#also stop making the game less queer :)

[goinbhaalistic]

'Gortash's letters were changed to better suit his tone'

Yeah okay

[salmonskinrolltf]

Soulmates 2

[Here's a sequel of sorts to my previous story Soulmates (you don't need to have read it to understand this story). With thanks to @guytransformedforever, @beardobession, @tf-vigilante, @maletransformationlover, @clevertreephilosopher, @scorpionofredsand, and @maletffanatic for providing the photos used as inspiration.]

Hello, my name is Tyler. This is me:

And this is my roommate, Dylan:

Now look, I don’t have a problem with gay people. My cousin is a lesbian. And Dylan is a great roommate. Stays out of my way when we’re not gymming together, but is always down to hang when I need someone to talk to. I just wish he would be less in my face with all his gay shit. Rainbow flags everywhere, blasting Ariana Grande at all hours, constantly bringing new Grindr hookups back to the apartment but giving me side-eye when I ogle women. It’s just… too much for me.

Here’s the thing. I might actually be able to change that. I have this friend Evan, who I’ve wingmanned for on a few occasions over the past year. One night, when we were getting drunk together, he shared his secret with me. He has a magic gift. He clasped my hand and said “tomorrow, you will wake up and have this magic too.” And sure enough, the next day I could feel a tingle coursing through my veins, and I automatically had the knowledge of how to channel it.

Now I have the ability to change somebody’s future. I can’t fiddle with anything that’s innate or has already happened to them. Like, I can’t just make Dylan straight. But I can shape his future decisions or actions, and my magic will make alterations to speed the process along. Like if I made him decide to work out more, he would basically become a muscle beast within the week. Not that I’d do that. I still gotta be the alpha here. I just want to make him a little more… palatable. Someone cool to kick back with all the time, even if he sucks dick. Let’s see... I think I know what will work.

TOMORROW, DYLAN WILL BECOME OBSESSED WITH SPORTS

———————————

Hello, my name is Dylan:

Sports are my LIFE. I never cared about them much growing up, but about a month ago I felt the urge to join my local queer volleyball team and never looked back. It became my everything. It’s been great exercise, but on top of playing volleyball and getting totally jacked off of it, I’ve loved the sense of camaraderie. I love my team. So much so that I even pierced my nipples on a dare when we lost the semifinals. My teammate River also recommended I stop dyeing my hair, and I think the look is really working for me. For some reason, even though it’s only been a month, my hair has grown out significantly since then. Was the red dye stunting its growth or something? Anyway. I also feel like my roommate Tyler and I have really bonded. We’ve been watching baseball games together and I think he appreciates how into it I am. He says he’s excited to bro out while watching football together in the fall.

I love Tyler, but here’s the thing. Maybe I love him too much. I’ve always had this huge crush on him, and no matter how many random Grindr hookups I try to distract myself with, I just can’t stop hoping that one day he’ll give up women for good and decide he loves me. Especially now that we’re spending all this time together, bumping chests when our team wins and shit.

I know us getting together is never going to happen, but I have this… temptation. I was born with a gift. Or maybe I wasn’t. Something my twink friend Paul told me made me think maybe he had something to do with it. Anyway, I have the ability to reshape someone’s past. I change just one thing about their past, and everything about their present just ripples forward to reflect that change. It’s a delicate art. Changing something big can have huge effects that are totally unpredictable. It’s a major temptation to make Tyler gay, but who knows how he’d turn out. Plus, I think that’s just too invasive.

But… Maybe I could change something small about him. Something that would make him less my type, and allow me to move on and focus on finding a boyfriend who would actually be into me. I’m into nice guys. I really love how kind and caring he is. And come on, he’s a FIREFIGHTER. So maybe I can try…

TYLER GREW UP SELFISH AND SPOILED

———————————

What’s up, I’m Tyler.

You dig the jacket? Yeah, I’m still a firefighter, I’m just off duty. But babes dig whatever look I rock, you know what I mean? I get what I want, and what I want is a lot of one night stands. I know how to get ‘em, too. I’m so glad I made the decision to grow this beard out a year ago, it’s opened so many doors for me. And opened a lot of legs.

I’m getting what I want from Dylan, too. Finally, I have a roommate who’s willing to grab brews and watch the game with me. But I think I fucked up when I changed him. Queer volleyball isn’t exactly “sports,” at least not in my book. I thought he’d come out like a linebacker or something! I mean, nipple rings were never part of the plan. The gay guys seem to really go for them, too, so he’s got an even steadier stream of Grindr hookups coming in and out of the place.

On top of that, I’m a little sick of his shit. He’s always giving me lip about stupid stuff like leaving my dishes in the sink or dropping my unwashed uniform on the bathroom floor. He says it’s unsanitary. Like his parade of twinks aren’t dying to sniff that shit anyway. He just doesn’t get it. I think his volleyball teammates are a bad influence too. They’re all so obsessed with aesthetic and anti-hetero rhetoric. I still can’t make him straight, but I can definitely make him less… annoying.

TOMORROW, DYLAN WILL START HANGING OUT WITH MORE STRAIGHT PEOPLE WHO WILL HELP HIM STOP WORRYING ABOUT STUPID SHIT AND BE LESS PRISSY, WELL-GROOMED, AND UPTIGHT

———————————

Yo, I’m Dylan.

Yeah, I cut my hair shorter than the last time you saw me. The upkeep was just getting to be too much, y’know? A couple weeks ago, about the time I dumped that lame-ass volleyball team I was on, I just got bored with shaving every day, too. I invested in a trimmer and now I rock the stubble look, and it’s working for me. I’ve gained a bit of weight since then, and it’s all for the better because I joined my local football league. Having a few extra beers with my new buds afterward just adds to my potential as a linebacker, anyway.

I thought hanging out with more straight people would make me get used to their vibe and kinda inoculate me against Tyler, but I’m still totally obsessed with him. He’s more of a bad boy now, but I’m finding that less unappealing than I used to. Plus, he’s still parading around in his uniform all the time. I can’t help it! I’ve jerked off more times that I can count to his Mr. June photos in the local firefighter calendar.

Whenever I see his mom, she’s constantly going on about how, out of all his Tonka toys growing up, the fire truck was always his favorite. She thinks that’s why he grew up to be a firefighter. Maybe I can change that core memory into something a little more… disreputable. That would definitely make him not my type anymore. I hope.

TYLER’S FAVORITE TOY GROWING UP WAS A TONKA MOTORCYCLE

———————————

Fuckin’ A, man, I’m Tyler.

God, I love my hog. She’s a beaut, ain’t she? My parents wanted me to grow up to be a doctor or a lawyer or a firefighter or some shit, but all I ever wanted to do was ride my hog. Chicks want to ride my hog too, and I let them. As long as they don’t go near my bike! Hahaha, get it? Fuck, I love life. Let me take another drag on this stogie real quick.

Where was I? Oh yeah, my roommate, Dylan. I wish I didn’t have to room with anyone, but my boss at the garage keeps refusing to promote me. I should knock him around one of these days, see if that changes his mind. Anyway, sure, Dylan isn’t so much of a priss anymore. He doesn’t give me shit if I leave my grease-stained clothes on the couch or light up when we’re watching a football game.

But I wanted him to be straight-acting, you know? I tried to train him up as my wingman but he wore a super gay shirt with all these see-through holes to the party, and all the chicks kept their eyes on him the whole time! Fucker. Why can’t he be more like his brother? I’ve seen pictures. That dude is a full on redneck slob, got a Confederate tattoo and everything. I know they had the same backwater-ass trailer trash upbringing, why can’t he be rougher around the edges? You know what… maybe he can!

TOMORROW, DYLAN WILL REALIZE HE WANTS TO EMBRACE HIS WHITE TRASH UPBRINGING

———————————

Hey y’all, I’m Dylan.

Hoo-ee, life has been good lately. I dunno why I resisted my good ol’ boy roots for so long. This goatee really makes me look rugged, dunnit? Also the chest hair. So grabbable. I decided to stop shaving my body, and poof! There it went. A full rug, within like two days I reckon. Like a sign from God. This is how I was always meant to be.

I know I was trying to push away my crush on Tyler by making him not my type, but what’s the fuckin’ point? I need someone who can handle me, and this hot as fuck biker dude I’ve created might be the only one who can handle me at this point. I ride ‘em rough and bareback, just like the horses back home, and weak city dudes just can’t handle it.

Will he be the same if he’s not straight? Maybe not. But as long as he can take my eight inches, I’ll keep him around. I vaguely remember having some sort of compunction about changing him so drastically, but I’m too horny to remember what it was.

Fuck it.

TYLER WAS BORN GAY

———————————

Uh… hi. I’m Tyler. Who are you again?

Sorry, I’m pretty forgetful. Daddy Dylan says I don’t gotta remember shit though, as long as I let him ride me as rough and as long as he likes. He’ll do all the rest for me. He tells me where to go, what to do, who to do. There are so many nice, hot guys who are willing to pay our rent if I turn a few tricks. I love it.

I’ve been like this as long as I can remember. My mom and dad kicked me out when I was 18, in my senior year of high school. I was caught sucking my English teacher’s dick behind the locker rooms. I never went to college after that, but it’s not like I was getting good grades anyway. Sucking Mr. Brentmon’s cock wasn’t for my health, you know. He had a nice juicy one, too. I still dream about it sometimes.

What was I saying? Oh yeah, I took up with this biker gang for a while after getting kicked out. I’ve always had a thing for bikers. But once they got through using my ass, they got bored. It was hard for a while, but now things are oh, so easy. I get all the dick I could ever want. I have a roof over my head, and no job to worry about. All I do is go to the gym and eat and fuck and I never have to think. Dylan said he might take me out muddin’ sometime too. I don’t know what that is, but anything Dylan does is fun. Fuck, I love the way his goatee tickles my skin when he kisses me, so rough, so manly. Way manlier than I’ve ever been. It’s so fucking hot. I love how he takes care of me.

I really have no complaints. I wouldn’t change anything about my life, even if I could remember how…

[charlotteharlatan]

Do you ever think about what would have happened if Mary Hodges (formerly Mary Loquacious) hadn’t interrupted Crowley and Aziraphale’s “intimate moment”?

Because I do. I think about it a lot.

First off, the way that this shot is set up is perfect. Mary - Mary who had a key role in the whole “Antichrist shuffle” fiasco, and who is a walking reminder of the approaching apocalypse that will separate Aziraphale and Crowley - is literally coming between them. The show is full of these beautifully simple, yet easy-to-miss moments that only last a few frames.

Now, on its surface, this part of the scene mostly plays as humorous because Crowley and Aziraphale are sexless-by-default, non-human entities who just happen to come across to most humans as a very aesthetic queer couple. So naturally, Mary makes the same assumption as every other human that so much as glances in their direction, and isn’t that a laugh?

Except that…she’s not actually wrong about it being an intimate moment. Not just in the physical sense, although I think this is the closest we see them physically get in the whole first season (not counting being literally inside each other’s corporations, I suppose).

But it’s intimate in the emotional sense too, because Crowley is worried and stressed about having lost the Antichrist, and now on top of everything else he’s got Aziraphale calling him “nice” and poking at some very old wounds (if he’s so “nice” then why did he Fall?). And Crowley is also probably *frightened* - they’re inside a former Satanic convent that kept regular contact with not just Crowley himself, but also Hastur, and probably other demons too. For all Crowley knows, someone from his side could still be lurking about; they could overhear and get them both in big trouble.

And as if all that weren’t enough, I don’t think I’m imagining a healthy dose of frustration with Aziraphale in the mix either. Just a few minutes prior, the angel essentially tempted Crowley into miracling the paint stain out of his coat, and then broke their rules by saying “thank you” for it. Aziraphale has spent at least the last few centuries sending him some very mixed signals and we can see that Crowley is done with them dancing around each other. That game was more or less fine before, they had time, all the time in the world. But now, in just a few days, all the time in the world will be ENDING. And yet here’s Aziraphale, playing the same game as always, acting like nothing between them has changed, even though they both know better.

So yeah, it all comes to a head in that moment, and Crowley (sort of understandably) loses it a bit. He won’t actually hurt Aziraphale and they both know that, but he has to get across to the angel SOMEHOW that he’s experiencing some Big Feelings. And he doesn’t have a whole lot of options as to how to do that. He’s too worked up to communicate effectively. So he goes with the wall slam. This causes an emotionally charged situation which we’re primed to think will have an emotional payoff - the camera pulls in close, a dramatic transition, drawing us in to the tension of the moment right along with Crowley and Aziraphale.

And then there’s Aziraphale, who…doesn’t defend himself at all. Aziraphale, who is kind but far from defenseless, who used to guard the gate of Eden with a flaming sword, who was supposed to fight in a platoon of angels in the final battle. He’s no pushover, and yet he lets himself get literally pushed over. It doesn’t even seem to occur to him to stop Crowley, not even as he’s wrinkling his precious coat.

And maybe this is just my read of this scene, but Aziraphale’s reaction to Crowley coming into his personal space is interesting in and of itself. He doesn’t act as if this is the first instance of Crowley being that close to him - and it is CLOSE. Their lips are centimeters apart. Their noses are touching.

And one might well say that all of it happens so fast that Aziraphale is caught off guard and freezes up, but as so many have already pointed out about this scene, just after Mary interrupts he looks…blatantly longing, and then more than a bit put out.

And after Crowley lets him go, he casually fixes his clothes and goes straight back to bickering. Which may be partially a defense mechanism, because they don’t have time to talk about what just happened, there clearly won’t be any emotional resolution right now. But really, wouldn’t “you go too fast for me” Aziraphale be more rattled if that were truly the first time they had crossed that physical boundary and shared space like this? He looks affected, certainly, but quickly shakes it off.

And, to take it one step further: Aziraphale knows Crowley. He knows what words are likely to set him off. He has an established pattern of having Crowley do things for him, based on Aziraphale’s own prompting (see also: wordlessly asking Crowley to help Hamlet become a hit). Aziraphale does as much tempting to get Crowley to do “nice” things as Crowley does to get him to do “naughty” things. All of which is to say, Aziraphale may have actually been baiting Crowley here, but the bait is just a little too effective, and Aziraphale isn’t fully prepared for the intensity of the response he gets. But there’s a strong case to be made that by calling the demon “nice,” he’s looking to get a specific reaction out of Crowley. Again, not the healthiest form of communication, but it’s what they have in this context, because honesty would be too dangerous.

Which brings me back to my point: it IS an intimate moment, in more ways than Mary could have possibly realized, and what if she hadn’t walked in on them? How would Crowley have finished his sentence that got cut off, and how would Aziraphale have responded to it, to Crowley’s outburst of emotion, or to their proximity?

Maybe he would have gently and politely pushed Crowley away - but to me, something about his expression and body language says he wouldn’t have. Because Aziraphale is tired of dancing around this too, actually, and in the heat of the moment, he may just have closed the distance. Especially if they’ve had “intimate moments” before this one.

And between you and me, I think they did, and I think it was after Crowley saved Aziraphale and his books during the Blitz. It’s a solid explanation for the increased tension between them in the holy water scene.

Anyway. This meta has been sitting in my drafts since before the first trailer came out, S2 is only nine days away, and I’m clearly very normal about all of this.

[arklayraven]

I can't sleep rn while this annoyed/pissed off. So time to remind people OM is canonly a queer game as hell and to tell the queerphobes and transphobes to FUCK OFF. (Seriously, why are you following me if you hate queer and trans people/characters? Get out of here.)

This is a official post by OM devs over the creation of OM and their MC. Read the left section well.

"OM isn't a queer game" many like to say.

The game, writers and characters beg to differ.

From someone kind who felt they knew all about the game and characters well, even tho they played it themselves.

Let's go back to that official post by Solmare about OM and this section specifically.

Hope you read that well, and the person(and many who think/believe this) learns how damn wrong they are.

Also...God don't bring up my Asmo and act like you know all about him. Another thing from that kind person.

Firstly, canonly none of the characters have set labels. But they are all in fact canonly queer. Whether you like to believe/accept this or not. It's fact, was fact from day one.

Asmodeus is the most openly proud queer boy in the series, and gender nonconforming too at that, even if he uses only he/him pronouns(but he's been shown to be fine being called princess, queen, etc. So he's clearly open to all gendered/less pronouns/labels I feel).

He drips of gender fluidity, and going against gender presentation norms(Babe has presented so fem and nonconforming for awhile now. Learn to look at him and appreciate him better). So take note of all of that, and never say again he's not queer, because that's a damn fucking lie.

Also I hate how bi is used as default for queerness as a whole for characters who are interested in more than one gender, and wish for the day people stop using it as so. (Use MSPEC or just queer if you wish to sound more inclusive of all possible labels/identities for a canon queer character with no canon label set.)

Second, back to what I said before, ALL THE CHARACTERS IN OM ARE QUEER. If you ship your MC or yourself with them, know that's a canon queer character you're pairing them/yourself up with. And you can't erase their queerness and identity. Especially if it makes you personally feel bothered or crap.

And before you say anything, dating them, as a straight woman, doesn't automatically make them straight now too. They are still queer, but are dating you, who happen to be a straight woman. (stop being damn queerphobic challenge.)

I'm already tired of this crap, so gonna end this now and fast.

OM is a canon queer game, and was made with a MC who is genderless to be inclusive of ALL PLAYERS. This opened the door quickly for men, nonbinary, etc players to enjoy the game too, and be part of the fandom as well. There's as much men and nonbinary players in the series like women are, but only difference is in the fandom mainly. Many people choose to see which fans or MCs are more accepted in the community, and which ones to show more love/attention too.

If you tried to expand your horizons more, you will surely quickly find people who identify as men, nonbinary, etc in the fandom as well. And learn how we're here, always been here, just greatly drowned out or ignored by a vast majority of people just because of who we are. (Lots of people with dislike for MCs who are men, or just plain damn queerphobia and transphobia in the works.)

The more people try to ignore the clear fact men and nonbinary people play OM too. The more easier it is for them say OM and its characters aren't canonly queer, and they can feel special/happy about playing the game. That they want to believe was just made to cater to women only. But in reality it was made to be catered to all players, no matter their gender identity or lack of, and same for romantic/sexual attraction.

Also another thing I forgot to add to put more facts that OM is a queer game to be inclusive of ALL PLAYERS.

Already, the undateables from day one are canonly queer too. If you need to be reminded and stated that as well.

That's pretty much it on this annoying tiring topic.

Enjoy playing OM, the canonly queer game made for ALL PLAYERS. <3

[t0ast-ghost]

Star Trek II: Wrath Of Khan thoughts:

For this post if I could simply embed the entire movie and just write the word, ‘queer’ I would. Unfortunately you are all stuck with this, happy pride month!

Spoilers for the entire movie will be featured in this post

Going forth:

- I know what the kobayashi maru is so I know they’re not in danger but that’s some good acting Bones

- “‘Physician heal thyself.’” “Is that all you’ve got to say? What about my performance?” “I’m not a drama critic.” Thinking about this pose thinking about this pose thinking about thi-

- “Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young, Doctor.” He’s feeling something and projecting

- “Aren’t you dead?” That’s certainly a way to greet your husband

- They’re so cute. And sad. And cute.

- tiny guys hehe. The boots got sluttier somehow

- McCoy got him glasses cause he can’t read the book without it and bring up that post that’s saying how Spock and McCoy’s gifts go together but McCoy got the logical thing and Spock got the emotional one

- Don’t quote me on this but the things I would do to that man… I wouldn’t.. but holy shit that outfit is killing me.

- hi checkov

- Carol Marcus? Doesn’t she have Kirk’s-? okay then I won’t spoil that just yet

- Creature in a jar moving under the sand

- BOTANY BAY????? Oh wait a sec I should’ve seen that coming it’s called wrath of khan

- Did they kill Chekov?

- hello Khan. That’s a very long and dramatic reveal he’s kinda hot tho

- Thinking about genetic engineering and augmentation and how they’re illegal but star trek presents cases where people now exist and it’s not the fault of the person that they are what they are so they have to question if an entire person should be illegal because of the actions of others… anyway I don’t wanna get deep into this right now, back to the movie

- Are they going to kill Chekov? (edit: not sure why I’m so fixated on thinking they’re gonna)

- WOW THAT IS CERTAINLY A SWEAT DROP

- brain worms… this sounds recently familiar

- HES READING HIS BOOK WITH THE GLASSES THEY DIDNT NEED TO SHOW HIM DOING THAT BUT THEY DID AND ITS ADORABLE OMG

- The conversation between Savik and Spock is so precious. And it’s in Vulcan. And she says “He’s more human than I expected” and it’s like that’s her commenting on Spock’s husband

- Kirk does not want to do this inspection

- McCoy does a little bounce

- “For everything there is a first time. Wouldn’t you agree, admiral” “mmhhmm” “Would you like a tranquilizer?” *Kirk shakes his head*

- I think this one has a more solid plot. I’m enjoying so far :)

- Does McCoy serve on this ship or is he just following along?

- (Had to stop watching around here because I left for the weekend so these thoughts are potentially a bit different)

- wowah! Cool ship!

- uh oh. Chekov on the monitor with the brain worm!

- khan is kinda- yeahh

- I LOVE SAAVIK! RAHHH! Also apparently Saavik is canonically half Vulcan half Romulan according to the trivia

- I like how Bones is just there :)

- Putting Spock in black… they knew what they were doing

- They’re husbands your honour. Spock knows Kirk wants to take command and isn’t to proud to get in the way of making his wife happy

- “You are my superior officer. You are also my friend. I have been and always shall be yours.” Kissing would have been less romantic

- George Takei’s voice is majestic

- “He tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him. I’ll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round perdition’s flames before I give him up.” Not obsessive at all.. nope this is something completely and totally normal to say about your nemesis

- “Uhura, have Doctor McCoy join us (Kirk and Spock) in my quarters.” Hmmmmm.. gotta inform the whole polycule about the shady government experiment

- lmao BOTH Spock and McCoy know who Carol Marcus is

- oh so terraforming… NEVERMIND REALLY FAST TERRAFORMING

- “Really, Dr. McCoy, you must learn to govern your passions. They will be your undoing.” Flirting, gentlemen?

- How and why does Starfleet continually put Spock and McCoy together? Like this alert would be sent out 24/7

- Spock and his awesome daughter Saavik

- falling

- Kirk with the breast flap down

- such a good moment… such a great moment (sorry for shitty photos)

- Kirk has to put on his little glasses <3

- Kirk does NOT fuck around

- Poor Scotty. He’s got so much emotion about his dead crew mate and the doctor apologizing to him 🥺🥺🥺

- Saavik making up rules to make sure the admiral is safe. Love her.

- “Jim, be careful.” “We will.” MCCOY IS SO BITTER. Like ‘no wishes of luck for me, Spock? Fuck you!’

- The collar on that uniform is silly

- hehe McCoy got scared by a rat. OH HE ALSO GOT SCARED BY A DEAD BODY

- Kirk’s little disappointed “oh my god” as he finds Chekov in the cupboard

- “Suppose they went nowhere.” “Then this’ll be your big chance to get away from it all.” McCoy’s not leaving Kirk, but he still looks like he wants to strangle him sometimes

- Kirk not afraid to punch a bitch

- WAIT THATS KIRKS SON?!? Isn’t it?? I thought David was Carol’s brother. But nope!

- aww dammnit I knew they were still mind controlled :/

- Saavik saving David. Y’know it would be pretty cool if there was something about Saavik, David, and Johanna meeting and maybe serving on a ship of their own.. idk just thoughts.

- ewwww brain worm.

- OH THE ECHOING “KHANNN”

- mmmm Kirk without the jacket. The white turtleneck with sleeves… also McCoy and Saavik are slaying with their turquoise and orange turtlenecks

- “Food the first order of survival.” I bet the fanfic writers had a field day with this one (cause cause it’s a reference to Tarsus IV)

- Imagine this: you’re stuck underground with your husband, your other husbands adopted daughter, your ex, her son (who’s also your son), and your old Russian navigator who’s unconscious and tried to kill you while being mind controlled by a worm which came out of his ear

- David’s got Kirk’s curls <333

- Kirk has a thing for people who look good in blue. Change my damn mind.

- “I don’t believe in a no win scenario.” He immediately calls Spock afterwards cause he’ll never lose with his husbands around

- “You lied.” “I exaggerated.” Yep, he IS that bitch

- Saavik is learning so much from them

- They still just.. let anyone onto the bridge. Like David is just there now

- oh no Scotty! Well McCoy was miraculously there to catch him

- CHEKOV BACK ON THE BRIDGE!

- Once again. Kirk does not fuck around! He just killed those guys

- “To the last I will grapple with thee.” WOW. Okay. Well.

- Khan’s about to terraform this bitch

- McCoy stopping Spock from going into the chamber..

- “You’re not going in there!” “Perhaps you’re right. What is Mr. Scott’s condition?” SIKE BITCH SPOCK JUST FUCKING NERVE PINCHED HIM. McCoy you should’ve been tipped off by the fact he 1. Said you were right and 2. Gave up trying to self sacrifice so easily

- wait why’d Spock connect to McCoy’s psi points and say remember? Remember what?

- I like there’s just a sign that flashes the word ‘radiation’ in red letters

- McCoy and Scotty BEGGING Spock not to do this. Break my fucking heart why don’t you?

- Kirk’s little run to the engine room <3

- I know he’s dying but those boots are so slutty

- Solely watching Kirk’s face is already like watching 10 puppies get killed

- “Don’t grieve, admiral.” Has me crying already. Your closest and longest friend is watching your slow descent into death and you ask him not to grieve you. You want him to know your death meant something. It meant he’d be safe and that is nothing to grieve. I’m going to be sick

- don’t touch me I’m thinking about this

- SAAVIK IS CRYING OMG GIRL ME TOO

- Kirk’s voice breaking.. god. Shatter my fucking heart why don’t you?

- if they play bagpipes at my funeral I’m rising from the dead (violins would be nice though)

- NOO HIS CUTE LITTLE GLASSES BROKE

- “They’re just words.” “But good words. That’s where ideas begin. Maybe you should listen to them.” POP OFF DAVID ! Good line

- SON REVEAL! NOT CLICKBAIT

- There’s 8 minutes left of this. Did they leave this one with Spock dead?

- “He’s really not dead, as long as we remember him.” Good words McCoy. But perhaps maybe you might have some.. assistance remembering him?

- got distracted and drew Kirk but I love the last little Spock narration. Really brave to end a WHOLE MOVIE with one of the best most well known characters being dead

Well that movie did have its pros and… khans

…

See you next time

Masterpost

[turntechgaykid]

My Headcanons for the Strawhats: (Monster Trio)

Luffy:

- Low-key has REALLY bad abandonment issues (see him telling Ace he keeps following him into a dangerous forest bc it makes him feel less alone, Sabo's 'death', Saboady, Marineford, etc)

- Autistic

- When he relaxes/sleeps his body will become super slack an his arms an legs will spread out all over

- HATES the cold and his body hurts when it's too cold out (rubber breaks easily when frozen)

- Will drink but is superrrrrrr picky about booze

- Has very green eyes an no one can convince me otherwise

- Love language is Physical touch (He bites people, affectionately)

- (Based on my Headcanons that Luffy is Brazilian and Robin is Peruvian) His first language is Portuguese an if he forgets a word he'll ask Robin to translate

- Favorite color is red (any shade)

- Likes collecting shiny rocks/pretty sea shells

- Is the most emotionally intelligent person on the crew an has really good observation skills but takes most things at face value/doesn't question them bc he can't understand why someone wouldn't want to show/say exactly what they mean

- If he cries or gets embarrassed enough to blush he'll cover his face with his hat

- Likes when Nami/anyone paints his nails but can never sit still long enough to get them done nicely

- Ambidextrous

- Knows a lot about bugs and can rattle off facts about them for hours

- Really really good at guessing games to the point everyone thinks he's cheating somehow

- Has stretch marks alllll over

- Eats so much bc his stomach stretches no matter how much he eats so he never really feels 'full'

- Has HATED Garp ever since he did nothing to help during Marineford

Zoro:

- Has dimples but he's insecure so he tries hiding them

- Everyone thinks he has green eyes but I think he has brown eyes

- His love language is Acts of service

- Extremely touch starved (if someone plays with his hair he is passing out IMMEDIATELY)

- Secretly loves that (other then Robin) Chopper always goes to him first for everything

- Really loves forests, if they land on an island with one he's most likely heading there first

- Unofficial Official first mate of the strawhats

- When it comes to keeping the crew safe he trusts Robin & Sanji the most (other then the Captain ofc) because he knows they won't hesitate to kill someone they're fighting

- Nami is like a sister to him

- Is actually REALLY good at math an confused tf out the crew when they found out (is now in charge of keeping track of the amount of necessities on the ship or how much they need for a certain amount of time)

- Will forget how long he's been going when training an won't realize til someone stops him

- Gets worried/nervous anytime he watches someone walking down stairs

- Knows a shit ton of knife/sword tricks (can absolutely swallow a sword)

- Doesn't like showers bc he hates water on his face

- Is willing to follow Luffy's orders without question (Post time skip, Pre time skip -specifically before thriller bark- Zoro would still question Luffy)

- One of the few Straw hats that hasn't dated anyone (Sanji had some flings w/ regulars at Baratie, Usopp w/ Kaya, Nami had a few flings here an there, Franky had been with a few people back on water 7 and Brook had been with a few people back when he was alive)

- His favorite color is Sage green/Gold

- Taught Chopper some sword fighting techniques (Brook also joined in an taught Chopper some of his moves)

- Loves taking naps with Chopper (Chopper is low-key his favorite person on the crew)

- He an Robin have little competitions to one up eachother with gifts or things for Chopper bc they both wanna be his favorite >:)

Sanji:

- Loves the ocean/thinks it's the most beautiful part of nature ever

- Either is a Queer Cis guy OR a Queer Trans woman<3

- Ace was absolutely his gay awakening but he thought it was a 'fluke' til he stayed on the momorio island and accepted himself

- Sees it as a HUGE compliment when anyone on the crew gains weight bc it reaffirms he's doing his job well :)

- Loves loves loves all animals and won't let anyone hurt them (including rodents/other "gross" animals)

- Has insectophobia/arachnophobia and OCD

- HATES having anything covering to much of his face/head bc of the mask Judge had him in

- Pulls on his hair when frustrated/angry/overwhelmed/etc.

- French is his first language

- Knows how to figure skate, do ballet and learned gymnastics

- His love language is Words of affirmation

- Writes letters to Zeff at least once a week (after the events at WCI he started addressing Zeff as Dad in his letters)

- Is secretly writing his own cookbook

- Has anisocoria, effects his right eye (anisocoria can easily be confused with heterochromia. It gives the appearance of two different eye colors, but the variation only relates to pupil size — which can cause one eye to look darker than the other — not the actual eye color.)

- Sanji an Usopp are actually really close (both their moms passed bc of sickness both had shit dads plus soba mask + sogeking friendship is superior)

- Sees Zoro as a brother (their dynamic is like the eldest brothers who try to compete over everything)

- Sees Robin as a mother figure but low-key feels guilty about it

- Told Nami everything about his past after WCI and they're really close now

- Sees Luffy a bit as an obnoxious younger brother

- When it gets really hot he'll let Chopper sit inside/in front of the freezer for a little bit

[paganminiskirt]

haii gooseberry number one fan here. whats yr thoughts on phylis ... i lov lov lov yr posts abt picking apart coyles character and lore hehe

“You're too delicate! You're too precious! You can't go!”

Well first of all, I love that she’s fat, in part because you can bet your ass that if she wasn’t, she’d be overeroticized and made the object of those shallow copy-pasted “awoooooooga step on me mommy” screeds that fandom regurgitates to avoid having to put coherent thought into female characters. Much like queerness and the role it plays in Coyle’s storyline, fat characters that are conceptualized to act as fonts of horror have traditionally reinforced fatphobic social norms. And because of the gory, grotesque conventions of horror as a genre, these cases are often distinctly more damaging and offensive than, say, a fatphobic character in a sitcom. (You can read more about this topic here and here.)

The voice acting carries all of her appearances, too. Her now infamous cocaine song is the first example to come to mind; that overwrought, wavering tone she adopts makes it sound like she’s always on the brink of breaking down entirely. The sustained anxiety created a harsh juxtaposition between her tone and the lewd lines share’s parroting (“fucking and fighting.”) The quote that I highlighted at the top of the post also shines. Gooseberry’s great vocal performance is cool not least of all because the last major fat antagonist in the series, Chris Walker, didn’t get a lot of lines. I’m midway through replaying the first Outlast, and I think the game treats Chris Walker with a lot more pathos and significance than many games treat fat characters of his kind, although that assessment falls apart once you get to The Murkoff Account.

Chris is the main villain of Outlast. He’s portrayed as brutal but also competent and deliberately ruthless, which implies that he’s capable of complex thought in spite of the dehumanization he endured as a variant. The contradiction there underscores the game’s main theme & the overarching tragedy and atrocity of Mount Massive. In the end, Chris is brutally murdered on screen, and you could argue that the imagery incorporated in his death scene - that of expanding and blowing up - has fatphobic undertones. But unlike Rick Traeger and Eddie Gluskin, who meet similarly grizzly fates, the audience surrogate Miles directly suggests that the viewer should sympathize with Chris after his death. Somehow, Chris emerges as the least monstrous of the three, no matter how much abuse was piled onto his body and mind, and no matter what crimes he committed under that duress. Overall, Outlast presents him as a relevant, memorable, and fully autonomous character. Not bad, for a game that came out while The Biggest Loser was still airing on NBC.

But the comics have a lot less time to develop Chris than the game did. In The Murkoff Account, his main purpose is to act as a human example of broader institutional cruelty, much like Billy Hope did in Outlast. That position naturally invites the audience to view Chris as victimized and, to an extent, sympathetic, but his only notable characteristic outside of that victimization is a childish inability to control his aggression or prevent himself from being bullied. Those two details seem to form a paradox, right? Chris is a former military police officer, he brags about knowing judo, he should be able to get his coworkers to shut up and stop making fun of him. But he lacks the drive, conviction and strength of will necessary to do that. He’s basically a big baby, characterization which is reinforced by the comics’ art style.

Compared to the thin characters, Chris isn’t allowed to act with nearly as much autonomy as he did in the game. What happens to him in the comics could happen to anyone, and the only distinctions relevant to him as a person are crass stereotypes revolving around his body. The cost of expanding on the game’s lore was that the main villain got whittled down to the latent antifat tropes which had always lingered just below the surface - Chris doesn’t get to be a mad doctor like Trager or an abhorrent admirer like Gluskin. Instead, he’s the stout strength trope, he’s the fat idiot trope, and he expands on the pig imagery. Not great times.

And Gooseberry was probably influenced by Chris. Dhe’s fat, she’s strong, she’s associated with an animal, and to an extent, she’s infantile! Although I think that her characterization as hysterical and not fully in control of herself is less a manifestation of fatphobia, as it was with Chris, and more a direct allusion to antiquated perceptions of mentally ill women. “Goose” is itself old-world slang for a silly or witless person. If one thing has emerged from my thoughts on Coyle, it would be that the writers of Trials are a lot more conscientious of social perceptions and stereotyping than the writers of Outlast were. It’s natural for a series that’s been going on for this long to begin to develop redundancy, but Trials’ 1950s setting and new game mechanics help gloss over that. Phyllis’ asserted sexual relationships with in-game characters struck me as unnecessary, but fat women (like dark skin women) are often depicted as masculine and drained of eroticism, so. You win some, you lose some.

You can read Gooseberry as a sort of a combination between Chris and Eddie, with her body and maturity interconnected to present her as disturbingly naive and immature in contrast with the great violence she enacts. This is a concept also explored with Eddie Gluskin: his hand-wringing need to preserve his would-be victim’s “chastity” becomes bizarre and unsettling when pushed up against the graphic, vindictive misogyny. Similarly, one reason the chases with Chris are so unbearably scary is because the sound of his clinking chains gets louder and louder as he gains on you, but he also does this laborious breathing when he runs which emphasizes his weight. When Phyllis chases you, you hear Futterman’s drill and the sound of her mindless shrieking - it’s terrifying in a way that doesn’t incorporate her fatness into the fear factor. Love that. The same unfortunately can’t be said for her implied DID, a demonization which is unfortunately very common, very old and very damaging all at once. (You can read more about that here, and in tons of other places.)

Michel Foucault used a two-pronged framework to examine popular narratives about The Plague and pandemics in general. Within this framework, there is one “political” story model which is defined by a controlling environment and another “literary” dimension which is defined by a collectivized, frenzied environment was first conceived. Perhaps because Outlast: Trials was developed amidst a pandemic, I think Foucault’s framework translates nicely to examining Trials’ narrative about the cold war and the red scare. Some common themes include mass hysteria, xenophobia, heightened interpersonal suspicion and a seemingly unprecedented increase in government control.

On the surface, Coyle would represent the “political” dimension of Trials’ horror, acting as an exaggerated, kinda ridiculous extension of the extreme social control that white supremacy & patriarchy enforce. Within this dichotomy, Gooseberry would represent the “literary” dimension of the game’s horror, acting as a chaotic dissolver of all social barriers rather than an enforcer of them and creating a frenzied, carnival-like effect within anyone who comes under her spell. The children who watched her old show and took to violence and drug consumption come to mind; regardless of background, parenting or culture, Phyllis changed them. She didn’t even have to see them in person. She did it over the TV.

Gooseberry [hosted] a children's variety show known as 'The Mother Gooseberry Hour” [produced by Futterland Studios] which started airing in 1951. Following Dr. Futterman's death, the cause of which is still unknown, she had a hysterical episode and began experiencing dissociation. The tone of the Mother Gooseberry Hour shifted accordingly. Throughout her tenure on the show, she used her television platform and mail-order "dental drops" business to get children addicted to narcotics, violence, theft, and possibly murder. Over the years, the children watching her show became cult-like, engaging in immoral behavior, drug use, and other shenanigans, leading to larceny and assault. In 1955, Futterland Studios was raided by the police, after which she was charged with racketeering, kidnapping, and conspiracy to commit murder. The raid left two police officers dead and five others injured, as she escaped into the tunnels beneath the set to attack them with drills. It is unclear exactly what was inside Futterland Studios, but police captain Stanley Hoad described the contents of the studios as "The most grotesque architectural perversion since H.H. Holmes’ Chicago Murder Castle.”

Trials is the first Outlast game to allow us to have character customization, and unlike the previous protagonists (who both get stand out from the other characters by being in some way Special within the setting,) the Reagents are intended to act as an endless supply of nameless, faceless grunts, the vast majority of which will die gruesome deaths during the guinea pig stage. In this game, we play as the people who would’ve been those nameless, faceless heads we see on the shelves in Outlast, or hanging from a tree branch in Outlast 2. The game’s customization elements are justified in-universe by the notion that they’re so addled that they can’t even establish a stable perception of their own features: an example of the collectivizing, depersonalizing nature of the literary dimension if I’ve ever seen one. As the popularity of the customizable character feature ebbs and flows, other franchises pull it out just out of laziness in the creative department. With that in mind, I’m really glad Trials did something cool and innovative with the concept instead of just dumping in RPG elements for no reason.

Phyllis’ multiple personas mimic the changeable qualities of the Reagents themselves, though they’re grounded in her stated backstory: there is the doll, the dead abuser, and there is her, the child-turned-woman reenacting that trauma seemingly without fully grasping what’s doing. We’re left with this character who’s genuineness we’re always unsure about, in hard contrast to Coyle’s blunt, undisguised self-servingness and complete lack of conscious guile or shame. The first time the player gets up close with Phyllis will be in the kill animation, where she nods at the puppet she thinks is her father before slaughtering you unceremoniously. Who can say for sure, if Phyllis is more malicious or misguided? Not us, not the other Reagents, not Murkoff, and least of all herself. I’m glad she was included.

[olderthannetfic]

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/663370772509802496/do-you-know-what-the-origin-of-the-sold-to-one

So I was looking at this old post of yours (in your fandom meta tag) and has anyone else noticed that Hogwarts AU fanfic and meta about if this or that character from another fandom would be Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw has completely disappeared? I assume that this is related to JKR’s transphobia making her (understandably) persona non grata to a lot of online queer people of the kind who dominate fanfic fandom at least on AO3 (I’m less familiar with Wattpad or other corners of fandom that are overwhelmingly cishet and writing het, and the Bridgerton drama has taught me a lot about just how out of pace a lot of them are with even elementary queer stuff, yeesh). but I was wondering if others have noticed that. It did seem to really start to crater around 2019-20 when she stopped being coy and blaming it on “middle aged moments,” and started openly making transphobic tweets and writing essays about it rather than just “liking” others’. Like when I was into Yuri on Ice circa 2016-18, it was still all over that fandom, even though people were already souring on the actual official franchise stuff such as those terrible Fantastic Beasts movies.

So I’m mostly active in anime, JRPG and Western genre TV fandoms so I was curious if this was also happening elsewhere. I’m also wondering if the fact that actual HP fandom seems to be increasingly divorced from canon (like fanon pairings of characters who never interacted in canon being the most popular lately) is related to this too.

Cuz having a Hogwarts AU used to be a sign that a fandom had Arrived. I remember in 2016 you saw people doing house sortings for the people on the frickin 538 political podcast. Now I never see any of that even with huge fandoms.

It’s interesting to me given that it feels like her transphobia hasn’t dented much of her popularity with non online nerd culture. Like the third Fantastic Beasts movie failed but those had never been good and had been declining in box office numbers already. But the Hogwarts Legacy game sold really well. You still see HP in stores all over the place with other nerd culture staples like Star Wars and Marvel. Still constantly see brands doing collabs. I often find non online friends and family, including many who are genuine allies to the trans people in their lives, who have no idea about her transphobia. Or they’ve only heard a little and assume it’s some weird insular online culture thing that is just fans nitpicking, maybe having heard about some other Twitter “canceling” over nothing and figuring it’s like that. They’re always shocked and horrified when I tell them what she’s actually saying and doing.

--

Interesting question.

For me, as an Old, it just feels like Hogwarts AUs are part of my childhood, and why wouldn't they be less common now? But realistically, if they actually are declining, it does mean something.

There's no way for us to know if the "Would X be a Hufflepuff?" posts are really a thing of the past. That could be a question of whom one follows or of fans leaving one's platform. But we can at least poke at some AO3 tags and see if they show a pattern.

The relevant tags are Alternate Universe - Hogwarts and its metatag Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting.

There are 21,426 works in the metatag. Obviously, not everything uses the tag, but it's a starting point. (Some cursory playing with filters on big tags makes me think that maybe around 3/4 of HP AUs are actually tagged with a relevant AU tag.)

If we look at the AU tag itself, the numbers have come down in the last few years. (This year is obviously only half over, so we'd expect those numbers to be smaller.)

But we have to take into account how big the archive itself was. It's been growing significantly since it opened to staff accounts in late 2008 and then more widely in late 2009, so the overall rise doesn't mean much, but the recent drop might.

It does seem like there's a downward trend lately, but it doesn't look like it's falling off a cliff.

[yurtb0y]

GNAWING ON THAT OC GIVE ME INFORMATION

YESYES OKAY!!! *inhale* SO.

(this all might change later since he's still pretty new)

General info I guess (haven't fleshed out his backstory much yet.)

was a Catholic priest before the AM takeover (obvis)

he's roughly in his mid/late 30's- early 40's

he doesn't have a name yet because I'm stupid.

He lived in the United States when AM attacked. He was born in Poland and moved to the US in his mid 20's. (probably someplace like Texas or Utah... )

probably gay or in some way queer but DEEPLY in denial. (also in my mind IHNMAIMS takes place in the 60s/70s somewhere around that time so like... y'know... also makes room for the religious guilt plotline.)

Kinda stopped believing in god after long enough in AM's complex because like really who wouldn't. throwback to Ted's entire spiel about AM being god y'know the one.( Ik that wasn't meant litterally but the sentiment still works.)

As for his relationship with the other survivors and his torture.

Ellen- He'd most likely be less harsh on her and not really like.... *ahem*. use her. He'd always been a pretty compassionate man he was never like the freaky creep kind of priest/pastor. He can most likely sympathize with her past a bit as well- or atleast as much of it as she's willing to share which I imagine isn't much.

Nimdok- This mf is Polish. He does not like Nimdok. (If we're talking game Nimdok which is what I'm basing this... AU, I guess? off of.) I don't think they'd actively beef but they'd prolly just try to avoid eachother within the group. In terms of book Nimdok I think there's a slight possibility they could've gotten along. Honestly for Nimdok like... (Idr if where I saw this I think it was from a fic somewhere) but I like the idea that he wasn't actually a n*zi but since it's mentioned his memory is fucked AM just convinced him and the others he was so pin them against him and fuck with him some more. idk man allied mastercomputer behaviour. It also makes me dread thinking about him a little less.

Gorrister- Surprisingly, I think they'd get along. Even if they don't share a religion I think they'd find solace in confiding their guilts in eachother, esp with Gorrister's guilt over what happened with Glynis-- also since it's mentioned in the book Gorrister used to be an activist (which I think is more interesting than his trucker backstory from the game so I'm sticking with the activist storyline.) I feel like he's the least likely to be quite as homophobic as the others (cause let's be real here.) so maybe. MAYBE. He'd eventually try talking about some of those buried up feelings with Gorrister. Unlikely though. Overall I think they could be the closest thing to friends I can imagine with their situation.

Benny- I think they could've gotten along pre-monkey'd, (For Benny I like to combine his book and game backstory in my mind so tldr he was a professor and was later fired when it was discovered he was gay and then the enlisted in the military and killed 3 people. boom.) I think Priest oc would've respected them but after the monkey moment I feel like he'd kinda treat him like the family dog just as the other survivors do.

Ted- Ohhh boy. I have some words I'm not sure I'm allowed to use on Tumblr. They'd either get along or beef or some secret third evil and more sinister thing. Toxic without the yaoi. They make eachother worse. I need to map my thoughts out better before I write anything about them out. giggles but not in a good way.

wow I really used this as an excuse to dump about my ideas for the other survivors too huh.

Whilst I haven't sat down to ponder how AM would fuck with him I do know I wanna play off the theme of guilt somehow. I can imagine him being ripped apart by wolves for some reason that's just been like stuck in my head the whole time I've been typing all this out. Also maybe almost something with sacrificial themes? I'm kinda thinking about how Benny's part in the game ends for inspo on that it's hitting the right vibe. Please don't cancel me I'm Polish and all my family is Catholic.

Annon I hoped you liked reading this cause I had fun writing it. Also here he is again for anyone who's seeing this but didn't see the og post.

also I'm SO open to name suggestions for this freak cause I've got NOTHING.

[brxkxnhxxrtsclxb]

i wanted to make a list with tips for those who have recently discovered monster high and love the dolls and wanna partake in the hobby in starting a collection 🖤

for starters: i wanna say you do not need to watch the show / media attached to it if you don’t want to or don’t have the time. you can still enjoy the dolls cuz at the end of the day, they’re dolls and you can do whatever you want with them :3 they’re for play so create your own lore and enjoy it however you please 🖤 also, if the show wasn’t for you, that doesn’t make you less of a fan. you can still enjoy the dolls and hobby 🖤

also: MONSTER HIGH IS FOR EVERYONE !! it doesn’t matter if you’re male, female, nonbinary, straight or queer, you can partake in this hobby !!

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷

to start, find the dolls / characters that interest you most

whether you want to collect only dolls of one character or multiple of any and every character, it’s up to you to decide :3 it’s okay. there’s no right or wrong way of collecting. narrowing down the dolls you like best helps to get started. you wanna be sure your first doll(s) is special and really speaks to you 🖤

if you like several dolls and are undecided on certain ones, feel free to wait it out and see how you feel about them in a few days, a week, a month or however long you need

sometimes it’s best to wait and contemplate so you don’t end up regretting a purchase. of course if you do, or loved the doll at first but then changed your mind, it’s okay. you can always sell the doll later. you might be holding onto someone’s grail there !!

if you find you like a doll that has been available for a while but can’t decide between that one and a newer doll, go for the older one (this is specifically for G3 since that’s what we currently have widely available)

dolls have a shelf life of about a year. eventually lines start being phased out (currently SS3 is slowly being phased out) and we have no idea how much they’ll go for in the resell market (see SS1 and SS2 draculaura)

if you wanna collect G1 dolls, check out ebay, mercari, facebook marketplace and your local thrift stores. you never know what you may find and sometimes there’s good deals !!

when it comes to G1 dolls, you have to play the long game and have LOTS of patience. many of these dolls go for hundreds and that’s not okay imo. you don’t have to dump these amounts of money on them, especially since bills and other necessities gotta get covered first !! again, patience is key !! eventually you’ll score your grails

speaking of secondhand market, be careful and make sure you read the descriptions and ask questions. don’t be afraid to do so

unfortunately there have been a surge of scammers flooding the MH community. these are easy to spot. they will either use someone else’s photos for the listing, have zero reviews or refuse to answer questions and provide more pictures. sometimes it’s a combination of all. also know they’re not entirely honest about the condition of the dolls. some will not say they’re a smoke friendly home. please ask questions !! also, request them to add a photo with their username written on a paper to add to the listing to further verify they do in fact have the doll

do not purchase from scalpers

i know, kind of contradictory to say check the secondhand market and then say do not buy from scalpers. of course, it’s your money and you can do what you please with it, but if you can, try not to buy from them. it’s the reason they keep bulk buying the entire stock leaving fans without a chance at grabbing a doll they love and why they keep pricing what they price. if people stop buying from them, they’ll have no choice, but to lower their prices cuz no one is buying them and they don’t wanna sit with a stock of dolls they obviously do not want. so if you can help it, try not to buy from them. as stated before, it’s about patience and good deals do show up. also, wait from buying collector dolls on the aftermarket. the hype needs to first die down before they are lowered in price (happened with bride of chucky, creature from the black lagoon and addams family skullectors)

watch out when shopping online from walmart or / and amazon. sometimes other sellers will list a doll (G3) for an inflated price while they’re currently available in major retailers

you do not need every single doll

only buy the dolls you love. i know it can be devastating to love a doll and see everyone hating it, but don’t let that deter you !! with everyone sharing their personal collections and mattel pumping out dolls so frequently, it can be overwhelming and think you must have every doll. that’s simply not true. don’t feel bad for missing out on collector drops you weren’t fully in love with. and if you don’t really love a doll, it’s okay to opt out if you feel it’s the best choice. it’s also okay to purchase and sell later if you truly didn’t like the doll after receiving it

check for sales

i’m not sure about other countries but in the US, retailers will have sales and many dolls end up on sale. amazon does this too. check frequently. you never know when a doll you want may be on sale !!

check the community (get involved if you feel comfy enough to do so)

i encourage to check reddit, instagram, twitter and other forms of social media to keep up with doll news and leaks. it’s also a great place to make friends, ask questions and help each other out when drops happen. if you make good friends with someone, we can also use each other as proxy services if we live in different countries and grab each other certain exclusive dolls we have no access to :3 some dolls / lines don’t make it to certain countries

it’s okay to take breaks

mattel pumps out dolls frequently and the market can be so saturated, it’s overwhelming. it’s completely fine to feel that way and to take breaks when needed🖤

꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷꒦꒷

these are all the tips i can think of at the top of my head

collections are personal and there’s no right or wrong way of doing it. whether you’re an in-box or out-of-box collector, the most important thing is to HAVE FUN !!

i hope this was helpful !! enjoy your collection and welcome to the community!!

anyone can feel free to add any other tips they have to help a new collector out 🖤

[us3rnam3-r3dact3d]

Fooliverse headcanons!!

All of these are likely to be disproven is Erik ever does more Fooliverse (please god please I need it) but idc. Lmk if y’all want my hc’s for any of your Fooliverse faves. ❤️❤️

Angel and Guy were adopted by Damien’s mom, Sophia when Angel was around thirteen. Being raised by Sophia tempered some of Angel’s attitude and goofiness. Damien, in turn, is a more timid and less outspoken. Having Sophia’s attention and pressure spread between the three of them let Damien develop with a less of a short fuse. Guy is also toned down, but he’s the rebel of them three. He insisted that the only thing he would study would be creative writing. Sophia demanded that, if she was going to pay for him to earn a degree in that, he would be the best of the best. He’s finishing his last year in college now, but has two novels published already. Angel went into politics and works with Sophia. Their focus is on human borns and informed unempowered people. Damien is in his final year at DAMN. He was a TA for a few elemental classes and is being considered for a position as a professor. Sophia made a powerhouse of a family who are each making waves in their field. Their personal happiness… well, that was never her concern.

Sophia actually introduced Angel to Asher hoping to arrange a relationship between them. Asher has a lot of respect and clout, and Angel, being an unempowered person in an empowered world, does not. Deeply embarrassed by Sophia’s meddling, Angel made it clear that they weren’t looking for a relationship with Ash. The two of them did become fast friends because of this incident. Angel did a few municipal favors for Ash and the Talbot pack, and he in turn kept their name on his lips when talking to higher ups. Eventually, Angel was invited to a solstice party and met Davey. They fell in love instantly. Sophia doesn’t approve, but Angel made it clear she could fuck off in regards to Davey. She got to control everything else on their life, after all.

Damien’s siblings know he’s queer, but he hasn’t worked up the nerve to tell Sophia. He’s been dating Huxley for a year, but every time he tries to talk to her about him, he clams up. Angel is running the “Sophia can kick rocks” club, which Huxley is the vice president of, but the anxiety that Sophia gives Damien is so intense he just shuts down. Huxley is trying to be patient.

Guy, on the other hand, proudly announced his first boyfriend in fifth grade and refused to hear anything about it. Sophia tried a lot to “course correct” with Guy, but he’s nothing if not stubborn. He’s always been the problem child, but Angel’s intense protectiveness of him stopped all of Sophia’s more extreme ideas.

Huxley is intensely competitive. His moms encouraged him to do everything with passion and purpose and he took that to its furthest extent. He takes his classes seriously, he takes his practices and games seriously, he even takes his friendships and relationships seriously. He knows what he wants and he works to earn it. This means he’s also pretty hard on himself when things don’t go his way. This isn’t because of anything his moms taught him, it’s just this intense, internal drive to be the best, and if he’s not, he is under the impression that it’s his fault. Damien’s working on unraveling that particular line of thinking.

Davey is a healer. Gabe was still in that car accident, and he was seriously injured, just not killed. His right leg was absolutely fucked and he lost a good portion of his stomach due to being impaled by a portion of the driving column. He faced a lot of issues with chronic pain while healing, and he uses a cane. Davey was intensely focused on his recovery, which is why he didn’t take the pack’s offer of being alpha when Gabe stepped down. Ash was the obvious next choice. Davey spent a lot of time with the healers, nurses, and doctors who worked with his dad, and they taught him a good deal of healing magic. Although he’s a shifter and doesn’t have access to a lot of what freelancers are capable of, he is incredibly talented at what he can do. He isn’t powerful enough to be a full time healer, but he is a certified paramedic and works part time with an empowered unit.

Pretty certain it was hinted at in vamp!Milo’s BA (“no loose ends” or something like that), but Marie is dead. She died when Milo was senior in high school. His dad was already gone and her loss devastated him. He was turned 18 a few weeks before and refused Gabe’s offer to stay with he and Davey. He sold her house, got rid of everything that reminded him of her, and gave every picture of her to Gabe before breaking from the pack. Those he couldn’t bear to destroy.

Smartass was actually Aaron’s boss. They came in after their predecessor, Ivan, was fired for inappropriate conduct against a new hire. Ivan had been spiraling and ineffective for months and had run their department to the ground. Aaron had been promised the position, but the higher ups decided their department needed a new start. He was pissed. Incredibly so. He hates them for months and months. And they seriously valued his experience and work. Through months and months of intense arguments and near bloody fights, the two of them beat their department back into shape. After they’d reached a state of stability, Smartass reached out to their old company and negotiated a much higher, much better position for Aaron. He was built for more than being a desk jockey. He took the job and took them out to dinner that night as a thank you. The rest is history.

[unclewaynemunson]

Remember the Wingman Wayne AU? I decided to write a sequel :D (it can be read separately tho, so this is a new part 1 of 8!) | also on ao3 now

'Robbie!'

Steve startles her by loudly drumming his hands onto the counter and she turns around to look at him.

'Why are you here? Did you forget it's your day off today?' She slams a pile of tapes on the counter, right next to his hand, making him jerk it away reflexively.

'Watch out for my hands!'

'Then stop being so annoying!'

He sighs dramatically, but ceases his incessant drumming and instead leans his elbows on the counter.

'Would you like to go on a date with the most perfect girl in the world?' he asks, sounding like he's presenting some kind of game show and about to reveal which prize she has won.

Robin wrinkles her nose. 'Why do you sound like you're scamming me?'

'I'm not scamming you!' he exclaims in an indignant tone. 'I literally have the perfect girl to set you up with, trust me!'

'And what's the catch?'

'No catch.'

'Are you absolutely one hundred percent sure about that?'

'Yes!' he calls out in an exasperated voice.

She squints her eyes at him, but decides to give him the benefit of the doubt – for now, at least.

'Alright, I'm interested. What's her name?'

'Uhh... I – can't tell you. It's a blind date.'

She squints even harder, making Steve's face almost disappear from her vision.

'You don't know her name, do you?'

'Uhh...'

'Steve.' She sighs. 'What did you do? Did you get scammed?'

'No!' He raises his hands. 'No scam, alright? I just – I forgot to ask her name.'

'Okay, so in what uncivilized gutter did you pick up this presumably perfect lesbian who doesn't even properly introduce herself to the guy who wants to set her up with what may possibly be the love of her life?'

'I haven't actually met her,' Steve admits. 'No, no, listen!' he quickly adds when Robin opens her mouth. 'Remember Eddie's uncle, Wayne? The one who set me up with the love of my life?'

Robin nods. 'Impossible to forget, you talk about him constantly when you're not talking about Eddie. It's weird and mildly creepy.'

'I can't help that the man is fucking awesome!'

God, it really is too easy to get Steve all huffy.

'Okay, so I haven't actually met this girl, but Wayne has! And he thinks she's the perfect match for you, and me and Eddie are living proof that he's always right about that shit. So you should definitely go on a date with her. She's a reporter, that's cool, right?'

'Very cool,' Robin replies blankly. 'And how much did you tell him about me? Because I never met the man, dingus, so forgive me if I'm a little skeptical about how he knows I'd be such a perfect match for this mystery nameless reporter girl.'

'He knows enough about you, alright? Can you please just trust his judgment on this one? Worst case scenario, it'll cost you a few hours of your time. Best case scenario, you'll find your true love and live happily ever after.'

That is actually an annoyingly strong argument – well, not the happily-ever-after shit, that's way over the top, but Robin does have nothing to lose here; even though she doesn’t know Eddie's uncle, she trusts the man enough to believe that he wouldn't set her up with some creepy psychopath. So she might as well go for it and see what happens. She has to admit she's curious about the girl. It's not like she has a huge range of queer women to choose from around Hawkins, so it would be rather stupid to waste this chance without even trying, right? It's been a while since she actually dated. She broke up with Vickie months ago and her lack of dates has less to do with not being ready to move on and more with the fact that she's a lesbian living in goddamn Hawkins, Indiana.

'Alright, I'm in,' she decides, causing Steve to cheer and pump his fist in the air like some gross straight dudebro.

'YES!' he yells out. 'Alright, I'll call Wayne to let him know that you're in. And you should be ready for a romantic dinner at Benny's tomorrow at 7 o'clock. I'll take your evening shift, no need to thank me.'

'A romantic dinner at Benny's?' Robin repeats in an incredulous voice. 'Are you sure I wanna meet this girl if that's peak romance for her?'

Steve excited smile drops so fast it's almost comical. 'It was Wayne's idea, okay,' he says, and it sounds slightly more defensive than necessary. 'The man lives in a trailer park, cut him some slack.'

And something about that is oddly cute – both the fact that Steve is so ready to defend Mr. Munson and the idea of this middle-aged straight man picking out Benny's Burgers as a go-to lesbian date location.

'Okay, I won't complain,' she's quick to tell Steve. 'The burgers there are impeccable.'

'That's the spirit!' Steve's slightly too intense excitement is back on again. 'Tomorrow, 7. Be there or be prepared to stay alone forever.'

'That's a bit much,' she mumbles as Steve walks out of the store, turning around at the door to shoot finger guns at her while crashing into that one Fast Times cardboard cutout that's somehow always in his way. She snickers while turning her attention back to the tapes she had been sorting, trying not to think too hard about what’ll be waiting for her tomorrow evening.

Pt2

[enbyleighlines]

I always make the mistake of looking at the comments when I watch compilations of Soren’s cameos in Engage because inevitably, I always come across Those People who are sole-minded in their determination that Ike and Soren are Not Gay and somehow feel the need to argue this in every part of the internet where ikesoren shippers might gather.

And it’s just always an instant mood killer.

It also just… confuses me. Like, okay, I can understand why someone might be adamant that Ike is straight. I think they’re wrong, but I understand the mindset. Ike keeps his emotions close to his chest. He’s stoic and beefy, a stereotypical red-blooded manly man.

I don’t think they’re correct. I think there is plenty of subtext (and like, actual text) that validates the idea that Ike is, at the very least, some shade of queer.

But Soren? I feel like anyone who argues that Soren is straight must be either lying or have no clue what they’re talking about.

For one, the way he talks to and about Ike leaves little room for doubt. Ike’s place is where he belongs. Ike is special to him. Serving Ike gives him purpose. He doesn’t care if all the cities burn and the seas swallow the earth, so long as Ike survives. So on and so forth.

There’s also the literary parallels in Ena and Rajaion’s relationship in the first game, and Micaiah and Sothe’s relationship in the next, both canonically romantic pairings.

But I feel like even Soren’s character arc is a metaphor for the queer experience. He grows up suspecting that there is something different about him, something that causes the beast laguz of Gallia to ignore him, to be unsettled by his mere existence, to give him the impression he would be better off never having been born. And in early adolescence, he again notices something off about himself, things that set him apart from his peers.

Then, still within his adolescence, he figures it out. He learns a key part of his identity, something that he cannot change, something that marks him as sinful, a physical embodiment of a religious taboo.

If his secret gets out, Soren risks rejection. And so he is desperate to keep it secret, to pretend to be “normal,” to deny anyone who insinuates that he might be just like them. His fear is so great that, when Nasir threatens to effectively out Soren to Ike, Soren stops questioning Nasir, fearing Ike’s reaction more than the potential of having a traitor in their midst.

Then, in Ike and Soren’s A support, Soren finally reveals his secret, fully expecting it to be the end of their friendship. Instead, Soren finds immediate acceptance. Because it doesn’t matter, not really. This aspect of Soren doesn’t change the core of his character. It’s part of who he is, but it’s not who he is.

Is it not a clear metaphor for being gay?

Gosh I love Soren so much. A+ character. I just wish there were less people who were so dedicated to misunderstanding him.

[fairlith]

TW: Eating disorders, unaliving ideation, abuse

My experience with fandom:

I just saw this on Instagram, and again the whole Chappell Roan discourse is really making me think of when the Portal musical went viral and derailed my career by making my self-esteem so bad I considered some options too triggering to spell out here.

I was attacked for my singing voice and my acting and my ideas and my writing... unless it involved cute boys. I wrote and directed and designed the cores, but people acted like they just emerged from heaven one day. GLaDOS was my fault and people hated me. Everything else that they liked was somehow separate.

Most of all I was AND STILL AM REGULARLY attacked for my weight. I haven't done more than skim the comments on the Portal musical in years. It's really bad for my mental health. Publicly, I've been like, 'she's a computer, who cares what she weighs, haha' and waved it off, but in reality it gave me a fairly bad problem with binge-eating and stopping auditioning for literally anything. I have not auditioned for one single thing since all that happened. I gave up. My self-confidence is shot. I go to therapy, I've just never gotten enthusiastic about putting myself out there again.

If I used the word 'queer', people invasively demanded I publicly declare if I knew I was using a slur, because they knew I was a straight lady, because I hadn't featured their favourite pairing in the musical. I don't like that pairing. It's not canon. There are no canon pairings in the game. People called me homophobic A LOT.

I have an ex-wife. I am queer as Hell.

I had been in an abusive relationship with my mother, and then with a series of men, so I wrote the show as an allegory about how being abused can make you a broken person who hurts others.

In my story, I worked hard on my mental health. In GLaDOS' story, she isolates herself so she doesn't hurt anybody anymore. Sad.

I was accused of being ableist for not including Doug Rattman in the original production. HE'S DEAD in the game... But rather than keep getting hate mail, I tried to accommodate and put him in the second production.

People started trying to reach me through personal social media if I ignored their nasty/weird messages. So ignoring didn't work. If I responded when tagged in hate, then I was also in the wrong.

Don't get me wrong, plenty of people were nice, but the YouTube comments especially outweighed those voices.

The wild thing was... the Portal musical has MILLIONS of views, and very few of its fans ever supported the company with a donation or buying a cast recording I saved up to make. People stole the ONE DOLLAR cast recording and put it on YouTube. So I was famous enough for people to CONSTANTLY tag me in hate and tell me I was homophobic, that the musical wasn't good, that I'm fat, ugly, can't act, and can't sing... But I wasn't famous enough to make almost any money off it, so it felt like the only way to encourage my career to change in a way that would help me survive off it was to make myself available to people.

The viral success never translated into any sort of monetary value, and eventually I couldn't afford to do weird fandom art for 80 hours a week for waaaay below minimum wage.

I saved up to pay for that musical and paid everyone who participated out of the profits. And again, people were attacking me over a for-fun art project. I don't mean that resentfully, exactly, but Chappell Roan has riches. I had nothing. I gradually retreated from the public eye and tried to post less to YouTube and disabled comments often when I did.

When I complained about how people treated me online, I was accused of playing 'victim'. People bullied me until I deactivated the theatre company's tumblr, then bullied me for doing that, so I deleted it, so someone took it so they could make fun of me on the old url. People tagged me in hate and when I responded, they would make fun of me for that. Someone started a Twitter impersonating me and putting nasty words in my mouth.

People were harassing a person who regularly has 80 bucks or less in chequing as an independent artist as if I was a 'real' famous person with anything else going for me. My resources were VERY limited. The Portal musical had seven performances (including one concert) in two years.

That every single piece of discourse on Chappell Roan hating fame has had TONS of comments about how selfish she is has been actually weirdly/very triggering for me. I know now that giving up on my dream and not trying to push Geekenders or my personal theatre art further was the right call, because, as I am very autistic, I'm very certain I would have hated even a lick of real fame. I sure hated what happened with my silly little fanfic musical.

I don't expect anyone to really see this, but it was nice to write it. The Chappell Roan discourse is triggering. It makes me really sad.

That's all.

...I really need a journaling outlet. Maybe this tumblr'll be that.

[liyazaki]

the divine in me; the divine in you

break-ups are as varied as people: they can be explosive, resigned, bitter or filled with the blame game. let's be real, anger's easier- & sometimes, very much justified.

but more often than not, break-ups are less about right or wrong, & more about people not being right for each other. it still hurts like hell, but no one's at fault. no one's the villain- it just is.

a relationship's end can be mature, achingly honest- even kind. it's rare that I get to see one acted out so beautifully, but we were blessed with just that by Nara & Patts.

this show has established that some people believe in the concept of soulmates wholeheartedly, while others look at it as a scientific phenomenon they don't have an explanation for yet.

regardless of where Nara stands on the issue, knowing your partner will always have an intimate connection with someone else that you'll never be able to replicate or 'compete' with? it's enough to put the most stable relationship on rocky ground. she also gets that this wasn't Patts’ choice- it just happened to him, as much as it happened to her.

these are two people who had the best intentions for each other & their relationship…no deceit or asinine misunderstandings to be found here.

& technically, they've been broken up for awhile. Patts doesn't 'owe' Nara anything. but pain doesn’t stop just because the break-up is over, & Patts knows this.

he values Nara enough to want to make sure she knows how much he appreciated their time together. he's taking the time to honor their relationship, & the impact it had on both of them.

& Nara- oh, Nara. it takes an incredible amount of bravery to be vulnerable in front of the person who is the cause of your hurt.

there are valuable things to be found in our pain- things you'll miss for weeks, years, or even a lifetime if you choose to run away from them. the fact that these two chose to lean into the hurt makes it clear what their values are: honesty, connection- compassion.

Patts made sure that Nara understands how grateful he is to her, that it was never his intention to hurt her- while acknowledging the fact that they cannot be together. he didn't balk at her tears or make excuses- he met her in her pain with quiet understanding.

& for Nara to be held- literally, figuratively- & acknowledged by maybe the only person who knows exactly what she's going through?

I don't know if this was intentional, but as a queer person, this scene resonated with me on a whole other level, too. not so long ago, I had to tell a man I love that I couldn't love him the way he needed anymore.

I repressed who I was for so long, & I couldn't unknow what I now know about myself. I'll never forget the kindness & compassion he showed me in the midst of his own pain. at the end of the day, he just wants me to be happy- & I want exactly that for him, too.

it makes me think of the literal translation of namaste- "the Divine within me bows to the same Divine within you.” the love was real. the pain was real. this was real- it still is. it matters.

that's love. it just "exists in another way now."

[yonpote]

another thing is like... under capitalism, business success and wealth begin to alienate you from others who don't have that. and that alienation can feed into greed, like why not keep investing and making business deals and buying expensive stuff? and no one around is really going to call you out because they are either capitalist hacks or maybe people who once struggled who now rely on you.

so like, I don't inherently expect much from creators like dnp who come into money. even though they probably have more financial freedom than many other creators because of all the tours, books, games, etc (because they are good at business!)

so like, as their fans who ultimately are their consumers, I think it's good to call them out, especially because they have shown before that they have good intentions.

am I expecting much from them? no. wealth can be corrupting and speaking out comes with risk to business/career interests. but they have a special relationship with their audience, as we're mostly all fellow queer and neurodivergent people with similar interests. so we can provide feedback and be the ones to try to ground them and be like "hey that wasn't cool please do better." stopping engagement with them and their content entirely doesn't really do anything to help, unless they did something they needed to absolutely be deplatformed for. stopping engagement is a valid personal choice, but when I see stuff that begins to resemble like 'they aren't being activists right now time for everyone to unstan' I'm like... if that makes you feel better, fine, but I would rather parasocially / affectionately be like "hey I expect more from you!" in a way that is constructive. which is something I would want to do with my friends, but the difference is, if my friends didn't change or try to then I probably would distance myself from them. Whereas Dan and Phil are entertainers we don't now irl, we have a different relationship with them. but compared to many other creators, they really do tend to be more sensitive to their audience (which has helped their success).

but so this time the (mostly leftist) phannies calling them out actually got them to do a fundraiser so that's cool! even if it's because of the backlash like, that's what the point of backlash is! we should want people to change behavior. not to just abstractly punish them, for something they could be unlikely to do without pressure. though hopefully it will lead to less instances of having to pressure them.

idk this brings up interesting stuff about parasocial relationships, the transactions between creators and their audience, and capitalism. so of course I had to rant about it for a sec lol.

thats completely true! thank u for the rant lol but yeah i dont want to come across as being like, NEVER EXPECT ANYTHING FROM YOUR FAV CREATORS it was more like, with dnp specifically we know where their heart is i guess so it can be unnecessary to call for whatever. BUT you're absolutely right in that they probably wouldn't have done a charity stream were it not for pressure from fans. and maybe this is ME being parasocial but i'd like to think that this isn't for damage control or performativism (i mean it is a LITTLE cuz any publicity is a little bit abt looking good) but rather like, putting their money where their mouth is basically! and showing to their core audience like hey we care about this thing too and we fully hear you.

i was thinking about this General concept wrt dnp because i think there have been other moments where dnp were called out about something or criticized for like their more offensive humor and they stopped doing that and educated themselves which is better than most creators who put up fakeass apology videos. ive seen a lot of ppl say they want dan to talk about and apologize for his racist and sexist humor (and honestly only asking dan but not bringing up that phil also had his share of racist jokes) but it's like. at this point what further could he say? he's not a 21 year old shit head anymore (and yeah good for you for being a socially aware 21 y/o in 2024 but that offensive humor literally was just the culture of that time period) and they both have SHOWN that they have grown and even talked about it in like the pinof react video where they talked about "yeah we bullied kristen stewart a lot cuz it was just popular to make fun of her and justin bieber and that really sucks that we did that" like they have changed and shown change! they do not need to make a grand apology statement cuz like if you wanna talk performativism then lets talk about the fakeness of basically every apology video on the internet????

sorry thats unrelated to what u were talking abt but it just made me start thinking BUT YEAH THANK YOU FOR YOUR HOT TAKES!!!!