#also take everything i say w a grain of salt bc i did NOT watch s2 and im going purely off of vibes lol

[diorstarr]

what’re your thoughts on jiara becoming canon, it was personally the One thing they did wrong this season

i think jiara is cute!

i was, however, kinda angry at how they chose to build up their relationship lol. jj was a little shit (which….understandable) but the way he kept blowing up at kiara was so weird to me?? and very unnatural esp after all they’ve been thru. there was just not enough buildup to his big blowout and the scenes where they talked together were kinda all over the place and not super cohesive. but that scene where he saved her from the camp was vv cute. 

but i def see why you might not have enjoyed them getting together this season. and imma be honest….kiara and rafe in those first two episodes……..um yeah i ate it up lol 

[hazujosh]

the way that hazuki is literally such a perfect match for joshua is sooo so sickening. they're peers? smth that joshua's been lacking for? forever? joshua who has not allowed himself to connect w the humanity he's always felt connected to inside of him paired with a guy who will absolutely just initiate conversation and whatever if he feels the need to is so. mwah chefs kiss. i dont care that they have exactly (1) interaction its everything. of course it makes sense for joshua to be bitter about the events that hazuki caused but it's also. does he hate hazuki? i dont think so. despite the bitterness he feels it's more complicated than that because after all joshua almost did basically the same thing it's just. he changed his perception before it happened. In what hanekoma didn't trust in (rightfully so), hazuki did. (granted we dont really know the exact reasoning for shinjuku's cleanse but...im setting that aside for now because this isnt about ntwewy's blanks in background info) .... Joshua's growth is what makes him bitter about it but it's also what makes him receptive towards seeing the changes that hazuki could make....the ways he could connect with humanity....... and then joshua asking hazuki about his conversation with rindou? in twewy's secret ending we see how he just turns away and disengages when hanekoma tries to engage with joshua after noticing he seems down, so it feels so interesting when he starts to open up about his own feelings after hazuki expresses his confusion to him. even though joshua doesn't. really need to know about that? he doesn't even need to tell hazuki about himself either... and also in the jp text rather than saying "you need to watch where you're going" after hazuki says he was just following after joshua he says smth like "really? im still inexperienced" (take the TL w a grain of salt bc my jp is not great but the text is 本当？まだまだ未熟だね). and it's like yea i mean joshua has lied and he's been kind of strange when he talks abt emotional stuff from wht we see in twewy (it's either testing neku in his feelings and beliefs or avoiding them entirely) but im inclined to think he's genuine there? because yes it would make sense that he would agree now that his idea to erase shibuya was a bad one? that he was inexperienced then and he might still feel inexperienced even after three years because he'd probably be dealing with navigating being more of a Person post-twewy with what he learned and then you know. having to trap your best friend who proved that you shouldn't give up on yourself and give up on humanity to protect him while also having to deal with whatever the fuck is going on in shibuya right after you decided to save that shit because you let yourself love it again. AND IT'S LITERALLY RIGHT AFTER JOSHUA SAYS (in the jp text, again loose tl) that hazuki has always been sloppy in regards to the lower plane....omg. like...its not like he has to extend kindness to hazuki but. he does. probably because he understands how hazuki came to do what he did. Again theyre just. exactly what they need for each other. joshua needs a push to get on with accepting the faucets of his emotions and humanity that he's repressed by being put into such a difficult position for (presumably) a teenager and hazuki needs someone who's willing to teach him about all of that.....we could even slot them under Male Yuri. theyve fascinated me in the like 2 minutes they have together. they fulfil the same needs of water and air and foo

[transcomputer]

HEY HI WALLY UM SORRY TO SCREAM INTO THE VOID OF YOUR INBOX BUT I WATCHED 8 EPS OF FIONNA AND CAKE AND I SAW THAT YOU DIDNT LIKE EP 9 AND 10 WHICH MAKES ME CONCERNED CUZ I REALLY LIKE THIS SO FAR EVEN IF IM A PRETTY CASUAL AT FAN. IDK WHAT I MEAN BY SENDING YOU THIS JUST THAT. MAYBE I WONT BE AS DISAPPOINTED IDK?? ok ill stop screaming now i hope youre having a good day/night :"3

HIII SU YAYY IM GLAD YOU LIKE FIONNA AND CAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! o(^▽^)o despite my beef with the last 2 eps i really really do like f&c as a whole ... it feels like such a natural and intriguing progression for adventure time's story while also being creative enough to have its own identity. when i was watching it i was blown away with how much it exceeded my expectations!!! i wanna see where they take the 2 stories and im excited to see where the team decides take this universe (˘◡˘) ♪ ......

full disclosure im a #fake at fan i havent watched since iwas like 13 or something so take what i say with a grain of salt . but ig the main appeal of the first 8 eps for me is that i felt like it was set up as a subversion of what we knew about fionna and cake and, by extension, adventure time as a series. it takes a look at at's typical storytelling formula but from a more detached lens so it provides a new take on adventure time's storytelling by subverting it's key elements while offering a new perspective and tone (i was very pleased w how different f&c are from their at counterparts!) . simon's depression only seems to spiral with time despite everything "ending well" in the original series. fionna, who was initially excited to escape her boring life, becomes slowly disillusioned when she realizes she's out of her element amidst all the magic. both fionna and simon were stuck in a point where they can't progress in life (though in varying degree) because no matter what they do, there isn't really anywhere they belong. so their arcs are set up to have them live for themselves and carve an identity outside of wanting to escape their situations!! i found that very interesting!!

but then. episode 9 and 10 ...... gotta say i was pretty underwhelmed w these ones ha!

(extended thoughts beyond the cut bc its wayy too long and kind of a downer.. ^^ dont click if u havent finished yet!!):

i mean. eps 9-10 do a good enough job in wrapping up the story .... its just that the tone and way in which conflict was resolved felt kinda disconnected from the first half imo. fionna's struggles and what she needed was set up as a fairly complex problem and seemingly extended beyond her surface level desire to escape. but by the end shes like no wait im ok with my town actually i just needed to accept it :) which while yes that was the resolution the show was setting up, the way it's handled feels too. easy ig? idk her journey in the last two episodes feels wayy more cut-and-dry than i was hoping. it really feels like they wanted to delve into her struggles a little longer but weren't given enough time to do so, so they just kinda had to skip to The Part where she learns her lesson, but for me that kinda undermined the complexity of the conflict being set up and resolved things in a pretty generic way. also nitpick but her decision to not change her world mainly coming from gumlee going like "nooo we just got together!" was like disappointingly simple to me (._.)

which brings me to simon. ouuugh simon. i loooove fionna and cake's take on simon as a character a lot but im sorry betty and simon's resolution left me with more mixed feelings than it did closure. their story is bittersweet and doomed from the start so i dont have a problem with them not being meant to be but "simon was selfish too" being the major takeaway is so strange to me? throughout the show simon is shown to be incredibly selfless and self-sacrificial so having THAT be what we take away from his character feels so out of left field. and yes bc we dont see much about simon's personal life in the main series i dont doubt that he was prone to being selfish. it could be an interesting direction to take him in! but.... his selfishness towards betty is only brought up in episode 9 (we didnt see betty till episode 8 mind you) through an exposition dump via casper and nova (whose segments+designs were admittedly rlly cute) and directly called into question in the last episode, which was ALSO their last meeting. and it leaves such a sour taste to me ....... if youre basing a climax off a specific conflict....why wait UNTIL the climax itself to directly bring up said conflict with little to no buildup. i couldnt feel any closure bc i didnt think this was the conflict theyd choose to build their relationship on at all (then again i have bad foresight)

also "we could've made better choices" still confuses me bc literally WHAT..... if simon never put on the crown he wouldve died and never wouldve found marcy. if he escaped the crown's curse he wouldve projected his madness onto pb. idk. maybe i was reading too much into those isolated incidents. but also somehow i doubt that betty turning insane and ice king's existence were consequences of his selfishness 😭 mind you he literally tried to stop betty from saving him in at!!

additional nitpicks the tone kinda switched back and forth and it felt jarring. going from the somber tone of simon and betty resolution/final meeting and the lighthearted/vaguely humorous tone of fionna and friends trying to stop the bad guy kinda messed with my investment a lil bit...also jay permanently living in fionna's universe was so strange to me likerwyt2r!^%@%#& DONT YOU HAVE SIBLINGS?

anyways i sound really critical but its only bc im rlly invested and believe it could be better if its given enough time to explore its concept better!! and even if the last 2 eps werent for me as a whole there are a lot of things i love about it . the visuals (casper and nova, simon and betty's resolution, the scene of simon returning to ooo, the dandelion scene, the epilogue, GOLB) were sooo beautifully done and did such a good job giving the scenes weight like seriously props to the creative team. i also looove beth and shermy we've only seen very little of them but already their dynamic is so endearing. there's so much passion and creativity jampacked into this project i reaaally can't wait to see what else they have in store

[a-method-in-it]

Hello! I know you've made a few posts about workers rights and unions and I have a question. I was written up at work and then complained on camera (like security office camera w/ audio) to a coworker about issues I had with the write up, and then other coworkers came to me and said that I needed to be careful what I said in my office bc it was recorded and my complaints were heard by upper management and they were upset about it. My coworkers warned me it could lead to trouble for me (another write up or termination) if I didn't watch how I spoke about the companies/managements actions when being monitored. If I ever did get in trouble for this peer to peer venting about the work place (nothing posted to social media or said in front of clients) what are my rights, especially when there isn't anything outlined in our employee handbook in regards to surveillance?

Hey! So, I am not a labor lawyer, so you should take everything I say with a grain of salt (like, just so you know, this is the sort of thing that if you were in my union I would want to run some questions by our lawyer before I said anything for sure). But:

So the real issue here is not the surveillance -- there are shockingly few laws governing an employers' ability to surveil their employees -- but rather, the possibility that they might take action/retaliate against you for talking to your coworkers.

In general, you have the right to discuss what's usually termed the "terms and conditions of your employment" with your co-workers. The most clearly protected aspect of this is the right to discuss pay. Discussing safety concerns is also up there as far as being clearly protected. But there are also lots of other things that fall under this umbrella.

You can find some additional info here: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/employees/concerted-activity

My instinct is to say that talking to your co-workers about disciplinary action would probably be protected concerted activity. But also, it might depend on what you written up for, or what exactly you said to your co-workers, or what your purpose was in discussing it. Like I said, I'm not a lawyer, so I can't say for sure.

I will say that if you know there is surveillance in your office/workplace, you should try to avoid it if possible. Or at least, that's my standard practice as a paranoid union steward. But if you don't have places where you can talk to your coworkers outside that surveillance, I would say you are probably protected when it comes to discussing most things relevant to your opinions about your job -- but you should try to make sure they are in fact about the job itself. (So think, like, "I think our scheduling system is unfair" as opposed to "I think our manager is an idiot.") Also avoid swearing. Swearing is, I have discovered, a really easy excuse for management to crack down on someone for speaking up, while still being able to provide a legal justification for it.

I hope this was helpful!

[butchwheels]

IT'S CHRISTMAS TMRW YEEHAW!!!!! can't wait to watch a replay of candlenights and i might get to smooch a girl (star) :3 if she doesn't suddenly get cold feet lmao we have only known eachother for like two weeks but she was all sad about having no plans so i offered to do smtg together. not sure if it'll actually happen but it's a cute thought! she wanted to have a sleepover tonight n do stuff tmrw, i got her a fairy crystal necklace bc she's soooo fairy coded <3 it just feels nice to give nice gifts to a pretty girl tbh, even if nothing comes of it i don't regret it at all <3

i'm still happy that me n her kissed and uhhh did more too >:) and it didn't feel like a typical one-night stand it was in a very loveydovey way, which i honestly needed. i was wary of unemotional sex but we did have deep talks and lots of laughs and rly good emotional chemistry so she made it rly sweet when we spent two days together. and i got to say a bunch of gay shit to her and cuddles and just FINALLY BE WITH A GIRL!!!! it was such a nice sapphic time!! but yeah she's been very intense in her feelings for me so not sure if that'll last since that level of passion this early on tends to die off quickly in my experience, like it's being intoxicated by the feelings rather than something grounded in reality :/ she kept saying she's scared she'll break my heart but also she's all pet names and saying we're soulmates and that we knew eachother in a past life and that i'm her favorite person and she's obsessed w me etc etc sooooo um yeah i'm taking everything w a grain of salt and not getting too deep into it. i do really like her and we vibe well but who knows!!! idk she hasn't texted me back about today and it's almost 1pm so idk y'all

[sohya]

what is your gym routine if you don’t mind answering?

ahh omg first thing i should say is like i'm not really consistent w going to the gym bc my job hours are very poopy but also i'm very gym shy and when i go to the gym i go with my cousin and she acts like my pt kinda but i'm slowly transitioning to going by myself. also i just recovered from covid so it's been a week since i've last been to the gym.

i definitely recommend looking up workouts on tiktok and ig. read the comments as well because you might watch someone do a workout thinking it looks easy but their form might be completely wrong so yeah. one person my cousin and i use on ig is dianaconforti.fit

but for my routines i usually just do 4-5 sets and 8-12 reps of each depending on the weights i also use. for my back, last time i did it, i did 4 sets of 10 lat pull downs. i did 10kg for the first set n it felt too easy so i went up to 15kg and it almost killed me so i went back to 10kg for the third and went up to 15kg for the last set but just did 8 reps. and then single arm cable rows, 10kg on each arm and 4 sets but 2 on each arm with 10 reps. and i would've kept going with proper cable rows but i wanted to get out of the gym bc more were more people were coming. but this time i wanna finish that whole set with pull ups (2 sets of as many reps as possible [amrap]).

a really good full body workout that i like is kettlebell swings and i usually do 2 sets of amrap and i usually use 20kg to give myself a challenge. for arms, i stick with dumb bell exercises, i can't remember the names of them but you can easily find tiktoks for arm workout ideas. just remember if you're trying to make your arm not as muscly, don't use heavier weights. the lighter ones are the ones to go with if you just want tone them or make them leaner.

and omg my favourite workouts are for sure legs/glutes. rdls, squats, hip thrusts are the ones i love doing the most. bc it's the most painful workout for me so the masochist in me loves it. if you're a beginner, rdls can be really tricky so i recommend watching tons of videos to see how to do it properly and then practice your form in the mirror in your own room. for me what i remember is to start with my hips and push it out. and then i bend my knees just a bit as my back starts going down. keep your back straight as you do and idk when you look at the form in the mirror just remember how every part of your body feels like muscle memory works for me. i usually do 4 sets as well and just 10 reps with 8kg weights. with hip thrusts, my gym has a hip thrust machine so i thankfully don't have to use those huge weights but i usually go 10-15kg weights on both sides. i follow the 999 workout where it's 9 hip thrusts, 9 kas glute bridges and then a 9 second hold and it kills my glutes so bad omg.

take everything i've said w a grain of salt, i get a lot of gym tiktoks and thats where all my knowledge has come from, if not from my cousin. i'm also going to start finishing my workouts off with 25 minutes on the stair master on level 6 to get rid of my back fat and also the cardio helps lose fat overall. also, 'helps' assuming you're also on a calorie deficit diet but i don't count the calories i eat bc i quite frankly can't be bothered and i like eating foods that i know probably fills up what should be a healthy calorie intake in a day. but yeah idk i just do what i want to do but i'm also forcing myself to be more proactive to better myself :)

[whentherewerebicycles]

hi! here are my thoughts on your four questions! caveat: i have limited experience in this, and this is just my opinions so please take these with a grain of salt and maybe get a second opinion on anything that is an action. okay! in order:

for #1 (negotiation medium): i don’t really know. i haven’t negotiated for a govt job, and i’ve heard opposite advice for tech (do it in writing over email vs do it on the phone). i’m sure other people will have better advice but i would say whatever feels most comfortable for you, sine you’ll have to do something difficult it might be helpful to make it easier on yourself.

for #2a (how much to ask for at once): when i was negotiating (caveat: have only done this once recently but was satisfied w what i got) i was negotiating for start date and increase in base salary or signing bonus and i negotiated for all of them in the same call. since all of these things have to be finalized before you can get your final offer, i would say ask for all of it at once (i did start date then signing bonus then salary so i could do the less scary to me things first). especially since now you have the offer they want to modify the offer so you’ll take it. and this way whatever person you’re talking to doesn’t have to keep going back and forth with whatever internal teams they’re interacting with. unless you think you’ll have multiple negotiation sessions (with the 2-3 day turnaround it sounds like you might have just one but you’ll know much better than me), i would ask for everything you want at once. plus it means you only have to be in the agonizing period of waiting for them to accept or deny once instead of several times in succession (for me, waiting for response to my negotiating was worse than waiting for the offer itself but ymmv).

for #2a (how much to ask for at once): when i was negotiating (caveat: have only done this once recently but was satisfied w what i got) i was negotiating for start date and increase in base salary or signing bonus and i negotiated for all of them in the same call. since all of these things have to be finalized before you can get your final offer, i would say ask for all of it at once (i did start date then signing bonus then salary so i could do less scary to me things first). this way whatever person you’re talking to doesn’t have to keep going back and forth with whatever internal teams they’re interacting with. because since now you have the offer they want to modify the offer so you’ll take it. unless you think you’ll have multiple negotiation sessions (with the 2-3 day turnaround it sounds like you might have just one but you’ll know much better than me), i would ask for everything you want at once. plus it means you only have to be in the agonizing period of waiting for them to accept or deny once instead of several times in succession (this was for me, worse than waiting for the offer itself but ymmv).

for #2b (resources): i had a google doc open with specific phrases i could say written out that i read off of during a phone call. in particular i was struggling with what to say to dodge around immediately giving a number, and i was advised to basically give neutral responses like “this is great info to have” or “thank you for that information” or “i’m so excited about the role” and that worked well for me. a friend also suggested i watch this video (https://youtu.be/u9BoG1n1948) which is from a person who worked in tech but the general strategies might still be helpful! i also had forgotten i’d named a salary range earlier in the process and when the talent person brought that up in the convo (bc i was negotiating for more) i said something like, “i actually did some extra research and am now expecting a little more” to explain why i was still negotiating and that went over well. i also HIGHLY recommend telling many friends that you are nervous like you are doing because the sweet sweet serotonin of later texting your friends “I NEGOTIATED” and having them praise you is pretty great affirmation.

for #3 (decision deadline): i’d say whichever will be more comfortable for you is what you should go with. if you’d rather have the weekend, ask for that. if you don’t really care, ask for their deadline. but yes so you have all the info you need, i would say definitely ask for a date! and related to #4, you can maybe also tell them you’re also in the interview process for another position and want to finish that out, just to see what they say. this might also be helpful for putting pressure on when negotiating.

for #4 (other interview): i would say, go to the interview if it’s already scheduled, then you can have more information. mainly i recommend this to stave off potential feelings of uninformed regret later, because you mentioned you really like the job. and possibly tell the college people you have an offer you’re considering but that you’re still really interested in theirs. maybe that will do something to make them go faster and maybe it won’t, but at least you’ll have gently kicked them to the best of your ability.

ok that’s all! the offer stage and negotiation truly is a terrifying experience but i would definitely say, even if you don’t get anything, the experience is worth it! (especially if you want to eventually be the kind of person who can and does negotiate.) anyway, this is very long, hopefully some of it is helpful! good luck out there!

posting this excellent @hideyseek message late but i read it this morning along with everyone's excellent advice & i wanted to post it for anyone else who might be negotiating a job now or in the future!! excellent advice from everyone lol. i was on the phone with my mom and i was like "oh i talked to all my friends about it" and she was like "oh, [insert real life friends' names]?" and i was like oh no, no, my friends from the internet

[nancyxace]

What did you think of tonight's episode?

first of all, i only saw the last half and gleaned the first half from twitter reactions so take what i say with a grain of salt

1. i don't really know what's going on with the plot tbh - temperance is doing some villain shit? but i chalk this down to my disjointed watching style this season so that's on me

2. worried for george and nick, they had a pretty heavy conversation and it never got resolved? hopefully next ep

3. bess x addy are adorable

4. nark sucks bc it's barely been developed and they keep giving nancy age-gap relationships...i don't see the chemistry b/w them period but i'm also clearly biased

5. ace was the shining star for me. it was sweet to see him pine (cause nancy has done enough of that as we know) and the shoulder scene was EVERYTHING. more chemistry than any nark scene we've ever had. his insistency to get back to her was proof of how strongly he feels for her. though i really do wish we would've had some comment from nancy about him standing her up.

overall, episode was good but had its disappointments. what are your thoughts?

[masked-puppetmaster]

hey, i saw you asked a while ago why dream & techno apologists are apologists for those characters (and you liked a bunch of my posts concerning that, actually) i was wondering if you still have any more questions - and also i wanted to ask if you wanted to talk a bit about c!tommy and what makes you like him so much? like is it just the emotional attachment to him? is it the trauma? anything specific about the way in which he is written? i've always watched his pov & i'm very curious! / - red

yo yo yo hey! I think I understand it a bit more now, for the dream & techo apologists, I think I’m still a bit confused when it comes to technoblade. I see a lot about people only using him as a weapon/ him not being able to trust people / no one sticking up for him and I’m not sure where it comes from? In all fairness, I only know him as the guy who executed Tubbo / spawned withers but im assuming that’s in large part because I came into the story so late (iirc I didn’t really get into the dsmp until around doomsday, and I got most information of past events just by like. osmosis or reading wikis) so I might simply just not have enough information on techno to get it. Like, he executed Tubbo under a lot of pressure iirc but that doesn’t take away from the fact he did execute him? or things with the withers, I know technoblade doesn’t like the government and I’d go as far as to say he has a point, but was it really necessary to destroy lmanburg (iirc, multiple times). I know he was mad, but I feel like he shouldn’t have taken in that far, like from what I see and understand it’s like yes he had his points but he hurt people and doesn’t seem to care that he hurt anybody, just kinda stands there assuming he’s right about everything and not rlly looking at the situation from anyone else’s perspective. That being said like I said I came into the story really late and so my arguments might be able to be chalked up to just a lack of proper context, and even if I’m kinda annoyed at Technoblade’s behavior I still like him as a character & when techno does stream I enjoy the content so I’m not like a technoblade hater or anything I just don’t see why people can be apologists for him bcos from my pov he’s just kind of hurt people and not taken any personal responsibility for it (I mean this as in acknowledging to himself he was ever in the wrong; ex. The whole Tommy / techno betrayal situation which I think was a p complicated matter to be fair he just keeps saying over and over how Tommy betrayed him and it doesn’t seem to me like he’s even bothering to look at the situation from Tommy’s pov or rlly reflect on his own actions at all)

I just rlly like Tommy! I think at least some part of it can be chalked up to Tommy being the first streamer I watched in the dsmp and one of the ones I watch the most from (half the time I’m watching the dsmp it’s a Tommy stream) so there’s just gonna be some inherent bias towards him there like there is with literally any of these streamers. As you put it, it is kinda the trauma, haha. trauma and emotional attachment lol. I think part of it is I relate to him a lot, and I can see where he’s coming from on a lot of things, and I also just like the way his character is written. Smthn abt him that people have pointed out is that his trauma isn’t pretty and romanticized it’s ugly and yk he acts out and all that, which I appreciate. I can see where he’s coming from on a lot of things or at least understand why he thinks the way he does. I like seeing him learn and grow I like seeing his arcs both personally with himself and with other people. He’s an interesting and complex character and he’s been through a lot and I think it’s just super interesting to see how what he’s gone though affects his mental state and his actions as a character, like just from like a mental analysis standpoint there’s a lot to talk about which I think is pretty cool. this isn’t to say that he’s never fucked up or done anything wrong, because he has, but to be fair so has everyone else on this server I don’t think there’s a single member of the server who’s done nothing wrong (except maybe like. Charlie. Charlie my beloved). He’s made his mistakes but every good character fucks up that’s what makes them a good character is their flaws and so with the ways that he’s messed up and the ways he’s hurt people I’m an apologist because I can see why he acts that way, where the feelings and actions are coming from and I can forgive him for it because I understand the why. Also I just think the punishments he’s received for his actions are rlly unfair, easy ex with exile he did something many people on the server have already done at one point or another and was exiled and mentally broken down over it and rlly it’s just been like one thing after another and even if he’s made mistakes he gets way more harshly punished than I think was fair. I’ve seen people talk about how annoying and selfish his character is and when I read the posts (not all of them, there’s a nice chunk of people who are civil about it) it just seems like they’re not rlly thinking abt his character and his experiences. I’ll see people explain his signs of trauma and say it’s annoying because it’s not soft crying trauma it’s messy acting out trauma which it’s just like you do not understand this at all, do you? Or with the discs, I’ll be honest with you here. I will defend Tommy’s attachment to these stupid little music discs till the day I die. Why can’t he have his discs? They’re his , they’re not even that valuable outside of the fact that they’re his, why can’t he have things? why isn’t he aloud to have items he’s attached to without someone taking them for the sole reason of he likes them. And all I see is people saying he is selfish and cares about the discs more than people, which is literally disproven in the rp. Ranboo flat out says he’s not selfish, when Tommy takes the blame for George’s house (also keeping in mind here tommy and ranboo barely knew each other at the time, and if Tommy was actually selfish he could’ve very easily dragged Ranboo down with him) and when it comes to the discs he’s given up the discs multiple times in favor of helping other people (he gave them up for lmanburg, and then for Tubbo I think twice actually) and the one time he told someone the discs were worth more than they were, that was the moment yeah made him realize he didn’t like who he was becoming and he immediately backtracked and allowed the disc to be handed over. TL;DR he’s not selfish he’s just got a lot of strong attachments and his attachments are both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness. And he’s a kid, he’s been though a lot of things, he’s got a lot of trauma he’s dealing

with and it’s not always pretty but he gets better, he has his arcs and he gets better and learns from some of his actions, and I think looking at him and his yk. Timeline and character development and arcs and his whole like mental deal and just general character choices are super interesting and I find it fun, as someone who enjoys character analysis, and all in all I love him I relate to him in some ways and some of it also might just be emotional attachment and bias towards him as Tommy being one of my comfort streamers

& it’s fully possible someone could have just as much of an argument for c!techno, my deal w looking at c!tommy making mistakes and c!techno making mistakes and being able to be an apologist for Tommy and not for techno is more about me understanding tommy’s character better and understand the reasoning and the why behind the things he says and does, vs. techno who i dont really get and i can’t be an apologist for him if I don’t understand anything hes doing or why he’s doing it and then seeing him over and over dismiss other peoples perspectives and never rlly reflecting on himself (not to say Tommy couldn’t use at least a little of that himself- I am Looking over at his relationship w Jack Manifold lol) can be kinda frustrating but as I said earlier that might just be me not knowing all the proper context

I could probably write more about Tommy especially when it comes to the whole technoblade vs Tommy thing but this post is already way longer than you probably ever wanted to read so I’ll stop now I’m sorry I’m just hyperfixated haha and yk if anyone wants to like add arguments or points or if you or someone rlly likes technoblade or dream or whoever and wants to talk to me about that go ahead I encourage that like I rlly enjoy having those conversations w ppl provided theyre civil abt it bc like we’ve all said a million times over before eveyone in the dsmp is an unreliable narrator and you’re just going to automatically have a bias towards a character if you watch their POV most and all that so. Yk I am a tommy apologist but I watch his streams most and I’m also just emotionally attached so anything I can say has to be taken w a grain of salt bcos I’m biased towards his character

[xiaosean]

why you should watch douluo continent

the drama adaptation is such a good rendition of “soul land” and stayed true to the plot line and character development. it was fast-paced (perfect for me) but may be confusing for those who don’t know the story. i personally love the donghua, and i think the drama did an adequate job of portraying everything in their own way 😁 (read at your own discretion; this contains spoilers)

things i liked:

initially, i didn’t like the dreamscape bc wtf is it doing there? why is he hearing his mom’s voice in episode 1 (it just kills the entire momentum of the plot); and then after i got to episode 39... fucking ep. 39, i knew the dreamscape needed to be there in order to save tang san’s life; mr. wang who wrote the script, props to you.

the cgi 🥰✨ i had really low expectations bc if there’s shitty cgi like cql... i wouldn’t be able to handle it. but it’s so good ??? please, i know the ape soul beast was small and funny looking (bc they had to spend money on the water dragon lmao), but other than that, it was so good and how each and every character’s powers were able to shine

le outfits + makeup - they’re not super pale 😭😭😭 finally !!! and the outfits are so nice, SO SO NICE, each and every character holy hell

how they changed hu liena’s (aka. qian renxue) role in the drama --- she’s my fav female antagonist; she’s so good here, her character was annoying at first, but she’s so dynamic and independent, and just wants to impress her mom. you see her helping tang san + his squad during the last 5 eps because SHE CARES about her mom despite her strict upbringing 🥺 her and tang san have a ship name called 糖葫芦 (candied hawthorns) and i think that’s so cute hehe

the seven devils 😂 i loved the seven devils in this adaptation almost as much as i loved them in the donghua; each and every character got their own storyline, they’re not boring nor do they draw attention away from the tang san’s main plot, and you see so much development (esp. in ou sike and dai mubai)

headmaster, da shi, and er long trio! 黄金铁三角 iconic and they captured it so well 😭 they chose the actor for the headmaster so freaking well i’m screaming! he loves money so much and his little facial expressions as a third wheel is everything, the comedic relief! and da shi... i see y’all thirsting over calvin chen okay 😌 he’s so much better in the drama tbh & er long is majestic and amazingly powerful and cunning, i love her !!! and props to luo san pao, the best doggo ever!

the seniors! they basically perfected tang san’s relationship with dugu bo... it was antagonistic at first, but then they became besties over poison 😭❤️ i loved dugu bo’s character in here bc he was so funny & didn’t get social cues LMAO // the ape soul master was brief but he honestly made my day with how much he respected the tang family & how he took care of his father back in the day // 七宝琉璃 squad was also 🥰 (less hot than in the donghua lol) but they also somehow made jian yeye the comedic relief? i love how they’re so accepting of ou sike despite him being a support soul master

tang san’s mom - i can only hear her voice, but she made me cry & i love her for that

tang san ❤️❤️❤️ xiao zhan’s voice over just blended in with his character & it was just so wonderful; tang san in the donghua was smart, so fucking smart, cunning, but the kindest at heart; xiao zhan truly portrayed that and my most memorable part was when da shi said “your only flaw is that you let your emotions get the best of you” (this is so important), and you see him later try to control his emotions and not act rashly, especially when confronted with 时年 & 比比东 --- also crying scenes 11/10

bibi dong powerful, POWERFUL WOMAN, props to her voice actress, i got chills when she said, “你根本没有资格知道” // tang hao, wow he’s just like i imagined, but i wish he was a little more emotional in ep. 1 bc the blue silver plant in tang san is essentially his lover’s martial soul

how the concept of family was generated within the shi lan ke academy squad 🥺 it’s such a feel good drama, istg, makes you so happy when you’re having a bad day ✨

things i didn’t like:

xiao wu’s character portrayal (the scriptwriter’s fault, not xuanyi) // i honestly let it slide for the first 10 episodes bc i usually start falling for a character later on, it’s normal; but drama xiao wu didn’t fulfill the 小舞姐 in my heart 😔 i get that many people like her, but it’s not the same! xiao wu in donghua is beautiful, independent, and outspoken, BUT MOST OF ALL HER LOVE FOR TANG SAN IS OBVIOUS, you don’t need to say “一起去” every other line in the drama; i think this could have been remedied if they stayed true to the storyline and let tang san enter the secret dimension alone, bring the mythical herbs back, and have xiao wu prick herself to activate 相思断肠红 (they completely butchered the significance of the flower i’m so angry; fyi: the flower can only belong to you if your heart loves one person --- there’s the most beautiful backstory to the flower but drama douluo said nah). also, drama xiao wu is so clingy and she started exposing herself from the beginning... no momentum build-up whatsoever 😔 it’s 斗罗大陆, not 斗罗大陆: 小舞传 and sometimes it felt like she was being so insistent on following tang san around, i’m just 😓 

the whole canghui academy scheme --- it was confusing for 10 eps straight until they got to the end of it, but I guess the drama wanted to add that part in because they wanted to focus less on the competition and more on 变异武魂 (the mutated martial souls) in order to defeat bibi dong

how the beginning was so confusing 😫 i wish they just stuck with child tang san remembering his past life as a disciple in tang clan & then learning 玄天宝录 on his own bc that was such a great part of his character development + understanding of soul masters/their weaknesses; and the fact that he would rely less on his parents 

the kiss + confession at ep. 40 // could have done w/o it or even a simple forehead kiss; the confession from tang san was way too quick considering there’s little to no emotional build-up towards that moment (other than bibi dong doing all the work like the queen she is) and there’s no surprise element either? like we’ve been knew she’s a soul beast since ep. 5 🥲 and the kiss was awkward & like i said, sanwu’s love doesn’t need words or actions to confirm... it’s this innate thing that the audience should be able to see (if the scriptwriters focused a little more on BIG plot points that boost the sanwu relationship, then it would have been perfect) ^^ i wish they spent more time on the romantic aspect of the relationship bc even after 30 eps, they seem like siblings when OP said They’re Not.

overall thoughts:

this is purely my opinion, so please take it with a grain of salt! the cons imo were minor except for the development of the sanwu relationship; it doesn’t seem like romance to me 😔 but hopefully it’ll get better in the (maybe) second season when they take some time apart to grow? i’m surprised how much they referenced the original story (characters and such), and i am thoroughly impressed with WHERE THEY ENDED IT, and how they rounded all the new/old plot points together in a way that makes sense. i also don’t hate any of the antagonists, which is why this drama is so lighthearted and easy to watch. it’s not emotionally taxing (sans tang san crying bc xz breaks me heart 😭💕), and safe + enjoyable to watch with family! you’re gonna miss it once it ends, and i think that makes a drama successful 😁 also i’m not gonna go into depth about the mysterious ending bc i might spoil it for those who want to watch the donghua LMAO (but if you want to know my theories, shoot me an ask)

[manggaetteokkie]

Hi, re your last anon, we know that jk added the J last, bc we have photo evidence. We have a photo of jk at an amusement park w friends/brother, holding a churro, and while ARMY is there, the J is not. And it wouldn't be a pain thing, imo, bc as someone w tattoos, that J would've taken like, 30 seconds or less. This kinda discounts the ot7 for me, personally, bc did he just forget 3 of his hyungs? Also the inconsistency of the symbolism, the stage names for some and real names for others (1)

(2), plus that Tae, Joon, Yoongi all have only one symbol for them (V for Tae, RM for Joon, and Y/MY for Yoongi, but Hobi, Jin, and Jimin all have to share one letter. And again, the fact that the J was added days after is Very noticeable to me. In my opinion, the A is just stylistic (see how samsung does the same), and once everyone saw JM (on his ring finger), everyone ran to show how it could be ot7. We'll never know for sure, but I think it's a tattoo just for army, and jm is something Else.

Hi! same anon from before, the churro pic wasn't the only one there was another pic of him posing with his whole arm out (i'm assuming before he added to his sleeve). there we saw everything but the '+' & the added J. also in the churro pic, tho you're right we can't be certain it's him, the tattoo on the thumb seems to be his 0613 tattoo that's in the same area. either way i get ppl are gonna speculate since he hasn't stated anything otherwise, as long as ppl take it with a grain of salt

adding to my previous ask, (tattoo anon) i also feel like pushing something cause it's ot7 doesn't make it any more plausible? whether ppl want it to be shipping related or ot7 they are all theories just the same until he talks about them you know?

Hello again tattoo anon(s)! (I’m gonna call you tattoo anon(s) because I’m pretty sure I’m talking to two diff tattoo anons at this point).

Okay, I’m gonna soften my stance just a bit because I feel like this whole tattoo thing has one too many iffy points for anyone to make a certain statement (and like I said, JK himself has never confirmed anything and even if he did say something, I feel like people would still doubt if he was telling the entire truth). While there is some evidence floating around, people would argue it’s not enough so for me, it’s gonna remain as one of those “what exactly was jk thinking of when he did it” moments (notable moments in this category: the tissue incident, when he pulled JM by the tie which led to JM sitting on his lap in the LY tour, the list goes on).

Also, I made a mistake in my previous edit, JK does have a 0613 tattoo on his thumb. It’s just that, like Jimin’s NEVERMIND tattoo, which took forever for people to confirm it’s real given how people worried it might’ve been an edit, it’s so easy to manipulate a photo especially if you’re the only source posting it. Even now I’m not 100% convinced by either OT7 or shipping theory because I’m always a bit iffy of the information online.

To be perfectly honest though, when I first saw the explanation for the J, even my initial thought was “rip, 3 people sharing the same letter, would’ve been cool if they each got their own little piece... at least Jimin got the M to differentiate” (and I didn’t even have my shipping glasses on), so I can’t say I surprised people are being 👀 about what the J really stands for. It also doesn’t help that the letters JM literally stands out so much like BAM!

Nonetheless, I would say that it’s pretty fair to believe the narrative you want (OT7 or shipping). As anon said, Jeongguk himself has not confirmed anything so no one can say for sure what the tattoos mean. The important thing is to check your information thoroughly and not be afraid to change your mind if new information pops up. I’m pretty comfortable with both theories (my head says OT7, meanwhile my heart would love to believe in JM...).

(Also, just did a tiny bit of research and I think the hand the ring is on doesn’t matter, meaning the right hand can work just as well as the left hand. It’s the fact that it’s on the fourth finger that matters. Man really could’ve used his left hand instead but wow, look at the way the stars aligned and made the J end up on his ring finger instead of his middle finger, which would’ve happened if he had tattooed his left hand instead. I’m just gonna be here like hmm 👀 I’m watching you JK).

But seriously though, I feel like this whole thing really tested my investigative skills 😂 pretty nice, helps me get more info about things. Also, thanks to everyone who’s linked or corrected me in my previous post, y’all keep me accountable so that I’m not sharing completely inaccurate information and talking out of my ass lmfao

Btw, here are some of the tattoo pics I believe tattoo anons are referencing/have referenced (let me know if I missed anything):

[diteach]

2020 in review

I was tagged by @apeironaxiomaton to look back at 2020 and pretty much to try and not hate it so much! Thank you!!

Also I’m stealing the idea of putting everything under a cut, which I have never done in my life (and probably should start doing) bc it makes things neat as heck. Almost none of these are in a particular order.

Top 5 movies I saw this year:

Volevo Nascondermi by Giorgio Diritti - this movie is REALLY good AND I have good memories tied to the protagonist for Reasons I’m gonna cry bye (a shame that I’ve only watched this other excellent movie starring Elio Germano tonight bc it should be on this list)

Emma (2020)

The King’s Speech

Spirited Away or Porco Rosso - I had watched the first before and never the second so I think the fairer choice would be Porco Rosso but I’m not entirely convinced of it

The Wolf of Wall Street - look, I simply have a weak spot for stories that are so absurd they can be nothing but real (see “the other Elio Germano movie”)

Top 5 TV shows I watched this year:

Murdoch Mysteries - it will stay engraved in the first place of EVERY chart in saecula saeculorum and NO nothing can take its place I don’t care

Peaky Blinders

Alias Grace - which I was sure was a movie? I was so shocked to discover it isn’t like was it really six hours long what the

The Queen’s Gambit

Suburra: Blood on Rome - “The series was developed by Daniele Cesarano and Barbara Petronio for Netflix, making it its first Italian-language original television series.” I’ll be honest, some bits were a little bit hmm-inducing. Not the best tv series I’ve ever seen, but it managed to be fun and easy to watch. Suspenseful even!

Top 5 Songs:

So there’s a reason why Spotify said I’m an octogenarian this year and for as much as I complain about it... it’s right... Spotify’s right. And it will only get worse, I’m afraid. All the songs are from the same playlist which was my most listened to (and is the most interesting to share imo). I swear I have listened to other, newer things as well.

Shake That Thing by The Abe Lyman’s California Orchestra

Night Hawk Blues by The Coon-Sander’s Nighthawk Original Orchestra

Where the Sweet Forget-Me-Nots Remember by Merle Johnston and His Ceco Couriers (I’ve loved these flowers since I was a kid it was so nice to find a song with them in the title!!)

Dew Dew Dewey Day by Nat Shilkret

The Panic is On by Mezz Mezzrow And His Swing Band

Top 5 Books I Read This Year:

so this is embarrassing,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,I “bought” an insane amount of books and read a grand total of...like...t w o. It was actually like four and some short stories (which I hated and are therefore banished from the good boy list) so I’m gonna list my silly little titles and make my silly little comments about them all. From “””””best””””” to “worst” we have:

The Adventures of a Modest Man by Robert W. Chambers - I literally cannot shut up about this book and, yes, it is the one tied to this illustration, about which I equally cannot shut up about. It’s so horrible that it makes a 360 and comes back as good, but not before hitting you with a cardboard tube for a laugh and subsequently stabbing you in the kidneys just because it can. I think we can confidently state that we are in the “I didn’t say it was good, I said I liked it” realm. I have so many questions about this book. Why was it written? Was it taking itself seriously? Was it commissioned by someone? Why is it so gay but only if you know that the author is a man? Maybe it’s a parody? Was it an experiment made by the author to test his own skill? I know jack about literature, unfortunately, so grain of salt here but it made me feel strong feels. Not that I could identify any of them if you asked, but they’re definitely there.

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot - I’m counting this in bc what is a book if not a patchwork of silly little paragraphs anyway so yes, we have a collection of poems. Not only do I know jack about literature; as a matter of fact, I know jack about poetry as well! All I’m gonna say is: I like cute things, I like cats, the poems were cute AND about cats. I really liked it! I often find myself going back and reading again specific parts just for the delight it is to read them out loud! I also may or may not have named the cats you can adopt in Stardew Valley after some of Eliot’s cats. The movie Cats (2019) did one good thing: making me read this.

How You Can Keep Fit by Rudolph Valentino - Yes, that is correct. A book on fitness written (in English!) by silent movie superstar Rodolfo Valentino. It is less than 100 pages on real, actual exercises that the reader can replicate in the comfort of their own house with little to no equipment. With a sprinkle of old timey manly manner of speaking, a few anecdotes from the author’s childhood in ye merry Italian countryside, a dusting of precious advice against ice-cream, and a dash of genuine intrigue for these newly discovered “vitamins” everyone is talking about. Overall a fascinating read that I treasure dearly! Valentino also wrote a book of poems, which I am absolutely thrilled to read this year.

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway - Hmm.. I have mixed feelings about this one. Whenever the original language of a book is English, I instinctively want to read it in that language. Because I can! And because that way I get to read exactly what the author wrote. If it was another language, I’d get a translation, make peace with the fact that selling my soul to acquire perfect knowledge of all things is morally questionable, and call it a day. Problem: I’m a sucker for old books. And old books I did find indeed. There were three books by Hemingway for sale, very pretty, and for an almost symbolic price too so I bought them. They are Italian translations from the late 50s and my plan was to go through one in Italian, one in English, and after that, decide in which language to read the last one. I believe it was a mistake for me to start with Italian in Hemingway’s case. He’s known for having a very, VERY peculiar style that is integral to how the novels are perceived and I feel like I've robbed myself of literal peace of mind. For as much as I found the story interesting, I could not ignore the voice in the back of my head that kept wondering “was it necessary to render it like this?”. It did make me feel feels and think thoughts, but honestly? It was partially for the wrong reasons imo. It’s one of those books you should read at least once in your life, I guess, so I’m definitely glad I did it! Surprisingly, it captured me more than I expected and trapped me into its little world. I could clearly imagine the scenes in my head, which hadn’t happened in years! I’m really excited to move on to the next two books and finally be able to say if I appreciate his style or not.

Top 5 positive things that happened to me in 2020:

Visited Rome and took a stroll around on my own (sort of) for the first time in my life. I had never seen it at night :) Right after that I celebrated my birthday and got some cute gifts, including sweets that were sent all the way from Australia!!

Managed to buy my mom a gift, which is possibly the only real Accomplishment of 2020.

Took a bizarre trip this summer (I know, guilty) and fell in love with Slovenia

Discovering I like textile arts kinda gave me hope for myself and for the future. I say kinda for I dare not think concretely of anything too positive lest it should be prematurely taken from me. I shan’t elaborate. It is what it is.

Therapy!!!

The last few months of 2020 really hit me hard whereas in the beginning nothing was too bad so it was nice to see the list growing and growing! So many tiny good things happened and it’s worth to cling onto them. I’m tagging @sonicysuchillydog, @nurmilintunen, @alfonzone and anyone else who’d like to participate!! “Tell them I sent you” lol. Guys.............if you don’t feel like going thru your 2020 feel free to ignore bc......I get it............................

[wgsphoenix]

dnt rblg or share pls

nobody follows me here anyway so um. thoughts i might have if id seen the leaked scrims. i am neither a coach nor good at the game and scrimbucks are worthless anyway so take this with half a grain of salt. take nothing from this other than that both teams are functional and competent, i just think its fun to watch and dig into regardless 

the current apac meta is probably ball/dva tracer/sombra brig/zen. i didn’t get a good read on the *exact* way to play it since shock was playing it in a very odd (and counterable) way, but it seems play pretty similarly to the recent NA t3 meta of ball/sig tracer/echo brig or mercy/zen. i think it’s probably a more flexible meta than i saw here as well. 

teams play in groups of 1-2-3, with the ball solo, tracer + sombra together, and dva bodyguarding the zen. ball, sombra, and tracer all set up separately, and trade aggro between them until they’re all able to go on a single target. the goal of the ball is to begin engages, the goal of the tracer is to mark the enemy ball and force him far out of position, and the sombra bounces between them and gives help where it’s needed by hacking the enemy tracer/ball. zen is the most vital part of this comp bc orbs, and brig’s there to literally stay glued to him and to disrupt dives w/ flail/rally. dva is only there to be a 6th person on the team because sigma (the typical purposeless 6th wheel) is way too squishy vs sombra to be played, especially w/ the nerfs. from then you cycle ults and try to scare the enemy into wasting their tranq or mines. it’s a comp that takes ages to win fights, and it almost feels like fights never stop

nyxl played rush for one round of control and looked v strong, but shock was playing a weird comp so im taking that w/ a grain of salt. the only thing i can definitively say is that choi zarya still hurts my heart.

nyxl had a nutty tracer in called twowinhyun, which is ivy’s alt. i didn’t know he had a tracer so that’s pretty neat

shock ran glister/striker full time. striker was mostly on tracer, and instead of sombra (though he did play it for one map iirc) glister was on mccree or ashe. instead of playing it like standard, shock relied very heavily on striker to tracer diff and had glister there to shut down the ball + generally suppress the dive. nyxl was able to deal with this cleanly by sending flora along with ivy every time he engaged striker, and by diving glister the instant he was forced away from his brig. 

shock did play meta on one map, but they tried to off-angle on dva too much and choi got stuck in bad spots and fed (this is not on him, shock just didn’t know how to use dva in this comp yet). they also got bamboozled by flora’s sombra

there’s really nothing to take from shock here other than that their players are really good individually and they have good teamwork. they were very clearly experimenting and one scrimblock means nothing. please do not take anything i have written as an indication that shock will suck next year.

speaking of flora, he surprised me with how good he was. his EMPs were almost always perfect, he had excellent bait plays and surprise EMPs, and he saved hack so ivy and yakpung could almost always follow up on it. he also charged emp SUPER fast and had it for nearly every fight (i imagine teams will learn to counter him tho).the rest of nyxl looked strong on their heroes as well. the only part of nyxl i felt was questionable was jjonak’s’ tranq usage, but like. that’s just the way he is lmao. otherwise they looked good on everything and adapted nicely

the only thing to take from nyxl is that they have potential and are a functioning, competent team at the current moment in time

[losangelesvalorant]

final thoughts on games today:

Tl;dr: london is going to have Issues with a capital I, paris is fine and will be better w hanbin, boston were okay and them losing just solidifies how fucking scary and well-oiled nyxl is rather than boston being terrible. Titans, like usual, have no respect for their opponents and could be even scarier /if/ they wanted to be, valiant pops off sometimes but cant do it consistently, shock looks rusty and dallas needs to pocket decay even harder than they already are to win games.

london: i see a lot of potential in them, but until they gain confidence they’re c tier for me. They seem overcoached and lost when they aren’t unable to go through with their set plays, of which they way too many for each map. When they were able to play their game, they cycled their ults well, but were easily forced out of their comfort zone. Bernar tried his best to carry, but jmac looked lost and wasn’t able to bait nicodgh’s walls at all, that might be a problem w coordination w sanguinar for speedboost tho. babel wasn’t quick enough to get his walls out in time, though they were great when he did. Glister and highly tried their best, sanguinar seems to play very individualistically which gave london chances, but fdgod just outplayed him mostly. Once teams figure out how to play vs them they’re fucked unless the coaches move away from set plays and unless the team builds more confidence. This team is going to suffer with hero pools if they don’t fix something quick. London honestly and truly has a TON of potential, but not the coordination or confidence or coaching to utilize it.

paris: they’re gonna be scary as they get more coordinated! Can’t wait til they can run at full strength w better tanks. They made good adaptations and looked good doing it. Nicodgh’s walls were sick, nosmite looked great, fdgod is a fragger, xzi clicked heads and greyy and hyp did good too. Benbest i didnt watch. I really like what i see with this team, but we haven’t seen them at full strength so i dont feel like i have much to say about them. Definitely a dark horse for me. They should thrive with hero pools. 

nyxl: nyxl looks as dominant as ever. They’re coordinated, smart, aware, turn impossible situations around, and quickly shut down every win condition boston had before they could even execute it. Though whoru’s mei is def the weak link for me (his walls kinda suck. I think theyre just giving him stage experience here tbh. His genji slaps tho), him and sbb/nenne are a scary duo, everything that can be said abt jjonak and anamo has been said already (They are the best. They are the best. They are the best.), and mano and hotba are both doing excellently. I dont feel that this is their optimal meta, but nyxl has showed a lot of willingness to adapt to their opponents and make swaps, which i like. I’m not worried for them in hero pools, though they might stumble a bit. They’re solidly in S tier for me now

boston: This is gonna be controversial (and take this w a grain of salt cuz im plat.) but boston played better than i expected cuz im a pessimist and was expecting them to get completely rolled, and they at least showed some signs of life. They’ve clearly scrimmed a lot of different comps and looked at least vaguely competent in them, which is more than dallas valiant and london can say. They tried to go for a lot of clutches which never rly worked. they tried to adapt, but nyxl outmatched them and kinda drove them away. Axxiom and fusions were coordinated and i liked their dive, their double shield not so much. boston dps were holding their own, swimmer and myunbong were too, there’s not rly a carry on this team. axxiom i think is being slept on tho. They could definitely kite better and coordinate more, and make faster/smarter swaps, but they at least looked pretty synergized. They were clearly outmatched but they def looked better throughout the whole series than london did vs nyxl after the first 2 maps. Boston seems like a B- tier team to me, but they could be better and i do want to see them play more before im certain abt this. I’d call this a quality loss despite the scoreline

vancouver: Titans clearly didn’t prep much for this match and didn’t respect valiant as much as they should have. There’s no weak points on this team, just that all of them went for clutches they shouldn’t have and got punished for it bc they assumed valiant would be weaker than they were. Titans hate being methodical but are great when they are. When they subbed stitch in, they went for more dumb plays it seemed like, so i bet sms is the one keeping them chill. Fissure’s playing bumper style (taking space and dying for it) but quieter, which I like, bc it means they can pocket haksal harder and let twilight go for more plays. Good adaptations, great plays, great synergy, once titans got their feet under them and downloaded valiant it was over. Their dive was soooo clean. Nothing to be said about this roster that hasnt been said already (theyre the best). This is classic titans and im glad to see losing bumper hasnt completely stopped them from doing dumb shit, cuz even if it hurts me to watch its fun. They should be absolutely fine with hero pools, S tier.

valiant: Valiant only have one comp and theyre Very good at it, especially in the mirror, but theyre having trouble adapting to titans. They have very high highs and very low lows, they also try to clutch sometimes and fuck up. When the team pops off theyre sick, when they dont they… dont. Gig is a madlad. I do like that they prepped for the titan’s bap strat on lijiang and shut it down entirely, that was very good coaching, but they weren’t able to adapt to non-mirror matches after that. They might get fucked by hero pools bc they didn’t show anything successfully other than rein/dva variations, but we’ll see. I'm finding them fun to watch and I'm interested to see if they can consistently maintain their peak play. B tier, i think their weaknesses are more exploitable than boston’s but that boston would lose to them. Id compare them to hunters last year but if hunters played meta

shock: I didnt watch this match super close tbh. Shock looks strong as usual, but they stumbled far too much for my liking when they let doha and decay get value but otherwise incredibly dominant. Architect’s ana got sooooo much value as the series went on, beautiful sleeps beautiful nades beautiful nanos etc *chefs kiss.* i dont think shock prepped super hard for them, and they rly couldve adapted better on horizon and won that map, but it was overall dominant. They seemed pretty rusty honestly but theyre still good, but they should be pissed they got fullheld on horizon. I’m not going to draw any conclusions from this game when it comes to shock bc its one game and its their first game back. S tier, they’ll be fine with hero pools.

Dallas: Dallas looked way better than yesterday, when decay and doha were unleashed and it was less about taking space they were monsters. Tank play was better but not great, glad theyre not making note play rein anymore. Decay is a god and doha played around him really well and his walls were sick. When decay couldn’t play mccree and couldnt get support, there was nothing dallas could do. Gamsu… seemed a bit tilted and used ults he shouldnt have. There were also communication issues, it didnt seem like trill called some of his shatters which meant the team couldnt follow up. They weren’t able to adapt that well without set strats, and other teams will use that to their advantage. Once a team figures out how to shut down doha and decay the game is over. C tier, will struggle in hero pools

right now rankings for me go titans, nyxl shock in S tier, glads in A tier, toronto, paris, valiant, boston in B tier, dallas, london in C tier

[tonyglowheart]

@imaginaryelle replied to your post:*me sipping tea* (x)

I would really enjoy seeing more of your thoughts on this, if you ever want to share them.

:’) a lot of my thoughts are salty rants and I’m TGCF on main right now so uhhh not at the moment but if you wanna hmu on like a chat thing of some sort I probably will eventually rant about my dislike of The MXTX Antis and the Problematic Culture people and the purity culture wank :’)

actually you know what, since I’m a parody of myself and I’m like always mood of "and another thing,” I’m just going to. go for it ig

so my biggest thing, is with the MXTX antis/MDZS wank/MXTX wank. is like....god it FRUSTRATES me so fckn much lmfao in so many ways and on so many levels.  like listen. I’m not saying there isn’t stuff to critique in MDZS. But there’s people who are first off: critiquing the writing quality, when I’m like “there’s like a 90% chance you’re reading the EN translation, and probably from ExR, and honestly I know it’s not fandom etiquette to critique fan content bc we’re all doing this for free out of passion, BUT I do, in fact, have some major issues with ExR’s translation quality, and also I lowkey feel like they have a strong traditional yaoi bias and sometimes it leaks through in how they handle certain things.” Big mood of this twitter thread about how when you’re reading in TL you can’t be criticizing the writing bc you’re already reading it filtered and like. you gotta consider things like the TL’s own personal biases or takes, etc. Which I feel like some people don’t in their critique, or at least they don’t take the time to acknowledge it and instead start spinning off into more and more impassioned reactions to perceived slights or faults.

The other thing is like. I admit when I first read MDZS - which I did while simultaneously watching bc I was kind of using CQL as a vehicle to get into MDZS, I had the HARDEST time trying to read ExR’s translation when I was going into it cold many many many moods ago rip - I was also squicked out by the explicit scenes shown. It did remind me a lot of traditional yaoi tropes, and I wasn’t into it. HOWEVER I was also a psych major, and I want to point out that the T/N’s do read to me as having a strong yaoi bias, and also before ExR redid their site they had large “SERVING YAOI AND BL” banners on EVERY page lol. And I think that also primes people to see things a certain way. (I just. am :/ about ExR also bc like... their whole vibe as a “yaoi scanlator” and also I. can’t be sure the TL wasn’t 17 when they were tl’ing it lmfao,,  and they did the whole rant - which fine they apologized for, but I think sort of reflects on a general attitude still w/ the team - about how some other TL had bad quality or something, but their existing TL has a lot of clunky English phrasing and actually a lot of editing issues, too, I was creating myself a back-up copy from their site and like google docs was already catching a bunch of typos and tense issues and such :’) and that’s beyond clunky EN translation phrasing. I just am like. they have a patreon lol, so I can’t say ExR is doing it wholly not-for-profit/dollars, and also like... it’s not like they’re licensed? I get that within scanlation circles, there’s an etiquette of “first come first serve,” but with translation, I think fans are only served with more translations? but I also care about the original work lol, I mean I get the vanity of “I want MINE to be the AUTHORITATIVE tl” bc I feel that mood too, but also I’m like. fam you didn’t bid for a license lmao.)

But yeah like. My petty gripes with ExR aside lmfao, I think when you look at WangXian, the whole “it’s yaoi tropes” gets really strawman. Like from a Watsonian perspective, I mean like... both WWX and LWJ really ARE useless virgins, lol, WWX’s first kiss was stolen by LWJ and his whole idea of sex comes from porn; LWJ is GusuLan and like. yeah. Who is teaching them about lube? certainly not porn. (but this also gets into the whole. like people saying explicit material is “problematic” because it doesn’t show “realistic” sex and I’m like. fam it’s smut, not a sex manual.) And like... they’re both kinky and WWX has a pregnancy kink, and like... good for them I guess?

From a more Doylist perspective..... I think for me, I’m like. well why not? gay media doesn’t have to be uwu to be “Valid,” and like, the people who start attacking mxtx personally because of the way she chose to write WangXian, or saying she’s homophobic because of WangXian or she doesn’t have the range... I already Know they didn’t read TGCF or SV lol. (and yeah SV is more “problematic” but I also think it’s VERY genre aware and both satirizes and also plays with and subverts some of the typical genre “problematic” things. not everything, but like. again the whole idea that non-mainstream media needs to be held to a higher standard to not be cancelled? I don’t hold by that). [But more on the Doylist thing: it’s dumb to me that people react like it’s a moral failing of non-straight works if they don’t fit EXACTLY their personal idea of what a thing should be. And this comes up EVERY time there’s some new thing. hell it’s not even just lgbt-related stuff; Hamilton, Crazy Rich Asians, etc all had nitpicking. Which again, isn’t invalid! but also like. :/ because we DON’T have enough representation right now to pick, and my take is always: the solution is to get to the point where we can pick and choose and can afford to have bad media just like the straights/whites do :’)]

The thing about WWX and LWJ is neither of them, as they’re written in canon, fit within “traditional yaoi” seme/uke stereotypes. The kiss I see people rail against as “dubcon” and also their sex scenes but I’m like. yeah I think it’s fine to say it’s not your cup of tea but to say that that makes them traditional yaoi rapey tropes I’m like. Fam that’s not it lol. LWJ is shown as being SO incredibly responsive and attentive to WWX’s wishes and desires. I mean that’s examples of his passion exploding out, but we consistently see LWJ being respectful of WWX’s wishes and autonomy even when it like. fucks him/them over :’) like when WWX was so hell-bent on hurtling down the mo’dao route :’)

plus also WWX literally fantasizes about them retiring as farmers and he’s the one out working the fields and LWJ is staying at home weaving lol, like c’mon, ya wanna talk gender roles, let’s talk about this.

the other thing is the whole mxtx anti stuff about “she’s homophobic” and “she’s a filthy fujo” and I think there’s issues that people aren’t considering, which I don’t know as much about but I feel like it informs my consideration of mxtx - such as like... not everyone’s internet is as wide open as, like, the West. I don’t know so much about Chinese censorship other than it exists, but I’m like. I think this would affect people’s access to resources which would inform them about how things work/where people are with LGBT thought? It reminds me of when young tumblr kids trash talk older queer people for using terms they see as “problematic” now, and I’m like “you really gotta pause a moment of (1) have some empathy (2) consider the person’s individual personal and cultural context.” MDZS wasn’t made for a Western audience in mind lol, it’s not going to reflect Western values! And China has a different history with its LGBT progression and it’s m/m media, which I don’t know enough about to comment specifically, but I think it’s incredibly disingenuous to judge it based on Western standards. A lot of people probably don’t realize they are! in that it doesn’t even occur to them, which is why they feel so free with their judgment! But also I’m like. lowkey THAT’s a problem for me bc of like. cultural imperialism lmfao. and also reflective of EN-language imperialism, when people are judging EN tl’s they’re seeing on face value without realizing or considering that they’re...reading... a translation... and that translations are NOT in fact direct one-for-one and that there’s a LOT of considerations that go into both translating and reading a translation of a work.

I think the points antis pull up against MXTX is like... stuff she’s said before in interviews - and I don’t know from when, but I imagine years ago at this point - where she was asked about shipping the other characters in MDZS, and she said something I think about how to her, she wants to write in a way that “preserves realism” or maybe she believes in (I only read a TL of it, so I hold the exact phrasing with a grain of salt), and for her, not everyone is gay so she doesn’t write all of her named characters gay. and I’m like. whatever that’s her prerogative as the author. And I think there’s also something that I don’t know if it’s an official “rules”/”guidelines” she wrote bc again I’ve only seen secondhand/thirdhand sources, but it’s something mxtx-antis also quote, where she said to not break up the main couples and also don’t “reverse” them. but again when we’re getting into the shou/gong dynamics, that’s where I don’t feel comfortable commenting because I don’t know enough about the sociopolitical implications of these terms and how they interact within that fandom/community subset. But I do think people need to be taking the stuff they read - ESPECIALLY if they’re only reading it in EN - with a grain of salt. or like a big ol pinch of it. 

edit: I know more about this now lmao and I know exactly which question people use piecemeal of vilify her. Here’s a recent-ish translation someone did. Read it through - the WHOLE thing, and think about the wider context.

But also in general I just don’t think anyone is valid when we start getting into ad hominems lol. Especially when I feel like they’re not really taking a moment to consider what wider contexts and influences might be at play and instead are playing Tumblr telephone with outrage and virtue signalling

sidebar: I also fucking HATE CQL purists lmfao. I don’t feel like I’ve seen or encountered anyone saying CQL fans are less valid than novel fans except in the sense of CQL fans getting defensive about their dislike of the novel - which, whatever, people have opinions - or decision not to read the novel and saying anyone saying they HAVE to read the novel is gatekeeping - which I hold to less but mostly bc I think it’s a fundamental misunderstanding of fan language, some of us say you HAVE to read it not in a neckbeard way but in a I’m so desperately passionate and I want more people to know about this way, kind of like how the “I hate you” in fan language GENERALLY means “I love it so much and I can’t stand it”? - but I HAVE seen people say the novel “ruined” wangxian, or CQL people who seem to be like... purity-wanking, like idk if you were around but god after Infinity War and the number. of fckn ironstranges. posting in the tags. about “love how healthy our ship is” and I’m like. this is still anti culture/purity wank but the other side of the coin 8). I encounter sometimes this lowkey attitude of CQL (or other adaptations) “redeeming” MDZS from the author, and I’m like. y’all are wack lmfao. There’s people wiht MDZS or even TGCF main, and they hate mxtx? and they say shit like “mdzs was only good on accident”? and I’m like. can you just leave lmfao. if you hate her then why are you here. (bc they’ve mental gymnastics this into a virtue ethics thing about “o the work is good and therefore morally fine but the parts I don’t like are because mxtx is morally bad and unworthy and tainted it, and CQL with its Purity has Redeemed it” but I’m like. this is because of censorship lmao. The team did a FANTASTIC job working the character dynamics and story, but like it also is directly because of censorship.)  

like I... have more thoughts than this lmfao bc ofc I do, but anyway, here’s... some of them lol

[minblush]

k-armys are spreading a tweet namjoon made in 2013 about korean independence where he says 'There is no future for people who have forgotten history' which shows he probably won't agree with working with a japanese imperialist, hopefully he still has this attitude in 2018 twitter(.)com/BTS_twt/status/367906282012831744

yeah i have seen them doing that ;; and fancafe and all the official tweets since then have been flooded with people talking about these things too, but bighit is playing dead fish so far :(

microwavehater said:Am i the only one who never believed that bts has ~creative freedom~ (anymore) ? If they (still) had, they’d use their influence to spread msgs like baepsae, not just love urself uwu (considering yoongi made political pre-debut releases &interview stuff) Also, their newer releases (LY her onwards) are v much lacking in the hiphop department which (i assume) was a marketing choice. Hiphop just doesn’t sell as well to a female audience (along w the fact that vocalists are the face of BTS).

i think they still have creative input but creative freedom definitely not, but it’s debatable if they ever had it anyway? idk.. and them moving on from hip-hop was definitely both trying to change things up as well as appeal to a broader audience, love yourself era overall was an attempt to basically touch as many people as possible, i don’t mind them changing their musical direction but what has bothered me was the loss of their involvement (because it is less)

Anonymous said:I totally agree with you about BTS losing their originality. I’m almost starting to get annoyed of them. Now bc they know people love their music for its topics such as mental health, etc I almost feel like they’re thinking that they’re obliged to constantly write music that only has a “social” message. I did not like Idol at all. It was pretty tacky and the idea of loving yourself seemed so forced in the lyrics. I want them to make songs about whatever they want at that moment. (1/?)

Anonymous said:Also every fan keeps saying the same thing about them being unfiltered when actually they’ve become SO filtered now. They’ve almost created this illusion of being super open with us when actually we barely know anything about them. I don’t mind that but I hate how they’re touting that as something that applies to them. Honestly most fans now are the bandwagon type and the fandom is starting to feel more like a cult versus a community like it used to. (2/2)

i don’t know if i ever talked about them losing their originality? because originality is debatable in this case too, if you mean their original intention then yes i agree with that, and i agree they definitely created the illusion, once i got out of the bts bubble a bit and also thought back to the old days, i realized how closed off and filtered everything is comparison to the past and even to other kpop groups nowadays that are way more direct, i feel like even exo is more outspoken these days and direct with their fans which i thought could never happen??? i used to stan them and it was hell hah.. and these days.. wowza..

Anonymous said:Fuck yesss we need new yoongi mixtape and i agree abt what you said i wish bts could read that and be like okay guys i think they are right we have done some questionable things and shit has to be addressed whether we like it or not and just fucking do so. Some fans will drop but some would drop anyway bc it is getting out of hand i would never want to call bts problematic bc shit i cannot imagine that being true but them supporting problematic people is kind of making them ones

i just feel like nothing will change because bang pd is too greedy.. he really is eyeing like building a global empire with all the business deals he has been making.. also bts have done plenty “problematic” things themselves, though not to that extent, but some of their actions have hurt a lot of people too, but it depends on what bothers you, i find colorism and things like that a problem, but ofc definitely different thing than pedophilia and such, i just meant to say that nobody is perfect

Anonymous said:Do you ever just wanna randomly bump into bts and be like “hey lets talk!” And then tell them about all these issues and fandom drama and just tell them to wake the hell up? Cos I do haha

well even if we bumped into them, most of them wouldn’t talk to you so dkajsdka

Anonymous said:i agree with everything you have said but what bothers me is he is a co produce of produce 48 and nobody really complained about it even though he is know for sexualizing minors... or did i miss something?? also i feel sorry for you getting hate you were just saying your opinion and people should start to accept some facts! it's not the first time bighit did something questionable ://

oh but actually when that was announced there was backlash? i remember seeing complaints about the producer as well as some of the trainees due to their supposed right wing associations, there were also complaints about women’s rights cause of the oversexualization of some of the girls back in japan and the producer’s lyrics, i think this backlash seems bigger or more visible to you because it’s happening in your fandom ;; that season of produce even ended up having the lowest rankings and voting participation so :/

Anonymous said:I have three words to describe the part of the fandom that blindly accepts all the things, even the problematic ones, BTS do. 'Situationally woke cult'.

that fits perfectly

Anonymous said:i rly appreciate sou voicing your thoughts even if they r not in essay form or refined for days. I agree with you on many things but at the same time it's not as disappointing to me bc I guess I never held them to high standards. like in the beginning I could kinda imagine that they were somewhat sincere (but still remained sceptical) but the more they got famous the more I accepted that that sincerity and authenticity would stop bc that's just the kind of business that kpop is... (♤)

Anonymous said:like it's an inherently dishonest industry. they sell an image just like everyone else, and at best(!!) they were as real as possible with us in the beginning. no doubt they wanted to be different from everyone else and it was easier as long as not that many people gave a fuck about them. but as soon as they started to this chance was over. so i guess what I'm saying is that my view didn't change and I'm not surprised, because I never really bought what they were trying to sell...(♤)

Anonymous said:I still love them, theyre likeable & adorable boys. but theyre not changing the world. they're not in the right kind of industry for that. they love their luxury expensive stuff & the glamour of it all & that's okay. I just take every concept the whip out w/ a grain of salt & a knowing smile & enjoy the entertainment. that's just my own two cents that nobody in the fandom wants to hear so I'm bothering u. & its not an analysis or anything just what is on top of my mind while watching TV lol (♤)

Anonymous said:(♤) oh ps. except for that whole controversial stuff with that misogynist jpn songwriter and supreme boy and what not. I take that seriously , I wont act as if that's just a cute quirk. but they're men so I didn't expect much lmaoo. I knew that those kind of disappointments are just part of the deal ever since I learned that jimin (a whole cutie pie and my ultimate bias) stans chris brown. definitely would kick jm in the shin for that if I ever got to meet him. at least keep it to yourself lol.

haha i wish you didn’t start this with a backhanded compliment but dkajsd yeah overall i see your point and agree... i understand like if you didn’t buy into that whole spiel, then of course you can just keep on going and stanning them as idols and all that comes with that, but many people and me included sincerely thought that they were different, i have stopped stanning kpop groups for a while and got drawn back in with bts because i felt they were so fresh and unique, genuine and open with fans in comparison to other groups i have stanned.. but ofc that image crumbled as time went on.. things have changed as well... and i agree, it’s fine to enjoy it for just the entertainment and like the boys as people, accepting they are just as any other idol.. and maybe i will continue with that perspective myself!! but i honestly find it difficult having believed in it and also bighit continually selling this image to their fans despite evidence of the contrary, i can deal with idol business but like continually being blatantly lied to and then being in a fandom where most of the rhetoric is build around blindly believing it and eating anything the boys and bighit sells? it’s honestly emotionally exhausting sometimes.. but yeah.. you’re honestly right.. even with the last point lol... they are men, and korean men at that sigh.. that’s why i’m burying myself in girl groups nowadays adkjsd to heal my soul

Anonymous said:Hope you have a wonderful day filled with only good things ❤ - the cutest person in the world

thank you so so so so much! you have a wonderful day too ♥ cutie

Anonymous said:simple question, not loaded at all, no wrong answer, the honest answer is the right answer- yaddah yaddah you get it -what do you think bangtan is lying about and what exactly are you saying overall? i just need the language simplified for my 3 braincells :) if i do get what you're saying - whether the actual members of bts are real or not, their message is. "dont let anyone tell you what to do" "live your own life and not a borrowed dream" "life is a marathon, not a race - go your own pace"etc

you can read this post as well as the tags to it to see some of the examples, i mean i have been saying lots of things so i don’t know what exactly you want me to clarify? i think their message is compromised when their actions contradict it, whether it’s their actions or bighit’s is up to debate, like i was talking about in the post though, you can’t have things both ways, can’t hail the boys as woke independent kings while propagating the idea that they are just the company’s pawns at the same time, if you accept their authenticity isn’t there then ofc it’s a different argument, and the things you have listed there may be true, but isn’t is soured knowing they are just things that are said in order to sell bangtan as a product to you? to me they are

Anonymous said:I'm not gonna disagree but I like to see all the sides of a story. Bang pd is their boss, bts made a contract with him, he will ALWAYS have the last word on, well, everything they put out. We like to think that bc bts has creative freedom they can do whatever they want, well obviously they can't. Even if bts wanted to talk more about issues and not work w bad ppl, bang pd wants them to succeed, he wants to make money bc it's his business and bts is the only thing bringing money to it.

i get this argument a lot and to that i will answer again this and this, i don’t understand what your point is exactly though, so you are saying bts are pawns that have to do as they ceo says, yes and? i am criticizing the decision he has made? i’m criticizing that what he cares about the most is money? that he will stop at nothing to widen his wealth and influence? i will not support bts cooperating with vile people just because it wasn’t -completely their decision-, i’m sorry i’m really struggling to see what your point is about the other side of the story, it’s a shitty situation and if they all go through with it, it be greatly disappointing