#and i am collecting my own tweets

[brytnoter]

[annebonyy]

i didnt think i could hate using social media more than when we were all collectively on fb but wow ig has really surpassed itself

[sleepyrayray]

Drunk One Piece Men Not Recongnizing S/O (Various One Piece Men x Reader)

Characters included: Usopp, Buggy, Eustass Kid Content: Fluff, crack, the boys just getting so drunk that they are like "who are you??? sorry i have a s/o", maybe a bit of angst. Mention of alcohol as the boys are drunk, curse words. GN reader! (tell me if there's any gendered terms I'll fix it.) A/N: Got this idea from seeing a tweet showing a screenshot of the one time someone's partner who didn't recongnize them due to how drunk they were. Also trying to find the time to write while being in college sucks. Also tumblr fustrated me so some things may be a bit iffy as it kept not wanting to process the post so i couldnt make some edits but I did my best to work around it and get it to a point where it would be at least decent. I hope you all enjoy!! I might make a part 2 to this at some point, we'll see. H/C = Hair color ofc.

Usopp

He didn't mean to get that drunk, drunk enough to where he wouldn't recongnize his own girlfriend. It had just happened. How did it happen? Well how it happened is that he got into an drinking competition with Zoro first. Did he want to get into this competition? No. Why did he agree? He doesn't know. What were the result? Well of course he got his ass beat, but not without getting superrrrrrr drunk first. Like there is no beating Zoro at a game of drinking. You went to collect your boyfriend, figuring it was time for both of you to retire for a night. You didn't want your boyfriend to get into any trouble in his drunken state. You grabbed his hand with a quick "Let's go to sleep Usopp." Only for it to be yanked away with a drunken glare and a "Who are you?" as this man looked as serious as a drunken man would look. You had furrowed your eyebrows as you said "I'm your partner??" You were just standing there, super confused and usure of what to do. He doesn't recongnize you?? How do you get so drunk that you don't recongnize your partner that you've been with for a long time. Would you ever figure out the answer? You didn't know. Maybe, maybe not you'll see eventually. Suddenly Usopp screeched out an, "No, you aren't my precious Y/N?? ARE YOU A STOWAWAY???" He had a finger pointing right at you, as if he's accusing you which he is. He just stared at you, face flushed red and unsure of what to do. Should he keep this a secret?? There's a stowaway on the ship, what if they're a danger? Oh no, he doesn't want to fight. Maybe he should just run away, let one of the other crewmembers find them and handle them. You just stood there before saying a "I am Y/N though????? I am also not a stowaway, I live on this ship! Wait... Am I reallyy??? Who am I even???" Cue you now having an external crisis because of your boyfriend. Maybe you are a bit drunk as well, or it's because of the fact you and Usopp tend to share the same brain cell 99.9% of the time but now you are just standing there thinking. It is really true that you both share a braincell, even when one of you is sober and the other is drunk there is no seperating ya'll now, you're basically soulmates. Now cue the both of you breaking down crying, Usopp screaming "WHERE IS MY PRECIOUS Y/N! WHO IS THIS PERSON???" You screaming "WHO AM I??? AM I THINK I AM WHO I REALLY AM?" You both sobbed, questioning reality and what is really happening around you both, not noticing the whole crew who is there watching you both and laughing at the chaos that is happening as you and Usopp drop to the floor. Eventually you both just passed out into the world of dreams and the crew just left you on the floor of the kitchen. Usopp was the first to wake up in the very early hours of the morning. He was confused as fuck as to why you both were on the floor in the kitchen. He also had a killer hangover so that didn't help anything. After some time he managed crawl over to you and shake you awake, you had woken up with a confused hum asking a, "Do you finally recongnize me?" Looking at you with a confused look on his face he said a simple "Huh? Of course I recongnize you!!!" He scratched his head before realizing the room they were currently in on the ship before asking an "Why are we in the kitchen?" You only chuckled before answering his question, "Well you got so drunk that you didn't recongnize me. I guess we just both passed out here." He blinked before he responded with an answer you expected from him, which was "Oh. I do not even remember that happening." You just smiled at your sweet yet confused boy "Yeah, you also made me question who I am as well as if I was actually a stowaway or not." You actually both began to laugh together about what happened last night. You both laughed at eachother and at yourselves. You both loved that about eachother, allowing yourselves to laugh about eachother being drunk or in their own extential crisis. The fact that the situation is a mix of both is even funnier, which is why you both cannot stop talking and laughing about it.

But unfortunately, the fun didn't last for long as soon enough some of the crew appeared due to it being breakfast time. While at breakfast they began to tease you both for what happen. It happened all throughout the day, the crew never let it go until a week later. So let us just say that you swore to yourself to never let Usopp get that drunk again, you won't be able to handle the consequences again. Or well, at least not in front of everyone. You would both do it in private areas, but if anyone saw you again you could swear you'd explode on the spot.

Buggy

It all started from a party that the Buggy himself and his crew had hosted on the ship. Everyone got a bit drunk, or super super drunk. Including you of course. Your boyfriend wasn't an exeption, you didn't see it all happen as you decided to go back into your shared room in order to sleep. For some odd reason, drinking just makes you tired. Unfortunately, you can't seem to fall asleep, even though you are really exhausted. It seems as if some unearthly figure heard your pleading cries to fall asleep and caused your wasted boyfriend walked into the room, slumped over and murmuring words under his breath. You released a sigh of relief, maybe with him beside you you can fall asleep. You hope so at least, but it turns out everything wasn't in your favor. "Finally you're back, please join me in bed so we can both sleep." You mumbled out, grogginess in your voice. He seemed silent for a moment before speaking up with an "Sorry but I have a partner." He is just standing there and looking at you with judgemental eyes, kinda making you a bit nervous yet confused. "But I am your partner Buggy." You had replied to him, more awake and confused as ever as to why your boyfriend doesn't recongnize you at all. Normally he would, even while drunk. Did he get hit by some devil fruit power you didn't know about? Or what about some magic spell? Is he high?? Did the crew get their hands on some wierd things and so it is making him not recongnize his own partner? He just shook his head, saying a "No you aren't Y/N, they have (H/N) not hair that keeps changing colors constantly to different colors... How do you have your hair do that? You should tell me your secret stranger... maybe then I'll forgive you for being in my room and in my bed." He then walked over and opened the closet you had in the room. You watched him, knitting your eyebrows as you were unsure of what he is thinking or doing. "If you say so." You sighed, eyes widening as he got into the closet. "Why are you in the closet?!" You almost shouted out, definately noting this down into your head to tell the crew during the day. He responded with an, "Well I obviously can't sleep in the bed since you aren't my girlfriend so I am picking the next best option, the couch. Goodnight." It was as if the answer was simple and easy to know as he had litterally sat himself into the closet and passed out after he had closed the closet door. He never realized that that isn't the closet. You simply just shook your head and accepted the fact that you would never fell asleep that night. He woke up with a very sore back, an extreme hangover, his legs also hurt due to the position he was in. He litterally screeched out a "WHY AM I IN THE CLOSET???" when he had realized where he was at. Once he had stepped out you simply looked at him, blinking before saying "You just got into it and slept there." He soon yelled out an" WHY DIDN'T YOU STOP ME????" He crossed his arms over his chest, staring you down. "Well you wouldn't come to bed." You said before clearing your voice and continued though imitating his voice with a "You aren't my partner, my partner has (H/C) not hair that changes color to that of the rainbow." "I would never do that, and why didn't you make me sleep on the couch?" He questioned, now tappin his foot. "Well apparently to you the closet was the couch." You replied to him. "That's impossible! I would never do such a thing!" He semi-yelled as he made an X with his arms, shaking his head. "Yes you did, don't deny it." You hummed, stretching your arms out towards him, before adding a "Now come here and join me, I haven't been able to sleep so maybe we can both sleep cuddling this time and I can finally get some shut eye." He had huffed out a "I still don't believe you." Though he still went and got into bed beside you, pulling you onto his chest. "Just go to sleep." You chuckled, shaking your head with a smile saying "Alright, you should get more sleep so you can heal your migrane and sore bones. "Sounds good." He said, you both falling asleep, cuddled up together.

"Goodnight." You said, smiling, enjoying the cuddles. "It's morning." He huffed out. "I don't care, goodnight." You retorted back at him. "Fine, goodnight." He huffed out, as you both finally fell into the world of dreams and sleep.

Eustass Kid

The crew had docked onto the next island you all would be stopping at for at least a day or two, in order to stock up on supplies and repair anything needed repairs on the ship. It was night time and the crew had decided to go out to a local bar and drink. You had stayed behind due to having of caught a bit of a cold. You knew that Kid wanted to stay behind to at least make sure you dont die. You had to reassure him that you just needed some rest and he could go and have fun with the crew. You knew he could be rough, and seem a bit rude with his insistance, but you also knew that he isn't perfect when it comes to showing his emotions. It was his own way of showing he cares of course, he doesn't mean anything in a bad way and you admire him for doing his best to show his worry. You shifted in the bed, seeming to wake up from a small nap you were having. You then heard the door open and a drunk Kid stumble into the room in the process. You smiled saying a simple "Welcome back honey." Kid's head turned to look at you before his eyebrows furrowed as if judging you. "Is something wrong Kid?" You had questioned your boyfriend before sitting up. He simply growled before hissing out a "Who the fuck are you." You raised an eyebrow saying "I'm your parner Kid. I'm (Y/N) are you so drunk you don't recongnize me?" He stared at you for a few moments before saying "Stop lying and get out of my room. Why are you even on my ship? Get off of my fucking ship!" His voice rising as he picked you up and put you outside of the room. You didn't even know what to do, you were too stunned to do anything. You just accepted the fact you'll probably have to stay in the hallway tonight. Hopefully he comes to his senses when he wakes up in the morning, knowing him he's already asleep. You too fell asleep in the cold hallway. Soon enough morning came and Kid woke up, grumbling as he wondered why you weren't in bed. He just figured that you had gotten a head start for the day as you often did. He groaned and got ready before heading out of his room. Though he felt his foot bump against something as he went to walk out. "What the fuck." He mumbled under his breath, looking down to find you sleeping on the ground looking even sicker than before. Kid huffed picking you up and bringing you into the room, setting you onto the bed which had woken you up in the process. You mumbled a "Kid...?" Barely being able to talk. "Why the fuck were you sleeping in the hallway? Now you're even more sick than before you fucking idiot!" "You kicked me out..." You rasped out, eyes gazing hazely at his blurred out face. "I would never fucking kick you out of our own room." He said, narrowing his eyes trying to remember what had happened last night. You simply said a "You got so drunk that you didn't recongnize me... So you kicked me out in your drunken state." His eyes slightly widened as he remembered what had happened the night before. He muttered an "Oh shit." Under his breath. Guilt filled his eyes as he realized the fact he's the reason as to why you got even more sick. "I'm so fucking sorry babe." He grumbled before pulling the covers over the bed. "I'll fucking make it up to you." He did. You would go on and reassure him that it's fine, but he didn't accept that it was fine. He made sure you got better, and would even give you all kinds of gifts to show you how sorry he was. He also promised you to never get into that drunken state ever again. He kept that promise.

[nightgoodomens]

Are we serious? Am I the only one who was under the impression that at least in Michael's case, we were all on the same page that this man is anything but "Straight", even if some must deny his involvement with DT? I was hard-pressed accepting that some brains are really capable of actively ignoring 5 years worth of undeniable evidence to protect a certain narrative, to keep their state of mind tranquilized. lf we actively choose to NOT accept people's repetitive words and actions as truth, to cling to whatever meaningless motive to justify one's action to anything but what actually is, I'd rather spend my energy celebrating a beautiful love between two people who deserve the best than trying to wake those that are pretending to be sleep. If MS's Ex partner's testimony that he had a massive crush on Jude Law while filming The Wild or his own words that he finds James Bradfield or young Jonathan Ross attractive, tweets regarding how No Closet can hold him, replying to a specific tweet about two closeted male celebrity or his wish to be a drag queen or hanging out with Graham Norton and his friend in notorious gay clubs in London ( I can go on really...) is not enough, then I don't think him admitting again that he had a crush on JT on BBC1 will do much...

I think we just have to collectively agree that some people will choose their hetero denial no matter what. Denial is a huge part of this fandom, regarding many things.

Michael and David did everything to show they aren’t straight and they also did everything to show how much they love each other.

Neil confirmed that they’re still very much in love.

If people choose to pretend this isn’t real… is it really our problem? It’s sad and sort of funny, but.

I’d rather celebrate love.

[kiophen]

Re: tags on that ask about callout posts (not the same anon), can I ask about the 4lung situation? I haven't looked into what happened too deeply but from what I have seen nothing is super well documented or explained

If its too much and you don't feel like getting into it don't worry about it, feel free to disregard. I'm mostly just curious since I've heard things and it was mentioned

I was prompted to do my own digging into the whole situation surrounding her a few years ago. She was excluded from an online music event due to someone bringing up concerns with the organizers privately. I found that basically every public accusation about her is not true, and/or redacted by the accusers. The only true accusations are the ones that really don't matter; she retweeted porn on main and was a babyfur. These things were used to bludgeon her with pedo accusations and back up all the fake shit thrown on top to make it more convincing.

"Did you know she attempted to KIDNAP a KID?? Oh, the kid said it wasn't a kidnapping and the accuser said they jumped to conclusions and apologized? Well did you know she TWEETED a SLUR? Oh that was actually photoshopped by kiwifarmers? Well did you know she SEXUALLY HARASSED a MINOR? Oh, that was actually her shitty ex-gf trying to make her look bad in retaliation to a bad breakup? Well did you know x and y and z misinterpreted or fabricated things? Well at least you can agree that being a BABYFUR is something worth ritualistically harassing a trans woman, over right?"

One reason why stuff isn't well documented is because the main person who was pushing the accusations so hard ended up apologizing and retracting and deleting a lot of posts (and also I think they're suspended, which deletes all their tweets, and most of this shit happened in twitter threads). They did get bullied into removing their apology too.

Another reason is that a lot of the situation was people seeing the original callout posts years ago, internalizing the message "This Person Bad Pedo Bad Bad Person Bad" from it, and then later being like "Ummmmm isn't that person a pedophile? Yikes?" to their friend who brought her up who then says "Oh My Fuck I am Sorry I Did not Know that!" and then it just gets spread around like that through uncurious people who don't care enough to check

I have my own collection of archived tweets from when I was trying to find the root of these claims and might make a full writeup about the situation someday, but also I have complicated feelings about whether I would be just be immortalizing this shitty behavior, if it would just lead to more people trying to harm her, or if anyone would even learn anything from it. Also I don't want the person who started the accusations to get dragged back into this since I can tell they were being manipulated and gaslit as fuck by other bullies into making this such a big part of their life for so long.

Specifically about the kidnapping thing: After one of her shows, she and a friend drove a teenager to an Arbys to get picked up by their parent as a nice gesture due to some trouble the teen was having. The situation was catastrophized by either this teen or the accuser into a "kidnapping" (there is conflicting information, they both blame each other) and then the accuser tweeted it out. The teen has since said they didn't really think they were being kidnapped, and the accuser said the kidnapping aspect was made up.

[scottishcommune]

On Saturday the 14th of October 2023, at a rally for Palestine in Dundee, Scotland, 3rd year student Tánaiste had a speech read out in his absence. In his speech he called out the University of Dundee for refusing to release a statement condemning ethnic cleansing and war crimes against Palestinians, contrasting this with his university's speedy condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In this speech he declared that, if the university has not released an appropriate statement by Friday the 20th of October, then beginning on Monday 23rd Tánaiste fully intends to start a hunger strike. His stated aim is to organise the students and staff at the uni into a campaign that will cause the faculty leadership to reconsider whether silence in the face of genocide is truly in the best interests of the institution. Updates are likely to be shared on Tánaiste's instagram, which can be found here, and on the Dundee University Socialist Society's facebook page, which can be found here.

The full text of his speech is as follows:

I am in England and am unable to be here. Thank you to my comrades for reading this out for me.

My name is TAW-nish-ta (Tánaiste) I'm a 3rd year Community Education student at the University of Dundee. I remember when Russia invaded Ukraine on Saturday 20th February 2022, by Thursday my university and student union had put out a statement: "It is our sincere hope that, even at this stage, a more peaceful solution can be found to the current conflict that avoids bloodshed and tragedy."

A fortnight later, they put out a further statement outlining: "the University’s unequivocal condemnation of the invasion... We must continue to hope that international pressure on Russia will have a positive effect, however bleak the situation may look today."

No public statement has come this time, as we face the real prospect of a genocide, aided and abetted by our own government and so called Leader of the Opposition. I directly asked the Principal why we have put out no statement. This was the University’s response: "The current situation is tragic with a shocking level of unjustifiable violence against innocent people. But it is also very complex and there will be many different perspectives on it. For that reason the University will not be taking a public stance on the matter."

I have no words for this act of moral cowardice. No words. What is complex about ethnic cleansing? What is complex about collective punishment? Which syllable of genocide do they need repeating? I saw a tweet which summed it up so well: "Universities be like 'We support genocide and apartheid. Please seek mental health support.'"

The leadership of my university are making the judgment that it is not in their institutional interest to even condemn genocide. Perhaps they are right. Perhaps the balance of power and PR is that actually to remain silent is in Dundee University’s best interest.

Our task as students is to change their calculation by all means available to us. There are many methods available. We have a student council and student union. They can be used. We can organise mass letters. And other tactics exist.

Our cause is moral, is just, and is seen to be so by the majority of students and staff at my university. They are waiting to be stirred at action, to be mobilised, to be quickened. I would like to announce my contribution to this campaign.

If the university has not issued an appropriate statement by Friday 20th October, I shall not eat food until the University publicly denounces the war and calls for an immediate ceasefire. I do not pretend this will end the war, but as my Principal said, "We must continue to hope that international pressure" will work.

One thing we have learnt so brutally in the comparison of how Ukraine and Palestine have been treated is that Black Lives Don't Matter. The imminent extermination of 2 million Gazans does not provoke our governments let alone our universities, to offer even token support for universal human rights. In the circumstances, a hunger strike for an achievable victory is the least I can do.

I know the University cares about its public image. I gently suggest to them that "Dundee student dies on hunger strike because University won't denounce genocide" will be bad PR. Their open day on 28th October will be marred by day 6 of a hunger strike for all prospective students to see.

I hope that my University looks at the prospect of a white British student starving to death and extends its compassion to the millions in Palestine who, for only the crime of existing, are being hourly killed.

[hkthatgffan]

Well, today's the day! Hilda comes to an end. I figured now more than ever is time I make this post on just…how I feel about this incredible show ending and why it means so much to me…and why I'm grateful to Luke Pearson and the whole Hilda team. So, long post below ahead!

I found Hilda in 2018 via a post on the Gravity Falls sub of the trailer. Right from the start, something felt special about this show. And like many, I tuned in to watch it when it began. I didn't know what would be in store as I began it, but I was excited. This was at the end of the summer as GF hype for Lost Legends and the box set died down. So, getting in to a new show seemed like the best idea. It took literally hearing that theme song for me to instantly fall in love with Hilda. There was something so familiar and wholesome just bursting out of that opening. It was a feeling hard to really explain. By episode 3 and specifically the ending of it…I knew I had my next favourite show.

Everything about Hilda just felt perfect to me. The animation was incredible, Hilda as a character was enjoyable and full of life, the story felt fresh even if the core concept seemed familiar and all in all, I just loved the atmosphere this show radiated. It also made me so happy to see Canada have a part in Hilda. The Canadian animation industry is one I love given how much of a part of my childhood it was. And so to see it have a hand in this incredible show just made me so happy. Mercury Filmworks did amazing with Hilda. And I think that's how I began to understand why Hilda feels so familiar; it reminds me of those old cartoons I grew up on. Those Canadian Nelvana shows that were so wholesome & yet so fun to watch…while also not afraid to be bold. Hilda was that kind of show for a new generation!

I also didn't shy away from poking some nods to Gravity Falls. It was a great way to help spread Hilda's existence to more people and to this day I get messages from people who tell me they found Hilda because of my tweets, or videos or more. That means the world and I am grateful to have helped you discover this show. And like any show I fell in love with, I also bough the books and other merch for it. The Hilda graphic novels were amazing to read and see how the show grew from them, the figurine still just fits in my shelf, and the tie in books and more are always fun to collect. I'll miss it. Not to mention the memes…of which I made a few. The Hilda fandom is insane, yet so funny. Like all fandoms it has its ups and downs but I've met some amazing people because of Hilda and some who I remain great friends with. You know who you are <3

Hilda's conclusion means that the last of my holy trinity shows is now over…and with that, the end of an era. Truthfully, IDK what my plans are post Hilda. It was the last show still airing that I truly was 110% passionate about. That's not to say there aren't other shows, But there will never be another Hilda for me. Hilda is a show unlike any other I have seen. Yeah, perhaps it's not the most popular or the biggest or the best cartoon out there. But OMG, no other show since ever made me as happy and passionate as Hilda did. It's one of a kind!

I said in 2018 that Hilda is everything out of a cartoon that I wanted. I still believe that.

No cartoon is perfect and our definition of perfection is our own. If you ask me though…Hilda is the closest cartoon I have ever come across to my definition of perfection!

With that, while I am heartbroken to bid farewell to Hilda…I am happy I got to experience this show as it aired. I'm grateful for all the memories I made in the 5 years I had it. I'm grateful for the adventure and above all else…I'm grateful to have seen Hilda! ❤️

2018-2023

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Unexpected 30

Sequel to Unsolicited

Warnings: non/dubcon, pregnancy, car sex, Lloyd being the worst, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

Three days since Lloyd’s return and you’re already suffocating. He may not be his most volatile but he’s always better in small doses. So you wake up a bit earlier than usual and gear up; leggings, cotton shirt, a hoodie too tight to zip, and your pregnancy belt.

He rolls onto his back and groans. His bruises are fading but he’s still in pain. He lets you know it. His griping is driving you nuts. You need a break before you beat him up yourself.

“Where are you going?” He asks groggily, rubbing his cheek only to wince as he touches the bruises there.

“For my walk.”

“Your walk?” He pushes himself up on an elbow to look at you, “what does that mean?”

“It means you were gone for a month and I got a month of freedom,” you sneer, “it’s nice out, so I like to walk around the neighbourhood a bit. It’s good for the baby.”

“You shouldn’t go alone,” he sits up and groans, rubbing his discoloured stomach.

“I can handle myself, Lloyd, it’s almost eight in the morning, there aren’t any thugs out their waiting to jump me,” you scoff, “the only thug around here is in this room.”

“Hm,” he lays back on the pillows, “fine.”

“How about I bring you a coffee before I go,” you offer, “hate to say it, but I think you’re in worse shape than me. I just really don’t care if you’re left to fend for yourself.”

“Wow, you know, peaches, I think I overestimated you,” he shifts and lets out another strained groan, “you’re not as nice as I thought.”

“Well, you could get your own coffee. I mean, it’d be justice considering I can’t have any. And it’s all your fault.”

“Baby cakes,” he whines.

“Ugh, see, this is exactly why I need to get out,” you shake your head, “I’m not your mother, Lloyd, she’s gone home.”

“But you are mommy,” he grins and you resist the urge to find something to throw at him.

“Ew, I’m gonna get the coffee on, then I’m gonna get my shit and go,” you turn on your heel and shuffle away, “I have faith in you, Marion, you can make it to the kitchen.”

“I really wish you wouldn’t call me that,” he bemoans.

“You’ve called me worse and you know it.”

💎

You leave the coffee dripping from the machine and a mug beside it. The burner will keep it warm long enough for him to find a way down. You shove your feet into your sneakers, leaving the laces loose as you can’t bend far enough to do anything about it. Besides, your feet are swollen as fuck.

You put in the wired earbuds that came with your phone and turn on the podcast you found about some old reality show you used to watch when you were younger. You remember how you would wake up in time to watch it on primetime before heading out for another night shift. Colin’s looming memory hardly makes you think anymore, he’s just someone who was there, just a bystander in your wasted life.

You follow the long drive and breathe in the fresh scent of pollen, your allergies tickling behind your eyes. You’ll have to water the bulbs Harlan planted when you get back. They’re starting to sprout up. 

Birds bathe in the marble bath and tweet around the feeder Dottie helped you hang. In Lloyd’s absence, you’d done your best to distract yourself, to do the things you could never do in your old duplex. To enjoy what you could before a baby got in the way.

You reach the gate and stop to take a breath. You brace your back, just over the top of the thick belt, and start down the street. The neighbourhood is sparse, a collective of oversized mansions across lush fields, framed with perfectly trimmed hedges. You try to meter your breath as you reach the end of the Hansen estate.

As you pass in front of the next house, you nearly scream. A man nearly bowls you over as he hops through his gate and catches your arm as he steps back, steadying both of you. Your earbuds tug free of your ears as your hand hits the wire. The stranger lets you go and pulls out a wireless bud from his ear.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, “I didn’t hear you coming.”

“Me either,” you say as you lay your hand on your stomach, his eyes following the habitual touch, “I wasn’t paying attention at all.”

“Neither was I,” he chuckles and scratches his neck, just along the stubble that weaves into his thick beard. He’s familiar in a very unnerving way. “I’d feel awful if I’d knocked you over,” he nods to your stomach, “both of you.”

“Oh, uh, well, it’s all good,” you say as you pull up your dangling earbuds, “I was just about to turn back at the end of the street anyway. Can’t make it much further.”

“Ah, do you mind company? I was headed in the same direction.”

“Please, I don’t want to slow you down,” you note his obvious running gear.

“I don’t mind. Always good to get to know the neighbours,” he smiles, his eyes sparkling at you, “Andy.”

He offers his hand and you consider it. You shake it stiffly and return your name. 

“So, which house do you live in?” He asks.

“Just next door,” you point over the tall brick wall before heading away from it, resuming your usual path.

“Hansen’s… wife? Wow, I didn’t even know he was married.”

“Oh? I guess… I guess we don’t go out much.”

“Well, I’ve seen you here and there,” he admits as he walks with you, keeping an easy pace with you, “I just didn’t know how to say hi, I guess.”

“Mmm, right,” you nod as you wrap up your earbuds around your phone and tuck it back in the pocket of your leggings, “I guess I’m not very… observant. Especially since I got knocked up. I tend to zone out a bit.”

“My wife was the same way,” he intones, “do you know your shoes are untied?”

“I’m aware. I can’t really reach.”

“Hold up,” he stops you with his arm across your path, “it’s a tripping hazard.”

“But–” you stop yourself from arguing that they’re tucked in.

He tugs them out from under your feet and you feel him knotting them tight. He reappears as he stands up and you continue down the lane. He’s friendly enough and it wouldn’t be so bad to know someone beyond the man you call your husband.

“So, you said your wife was pregnant… how old is your kid?”

He’s quiet as he takes a breath, “he was fifteen.”

You cup your hand over your stomach, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he says, “really. I’m not saying it to get sympathy. It’s just… what happened.”

“Still, it’s a lot to go through. Losing a child,” you can’t help but peek down at your belly.

“And a wife,” he adds, “car accident. I’m working through it.”

“I’m–”

“Don’t. No sorry’s. None of it. It’s behind me,” he assures you. “You and Hansen, how long you been with him?”

“You care that much?”

“Well, I’d rather talk about your family than mine.”

“Fair enough. Uh…” you’re not sure how to answer, “too long.”

He laughs, “yeah, about what I expected. He’s a character for sure.”

“You know him well?”

“Not as well as I thought, apparently,” he says, “never even said anything about a wife. Or a kid… kids?”

“Just the one,” you say as you reach the corner and stop, “I’ll tell him you said hello.”

“Actually, I wouldn’t,” he puts his hands on his hips and squints against the sunlight, “I know him, but I wouldn’t say I like him. Or that he likes me for that matter.”

You push your lips out and make a noise, “got it. Actually, I don’t know why I thought he would.”

“He’s not really the neighbourly type,” Andy remarks as he checks his watch, “anyway, I’ll let you go. And next time you go out, get your husband to tie your shoes. Can’t have you falling out here.”

“Will do,” you muster a small smile, “sorry to slow you down.”

“Not at all,” he bounces in place, “it was nice meeting you, neighbour.”

“You too,” you reply and turn on your heel, leaving him to stretch as you head off back to the house in no hurry. You unfurl your earbuds and put them back in your ears, skipping back to your place in the episode. Lloyd can wait a little longer while you finish your podcast in the garden.

[sir-subpar]

Reimagined Banban x Reader, (Part 3)

"Welcome to the Kingdom"

Rating: Teen and up for depictions/descriptions of violence.

Below the cut

You took the baby bird with you, and ran.

Until you reached a lift, and decided to hop on. The two of you descended further. At this point, you shouldn't be surprised, this "kindergarten" had already proved itself to be something more. This place was a beast of its own.

You reached a floor covered in Orange. Just… orange. It hurt your eyes with how bright it was. But you continued on your quest..

For about three seconds, before you were running for your life again. That damn two headed thong had apparently fallen down here. 

Of course! Just your luck. 

Smartass thoughts aside, you ran, the floor quaking beneath your feet with every step that monster took.

Eventually you were met with a narrow hallway, small enough to ensure your safety from the creature.

Finally able to catch your breath, you continued on your little Adventure. Petting the small bird as you moved along. 

You stumbled upon a small table, with a collection of small treats, freshly baked. Muffins, cookies, and the like.

Just… out in the open?

..In *this* hellhole?

You didn't touch them. That was too suspicious.

You cautiously backed away from the obvious trap, and the small bird in your arms loudly tweeted, startling you slightly as the noise lightly echoed down the hall. 

You jumped back in alarm, out of instinct.

You felt your back hit something that *definitely* wasn't the wall.

"Too smart for sweets, huh? Well, that ain't gonna save you." A low voice growled behind you.

You swiftly turned to look at the owner of the voice, however, before you could even take a good look at it, you were hit. Hard.

Your vision grew dark just as soon as you hit the floor.

…

...

You awoke to a new room. Blinking through a headache and taking in your surroundings. The new location was very gray with a table right in front of you. The wall across from you had a large projector screen. It was powered off for the time being.

You attempted to stand, but found your hands tied behind you. You were apprehended, tied to an uncomfortable wooden chair.

While you recollected what had happened, (and why your head ached so much) that same voice from before spoke again.

"Good, you're finally up." You could hear it coming from your right, and you could vaguely see a large silhouette peering at you through the window. Though you couldn't quite make out any details. 

"Alright partner, I've got some questions for you. Answer them truthfully, that's all I want from you."

You didn't bother to hide your frustration. Glaring daggers at the figure. 

"You could've just asked before concussing me, y'know." You snipped.

"Can't trust strangers too much, that includes you." The voice snapped right back. 

"Well, seeing how YOU greet strangers, I'm inclined to agree," You retorted. You felt no need to hide your tone. 

The aching in your face was definitely going to bruise, if it hadn't already, you could feel it. So, with that pain in mind, you felt justified in giving a little bit of attitude. 

You decided that even if you were forced to comply, you wouldn't make it easy for him. 

"If you've seen what I have, you'd do the same." 

Your eye twitched. "Buddy, I am God knows *how* many floors deep down in this place, do you think I just waltzed in a few minutes ago?"

The figure was stunned into silence. 

"What, didn't think of that? Or did-"

Loud slam interrupted you, as his hand made harsh contact with the glass. 

The impact was so hard the window rattled, barely staying in its sill.

Well, that shut you up faster than you'd care to admit. 

"ENOUGH. I don't have time to play games. You either answer my questions, or I'll make sure you aren't a problem myself. And partner, you won't like the way I do it."

Slightly more intimidated, your resolve dwindled slightly. Perhaps it would be wise to back down, just a little. 

The questions were simple, just him showing you projections of different, as he called, "threats".

"Have you ever come in contact with the threat shown on the board?"

A familiar blue spider appeared. 

"Yeah, Nabnab." You said casually. You were scared of the bandit-dressed spider at first, but as you adjusted to this hellhole, he felt more like an inconvenience than anything else. 

"That freak gives me the creeps." 

The figure responded, with a surprising amount of earnestness. 

The next photo was of Josh. Again, you admitted to recognizing him.

"Really? I'm surprised you're in one piece."

You shrugged, "Meh, he was intimidating at first, but he's actually rather passive when you feed him. Nice fella at the end of the day."

The figure hummed. Seemingly processing your statement. 

The projector clicked once more. A pink bird on the screen.

"Opila Bird?" You queried. 

"I take it you've met her already."

"Oh yeah," you breathed, "She was kind enough to greet me at the front door," your sarcasm wasn't missed by your interrogator. 

He sighed, and the projector clicked again.

Stinger Flynn.

Just looking at that one-eyed, pretentious, selfish thing made your blood pressure rise. He had your child captive somewhere here, you knew it.

And he hurt Banban, your only real constant companion through all of this.

"Have you encountered this one before?"

"Unfortunately." You spat.

"Interesting tone there.." He mused. 

"Believe me, if there's anyone you should be capturing anyone here," you pointed at the photo, as your eyes locked on the figure behind the glass next to you. 

"It's him."

Silence. 

The figure cleared his throat. 

And the interrogation continued. 

More of the creatures you had encountered were shown.

Banbaleena, Tarta, and BanBan.

You were hesitant to say anything about Banban, he lost control yes, but he tried to warn you. You knew he didn't mean to hurt you.

The shadowy figure pressed for answers, judging by his reaction to your attitude previously, you know he wouldn't let up. Whether you liked it or not, he was not going to leave you alone until he got answers.

You look down at the floor in front of you.

"He's my friend," you admitted. 

The man hummed. 

 The projector clicked once more, showing something you actually hadn't seen before.

A strange purple and green Jester looking thing.

It was odd, you hadn't even seen any posters of it anywhere. 

"I can see the look on your face," your interrogator noted, "You've never seen him before, have you?"

"No."

"Doesn't surprise me, I figured you came from the floors above."

"Last question, stranger." He queued. 

On final click revealed a photo of a character you had seen posters of previously.

Your child's favorite character, "Sheriff Toadster."

Then it clicked. It was at that moment you realized who your captor was.  

You squinted at him through the glass. "It's you, isn't it?"

You heard his breath hitch.  Then he recomposed himself, and cleared his throat. 

The projector shut down. The door in the corner of your interrogation room unlocked, and a tall figure walked in.

"You are correct, yes."

Sheriff Toadster. He, like many others in this facility, had changed over the years. His face was littered with scars. Long, deep ones.

So we're his arms. Pretty much any part of him that wasn't covered by his clothes, you could see, we're scared heavily. 

His eyes were sunken, bags visible from clear exhaustion. 

Even so, he was still a large, imposing figure.

He walked towards you, his heavy footsteps echoing as he did.

His large hands found themselves behind your back, for a moment, you flinched. Worried he might hurt you again, you braced yourself.

But the pain never arrived, instead, you found your hands to be free.

You rubbed your aching wrists, the coarse ropes had left marks and rope burns. 

As Toadster stood before you, you could fully see the size difference between you two. Sure, Banban was also decently larger than you, but the sheriff's size led you to believe he could easily tear you asunder with his bare hands.

He held your bag out to you, his palm offering your belongings. Both of your hands could fit in just his palm.

Hesitantly, you took your items from him. Taking a peek inside to make sure there was nothing missing.

"Come along now, partner. It's time to meet the queen." He beckoned you.

Not feeling as though you had the choice, you obliged, and followed him.

Just as he guided you out of the room and into a hallway, Little Beak tweeted, and ran towards you.

You smiled, kneeled down, and took the baby bird in your arms.

When you stood up, you could see the sheriff eyeing you with an unreadable expression.

Though he said nothing, you could tell he was making some sort of mental note about you.

You could only hope it was a positive one.

You continue to follow him, slowly walking across an unstable looking bridge. Despite its ragged appearance, it was able to support both yours and the sheriff's wait, and you arrived on the other side.

Once again your mind was blown away by the volume of this place. 

As what stood before you, was a giant medieval styled gate.

The sheriff reached into one of his many pockets, and retrieved a large key.

Just as he inserted the key into the lock, the door clicking as it all fit into place, he glanced at you.

"Welcome, to the Kingdom."

(To be continued)

[roo-bastmoon]

The Great Radio Debate: Roo's (limited) Understanding of this Issue UPDATED

Disclaimer: Sensitive topics are discussed below the cut; please do not incite drama, speak hate, or engage in bullying. This is a collection of my thoughts about what is currently happening with regard to Jungkook's single SEVEN and the implications it could mean for Jikook and ARMY. If you click below this cut, you are assuming responsibility for your own behavior and agreeing to engage with my blog and others respectfully, or you will be blocked.

We now by know that Jimin's music was not promoted to radio. We know this because when we went to request it from various major radio stations, it was not an option in the drop-downs; we had to manually type it in. Being "sent / promoted / serviced to radio" means a compressed file is sent from the company to radio stations so DJs can play high-def spins that are universally compatible with their station's set up.

None of Jimin's songs for Face were serviced:

The airplay audience was the lowest for any song this decade:

The controversy around Jungkook's SEVEN began last week when one DJ tweeted the following:

As we now know, "serviced to radio" means they sent a compressed file (which they SHOULD have done for Like Crazy English Version, but didn't). They did service to radio for Butter and Dynamite and it was a huge help. Even Yet to Come was serviced, so it cracked Top 50 on the charts, but none of Face's songs were sent, which makes zero business sense any achievement on that chart amazing.

Because even when serviced, it doesn't guarantee spins... "Add" means they hope radio stations will add the song to rotation:

But then the DJ had to go and say this:

So they have already sent SEVEN to the radios, hoping for spins. And now one person is publicly saying the song absolutely will get spins immediately. This heavily implies payola, because why else would a song without demand or requests immediately spin multiple times on everyone's shows the second it was released?

I feel (I, Roo Bastmoon, personally think and feel) Seven is being pushed this way for two reasons:

Billboard's recent changes around what kind of sales (physical, digital, bundled) will counts on the charts puts songs without radio play at an extreme, nigh-insurmountable disadvantage; even with excellent streams (which are heavily culled and filtered), it will be hard to break into the top 50.

Additionally, Taylor Swift's Speak Now re-release has dropped this week and will be gunning for the charts next week when Jungkook debuts, and that is a personal problem for Scooter Braun.

For those not familiar (as I surely wasn't; I live under a rock), Taylor Swift felt compelled to leave her old management company back in 2018. To do so, she had to abandon the rights to any original music she made with them. They kept her masters and sold them off to Scooter Braun.

Each time someone wanted to play one of her original songs, they had to ask his permission and pony up money for a license fee. Scooter Braun also managed Kanye, and I'm sure everyone knows the Beyoncé is the Greatest of All Time award show fiasco that led to some bad blood between those two artists, so it added insult to injury for Taylor.

Taylor has now re-recorded everything and released Speak Now: Taylor's Version. Of COURSE her fans are motivated to support her and get every single song they can into the highest position on the Hot 100 for as long as possible... and frankly, I am not a Swiftie but I can't blame them because if someone did that to BTS, I'd make it my life's mission to chart them as a big Fuck You, too.

But it does put a lot of pressure on Jungkook's single, because now it's very likely been weaponized in a personal dick-measuring contest where Scooter is concerned. Not sure if I mentioned it but I truly hate that man so I'm not sure I can be impartial when talking about him but I will try.

So Jungkook's single has been set up so far with pre-orders on iTunes and compressed files to radio, which is a first for any member's solo work. He also has a debut stage on Good Morning America, which has a huge range beyond k-pop.

So far, none of this is foul play. It is a company doing its best to represent and set up the best conditions for its artist under changed circumstances. You can make a case for favoritism, clearly, but at the end of the day, companies are about making profits and sometimes they grossly underestimate what has potential and what the market wants.

The issues fans are facing now around Seven lie in:

1) the neglect around Jimin's Like Crazy English Version, which is still so stable that it could be smashing charts if only it would get radio play so this just seems to make zero business sense and be more of a slight than anything else, so Jikookers are left wondering what that means for the relationship and,

2) the fear that Hybe America under Scooter Braun has abandoned BTS' founding values and taken the easy way out by paying to play on radio, which would severely damage credibility that BTS worked so hard to build as an organic, fan-driven success.

I think we'll have to wait to see how many sales, streams, and spins Jungkook gets to figure out if payola was likely. Maybe that one DJ was tweeting his own assumptions like they were facts. Or maybe Hybe has now decided to do payola. If that is so... not gonna lie, I will be extremely disappointed. I will need to take a break and figure out what this means for me as a fan.

The next question is how much did Jungkook know about all this? There seems to be two camps of thought here: one says the boys are involved in every step of the way and choose everything that happened around their releases.

(I know Jimin is very humble but I HIGHLY doubt he ever said to his company "Please rush my release in between other releases so I get physically sick trying to keep up with it; please never restock my physicals in WeVerse and don't send a file for the English song I studied for to US radios; and please also never post about my world record nor celebrate my albums' success in any way; yes, I worked 10+ months on this very personal opus but I absolutely don't want any of that." I very, very much doubt the ways Face was handled after Hot 100 #1 was Jimin's choice. This also makes me doubt if all the ways Seven will be handled will be Jungkook's choice.)

The second camp of thought is that the artists have absolutely no say in the marketing and promotion styles of their work, and that they are kept out of sales matters altogether. And here's the limit of my understanding, because I've not seen or read much on Hybe / BigHit's strategic plans around distribution for either BTS' group or solo works.

(Side Note: I have seen them set up TXT for a Billboard Top Ten, only for their collab to come in at #135, which shows a gross misunderstanding of their market right now--as well as disregard for their artists' feelings and reputations. My heart goes out to those boys; they worked hard.)

But drawing on my own experience decades ago when I used to work in entertainment out in LA, I can tell you, even as Chief Editor, plenty of my media content was changed without anyone informing me--back-cover blurbs, cover designs, release dates, shelf talkers, pop ups, print runs, print houses, store placements, advertising, interview articles--at some point in my former career, all of those things got changed around and I found out after the fact, on my own projects. Which pissed me off but I'd signed NDAs and couldn't do a single thing about it. And the authors / creators didn't know until *I* had the hard job of informing them. And they couldn't do anything about it because they were under contract.

So I think the level of members' involvement in solo works is somewhere in between. I think as artists and performers, BTS members can have a great deal of say in their look, styles, lyrics, choreo, merch, and venues. But not total say. Definitely not deciding-factor say.

I think the company can make them water down their lyrics, change up the choreo, and flat-out tell them no when it comes to music videos, performance venues, pretty much anything budget-related. They don't even have to explain why; it's their budget and their bottom-line. (In the old days, it seems like the members could freely express opinions around the works and even challenge management when it came to creative content. Maybe that is still true.)

As far as Jungkook's involvement in Seven's style, we have a stylist going on record about how some of the options were their ideas and that Jungkook had a lot of input on the look and feel, so it was a mixture:

For this reason alone, the fact that things like mud were added to clean pants or spikes to a jacket after Jungkook had input makes me truly feel this was his way of honoring Jimin and Face. It just seems like something our Jungkook would do--he may not always say it, but he's always watching Jimin-ssi.

As for sales and marketing strategies? The boys may never get looped in. Or they may be told the plans, but not invited to give input. Or they may sit down and plan it all out to the last detail with each department. I genuinely don't know. And because I don't know, I will not be assuming the worst of Jungkook or any member until I have all the facts. That is anti behavior, in my mind, and I just cannot stomach it. I can never bring myself to believe the worst of anyone until they fully and consistently show me that's who they are.

We've spent ten years with these guys. They are flawed human beings, yes, but not cheats, not assholes. I think they omit plenty of details but I don't think they straight-up lie to us. I don't think Jungkook would ever look his staff and executives in the eye and say "Yes, I want you to illegally pay money under the table so this single will top the charts." Jungkook is competitive, but also a stickler for fair play. You spend any amount of time watching Run, and the only time he "cheats" is when he wants to be with Jimin (lol) and he's pretty endearingly obvious about it; guy has almost no game face.

Okay but joking aside, I'm honestly very worried for JK. It sort of feels like he's being set up. Many questions have arisen over the stylistic choices for Seven. There's the fan frenzy around having a hot female protagonist in his video. And now the question about how much radio play Seven will get, and why. That's a lot of controversy to hang on a young man's shoulders. Especially in light of the recent book that's come out, in which it's clear now that the company and the artists are aware of hate-trending hashtags in English. GOD THAT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.

To me, it feels (it feels--as in, my gut is telling me this; I have no receipts) like the company is using JK to experiment with a different way of doing business--a way that may stray from their founding values.

And there's so much potential for this to blow up in JK's face. There are solos who will insist he's stealing Jimin's style. Antis who will insist he's cheated on the charts. Insecure shippers who will lose their minds if anything flirty goes down with Han So-hee on screen. K-poppies, Swifties, and local racists all insisting on undermining his creativity, talent, and character because they fear the competition.

This release on Friday has the potential to be a blood bath. And I just don't trust the company to have his back and take ownership of their part in this, if so. From everything I've seen about Jungkook, he deserves the benefit of the doubt.

My biggest question mark is how Jimin will respond to all of this. If he comes on live one day and says in a flat tone something like: "I was really surprised to see how similar Jungkookie's concept was to my own." or "How interesting that Seven got sent to radio--good for him, good for him. I wonder how that happens?" Then I'll take that to mean Jimin wasn't looped in on JK's plans and he doesn't feel great about it; that won't sit well with me.

Then again, if Jimin raves about Seven and plays it on live or joins JK in New York and mentions how flattered he was that they share the same style, how they click, how proud he is of JK's hard work and asks please ARMY give it a lot of love? Then I'll infer he was definitely looped in, this is a homage, and JK's actions were always above board. I will assume that because I will never doubt Jimin's integrity. If Jimin approves, I will approve. Jimin has earned my complete trust.

So this week is a very tense one (for me at least). But it does provide quite the distraction from the stress tests and specialist consults I have lined up, I'll give you that. Never a dull moment. (I am so ready for this fandom to have some dull moments.)

In the end, I'm going to chose to believe in the very best of our members until there's solid evidence to think otherwise. As of now? I think the only dirty cheater in the mix is the music industry at large. I know the entertainment world is corrupt, but Jesus, they are so blatant about it all.

Anyway, we may not get radio data for several days or weeks after the initial drop date, so I'm prepared to hang in there for a good bit. And if there is evidence of payola and JK knew about it... I'm gonna need time to process that and figure out where I go from there, as a Jikooker, as an ARMY. I will honestly be shocked.

One thing you'll never see me do is spout hatred for human beings. I will likely rant about the company. And there are plenty of people Scooter Braun that I viscerally dislike. But I'm making a commitment now not to spread dehumanizing hate speech on the timeline.

That's not what BTS or Jimin would ever want. That's not what I want for myself, especially if my days in this life are limited. I don't need that kind of toxicity or karma.

Am I furious about all the crap that's gone down for Jimin (and other members too, to a lesser degree)? You bet your buttons, as my Nana used to say. I could rage and froth all day about it.

But I also remember who came online over and over to say Jimin's name, play Jimin's songs, mimic Jimin's interviews, giggle at Jimin's video clips, and invite Jimin into his life.

And based on moved lamps and dog scratches and Jimin bulking up, it's likely Jimin has accepted those invitations.

Whenever we do get to glimpse Jimin with Jungkook, he seems as endeared and besotted as he always has.

I trust Jimin to know if someone did him dirty, and to act accordingly. I do not believe any aspect of the Jikook relationship is performance.

For those reasons, I'm gonna be withholding judgement until all info around Seven comes in.

I hope you will too, but I understand if you feel differently and I'm not on this Earth to judge other people's viewpoints or experiences. I just ask that if you want to be friends with me here, you try to be civil in your words and actions, even in the sway of big feelings. Every person behind the screen is a work in progress; we are all fighting invisible battles; there are many sides to each story.

All any of us can do is our best with what we are given. Let's wait and see what Jungkook (and Jimin, and the company) give us.

If you made it this far through my ramblings, kudos! I welcome ideas, so feel free to comment--but just remember, rudeness will be removed. There's no space for meanness on my blog.

Love and deep respect to you all,

Roo

UPDATED:

So, it would seem the DJ who is hyping JK's Seven is also open to playing Like Crazy. This would imply it's been sent to some radio because before I remember he tweeted that he needed the compressed file in order to play it on his station (I am sorry I didn't save that link but he was talking about Hobi and Jimin if I recall, back at the time!).

UPDATE 2:

The radio stations that took requests (including the one mentioned above) back at that time were playing the music video version available to the public, not a compressed file sent by the company:

And when I check on this linktree of top radio stations in the US, Like Crazy does not come up as any option in rotation. I have to manually request still, after four months of being stable on the charts.

So if Jungkook gets immediate spins and requests immediately come up in rotation... is that because radio stations really love Jungkook? Or is this a company "networking" deal? (And in any case, would JK be involved in that aspect?) Everything still remains to be seen. Let's be patient and try our best not to assume the worst.

Many thanks for JMDBJK for mentioning in the comments the likelihood that a title track would be sent out, which prompted me to go look soon as I could get to my computer. I really do value anyone willing to take the time to help me learn more info about this industry!

[welcometololaland]

Love Game (aka the tennis au) turns one!

Going to have to beg you to bear with me for a moment while I have a little breakdown about the fact that this fic has just turned 1 year old. As is customary for me, I am actually late to the celebration (it was 2 days ago), but I still I'm here and I'm still crying and I'm still just as much in love with tennis disaster TK Strand and cool, calm and collected Carlos Reyes as I ever was.

This is not my most popular fic by a long shot, nor is it my best writing, but it is the one I love the most. It's the fic I poured my whole heart and soul into and couldn't stop obsessing about. It's the fic I never wanted to stop writing, the one that still keeps me up at night, pretty much the only fic of mine I re-read for my own enjoyment. I loved every moment of creating the Tarlos tennis AU, and even though The Ring-In eclipses it in popularity, I hope that Love Game is my legacy.

If you haven't read the tennis AU it is here for you:

Love Game (original - 142k)

Match Point (sequel - 21k)

Love in Slow Motion (tennis AU prompt fill - 33k)

I'd also like to give the following thank you shout outs 1 year after the fact (these are all in a/n but to repeat) to @rmd-writes for being my beta reader and head cheerleader, @dustratcentral for continuing to support me in the most unhinged way, @queen-saltyfries for helping me with all the tweets and just being a general legend and to @paperstorm for pre-reading and supporting the vision.

ALSO - I have to give a shoutout to the following creations that have been inspired by the tennis au and give me SO MUCH LIFE on a regular basis. Seriously. Y'all are amazing. You have my heart. I owe you my non-existent firstborn child (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE message me if I haven't picked any creations up - it has been a fair bit of time since I saw some of them and I promise I haven't intentionally excluded anyone, my memory just sucks).

Please go and support these creators on their page!!!

This incredible anniversary post by @heartstringsduet

The Tarlos Sports AU creation by @watmalik

A LOVE GAME GIF!!! by @guardian-angle22

The sweetest, loveliest net kiss by @fitzherbertssmolder

TENNIS CARLOS WITH A BEARD by a twitter user but I don't think they have a tumblr :( if they do please let me know!

another amazing creation by the above user.

you guys are so incredible and i thank you so much for sharing your talent with me!

and finally, thank you to everyone who has supported love game over the years in the comments, reblogs, asks, likes etc. that whole fic is for you!

(@sheholdsthemoon i swear you sent me a LG inspired art but i couldn't find it anywhere - please let me know if you ended up posting it!)

[disteal]

I don’t want to sound self centered with this ask, but I just want to know if you ever feel this way. I’m doing my best to raise up awareness around Palestine, but I always feel guilty injecting my own voice about it. Like I don’t have a right to be taking away time from people who deserve more of a centre stage. But when I’m just reposting tweets and reblogging posts, I feel like such a lazy piece of shit. Like what am I doing, letting all these people who are suffering speak out for me?? Do I not have a role to play in fighting against genocide myself? Is there a balance you strike? Am I just overthinking this?

Ah, yeah. Listen, and I say this gently, I really don’t have the authority to absolve anyone of any guilt they feel around ‘not doing enough’. This feels like something you confessed anonymously in my inbox because you needed to get it off your chest, but knew posting it on main would have opened you up to some justifiable criticism about derailing an important conversation. I feel like a tool for saying that when you’ve been very real w me, but I’m just trying to be honest.

At the moment, the best thing you can do is to keep your vision focused and your language in line with other activists to maintain a united front. This is especially true if you are not Arab or live outside the region. And the most consistent request from those we’re fighting for is to stay angry, and to keep other people angry. There is more you can do other than posting, obviously, but that’s going to depend on where you live and what you’re both capable and willing to do.

But I don’t want to be a dick and leave it there; you’re being very honest and vulnerable here and I empathise. I think a feeling of hopelessness and impotence in activism around Palestine is very common, even amongst organisers. There’s so much pain that you’re flooded with the instinct to do something, and so few avenues to actually tangibly help… it’s awful.

Restriction of aid on this scale hasn’t really been felt by our generations before, especially with how visible the conflict in Palestine is rn. In the past you’ve always been able to do, like, more; send money to a bail fund, assist people fleeing, get someone a warm meal, but Israel has absolutely locked down any and all aid from outside, and that’s being sanctioned by our governments.

This thing you’re feeling, that frustration and embarrassment, it’s not a bad thing. It is embarrassing our leadership have done this, and our collective apathy towards the middle east has allowed it to build for so many years. All this misery, and your own powerlessness, are by design. Turn it outwards from yourself, at the people who are responsible; self-flagellation helps nobody, and there is more we can do. Let the rage and disgust at it all help you find it.

[mamoonde]

if wwx were a public figure (like a legit science/physics geek with a phd who organizes science festivals/makes fun sci experiments on ytb) ppl would have a lot of fun making parody accts of him always mooning over olympic medalist figure skater lwj

wwx complains that he doesn't sound THAT much of a simp, except his followers come at him with receipts - videos of interviews where he brings up lwj unasked/unrelatedly - videos of panels where he gushes abt lwj's quad jumps - timeline-span tweets of his rts of lwj fan accts

even his own phd colleagues who had to peer-review his latest article come at him with snippets of the heavily edited out paper where they had to remove chunks of anecdotes feat. lwj

wwx is a good sport tho and thanks the fan accts who supply him with HD photos of lwj mid-jump / during rehearsals one follower makes a fanart of "the universe accdg to wwx" and it's a collection of galaxies that form a picture of lwj and wwx rts it and asks permission to print

one of them goes to far tho, tweeting: "i am (wwx is) a flat earther bcuz my world is lwj's ass" wwx screencaps the twt "1 that is factually untrue on many accts. 2 only I can talk abt my husband's ass." then blocks acct. lwj fans also mass block and report the acct

hd photos of lwj's "not flat" ass floods the tl. it even trends. lwj's ears burn the whole time that week's family dinner. its ok wwx eats him out for a long time that week. also maybe lwj wears those ass-emphasizing leggings to rehearsals that week 😏🤭

[triviallytrue]

That conversation got annoying quickly, I don’t know why people felt such a need to defend the mental health benefits of war, but it seems everyone conflated very different fields? Obviously, “I am depressed because of immutable characteristics of society” isn’t a useful observation, it’s just one of the basic symptoms of depression. But “analyzing the relationship between societal impacts and psychology is useless because it offers no help for the individual” is just as pointless, as if general relativity is useless because it doesn’t teach you to pilot a plane.

Collecting data regarding an entire population is just incomparable to an individual’s psychoanalysis. The latter may be more immediately useful, but it’s also not realistic treating it as a science until a better working model of the human brain is achieved. Until then, comparing various populations’ emotional and psychological reactions along sociological variables is the best system of data collection in this field.

This is a good ask and provides a convenient opportunity for me to summarize my views and then stop talking about it.

it seems everyone conflated very different fields? Obviously, “I am depressed because of immutable characteristics of society” isn’t a useful observation, it’s just one of the basic symptoms of depression.

A number of people said some version of this, that obviously this observation is useless and trite, but to pull out the tweet that prompted this, I don't think I am misrepresenting it:

And I guess this is on me for making my own post instead of just responding to the prior one, but I felt like a lot of people were more or less implying I was strawmanning instead of talking about a very real type of guy.

But “analyzing the relationship between societal impacts and psychology is useless because it offers no help for the individual” is just as pointless, as if general relativity is useless because it doesn’t teach you to pilot a plane.

Again, I'm going to quote myself here:

i guess i don't really understand the utility of the whole "cultural values and class relations" model of mental illness.

I am not saying here that it's useless to analyze the relationship between societal impacts and psychology. I don't believe that. But I also don't believe that's what the "cultural values and class relations" model is doing. I think it's vaguely gesturing at society using leftist-coded terminology with very little actual analysis.

I take it as a given that these aren't serious analytical models in the same way I take it as a given with trads who talk about the decline of marriage as a major negative impact - there's a kernel of truth here (we have research showing that married adults are happier than unmarried adults) but the selective focus on the speaker's political bugbears reveals that as its primary object, not the widespread improvement of people's mental health.

And in particular, both of these are frequently directed at people who talk about being individually mentally ill, which is why I think it's fair to grade them on their individual utility, even though people will often argue that "they aren't meant for that."

Collecting data regarding an entire population is just incomparable to an individual’s psychoanalysis. The latter may be more immediately useful, but it’s also not realistic treating it as a science until a better working model of the human brain is achieved. Until then, comparing various populations’ emotional and psychological reactions along sociological variables is the best system of data collection in this field.

I think you are overstating your argument a bit here. I think dissing psychology/psychiatry in comparison to sociology is missing the mark - it's not like sociology is some shining standard of scientific investigation. We also can and do perform good studies on psychiatric interventions, and indeed, many of these studies have informed my skepticism of clinical psychiatry.

[otteroflore]

Response to "Takara Osharena Pony analysis - why did they fail in Japan?"

This is one of the first results when you look up the Takara Osharena ponies

Listen. Listen. No offense to this person, I think they were being sincere in making this, but it really bothers me that this is the top post for "Why Takara Osharena failed" and shows up when you search about the Takara ponies, because I don't see how this makes any sense.

"Large expressive eyes and small noses are preferred"

(hello kitty wikipedia)

"What I can't fathom is why the developers chose theses attributes... ...going against the grain for them"

(article on popularity of moomin in japan since the 70s)

"They stand upright on two feet... hooves?... have tiny beady eyes and bulbous noses"

(sylvanian families bear, 1985)

(I am going to ignore the "females find small creatures with small noses and large eyes thing" because we dont need to get into pseudo-psychology rn but suffice it to say, theyre not concrete rules. OBVIOUSLY.)

I still don't know why the Takara Ponies failed in Japan; I can't read Japanese and I'm not very skilled (yet) at researching things in other languages. But I can pretty much guarantee that in 1985, the Takara Tomy ponies look extremely fitting next to other Japanese pop culture icons.

By 1985, Moomin and Hello Kitty had already hit it big and the Sylvanian families line would come out and last for the next, oh, nearly forty years.

I'd love to know why the Osharena Takara ponies were actually discontinued, but I have to wonder if it wasn't because of the above brands. Maybe Moomin and Hello Kitty were so solidified in the public consciousness that the Osharena Takara ponies could look like a pale imitator. Or, the Sylvanian families (and Takara's own flocked doll-animal line) were a direct competitor and just did better, especially since they had full playsets while the takara ponies were mainly just dolls.

The my little wiki has pictures from the 1985 * Takara Catalog, which is from what I understand most of what we know about the Takaras still. I can't find the 1986 version, although I found this site that has pictures of the 1986 catalog showing a toy similar to Sylvanian families that I didn't know about. I'm going to see if the author of said site has info about the Takara ponies- they also collect g1 MLPs and post pictures of catalogs on twitter, but the most recent tweet was 2022 so I'm not sure how active they are.

In conclusion: I think it's a stretch to assume the takara ponies weren't "cute" enough for a Japanese audience. In fact, I'd argue they followed all of the conventions of the time and match several media lines that persisted to this day- maybe too well, even.

*edited to add TW for racist caricature on the cover of the 1985 takara catalog

[foone]

One of my few problems with adopting Tumblr as my social media outlet of choice is the way reblogging your own threads to comment on them means you get this slow explosion of longer and longer posts, and all previous versions still exist on your timeline.

This got long, so musings about the differences in how long-text posts work on different social medias and the trouble with writing them on ADHD continued under the cut.

So if you scroll down my Tumblr account after a bunch of writing, you see:

FOONE: A, B, C, D, E

FOONE: A, B, C, D

FOONE: A, B, C

FOONE: A, B

FOONE: A

And this is annoyingly repetitive especially as posts get long. Which is a definite risk, I can type SO FUCKING MUCH.

And you might say "this is easily fixed: posts don't have to be short (this isn't Twitter) so just put all the content in one post", which, no. I have ADHD. Coming back in the room to go "AND ANOTHER THING!" is my modus operandi, you know? I can't think of all the things I want to say and just say them in one place and go "OK DONE" and click a button and let the internet go read it now. I don't know what I am going to say until after I have said it, and especially not what I am going to say next.

And I worry that the way Tumblr compounds your threads in this additive explosion means that the threshold for "this is too much of this punk" is much lower than other social networks, and that's a real worry for someone who writes as much as I do. I am happy to write endlessly for my own entertainment but I don't want to be annoying, and having to repeatedly scroll past multiple copies of my endless threads is going to get old fast.

Also on the subject of "one long post vs many short ones in a thread", splitting a post and continuing in a reply post/reblog has a functional use: it's like a paragraph break, but moreso. So it's good for indicating a break in the thought, to shift focus, or to take a tangent. (and as someone with severe adhd, my brain is 90% tangents)

Anyway I'm thinking I might do something weird like build a private mastodon instance and then set it up to sync threads to Tumblr.

Like, collect a full thread of small posts, turn them into paragraphs, and post that to Tumblr as one big post. It will work better, I think.

Fundamentally the problem I am facing right now is that Twitter is the best site for how my brain works. Individual tweets in a thread are a close approximation for how I think, so writing a long series of tweets is easiest for me. In that format, I can write. I can be creative. I can express myself.

And don't get me wrong: I love Tumblr. This is easily one of my favorite places on the web. But the "big open white page with plenty of room to write" model is not a good fit for my brain. I look at that and I can't get started. If I can get started, I can't finish, because I get bogged down in going back and editing and rewording.

Short small snippets in a row, like IRC or Twitter, prevent those problems. I don't have to think about the whole thing I'm writing, because I don't have room to write that. I just focus on the current line, and once that's done, I move on to the next. Did I misspell something? Could that have been phrased better? Well, too bad. That line is done now, you can only move forward.

Yeah this may not result in a work of literary genius but it at least results in something. I am not a great writer, I'm never going to be a new york times best seller... But I'm not aiming that high. Writing like this, as a series of short snippets and not going back to fix and re-edit them? It's the only way I can write at all. (and if you have ADHD that gets in the way of your writing, I recommend trying it).

I'd rather write in this specific and limited style than not write at all. There's too many ideas in my head, I need to get them out.

Anyway the reason I'm thinking about this now is that this is why I've traditionally been a heavy Twitter user (though let the record show that I have been on Tumblr for longer!). It works for that style of writing, so I could flourish there.

But it's dying. Oh God, is it dying. And I'm having to think about what to do next. Where to "go".

And as an aside, it's always weird how we always phrase these things like migrations. Like people are backing up their bags from site A and getting on a train to site B.

Maybe it's just my ADHD talking, but that's never been how I've used the web. I am in many, many places simultaneously, and have been for a long time.

I'm active, to different degrees, on Tumblr and Twitter and reddit and discord and mastodon and cohost and Facebook and LinkedIn and IRC and email chains and BBSes. The only thing that change if I "move" is how much I focus on one over an another. If I have a shitpost in my head, where do I decide to post it? If I want to talk about something more serious, where do I go?

Obviously with Twitter dying I'm focusing more on other places. I joked to someone on Twitter that I'm currently sharding what used to be my Twitter posts to Tumblr and mastodon: Tumblr gets the shitpostier and transier stuff, mastodon gets the techier stuff. But that may change as I find the right balance going forward.

Or, regarding my "persona Jubilee" post, I might just stop. I have been this Foone for a while, it might be time to stop and rethink.

Anyway, the final wrinkle in this overlong post: I wrote this much on Tumblr, despite all my talking about not being able to do it. I think I'm basically doing this by channeling my "Twitter thread mood" and not going back up and editing. Who knows if that means I've actually managed to overcome my previous inability to just write free-form long content, or if this is just a limited trick that I can't keep up. Time will tell.