time, I thought it was odd and a misunderstanding of rhetorical writing (LOL, me being an asshole), but later in my study of the Korean language, I learned that this is how people are expected to express thoughts and opinions in Korean and the language is set up to enable this. It's considered impolite or aggressive to use different constructions. So, in this way, I'm not surprised that international fans struggle to understand the Korean perspective. It's subtle and nuanced and might feel counterintuitive to them depending on their home culture.

There is one other facet to consider, and that's just plain bias. We are biased toward our favorites and want them to have everything. And how dare anyone not give them exactly what they want. Fans are like out-of-control parents at their worst, lol. So, even if a calm and perfectly fine Taemin says "I'm disappointed because of X", a swathe of people will go into crazy mommy mode. Give my baby boy everything!!!

Anyway, this is probably a too-long reply, but this is my take on what's happening here. I don't think idols need to change their behavior, even if part of me thought, Taemin, you've really done it now. LOL. There is a fundamental difference between sharing honest emotions and fans struggling to parse them versus situations where bullying and harassment are thanked or congratulated (RM), or someone saying they received death threats from fans is met with silence (BTS). Even though Taemin's words did spark the fan debacle, he still took responsibility for it all and spoke about Yeonjun when his junior was being slammed online. While it's true he made no mention of the girl group who covered Guilty, I think he mentioned Yeonjun specifically because of the fan's bad behavior.

Jimin may have deserved an infinite budget for his debut album, and I certainly would have loved to see more beautiful, dance-focused MVs from him, especially in a larger project a la Lemonade. But, that wasn't in the cards this time, for whatever reason. It's understandable to be disappointed by this. If I heard Taemin wanted a visual album and didn't get it, I'd be so sad. But I guess there is a final EQ point to be made. Just because we feel sad or angry, as you mentioned, that doesn't mean we have to act on it... Were you secretly emailing expletive-laden missives to Big Hit, hmm? Did you launch "akgae" campaigns online against other BTS members in hopes that they'd be sidelined so Jimin could get a bigger budget? Do you have a secret DC Gallery account?

[the-music-maniac]

I'm relatively new to ORV, I got into it a while back and then ran out of time to continue (the novel is long AF lol) but as I'm getting back into it, I've realized that ORV is one of the most main character centric fandoms I have ever encountered before.

And tbh I think that's why I've been having so many issues getting invested in ORV fanworks. Specifically shipping ones. It's super rare for me because usually I love reading fanfics.

Before I start talking about my thoughts I just wanna make a disclaimer that I'm not trying to attack anyone. You should interact with media and create stuff however you wish to! Lord knows that I'm not exactly unbiased about my blorbos (I would die for them and you can tell from my posts) but I just kinda wanna talk about this because it's such a unique experience. Never before have I encountered a fandom that is so centered on one character.

Like I hope y'all know what I'm talking about and that I'm not just talking out of my ass. Everything in the ORV fandom is super Kim Dokja centric. On one hand, I really do get it, he's a great character. He's not my favourite character but he's a lil rat bastard and I think he's so fucking neat. And how centred the storyline and moreover the people in the story are on Kim Dokja is to a certain extent, canon. He's their leader and also the person keeping them safe. He's the one who reached out in their darkest moments and pulled them to the light. And he's a traumatized little bitch. Oof. A certain amount of hero worship and protectiveness is valid.

What I can't really wrap my head around though, is the lack of development between other members of the group in a lot of fanworks. This is specifically fandom interpretations of the characters btw, I haven't finished the story fully, so I can't speak on how they are canonically but I have seen people's stories and thoughts. And this isn't always the case of course, I have read fics before where our protagonists all appear to have relations with each other outside of their care for Dokja but it... wasn't as much as I was expecting. Which is weird to me because ORV is super good at writing like. Well written and thought out characters that would be super fun to play with in writing. In developing connections and care for each other - creating a found family. At the beginning they're all tied in by the need for survival and circumstance, they don't even necessarily like each other, and so of course they all gravitate to Dokja, that's to be expected, that's who they're familiar with. But eventually I expect they would learn to care about each other too, y'know? It's difficult to not get to know each other when you're living together daily, fighting alongside each other to survive. I don't believe that they wouldn't develop care for the other members of the group, and people who care about each other don't tend to genuinely threaten each other anytime Dokja gets hurt, especially when it's not anyone's fault - like usually it's in response to one of them "not doing enough to protect him" which makes no sense to me. You don't guilt trip people you care about for things outside their control. Moreover, Dokja is his own person - he will do what he will do and you can try and prevent it because you care about him, sure, but it's also unreasonable for others to expect anyone to be his keeper enough that they get angry when Dokja gets hurt due to his own actions or to situations outside of their control. People in general also don't have their entire character and world centered on loving one person. There are fics I've read where all the characters don't even seem to have any hobbies outside of spending time with Dokja, and I say this because they all literally fight, tooth and nail, over Dokja's time. It feels out of character to me. And yet this characterization is also so common???

I don't usually mind fics that so clearly have a bias towards one character because it's valid to write what you wanna see, but I think it's how saturated the fandom is with those types of works that makes me feel weird. It makes me stop seeing all the characters as individuals in their own right. Having no wants or needs or hobbies outside of Dokja makes it seem like they're just accessories to the story of Dokja's life. The story itself becomes less compelling to me, because it becomes less of a narrative of how Dokja has helped these people and their responses, and more of a world that bends over backwards to worship this one character, using all the other characters as tools to do so. Because if this is meant to convey gratitude and love, its illogical to how it usually works. Specifically in that, you don't lose your own identity or your connections to other people because of it. And I find it hard to interact with this level of saturation of those tropes because at a certain point, I start losing sight of the canonical writing of these individual characters as their own people. I start losing the idea I have in my mind of their canonical personalities. And I don't like that feeling. And because Dokja also isn't my favourite character in this story - I still like him, don't get me wrong - I start feeling indignant on the behalf of all the other characters that are not getting development BC of the concentration on Dokja.

I also don't like it when the banter goes away. Like you can care about people and still enjoy messing with them, I'm not sure why caring about dokja translates to hero worship??? I annoy my friends all the time, and they do it back. It's fun. Like that thing the group does where they can't see Dokja's face and just unanimously decide to tell him he looks bad when he asks about it? That's peak friendship. Peak messing with your sibling energy. As far as I've seen Dokja isn't self conscious about that either (then again I haven't read the entire story yet), so like. What gives? It's canonical that they mess with Dokja - but a lot of fics just get rid of that element.

I also find it especially hard when it comes to shipping, specifically Joonghyuk and Dokja. The reason why I love Joonghyuk and Dokja's dynamic so much in the first place is because they view each other as equals. It would be very easy to place either Joonghyuk or Dokja onto a pedestal - but they don't do that to each other. They know each other pretty damn well and they care about each other even though they're so in denial about it. And you know that thing they do where they act like the other is the worst person in existence and then negates it all by repeatedly devoting themselves to saving them? That's my shit. That whole "you're so fucking annoying but if you died I would kill everything in this room and then myself." The whole "what was that?" "Affection." "Disgusting. Do it again." THAT SHIT. I love that about them. And like the platonic relationships, a lot of shipping works get rid of that type of banter when they shift to a romantic relationship. Like yeah, sweet talk and honesty is important. You should let your partner know you love them. But that's not gonna be all there is. I don't see a need to get rid of the banter because as the story goes on, it's clear that even in canon, eventually the harsh words they say to each other stop being genuine because their actions negate the words. They don't mean them in the first place, so why would that banter change once their care shifts from a platonic to a romantic one? And I could perhaps be okay with that shift from banter to sweet talk if it was MUTUAL, but too often I see a situation where Dokja continues to insult Joonghyuk but he doesn't return it in kind. Joonghyuk is very blunt about his love for Dokja - which is good - but Dokja doesn't do the same back, and for some reason that's fine, and then Joonghyuk also no longer has those very human moments of annoyance when Dokja does some stupid shit. Like I guess I could understand the characterization of Dokja being emotionally constipated cause he's kind of a traumatized control freak and I can see how getting him to talk about his feelings is like trying to get a cat into a bathtub, but it's not like Joonghyuk isn't also like that? It's not really as much of a compelling relationship if one person is telling the other everything, giving care in words of affection and the other person isn't returning it. And you could depict that returned care in other ways, absolutely, but again I don't see it in other ways either, because those stories are still so Dokja centric.

Another factor is that I find that I can't really like a ship in a work where one of the characters is elevated to a point where they can't do anything wrong. Where their own needs are always at the forefront and their partner is always catering to it. Like a relationship is a give and take. We focus a lot on Dokja's trauma - which I love, that man needs sO MUCH THERAPY and it's an interesting topic to explore - but we don't focus on the amount of shit Joonghyuk has had to go through. I very rarely see a shipping fic where Dokja tries to address Joonghyuk's trauma or his hurt. Physical hurt sure, maybe, but that other shit that Joonghyuk bottles up?? Never talked about. My man has had to keep living lives over and over again. Has had to see people he love die, make hard choices. There is no way he's not traumatized to shit, and I'd like that to be a focus some of the time, y'know? Moreover, of all people, Dokja would be the one to understand him the most? One, he's the only one who really knows the whole truth about Joonghyuk, or as much of it as you can, and two, they both have taken on very burdensome leadership roles in a situation where few would be able to understand their position - it makes sense for them to lean on each other mutually, and so far there's a very prominent skew, only an exploration on one side.

And I pretty much haven't seen a shipping fic with Dokja and Joonghyuk where Joonghyuk has recieved any form of platonic comfort from the other characters. I've seen plenty for Dokja. Where he gets comforted/helped by both Joonghyuk and all the other characters. But not for Joonghyuk. If y'all have any recs where Joonghyuk has that, PLEASE recommend it because I need. And sure, it can be argued that Joonghyuk is a hard man to know considering his prickliness but regardless, he DOES have canonical platonic relationships. People who care for him. Who would be protective over him if he were to get hurt. That is not something only Dokja has, and yet it's something I only ever see written for Dokja. Y'all need to remember that technically Dokja doesn't act like any less of an asshole sometimes than Joonghyuk. He's more outwardly approachable sure, but he's not necessarily sweet 100% of the time - he has grit and he's a rat bastard and that's my FAVOURITE FUCKING PART ABOUT HIM. The fact that he's a rat bastard and the fact that not everyone likes him. His interactions in a world where he does have to make hard choices or say things that put people at odds, or hurts others when he didn't mean to. I love that about Joonghyuk too. They suck and they both have so much capacity to be kind despite all the shit they've gone through, but they're not able to see that in themselves and they do bad things because they have to, and I think they're so fascinating.

Y'know out of all of this, I think what cracks me up is, knowing Dokja's character, he would be absolutely appalled at how centred all of it is on him only. Like. Like that's literally the opposite of what he wants 🤣🤣. Like I get that makes people want to do it more because he deserves it and whatnot which is valid but like. He would be quite disgruntled 🤣🤣🤣

[athenaholmesartistsguild]

I wish there were more angry women in the Yakuza games.

Not angry as in 'bitchy' or whatever-- I mean angry as in they're so fucking sick and tired of the world around them- how it treats them- how they're just shunted around by a narrative that doesn't consider them

Like. Yasuko. I feel like if she'd been written to be angrier, it would've been so freaking interesting! She was a little girl when Saejima-- her brother and only caretaker-- was arrested. Her life was thrown into disarray when she was like. 15! She was a child that had to suddenly figure out how to survive. And then she spends the next 25 years trying to figure out what happened to her brother and how to get him back. That's basically her entire life.

Imagine if she was so fuckin pissed the entire time we see her in 4. She's going through the story *this* close to getting what she wants and *this* close to completely snapping and destroying anyone who gets in her way.

What if when Akiyama tries to put the moves on her she yells and screams at him because he's acting like just another man that wants to take advantage of her (because yeah, what the hell was that Akiyama??)? What if she wasn't just... a nice woman in the game? What if she spends the entire time spitting and cursing and not putting up with the bullshit being thrown at her? Because she had her life taken from her and now people are acting like she's being unreasonable?

And then when she reunites with Saejima? She's happy but also:

"What the fuck were you thinking? You knew you were all I had! You threw our lives away for what? To give your boss some glory?!"

And if Haruka was just a little ball of anger? That would be catnip to me.

If she ever sees Kiryu again I want her to cuss him out! I want her to not forgive him! Because she sees that having him in her life will end badly. Something will trigger his flight response and he'll disappear again to 'protect' her. And her emotions will never be considered.

She sees the same pattern in her own behavior and she realizes where it came from and that's unforgivable because now she's terrified that she'll do the same thing to her own family.

I want Kiryu to have to work for their relationship because Haruka's tired of all the men around Kiryu being prioritized over her. I want her to learn that Daigo got a letter and she got NOTHING and to be furious about that! Because:

"It never even crossed your mind to write your daughter a final letter? Not just someone you consider to be your daughter, but your actual. Adopted. Daughter? It never occurred to you that it might bring me some closure after you faked your death?!"

Like that scene in 0 where Makoto meets with Dojima? That's what I want!!!

I want women who have nothing to lose and who are so angry and sick of the shit being thrown at them. I want them to demand the heads of the people who hurt her be lined up on a table for her to peruse and mock.

I think it's every woman's right to be quite honest.

I'm joking btw. I think every woman has the right to fantasize about it.

[artemisbarnowl]

When you're not staying up past your bedtime tell us your thoughts about checking up on people via social media!

Thank you for indulging me this long weekend why would you do this

Warning I'm gonna be pathetic because i am still grieving a nine year relationship and grieving, especially in this context, feels so UNDIGNIFIED. Also its my grieving thoughts about the socials thing not like well srticulated thoughts about the socials with some grieving mixed in. I just have a lot of feelings and i need to get them out.

1. Like, ultimately don't. Its not helpful at all i think. Unless if literally is just idle curiosity about what happened to someone in your class from ten years ago and you actually dont care what you find.

2. I am experiencing the urge to check up on my ex CONSTANTLY. (They do not really use social media this doesnt amount to much btw). I understand why people be lurking on someones insta or whatever to see what theyve been up to. Sometimes you hope theyre failing and miserable because they did you wrong and you want to feel validated. In my particular case i am worried, and i miss them. There are no posts for me to see or wonder about so this is useless but i think i also want to see that my ex is sad (because i was important to him for such a long time) but also, not like, too sad. And I'm fantasising about him sort of DOing something about it. I want to see what he's up to. Is is dancing? Is he injured? Is he Making? Is he finding small joys in life like hanging out with friends or seeing a cute creature on a walk? Seeing posts about these things would not help me! Because i would likely assume he was not sad, then i would feel angry and bitter and disappointed in myself for wasting my time. We dont share when we are sad (or why) on socials. I am NEVER going to see a post that effectively says "my smart and beautiful and extraordinary girlfriend of 9 years left me, and I am sad i couldn't be what she needed. I miss her a lot and wish i could have showed her this garden i saw today, she would have loved it. I will never forget her and dont know how to be okay with this". No one is going to see that. But ultimately i think we check up on people because what we want to see is some variation of that, so we can feel validated and know that they UNDERSTAND how were feeling.

Because this is tumblr I have made stupid posts a bit like this! I miss him all the time, i made a facebook post about a doco that I watched in the hopes that he would see it and watch it, because i think he'd like all the adorable english woodland creatures. This is also stupid! As are posts showing how well youre doing in hopes ypur ex seems them and feels stupid. Devoting this much energy to a game in your head where you will never get an outcome that satisfies you cannot help you move on or heal. But i do think its weird that we look for any possible thread that tied us to people we are without, even the terrible online ones that can never retie us! We talk to gravestones like the dead can hear us. I am currently checking my mailbox every day for a letter that might not ever arrive, and even if it does it sure and shit wont contain any information that helps me live my new single life where no one thinks I'm special, and there's no one I'm 100% comfortable to be all of myself around and who I dont get tired of being with.

I will never know if he saw the fb post, let alone watched and had opinions on the doco I talked about. Knowing wont help. He knew i have a tumblr but i dont think he'd go through it as its a huge pile of memes and stuff he wouldnt understand to look for 3 things that say im sad. And again, knowing I'm sad won't help.

Normally im very good at being like "well this is unproductive/not the best course of action" and then, you know, STOPPING but unfortunately I will continue to wonder how he is and what hes up to and cling to actually unreasonable, unfounded fantasies of what happens IF he sees.

Anyway this is a long vent that basically says i think i get why people do it now but ultimately it will never bring the carthsis we hope for (:

He knew i had a tumblr but I dont think he's checking up on me coz. Whats the point. Its a lot of stupid memes for 3 im sad posts. Which accomplish nothing as discussed.

[bigyikes97]

I posted 341 times in 2022

That's 341 more posts than 2021!

75 posts created (22%)

266 posts reblogged (78%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@a-treatise-on-velociraptors

@yuzu-all-the-way

@funnytwittertweets

@curioscurio

@beyoncescock

I tagged 266 of my posts in 2022

Only 22% of my posts had no tags

#yuzuru hanyu - 52 posts

#attack on titan - 19 posts

#me - 15 posts

#omg - 11 posts

#demon slayer - 9 posts

#oof - 9 posts

#shingeki no kyojin - 8 posts

#attack on titan spoilers - 8 posts

#kdrama - 6 posts

#best boy - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#he was so passively going along with everything while also seeming to have an unreasonable grudge against yo han that i couldn't understand

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

I would re-watch Strangers from Hell because now that I live in a tiny apartment filled with strange people I understand how things progressed the way they did

how easy it is to go crazy when craziness is all you know, how the people who surround you become your world and standard of normalcy, how people can get under your skin and draw out the worst in you while your focus is so hyperfixated on the stew of psychopathic behavior that you can't even see what's wrong anymore, especially when that person seems, at first, to care for and understand you...it's given me food for thought and a hefty impetus towards introspection. I'll definitely be thinking about this show a lot in the future. Bad company truly does corrupt good morals.

HOWEVER,

I ALSO got physically ill at that (human? question mark?) BBQ table scene when the lights were flashing and THIS man was like

It was truly ADVANCED DARKNESS and I got such awful heebie-jeebies i had to drop it then and there. maybe I'll finish it later...or maybe not!!! I think the lesson was great but it was a bit much for me

10 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

#4

wait i figured it out

If eyes are like OuO it is my favorite

See the full post

15 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

#3

Just started Devil Judge because I heard it referenced alongside "The Merciless"

Looove the concept and I think there's a lot that can be said about it, as for the plot, idk what's going on yet but THIS GUY ^^^ is GORGEOUS ^^^ so I'll keep watching~ hehe~ i had a crush on him like 10 years ago from Protect the Boss and holy guacamole he looks the SAME but now EVIL??? Or...NOT??? NOT SURE?? (I drew awful fan art of him as a young kpop teenager before that was a thing!!! It was TVXQ! era in a small town, someone looked at my sketchbook and asked 'why'd you draw an angry Hawai'ian man' and I answered "actually this is Ji Sung he's a Korean actor" and then they're like 'why'd you draw an angry Korean man' I've remembered this interaction for 10 years) First ep was a lil confusing but as per Kdrama rules you must give it at least two eps before drawing a conclusion.

Also everyone keeps saying things like "Lawful husbands" and from the amount of trespassed space bubbles and mysterious stares in the first episode I'm expecting some bromance or maybe ANTI bromance?? bro-loathing?? I guess there will also be a point where I'll say "oh, that's what they meant", we'll see!

20 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

#2

A VERY SPECIFIC CROSSOVER:

See the full post

24 notes - Posted November 17, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

If the idea of Goncharov's *story* appeals to y'all (like, outside of the meme, if you were like, 'oh, I would watch that movie if it existed'), "The Merciless" should probably be on your watchlist

It's a complicated angsty relationship gangster tension plot-twisting ride of a tragic violent shoot-em-up heartbreak-fest and I have so many feelings about it hhffsdfghhghghhhhhh

(and it got like an 8 minute standing ovation at Cannes if that is convincing to anyone)

ALSO in the running for "existent gangster movies that are literally earth shaking in scope and layers of analyses" is my all-time favorite "A Bittersweet Life"

(100% on Rotten Tomatoes btw)

See the full post

51 notes - Posted November 22, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[calcified--heart]

I like to say that I'm an atheist, but I think I might believe in God just a little bit. Probably not because of my Catholic upbringing (that I am normal about btw totally). I think it has more to do with my indescribable and incurable desire to blame someone for my various afflictions. I'm unreasonably mentally ill, I have tits (surely a targeted attack!) and ive at various times thought myself to be afflicted with the curse of romantic attraction (alas, it was just another mental ill). I refuse to be deprived of someone I can blame, someone I can be angry about. Because of u can't blame god, I'm just blaming myself.

[struggling-to-find-home]

Warning: this shit gets heavy. Like, really heavy.

Yeah, so I'm currently processing a thing that happened... Two days ago? I think it was yesterday, but you know how it is with an abusive household and memory issues.

So like, ever since I was a toddler watching my parents rage at each other through the glass door in the living room, hiding so they wouldn't see me and start screaming at me as well (ah, yes, those lovely childhood memories of getting disowned and standing in the rain for three hours because your parents just kind of forgot you existed. No YOU'RE bitter about your childhood, I'm completely fine) (a joke, btw, experiencing anger about shit of the past is completely normal, as well as any other complex emotions) one of my biggest fears is - you guessed it - my family members going into an uncontrollable rampage and harming/killing us all. And it's not like there weren't any possibilities, either, but the only place I will unpack all of those is in a therapist's office, so

And so you might say that my greatest fear has sorta kinda come true, because yesterday, about 1 o clock in the afternoon...

I had a gun put in my face by own brother.

Not a real one, thank god, but one of those half-real strikeball ones that can kill you, but mostly only harm you. Which is, surprisingly, not the first time he has threatened my life, but that is, again, a story for my non-existent therapist.

He was angry because he didn't want to have a conversation he was having - so he took the gun and started shooting around, scaring me half to death. So when I told him to stop throwing a tantrum and cut it off (not the best idea to provoke a man in that state, but hey, I was genuinely fucking scared), he raised it at me.

He might have shot me, right then and there. He might have fucking shot me. He might have

If he was careless enough, I might have been dead.

I screamed at him after that, of course, because what the fuck, man, I knew this was a possibility but to see it happen? In real life? And stormed out, half because I was furious and half because I was bordering on a panic attack.

When I did, I heard him quietly unmute the call (because even when you are threatening to shoot your own fucking sister you can't lose face in front of family members) and just,, continue talking, like nothing happened.

I'm genuinely terrified. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. How,, why?? Is this it? Is my nightmare a reality?

The gun - it looks like the real thing, it works like the real thing, it sounds like the real thing, it fucking shoots like the real thing, it's nearly identical. The line between that and an actual gun is so fucking thin it might as well be nonexistent. And he didn't even hesitate.

I don't know how to live with this. I'm so fucking afraid.

The worst thing is - now the knowledge that my seemingly unreasonable fear can actually happen will constantly be at the back of my mind. Every day. With every screaming match.

Fuck.

[wingsofhcpe]

SNOWPIERCER S3 EP5 THOUGHTS: TICK TICK ....BOOM

*inhuman screeching*

The entire episode really sold it to me that Zarah was going to kick the bucket and I'm a little disappointed it didn't happen. I have not gotten over my dislike for her but at this point, dislike or no dislike, I just felt it would be the best narrative option. Even if it was a character I liked I would have hoped it would happen because it was just set up very well and idk. It just felt wrong that she and the baby both survived.

Till and LJ rivalry is what I live for, and Os just awkwardly standing there while his sister and his wife duke it out.

PIKE YOU FUCKING IDIOT. I. UGH. IM SO ANGRY RIGHT NOW.

I can't believe this show gave us PikeRuth, sold it to us so well, and then did... whatever the hell this was.

Also idk if that's just bad writing or if I'm missing something, but their first interactions were actually so nice and genuine and now both seem as that didn't mean anything and I'm like??? Bruh???

Ben and Josie....ugh. I love them both I just don't think they have chemistry as a ship...

Also, fine, maybe I just want Melanie back.

Sykes teaming up with Javi and supporting him through shared trauma is actually a pretty neat detail, their interactions were short but I really appreciated the vibe.

Ben 🤝 Audrey: stage 100 of depression.

Audrey looked sexy today and frankly the show is starting to get me sold on her and Till as a thing.

I feel bad for Wilford, which is a sentence I didn't think I'd ever say. Plus we gotta love Alex's snark, she and Dr. Pelton CARRIED this episode idgaf.

Speaking of, Dr. Pelton is a gem and I hope we get to see more of her.

Also not to be that person but her and madame Headwood.... Sapphic vibes is all I'm saying.

Btw mrs. Headwood my poor little meow meow tying the laces on her dead husband's shoes in the end... I love how they barely had any screentime, one of them is gone, but you can just see how much in love they were and how much they cherished each other.

Tristan in the intercomm scene: who are you and what have you done to Ruth.

Btw I know the ship sunk before it even sailed (at least seems so by what we've gotten today) but pls consider Pike and Ruth adopting Winnie. Pls. The crumbs we got in this episode... Please tell me Pike won't get himself killed and he'll actually see he's being a bit unreasonable about this.

I mean yeah sure he's got a point (and as a fellow Ruth simp I just gotta say he's got The Point that Ruth should lead the train) but like...maybe setting fire everywhere isn't the best way to go about it??? Just saying???

Jumping from one point to the next here but Ben missing Melanie and vocalising his emotions on her death broke me.

Also wait I've a question, did Ruth lie to Layton when she said that "Ben mentioned a fire"? Or was the dude that Layton met undertrain another Ben? It's a common name so I wouldn't be surprised if it was just...another Ben, but my mum thinks Ruth just lied to Layton. Which is honestly what I hope is the case, because if we had to see all of Ruth's awesome character arc JUST for her to return to hospitality and stay there, even as a better person, staying in the same position she was in s1e1, I'm going to be angry™.

Anyway all I'm saying is I want Ruth to rebel against Layton just... without setting the train on fucking fire (Pike, cmon, really? That's not how you persuade your gf to join your cause). Like if anyone can make this work without blowing everything to pieces (PIKE) it's her.

Whoop-tee-do until next week I guess!

EDIT: HOW COULD I FORGET UNCLE TILL!!!!! MY BEAUTIFUL GNC BUTCH GF!!!! I'M IN LOVE!!!!

[sheisbeautyweareworldass]

(1) Hey I don't know if you're still doing asks but I wanted to talk about Jem and "respectability politics". A lot of fans praise him as always being so kind and gentle despite what he's been through and I have issue with some of those statements and the way they are phrased. Because first of all, the fact that they're talking about a poc and praising his overwhelming politeness is a little iffy to me idk. Maybe I'm overreacting. But I just feel like anger and bitterness in various minorities-

(2) is always overtly ridiculed and frowned upon. Anger and negativity are pretty common responses to trauma and adversity and while, yes you are responsible for your actions and how you treat others, I feel like certain groups of people are usually held to a higher standard when it comes to expressing anger and resentment you know? Idk maybe I'm overreacting, but it feels like people are saying "look at how well behaved Jem is! Be more like him!" Thoughts?

Oh yes, people definitely love saying things like that about Jem. People answer differently to their traumas and to their experiences. Jem dealt with all of it in a unusual way, but it should never be used as an argument to invalid the way other people (or characters, in this case) react to their own experiences. As you said, they're still responsible for what they say and do, but they shouldn't be villainized for the way that someone else responded to their own traumas, if you get what I mean?

I don't have any issue with Jem having kindness and sympathy as such strong traits - I actually think it's good to see these things on him when the usual rule for YA love interests is exactly the opposite. I do have a problem, however, with how some people react to any other feeling Jem might express or how his non-gentle feelings are called "dramatic" or "unreasonable" (for example, the scene where he punched Will for completely understandable reasons and some people think he was wrong and overreacting). It's infuriating, yes, to see that his feelings, as POC, are only valid if they're "good" feelings and that anything similar to anger or fury are not well-received.

Characters aren't one-dimensional; Jem also feels anger, disappointment, fury, hate and etc., the fact that we've only one (I think) scene in TID where he shows one of those feelings sits wrong with me. Especially because there were other scenes where his anger would be well put, but it was deliberately thrown aside (the scene where Tessa implies what she and Will did in the cave and Jem asks her to not tell him, btw).

You're right, of course, about the way the fandom treats the bitterness/anger when this emotion is portrayed by certain groups, nto to mention how their traumas are belittled. The fact that this fandom often brings up what Will's "curse" but ignores how Jem was tortured, had to watch his parents die, was told at a young age he wouldn't make it pass 20 and still doesn't address his experiences as a birracial child living in England during the Victorian Era is a good example of this behavior.

If you wanna praise Jem's kindness, do it (!) but also know that he's more than it, please. Be aware that Jem, much like any other character, is allowed to be angry/bitter if that's the case. Don't be the one expecting happiness and understanding 24/7 from a POC, even if the POC in question is just a character!

[hawkinsschoolcounselor]

Hi, this ask is a bit longer, sorry. this is PART 1. I'm here cos I'd like to know your thoughts on the way the responsible st people are treating their fans. Frankly, there's a number of folks I know who once were really into the show but are now losing or have lost interest due to the lack of info we're given. also found plenty of people on the internet that feel the same way. It's a shame but I think most of them are disappointed, angry, annoyed or simply stopped caring.

“Part 2: Maybe via screenshot? I, too, find myself struggling to keep my interest alive. I'm really not trying to be unreasonable here. I know we're in the middle of a pandemic and I doubt anyone'd expect s4 to be released within the next 2 months. but I find one has to become a little creative these days, but no, frankly this lack of content is insulting. No teaser trailer, no serious updates, only unofficial ones. Barely any twitter activity and if there's a new tweet it's only unrelated stuff.

Part 3: I don't think this presumptuous 'it's st. Everyone loves it no matter what' attitude is a wise move. How do you feel about it? I'm assuming your analysis, which are great btw, help you staying interested, don't they? But they seem to forget not everyone does that. At the end of the day people are people and people might lose interest and move on. It's a shame though. Oh gosh, I'm so sorry. Thanks for your patience.”

Thank you for writing in. There’s never a need to be sorry about an Ask made in good faith. I thought this one might be good to answer immediately even though I’m very behind in my responses.

I understand your frustration. It’s been over a year since season 3, and we probably would have gotten season 4 by now if not for Covid. When one considers that we probably aren’t getting season 4 until, conservative guess, this Spring, it’s difficult to not get frustrated. I do think, though, that we need to be careful about where we aim that frustration.

Perhaps it’s because I’m older, but I harbor no anger at the Duffers or anyone else responsible for creating Stranger Things. I grew up in the time before social media or streaming services. Aside from VCRs, we had no means of on-demand television, and our entertainment news was mostly limited to TV Guide. Behind-the-scenes peeks and TV trailers were sparse, generally limited to the weeks leading into the new Fall TV season. This just isn’t fazing me like it may the younger generation. I understand, though. Many of you are simply accustomed to what you grew up with, just as I am.

I do feel a need to defend the showrunners. We get quite a bit of information, official and not. We’ve gotten teasers, cast announcements, and the postings of a Twitter account run by one of the Duffer’s assistants. Yes, a lot of that content has slowed, likely due to not having planned for an extended delay, but I hesitate to cast any blame on them for it. I simply remind myself that they do not really owe us anything. I repeat, they do not owe us anything.

We receive the fruits of their labor in the form of a very entertaining TV show. It is something they’ve chosen to do, and they are doing their best to do it. I fear we may be at risk of being spoiled by our current (at least prior to the shutdown) level of access to entertainment. Instant, on-demand gratification has become the norm as a result of social media and streaming services. It’s really hard to blame you, and anyone else, for getting upset now that this trend has been suddenly disrupted, but we need to engage in some self-reflection here. What right do we really have to demand anything from these people?

Production is still on despite several other shows being outright cancelled. All reasonable steps are being taken to ensure a safe filming environment so that we can get the show as soon as possible. We do get updates from the social media accounts, even if those updates have become fewer and farther between. There’s an element of diminishing returns when it comes to this sort of thing. There’s only so much they can give us without spoiling the product itself. They simply be scraping the bottom of the barrel at this point.

We do have some unofficial “leaks,” yes. Honestly, I’m not sure how unofficial those really are, though. The set photos that have come out have been minimal to the point that I feel they may have been designed to be as such. If it were really all the work of rogue production crewmembers or fans sneaking in, I would have expected a lot more. I’m not saying that it all has been authorized content masquerading as leaks, but I am saying it could be. They know the fans who are still following things are the ones who would look at unofficial sources. It’s not too much of a stretch to consider that they’ve done this on purpose to get the online fanbase speculating in order to keep interest going. I know it’s certainly given me something to do after I analyzed almost everything I could think of from the existing episodes. Not everyone does that, as you say, but the more casual fans probably aren’t even paying attention to the time between seasons. Others, like me or you, are either creating, or consuming, fan content in the meantime.

I ask patience and understanding of you all. These are the people who have clearly created something you love. They are suffering from this pandemic, as well, but they are still trying their best to give us what we want. We may all need to lower our expectations a bit. I fear they’ve grown to be too high in recent years, resulting in an unfair demand on content creators. Since this is the season of good will towards man, I’ll simply leave you with this reminder: patience, tolerance, and respect are things we often demand from others, but fail to demand of ourselves. Everyone involved in the show is working hard to get things done, and we need to show patience, tolerance, and respect while we wait.