#and I still want to be active in the fandom but I don't have time to make posts anymore

[arcanetrivia]

The thing about Discord is that just finding a server that has the conversations you're interested in can be difficult. Privately hosted email lists had this kind of problem too, that you sometimes could only even find out they existed by word of mouth, never mind join them. Sometimes you have to know a guy who knows a guy to get a hold of an invite code that hasn't expired by the time you come across it. (I get why they made the change that you couldn't make permanent ones if you weren't a Community server, but it can be frustrating sometimes.) Official servers for $THING may be listed publicly on $THING's website, but that's not the same as a by-fans-for-fans space that will probably have a much different culture and tone. There's Disboard, but not everything is on it. The central directory of a place like Yahoo Groups (whatever their other faults), being able to find communities and people that list certain interests on LiveJournal, the generally public or at least semi-public nature of a forum that can be found by a search engine... all of these supported discoverability. (And in my current primary fandom, besides the figurative "private group chat" that a Discord server is, I know there's some significant activity in literal private group chat. So unless you can somehow get admitted to a pre-existing group of friends, welp.)

IRC as a synchronous chat platform/protocol was there for a long time alongside (and is still in some cases, even with the ascendancy of Discord), and a lot of that ephemeral stuff has been lost unless people kept logs. But we're in a situation now where pretty much all there is, is the ephemeral, be it Discord, Twitter/Bluesky/Mastodon, Facebook (seems to actively work against finding and keeping up on what you want), Instagram (somehow even worse; my beloathed). DeviantArt worked decently well for a while, but every time they messed up site changes and policies in a way that angered artists, there was an exodus (similar to the waves of exodus from LiveJournal until now it's a ghost town unless you're Russian). Pillowfort... exists... but I am skeptical it's ever going to gain critical mass, even if Tumblr does completely go under one of these days.

And Tumblr itself... is better than nothing, but of course we all know how hard it can be to find things on because a lot of the older stuff isn't even indexed; and its structure really doesn't support coherent threaded conversation; and it's a bit too-little-too-late on their introduction of LJ/DW-style communities, which people here now don't seem to want.

(Semi-aside, not to be a Fandom Old, but re: reblogging/reposting, I see how such a thing can be a boon for those who really don't want to participate even on the level of an occasional comment here and there, but fandom was doing fine without such a feature on email lists, forums, LiveJournal. People actually were pretty annoyed when LJ tried to introduce a reposting-style feature, which was pretty clunky. The site hadn't been conceived with that sort of ecosystem in mind and it was rather grafted on. Think how people keep rejecting Tumblr's attempts at a short-form video feature: "Stop trying to be X other site and just be what you are! We're here because we want what is unique about this place!")

....sorry, I think I went on a bit of a pointless ramble there 😅

imo a discord server should be like a breakout room for fandom. like the place to run your wips by your besties or discuss your otp in more detail with a few people who were insane about it on your post or organise events with a handful of trusted mutuals etc etc. if it’s where ALL the fandom activity is going to happen it will inevitably foster a cliquey environment where the fandom is divided into “those in the server” and “those who aren’t”, lurking is disincentivised if not made outright impossible, people who feel uncomfortable joining in conversations and would rather interact with fandom through reblogging etc are largely excluded because there’s no repost mechanism, and the fandom itself becomes an enclosed space so new fans are limited in how much content and meta they can access without having to make the plunge into Joining The In Group, there’s limited scope for interaction between different communities within the same fandom, god it’s just an altogether dogshit stupid idea. what if we moved all fandom activity to really massive private groupchats. STUPID

[nobylerdoubt]

I’m pretty sure everyone has already noticed and pointed this out but I still want to anyway but when things are back to normal and Mike and El are trying to be a normal couple, besides making out they don’t exactly have much going for them in terms of chemistry, shared interests, or just having a strong connection in general that doesn’t tie to trauma from the supernatural events, like what would they’re future even look like together if you throw away the whole getting married young and having children that these weirdos in the fandom keep fantasizing about.💀

It's true - let's look at everything Mike and El have connected over over the course of the series - besides physical touch.

Season 1:

Ted's Lazy Boy

Finding Will

The TV?

Bullying? (Where Mike tries to hide that he got bullied, El reminds him friends don't lie, and says she understands.)

El sticking up for Mike and Will by humiliating and beating up said bullies.

Mike assures El that she's not the Monster.

El saves everyone's life and disappears, Mike feels bad about it.

Mike likes that El needs him (he feels useful) and El's powers are sick as hell. El isn't interested in Mike's toys or games, and When El takes an interest in Nancy being pretty/Nancy's things, Mike disagrees but tries to remain polite.

Season 2:

💀

Bitchin

El being alive

Snow Ball?

Mike doesn't even know El is alive. And while he longs for her - to make sure she's okay, wishing she were here - El starts to develop a one-sided idea of what relationships should look like based on soap operas she watches at home. Mike planted the seed of the idea in season 1, but El was the one who watered that seed and made it grow.

Season 3:

El being alive

Um

uh

well...

Mike and El spend this entire season making out, fighting, or in Mike's case, half-heartedly trying to get back with El. Mike has to basically be held by the shoulders by Lucas and steered toward the right direction, because he knows so little about El and her interests and who she is as a person, individual from their relationship - that he has no fucking clue how to make things up to her. Aside from a hastily admitted "I love her" - these two have nothing going for them this season. I mention in this post that a huge part of the reason El gets back together with Mike at the end is in an attempt to keep something normal in her rapidly changing life.

Season 4:

El being Mike's "superhero"

It's even noted at the beginning of episode 2 that Mike isn't super interested in any of the activities El has planned for them. The only moments were Mike feels more determined in their relationship is when he's trying to defend her from her bullies and later the cops - and it's not enough. He fails. Mike needs to be needed and she doesn't need him. And when she does, he fails. Mike iterates multiple times throughout the season that El is a superhero and she feels inadequate because she doesn't have her powers and isn't a superhero anymore. But Mike doesn't actually want El to be a superhero. HE wants to be the superhero. Aside from that the only coupley moments this season are when both of them are trying to pretend nothing is wrong and everything is normal.

Meanwhile there is someone else who is constantly talking to Mike about things they connect over. Who makes Mike smile with fantasies of playing DnD and Nintendo for the rest of their lives...

[rainbowrocketquotes]

LGBTQ+ Headcanons for Pride Month

Late as fuck but I've been Busy™ so uhh.

These are my opinions and they are subject to change! Feel free to dicsuss your own opinions in the replies but if y'all start arguing with each other in there I swear.

Giovanni

I dont know why but he and Ariana give off the vibes of that couple who have a joint sugar baby in a pseudo-polycule.

T4T silverspawn is my bread and butter but also I'm a multishipper so that ranges.

Imo he's either straight but an ally or a closeted bisexual that hides it behind allyship. We all know that guy.

Archie

Unlabelled. I don't make the rules, sorry. /j

No but on a serious note I think he just doesn't care to try and explain. He gives off the vibe of "guy who experimented heavily in college and kind of forgoes labels now" because he knows what he wants and he doesn't feel the need to try and define himself to other people.

I also am a fan of the trans Archie headcanons but I personally still don't see him labelling himself any which way in any regard tbf. He's just chill.

Maxie

Boykisser.

I don't really care which way he gets labeled most of the time but this guy likes men. Or at the very least he has definitely dated a man.

I don't really like the trans Maxie headcanon as much as some of the other trans headcanons for characters because I just feel like it buys too much into the common fandom tropes of "one member of popular ship must be afab and the other must he amab" with Hardenshipping being an incredibly popular ship, and "skinny white man = trans" being the most common trans headcanons. I'm not saying anyone who headcanons Maxie as trans is doing it for those reasons, and I have NO PROBLEM with people who headcanon Maxie as trans. Like, I'll still read fics and look at art where he is, and I don't mind it, I just don't like it personally for those reasons, and don't headcanon him as trans.

Cyrus

Abnormal views on gender/sexuality because of his time spent in the distortion world.

I personally don't think he cares what pronouns he's referred to by because he thinks it's a waste of time to correct people on something so trivial as a set of words, and he doesn't care how people percieve him.

In regards to sexuality, I also think he doesn't bother with labels, or really care about anything like that in general. I think he's probably on the asexual/aromantic spectrum, but it could also be interpreted as him just being closed off and weird like he is.

Personally I think if he bothered with labelling, he'd be Demiromantic. I'm not sure if he'd be cis or not but he probably still wouldn't care about pronouns or anything.

Ghetsis

Gay and homophobic /j

Honestly? I have no idea. I think he's probably very against the idea of wasting time with romance, especially in regards to what N is doing. But I don't think he'd be generally homophobic or transphobic. Probably just romancephobic /hj.

That's not to say I think he's necessarily on the ace spectrum, but I think he thinks he has better things to do. That he's against the idea of romance as an idea for the purposes of his ideals. He's a cult leader who wants to manipulate and use his son as a means to rule the world. He doesn't care what gender or sexuality N labels with, he just knows that by getting a partner he'd be straying from the plan he's trying to fulfill. Shrug.

Colress

I don't think he cares, but like in a different way than Archie doesn't care. I don't think he's explored his gender and sexuality enough to be comfortable forming his own opinion on how he identifies. He's scientific and needs proof one way or another, but won't actively go out and get the proof because he doesn't care that much. I.E., unlabelled. Doesn't care about his own pronouns.

Definitely is a "I assume you are bisexual until proven otherwise" truther, tho.

Lysandre

Very stereotypically flamboyantly gay, obviously, in the same vein as every Disney villain ever. I know I just said I don't fuck with stereotypes but not for this one. This idiot is home of sexual. Full stop.

Probably cis? But the kind of cis guy who would do drag for fun iykwim.

Guzma

Pan or Bi, 100%. Just screams sexual frustration like that. I physically cannot explain it but he just is.

Gender wise, I'm down with pretty much any headcanon for him. I think he's cis but cool with any pronouns in the way that a dude who is just comfortable in his masculinity is. Like if you call a guy who's normal "she" on accident he'll probably be like "haha, I'm a dude," and move on. That's Guzma.

Lusamine

Heteroromantic Bisexual. I cannot explain it, either, but she just gives me vibes.

"Every woman wanted to be a man at some point, Lillie, it's normal", and never elaborates. Probably Cis, but I'm squinting at her very hard.

I'm also cool with the transfem headcanons for her but sometimes people lean too far into the "trans people are always villains" thing and it gets... Weird!

! SURPRISE BONUS ROUND !

Rose

General cishet vibes from this guy, though I won't disregard any queer headcanons for him. I just think he and Oleana have some weird het situationship going on over there.

British /j

Volo

Some kind of gender something idk /ref

I don't know what he is but he definitely is not Cisgender and I can tell you that with confidence.

I think he's probably demiromantic or demisexual but I have a general feeling that he's somewhere on the ace spectrum. Idk if that's cliche or weird but I like this guy and I get vibes™ from him.

Also I know this is my Rainbow Rocket acount but I! Like Volo!! Contrary to popular belief!!! Legends Arceus is one of my favourite pkmn games.

Sada

Still have not finished Scarvi!! But she's bi. Have you seen her? She's bi.

I wouldn't mind a t4t headcanon with her and her husband but I don't outright hc her as transfem. I might, once I finish the game, tho.

Turo

Once again have still not finished Scarvi! But he's also Bi. Maybe homoromantic or demi on the side, but he definitely is Bi.

Might be a flavor of nonbinary, but that could just be the vibes I get from his weird little cunty outfit.

[xsilversugar]

It fuckin' kills me every time I think about it. I don't support Rowling or think of her in my day-to-day outside of being actively reminded of the harm she causes. I too want her to vanish. She was a huge part of my childhood but I grew out of her and called her a hack by the sixth book and basically only hate-read the last because I had to know how it ended. I didn't have the full context or understanding for why what she wrote felt off to me--so by the time her political views became well-known; I felt vindicated in my dislike of her. Throwing her work away and not caring by then was easy. It's only when I think of the active harm that I feel anything about it all.

However learning about Neil Gaiman fucking gutted me. I was so wanting to believe it wasn't true but even then one of my first thoughts was a cold "yeah, that tracks actually" (hell, I literally had a dream practically predicting it) but it still felt more personal a betrayal rather than a broad lingering hate. More...insidious. I stay silent and don't involve myself in the fandom anymore because if I let it...it'd still hurt me...like a raw wound merely ignore. I cried for practically a week straight, in and out of denial and hopeful that it was a misunderstanding, but I was so invested in digging up whatever news I could, and then I had to stop. It was too much. I'd occasionally still recommend his works to people in private but I don't go out of my way to suggest anyone dare pay for it in the slightest anymore. If the topic of favorite authors comes up, I just don't have one anymore. I might offer to give someone a copy I have but I tell them why I'll never read it again myself.

Maybe it's because I went through this before with Rowling in particular but I thought it would be easier to cut Gaiman out. On one hand, sure, it is exceptionally easy to just let myself become distracted with other things, to not think about it or talk about it. On the other...I only stay silent because it still hurts just as much and I just can't unpack it this time. I can't. It's too much. I don't care if that makes me sound stupid or whatever. I'm too disgusted.

Still, I don't think I could say I disowned him, his work, or what he meant to me. The view I had was wrong. I haven't abandoned my love for those stories, I can't forget; that's why for the most part I don't bring it up without context because s long as I am distracted; I'm fine. If I think about it for too long...I feel like I'll fall apart. He is the one who disowned us, betrayed us, and did truly unforgivable things to others whom I choose to believe--and even hell has standards--so he's simply not welcome. That's all.

It's impressive how Neil Gaiman vanished from the internet. Wish Rowling would do the same.

[fishyaudio]

Raz, who's been your favourite design you've made for your anthro au? I have a feeling it's Saint lol

Your feeling is not wrong, she's a favourite to draw!

But if I had to choose one, favourite design ever out of the ten, it would be the one for Shine (aka Monk, I really need to start using the names I gave them all for the AU here as well, gahh)

It's a surprising choice for me, because when it came to in-game depiction + popular fandom interpretations of Monk, I never really liked the guy (not disliked, just didn't think about the character a lot and found others more interesting). I don't usually dig the "peaceful, kind, happy" archetype characters in media in general, it's just not my thing, and most "fanmade character extensions" of Monk I've seen just expanded on that alone. It's not that they're anyhow wrong! They're just really not my thing and it always itches me to introduce more contrast or flavor in personalities of that sort. It's suprisingly hard to write a character who is mainly just really pure and avoids conflict, at least for me. Unhinged beasts with weird morals are sometimes just easier to grasp bwahaha

And with that, since it's "character design" and not just "design" - that initially made me feel like designing and creating the anthro AU equivalent for Monk would be a neccessary struggle and when I'm done, I won't ever pay much attention to a character I'd consider a bit more flat in comparison to what I had planned for others. But the longer I sketched, more "what ifs" came to mind and I ended up with Shine - still the younger sibling, just taller and bigger than the scrawny, troublemaking, older one. Took advantage of Share (Gourmand) being his parent, so he takes after him in size and personality a bit more. That opened a really fun path to explore with him.

I've decided to link his pacifist mentality and kindness not to being childish and bit unwise, but to idealism, stronger sense of justice and an overall aspiration to be reliable and responsible. He's still young and naive, but it doesn't come from being childish and having a "kill them with kindness, no other options allowed" mentality, but rather from being an inexperienced, future leader with a lot of potential. One that's often being very harsh on himself when his mistakes or faulty judgement causes a slip-up or a situation escalated in a way he couldn't predict. Sometimes, things just happen and there was no way to foresee the consequences or avoid confrontation, despite how hard everyone tried, and that's also a part of life - that's something Shine would struggle to accept. He's naive, but not dumb. Even with that - it doesn't stop him from being a very trustworthy and quick-thinking individual. I like that about him!

And this is also what's reflected in the design - he's on the taller side, with a more blocky build. Flowy, loose clothes both make him look really comfortable and chill, visually suggesting that he's more laid-back, not active, not used to fights and messy situations, while also pushing the silhouette to be a one, sturdy shape even more. That just yells "you can approach and trust this guy easily" by looks alone. From smaller details - he has the monk symbol in a visible place on his belt -> wants to signal to others that he's not a threat and is always willing to talk things out or settle for a compromise. He doesn't have much more accessories -> doesn't like showing off and isn't desperate for attention. The only striking, busy pattern he has on him is the striped sleeve to match his sib - he values Ways (Survivor) a lot!

From other designs for the AU - March, Ways and Steps (Spearmaster, Survivor and Rivulet) are also my favourites for various reasons, but this post is already a yap session. Maybe next time, if anyone's curious.

Thanks for the ask! Gave me an excuse to draw them more!!

AU tag here!

[biancasaidstfu]

Hi Bianca,

I have been in this fandom since December 2023. I have never been an active participant. I preferred to follow from a distance with my anonymous accounts. Since I want to remain anonymous, I would be very happy if you do not share this. I have been following your blog for a while. I am sure these have been discussed many times on your blog before, but this is the first time I wanted to share my thoughts with someone. My purpose is not to prove or disprove a theory in any way. I just want to share my observations.

A while ago, just out of personal curiosity (separately of fandom), I read many blogs and watched videos about celebrity PR techniques. I have no professional training in this field and I have no knowledge. I am aware that none of these are “scientific articles”. You have probably read or watched most of them. I would like to summarize the parts that were interesting to me, as far as I can remember, “in my own words”. I hope you are interested.

When a celebrity signs on for a project, they become the assets (in a rough way) of the production company. PR companies decide how to sell the celebrity (sexy, flirtatious, cute but talented, etc.). PR is part of the celebrity business. Celebrities sometimes lie, manipulate and deceive us. That doesn't make them monsters. It's part of their job to do that. Celebrities take a step and people are interested in it. In between, PR teams, tabloid press, paparazzi, etc. and of course the celebrity themselves rightfully benefit from it.

No matter what industry they are in, business deals are based on mutual benefit. Right? This does not mean that either party is a monster or a victim. Contracts are signed through mutual negotiations, both parties determine their own terms, and neither party can force the other to do anything they don’t want. As a result, both parties naturally benefit financially and emotionally from this.

Celebrities always say that they want to be on the agenda with their work and that they don't want their private lives to be talked about, but somehow they end up on the agenda with their private lives. Fandoms are usually made up of women, and women are more interested in the celebrity's private life (relationships, home decor, diet program, clothes, etc.). And we women love to talk. When a celebrity announces a project, it is forgotten the next day, but when they are seen with their partner, it is on social media platforms and in the press for days. Even someone you don't know/don't care about, you will definitely see a photo somewhere.

Celebrities do not live according to the wishes and needs of their fans/viewers. They show us as much as they want, when they want, and sometimes when it is “necessary”. People often sympathize with celebrities. They think that they cannot live like normal people and that they are constantly harassed. In fact, they live normal lives like us. They go to business meetings, travel, go to the doctor for check-ups, meet with their friends and have coffee like us. In other words, they are not photographed by paparazzi every time they leave their house. Isn’t this the main purpose of PR? Establishing a connection between the public and the celebrity is to touch people’s emotions and make them think “they are one of us”. Celebrities are not public property, but they are public figures. Of course, they are normal people who have feelings, needs and desires like us. However, earning millions of dollars and living privileged lives than most of us comes with certain costs.  It is the job of the celebrity's professional teams to manage this process in the best possible way.

PR relationships or using real relationships as PR is, in my opinion, one of the most predictable, tired and cheesy but still valid methods. It is very difficult to distinguish PR relationships from real relationships. The aim is to reflect that the relationship is sincere and real. It is planned at the table and everything that happens in a real relationship is included in the planning. Even the "kissing" we see may not be real. These relationships can be short-term or last for years. When a celebrity announces their relationship, we read things like: "the relationship is very serious, they made it public" "she/he has always kept their private life very secret, they no longer feels the need to hide it because they are very in love" "aww very happy relationship" "oh how in love" I am not saying that celebrities do not feel these things. Celebrities have the right to fall in love, to have romantic and happy relationships just like us. No celebrity is obliged to share the seriousness of their relationship, how in love and happy they are with the public, in short, to announce their love to the world. However, they can choose to share. When we are in a relationship, how many people do we include in our relationship? We share our relationship on our social media, but we do it in our own little worlds. We don't have millions of followers. When a celebrity chooses to share their relationship, they are including millions of eyes and the press in their relationship. They receive criticism, gossip, sometimes hate comments, and in some cases, the relationship is even dissected and tear apart. Why would a celebrity want to share their private life knowing that this would happen? I think the answer is very clear.

So do celebrities not have intimate relationships? Of course they do. I think the less we see of it, the more intimate the relationship is.

I read a sentence that summarized everything I wrote very clearly: "If you see it, it's PR"

Now for my personal thoughts. First of all, I want you to know that I am equally distant from Luke/Nic and Jake/Antonia. I don't hate any of them. However, I can't say that I am a fan of Jake and Antonia.

I think Luke's relationship is a real relationship (unfortunately). But I think he's using it as PR, especially because of what's happened since January. When I look back today and put the pieces together since last summer, we've been following PR steps that "for now" ended with BAFTA. I have no idea where this relationship is going. We'll wait and see.

As for Nicola, I've been thinking about this as PR since I saw the festival photos. For the reasons I wrote above, I don't think someone who has managed to keep her private life so private would suddenly want to announce her love to the world. We also see that PR is effective. Jake's follower count is constantly increasing, he's getting projects and he's being seriously praised by some. This tells me that PR is doing its job.

So will Lukola ever be real? I don't know. As I said in the beginning, I'm not trying to disprove or prove any theory. I don't think Luke and Nic are together. I don't think they were ever in a relationship, but there was definitely something going on between them somewhere.

We do not know what clauses are included in the contract of any actor in a project. It is not hard to guess that contracts are not written down and vary from actor to actor. Let's say that actor X may have said yes to a much stricter contract, while actor Y may have signed a more flexible contract.

Of course, I am not familiar with all the celebrity world, their relationships and projects. This is just an observation. You may have noticed that in some productions, the actors who play romantic couples break up their characters in the series if they are together in real life. The most recent example is Stranger Things' Nancy and Jonathan. They started dating in real life and then broke up in the last season. I even read rumors that Peter Parker will have a new date in the upcoming Spiderman movie. If that really happens, I will have proven this theory in my own way (just joke) Could this be a contract clause?

I can hear, “No producer can restrict an actor’s private life or the actor will not allow it.” Why not. We don’t know what is being discussed during negotiations. I don't think anyone is forcing anyone, but some things can be unpredictable. No producer wants an actor’s private life, possible scandals, to get in the way of their production. Therefore, MAYBE they can impose some restrictions on the actor’s private life. Also, if the relationship doesn’t work out, this can affect the project. Especially when it comes to Bridgerton, Colin and Penelope, it doesn't make sense to separate these two characters. Can you imagine them getting divorced in season 4? Well, considering that this will affect the views, why shouldn't there be restrictions? After all, Shondaland/Netflix is ​​a commercial enterprise. (No one is a monster here, and no one is a victim)

MAYBE the producer may not want the actor to take part in a project that will be more than their own in their future projects. They may want that actor’s name to be constantly mentioned with their own project. Wouldn’t they want to see “X’s star yy” in all the headlines?

Finally, theories are always talked about more. When a situation becomes clear, people stop talking about it. Isn’t that how human psychology is? When you get what you want, its value decreases and you move on to other goals.

This has been a very long post. I'll stop it here. I hope you made it to the end. Thank you for your patience.

.

[iwanttobepersephone]

So, my mom was telling me how much free time I have, and I was like, "I have no freetime wth do you mean?????" And I just wanna see if this is like. A normal way to think of things?

Things I need to do:

Finish reading icebound land

Make a whole lotta art that I promised people

Research study abroad programs

At least one Dutch lesson a day

Keep my room clean

Talk to my friends so they know I love them (and so I don't go insane)

My math homework

Keep myself clean (showers, finally brushing my teeth after months, etc etc) so I don't go insane

Eat at 7pm

Various things I enjoy as to not go insane

All from 6pm to 9 pm, every day, after being at school from 8 am to 3:30 pm and then The Public (teen center) from 3:30 to 5:30, and I need to be in bed by 9:30 and asleep by 10:00

So, basically, I'm "on the clock" from 7 am (When I start getting ready for school) until 9 pm, with no breaks

But yeah no I totally have free time. Yeaup

[legalandnotease]

This post.

The thing that aggravates me the most is that people are acting like Thunderbolts was *the* first time that Bucky's arm was treated like a joke, when really this has been happening since Infinity War, but TFatWS was the first time it was actually removed. Honestly that whole scene in TFatWS was painful. Not only does he not seem to think his opponent touching his shoulder is off and like - move... but he also wasn't aware that there was a killswitch on the arm. The situation is rendered absurd by Sam asking "did you know they could do that?" after its removal.

(...and *do not* get me started on the gross rhetoric that scene gave rise to in which people started saying the Wakandans had a right to confiscate Bucky's *weaponized prosthetic* because "they gave it to him therefore they own it". Yes, the Wakandan arm is a weapon.

Yes I do understand why T'Challa gave it to him- and I do understand the fate of the very world was at stake. Bucky would probably have been happy to fight Thanos either way but the fact still remains. That new prosthetic was given to him for the express purpose of *fighting*. Bucky knew that- its why he says "where's the fight?" the instant he sees it.

The implication that the Wakandans had a right to remove it for doing something they didn't like is disturbing in two ways. First because its literally weaponizing part of his body which BTW is exactly what HYDRA did to him.

Second there's the idea that disabled people don't own thier own ability aids and have a right to use them as they see fit. Like, someone gives Matt Murdock new sight stick and they - have the right to take it away if he represents someone they don't approve of?The implication that fully able people have the ultimate control over disabled people's bodies is actually gross.

Last of all, its hardly a shock that Bucky's arm became a running gag when *hours* after he got we had Rocket making that quip and *then* several more jokes about it in TFatWS. One character calls Bucky "the bionic staring machine" (it might've been Sam) and another calls him a "cyborg". You can dismiss both oas a harmless jokes if you want (many do) but to me its part of a pattern. First of defining Bucky as nothing more than his disability, and second of mocking and minimizing both the disability and the tramatic events which resulted in him becoming disabled in the first place. A pattern that started in 2018 and still hasn't ended.

Its no surprise really that we got the vile Nebula giving Rocket his arm as a Christmas present plotline the following year. It bears noting with that as well that whilst fandom today denounce and try to distance themselves from that scene at the time people were actively *asking for* it to happen. They *wanted* Rocket to "get the arm".

At very very least in Thunderbolts we had Ava showing enough consideration to pick up the arm when an incapacitated Bucky couldn't and carrying it for him until he asked for it back. (Then you remember that Ava also has a bodily difference... so it at least read that as one disabled person looking out for another). Last time it was "ripped off him" that didn't happen and the time before that he had to pick it up himself whilst Sam just made a joke at his expense.

You know what the worst thing is though @nrilliree? It isn't the casual ableism of the last 7 years. Its that one of the writers of Civil War actually suggested that Bucky's arm being blown off wasn't intended to be sympathetic. It was intended as a narrative "punishment". He wasn't being treated with respect even in Civil War.

Y’kno, for all of CA:CW’s faults, at least it never treated Bucky’s left arm as a joke.

When Bucky loses his arm in this film, it isn’t because he suddenly forgets how to move away from an opponent that’s suddenly in his space and touching him (TFATWS) or he throws some clearly ineffective punches at an enemy and, for whatever reason, doesn’t think to change his strategy (Thunderbolts), but because he got blasted by Tony Stark’s arc reactor point blank after using an incredible feat of strength to try and stop him. And when his arm is blown off? It’s treated with the appropriate amount of shock and horror. It frames it as a terrifying moment for Bucky and makes him feel incredibly sympathetic. He just lost a part of him in an extremely brutal fashion in the fraction of a second. It wasn’t something he could’ve predicted or easily avoided (unlike future instances where he loses his arm…again 🙄).

But now? Now his arm is used as the butt of stupid jokes. Rocket wants to buy it. Nebula STEALS IT off screen to use it as a Christmas gift. Bucky spills some sauce on it and the only way to wash it is by running it through the dishwasher. He now has to lose it at least one ☝️ time in every new thing he’s in like it’s some quota that has to be filled. Like. The MCU writers seriously can’t think of anything involving Bucky’s arm that doesn’t take away his dignity as a disabled person while also showcasing him as the strong, competent fighter he is?

Literally the only genuinely funny thing involving his arm is when he threw a punch at Peter, leading to the latter catching it and immediately exclaiming how cool it is. And that happened in Civil War!

I don’t know. Civil War definitely could’ve been a much better film, but at least it got that part right.

[artistlara]

Redraws of the whiteboards and the doodles of this post

Disclaimer: I'm not updated on what's happening in the fandom since I don't consider myself part of it or check for new stuff anymore, so if I've drawn a mod that has some controversy/discourse around it- please know I don't support it and only did this for redrawing purposes only.

[sweetmariihs2]

Yall are so biased it HURTS

Varian didn't harm 1 or 2 people, he actively said that he wanted to destroy the kingdom after he saved his father, and since he wasn't able to get his father back he went ahead with killing other people because he was angry. But it's ok cuz he had his redemption and we know his reasons and that he had a trauma of losing his father blablabla the Varian fandom loves to talk about that and say that he's the only poor guy in the story like he can't do no wrong (yes guys all the characters in this show do stupid things sometimes) and you guys also forget that King Frederic put him in jail, Rapunzel wasn't in command. It wasn't like "THE KINGDOM: SEND HIM TO PRISION FOR LIFE" it was King Frederic and he said he would actively help him blablabla we don't know what happens with Varian in jail because we're not watching his story in the second season so we don't know

Now if I listen one more time that Cass's arc was less valid then Varian's because Varian's reasons were understandable and hers were not I'm gonna explode because /1. Or you watched the show blindfolded /2. Or you guys don't understand how trauma can affect a person's worldview and specially childhood trauma in this case. I'm not saying that Cass was a poor baby, because she was blinded by rage and ALSO actively trying to kill people just like Varian was trying to kill people in S1, but you guys don't want to see that. Who do you think we have nothing left to lose? Because Varian knows how that was and he regrets it, because HE saw himself in Cassandra's anger and knew how it was to be doing stupid things. Something that pisses me the f off is when people mock the fact that Cass was "dragging this beef from 20 years ago" or "blaming Rapunzel from being kidnapped", you guys really lost the hability to interpret stories. She was abandoned by her biological mother and grew up knowing nothing about her bio family but had that low sense of self worth that she never knew where it came from, probably due to dissociative amnesia which I have experienced and it's awful being traumatized by something you don't remember but then one day something just clickes in your head and you're like "oh.... I was abused that day, how come I didn't remember that.. that's why I can't [do certain thing]" and everything comes crashing down. Zhan Tiri used Cassandra's vulnerability to convince her to take her anger out on Rapunzel, not because she was angry at Rapunzel for being kidnapped, but because Rapunzel makes her feel inferior since she so effortlessly gets the things Cassandra wants; like love, respect, and even her mother, even her mother. EVEN THOUGH Cassandra knew that woman was bad, she is so desperately trying to hold onto the memories she had of her that she tries to find out that in a moment, at least once, she was loved by that woman, trying to hold onto this hope despite the abuse Gothel put them two through, because she's trying SO HARDD to know that her mom loved her, just like how? JUST LIKE HOW ABUSE VICTIMS SOMETIMES DO WITH THEIR ABUSERS. PARENTS OR NOT. I believe this is so clear in the story, I don't get how this fandom doesn't get it. Zhan Tiri was taking advantage from her grudge towards Rapunzel, and once Cass finds out that she was manipulating her in "Once a Handmaiden" she goes to Corona to make amends with Rapunzel, but things didn't turn out the way she planned and because she's still with that awful view of self worth she runs off angry again. Guys HOW in heavens this fandom lost this. EUGENE SAYS IT. HE TELLS ABOUT IT IN THE SHOW 😭😭 he literally explains it

Varian was in the wrong just as much as Cassandra was. They both did stupid things because they were blinded by rage, and don't try to minimize what Varian did as something silly compared to Cassandra using the moonstone, because in season one this was in fact a big danger, since he was the villain of the season, but S3 needed to handle big magic and they needed a worthy enemy to be able to clash with Rapunzel's magical powers.

Rapunzel wasn't the one on command when Varian was arrested, you can notice that most of her friends in the show are ex convicts, redeemed criminals, so Rapunzel believes in giving people a chance, and SHE DID THAT WITH VARIAN IN SEASON 3. Once the king is not being able to rule the kingdom, Rapunzel gets in charge and she sees that Cass had changed her view, she wasn't dangerous anymore, something that didn't happened with Varian because when he was arrested he was still wishing to take revenge on the kingdom so he was STILL considered dangerous. Rapunzel believes in giving people a chance, she believes in redemption arcs, and Cassandra also helped to save the kingdom and the whole world in the end, just like Varian helped to save the kingdom at the start of S3. But alright, let's keep mocking Cassandra and forgetting completely how trauma change a person's mind and can make them not see things the way they are, like it's... trauma?? Search a bit about what is trauma on Google and how it works.

It's crazy for me to keep seeing people saying that stuff because it straight off mocks people with trauma. I'm not even joking. People actuall go through that in real life you know that? Trauma often makes us take stupid decisions and be blinded by a worldview that is not true. Bold of the Tangled The Series writers to assume that their audience could interpret subtext since most of them are teenagers, but with so many kids shows being praised by the way they handle adult topics, I guess the writers subestimated the TTS fandom's hability of missing the point

Watch this one right here, because you have probably watched the "why Varian worked where Cassandra failed" video and that thing is full of stupid bs

*Varian, a 14 year old child who's in an intense amount of grief who has been wronged by a whole kingdom, commits several war crimes*

The kingdom: SEND HIM TO PRISON FOR LIFE!

*Cassandra, a grown woman who's dragging out a beef that happened over 2 decades ago and actively tries to destroy the entire kingdom several times*

The kingdom: Well, she's the princesses best friend, so she's kind of valid, I guess.

[hirazuki]

Day 1 down!

The weather was gorgeous and we got to enjoy the sunlight for a good bit in the park, and I snagged myself some goodies:

(shoutout to @estramor for spotting the Mordor bag... I tried walking away and I couldn't XD Definitely will be the bag I use whenever I cosplay Mairon). And our kitchen is slowly morphing into having soot sprites everywhere -- soot sprite oven mitts, soot sprite apron, soot sprite bookends for the cook books XDD We've been meaning to get a kitchen towel, and this was just too perfect.

Also, after cosplaying for almost ten years, I have finally figured out a way to make raised hairstyles on non-lace front wigs work for me: BALD CAPS! I can't believe I didn't try this sooner, I would have saved myself so much grief (and money lmao). Still not as good as a lace front, obviously, but when the color you need is impossible to find on a lace front, this is a decent alternative. First time I'm actually happy with raised bangs on a blunt hairline wig!

I didn't take photos of the application process but, just for fun, I'm including photos of the removal process under the cut ^^

[erme-maererme]

logged onto bluesky in the light of the recent layoffs just to see how things are going there in the dragon age fandom and was flooded with those "turn off your brain and enjoy" veilguard positive type posts. so this is not encouraging. perhaps the search function and feeds are not showing me everything, perhaps you just need to find people first, but hmmmm. i hope tumblr surivives forever for at least some years more. is that so much to ask

[13eyond13]

wait. there's a Those fic server?

it was more of a thing about 4 years ago, but yep!

Edit: if you want someone to chat to about it check the notes of this ask for an offer anon :)

[troublcmakcrs]

//the south park fandom needs to wake back up bc i'm feeling annoying ✨️

[musical-chick-13]

"but there just AREN'T any well-written women in aNyTHiNg I interact with"

DO TEN MINUTES OF RESEARCH.

WATCH BETTER SHOWS. READ BETTER BOOKS.

THERE IS A VERY SIMPLE SOLUTION HERE.

[fragmentedblade]

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