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#and i feel like that says a lot about people’s priorities with regards to this show
ratatatastic · 2 months
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its finally luosty turns last but not least eh? his topic? cranky sasha 🤣🤣🤣 (whoever came up with these topics wanted to get sasha riled up oh my goddddd)
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ofc the way he chooses to show off cranky sasha is through his spartan hockey huh and OF FUCKING COURSE he gets lundy to come up and help him because who else but lundy does sasha crack the good ole whip for IM DYING
he also makes sure to mime in the goal posts too so everyones on the same page that this is of course about hockey because this has turned into an improv exercise mama hes a star hes a THEATRE kid
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luosty is very good at mimicing cranky sasha must have lots of time watching him get fussy with lundy huh i can imagine the only directions given to lundy here was act like yourself and somehow that makes this funnier
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they absolutely both think luosty is the funniest fucker alive OH MY GOD HE GOT LUNDY TO SMILE (WHICH ISNT MUCH OF AN ACCOMPLISHMENT HES SO SMITTEN WITH HIM) BUT HE GOT MIKKSY TO GIVE A GOOD TOOTHY GRIN TOO LUOSTY WHAT POWERS DO YOU HAVE 😭😭😭😭
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he has this whole couch bewitched by his antics oh my fucking god... kicking the bench...throwing the water bottle...cranky sasha indeed
THE WAGGING FINGER AT LUNDY hey man whyd you move your hand to your crotch did that incite any revelations in you do you need to cover something that had unfortunate timing huh do you understand why mikksy cant stand them do you understand now
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on another episode of i genuinely dont think anyone else could do this and get sasha this giggly in the midst of it of making fun of him luosty has really charmed them all
Sasha Cup Party | 7.31.24 (x)
#eetu luostarinen#anton lundell#aleksander barkov#niko mikkola#florida panthers#luosty could absolutely get away with murder and the finns would be like noooo you didnt do it not youuuuu#he has the charm of a siren WHAT IS THIS#apparently boyish does work on sasha and all is forgiven if you have it#while i think the humour runs a little dry and sharp in the finn group which means sometimes someones gets a little bristled in the process#luosty has such joyous slapstick comedy that its impossible to feel offended even if he is teasing you#hes like a rodeo clown to me#like sometimes mikksy and sasha go a little hard while lundy runs a little sensitive and luosty is the perfect bridge between all that#does that make sense? am i making sense right now?#like luosty can end up making everyone laugh#like in the NHLWAP series while luosty made a jab at mikksys goal production it wasnt in a way that felt malicious in any wY#mikksy has tough skin but even then hes aware hes a defensive minded dman whos priority is not scoring so when luosty says “when you score#less goals than mikksy THEN you worry“ (in regards to his personal lack of production in the 2324 season) hes diverting the attention in#a comedic way while also kinda pointing out how ridiculous the notion is like yeah he hasnt had the same production like the previous seaso#but thats nothing to worry about personally. mikksy also giggles and goes “why am i suddenly being attacked?”#its just such a perfect way to jump to the next topic where no ones feathers are ruffled and everyone wins#i didnt like the q either and i wouldve answered a lot more snarkier but luosty does it with such grace and humor its really admirable#sorry this turned into a luosty splurge but i just think its important to point out#there IS a reason why he charms people so much and i feel like this and the prev thing i said is a good few reasons why
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lionofstone · 1 year
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im watching the rook/ie and honestly. nolan annoys me so much
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theghostofashton · 2 years
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#to expand on that last reblog also it's just like#there's something so cruel about the language i've seen going around lately regarding mlm media#and while i absolutely understand people being angry about the string of wlw shows being cancelled and think it's 1000% valid#i don't see how this is helping? saying mlm media should've been cancelled or hoping for it to be to hurt them the way you've been hurt#there's something so abjectly cruel about that that makes me sick#because this is the type of thing that keeps communities from uniting together#this is why there's so much tension and discourse and resentment on all sides#i've seen people say they don't want to watch certain shows bc of this kind of thing bc the way their fans talk is hurtful#and it feels reminiscent of a lot of the discourse in the larger queer community today#i've seen so many queer elders speak about solidarity and community and taking care of each other#not boxing yourself away and ignoring other parts of the community and becoming resentful#they hate all of us they want all of us dead and it would be so much easier to fight back if we weren't so busy fighting each other#isn't that what the queer community has done for decades? band together and take care of each other?#idk i think anger is valid but being angry and impulsive and cruel will not change anything it'll just further divide people#you can be angry but you need to direct that anger at the right place#rather than hurting another part of the community bc you are hurt#bc let's be real what does that say#you want the 'right people' to have rep#you want to hurt another vulnerable group because you are hurting#and idk. i think you need to reassess your priorities at that point
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blanketforcas · 1 year
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🚩Cult and cultlike/toxic behavior: red flags in fandom 🚩
A non-exhaustive list inspired by my 10+ years of experience in fandom, both personal and second-hand. By sharing this, I hope to make other people more aware and able to protect themselves in the future. No fandom space or friend group is worth your mental health.
They claim they have secret information and use that to lure you in
They might either lovebomb you at first or make you (feel like you have to) prove your worth
The leader(s) of the group might not feel super approachable, at least not without fear of saying the wrong thing
They seem to create or point out a divide in fandom you’d never noticed before. Likely this divide isn’t actually there in wider fandom, or the need for it is wholly unnecessary.
They create an us vs them (outsiders) situation. Their group has the most knowledge and expertise, if others critique them it’s simply cause they must’ve heard false rumors. They are always the ones who are “misunderstood”.
Questioning statements from leaders/people with high regard in the group, is not without risk. You can get dogpiled, your intelligence put into question and gaslit about your own words and feelings.
You see discussions happen and get more heated, and at the end of that discussion the person on the receiving end of the things mentioned above ^ starts apologizing profusely and/or believes they are indeed stupid. However, if this person does keep defending their stance, they might get bullied or kicked out of the server/group chat
Too much emphasis on Being Right/having the correct take or theory – it may seem it has a higher priority than empathy and tactful communication
You need to have an opinion (their opinion), because silence equals condoning or agreeing with the “other side”
Everything is a moral issue. When everything is made out to be a high-stakes issue or reflective of everyone as a person, it's easier for the leader(s) to manipulate you.
You find yourself excusing people’s behavior because you agree with their point. The way they bring their argument forward and the tone they use, become subordinate to finding out the truthTM
There is such a thing as The TruthTM in every theory, discussion or analysis
If you don't Get It, it's cause you haven't "worked on yourself enough". Or it's cause you're not trying hard enough, or you haven't done enough reading, or you have blind spots only they can see.
There is a lot of conspiratorial thinking – maybe actors are trying to send us secret messages, maybe there is a Whole Lot You Don’t Know But We Do, Trust Us, maybe this or that person in fandom has tried to attack us and are planning a bigger attack,…
You barely/don’t have fandom friends outside of this group and if you do, you tend to intentionally (whether subconsciously or not) hide your experience from them. They wouldn’t understand the way they talk, they wouldn’t understand the way it works etc
They want to know a lot of your personal information. - might only happen once you get into higher ranks
You might get (more and more) specific “tasks”, it starts becoming a part-time job instead of a hobby/fun space to hang out with friends
Of course, these red flags are not always immediately visible let alone advertised when you join a group chat/discord server/twitter or tumblr bubble. They can also be nonexistent at first and show up later. Here are some general ways to stay vigilant:
Periodically check in with your values, if they might be changing & how you feel about that.
Keep an eye on the way people (and yourself) are being treated. Is it kind? Is it fair? Do you feel on edge all the time when you’re having conversations? Is your body more tense when you’re in this online space or when certain people are around? Be honest with yourself here.
Ask yourself: Is this space becoming my only coping mechanism? Am I spending too much time here? There’s no shame in spending a lot of time on things you enjoy, but do check in with yourself sometimes whether you are actually still having fun and if you are taking things too seriously or parasocialising a lot.
There's a lot of fun to be had in fandom and a lot of good that comes out of it - don't forget that. Keep seeking that. It's why we're here!
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zsupika · 7 months
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Would you mind sharing your thoughts For Love and Deepspace Boys, specifically what they need in their girls, their type? Thank you.
Love and deepspace boys' types
> my (oddly specific) thoughts on what the lnd boys' types would be
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A/N: i really like this idea, so thank you for your request! Please, whoever reads this, don't take offense if my opinion doesn't suit you to your favorite, these are all just for fun <3 also these are longer than I expected lol so take these types lightly and let me know your thoughts in the comments and/or request more stuff like that! (also I didn't proofread so excuse any additional mistakes lol it's late and right now I can't bring myself to ×~×)
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Xavier
Xavier would like someone who cares about him a lot
For example if he were to come home from a long mission, seeing you jump up from excitement from seeing him again, would make him melt
And when he gets hurt and you immediately come to him with a worried face, he'd adore you so much
I feel like he'd appreciate someone who's kinda quieter like he is
He likes moments were you just lay on the sofa and cuddle with each other without saying anything
It helps him relax and makes you two feel much closer
Words can't really convey how he feels about you so he prefers to show you by his actions, kinds similar to Zayne but I do think he'd make more of an effort to say it to you directly than Zayne
He'd like someone who's good with animals
Seeing how you care about them makes him feel soft inside
I also think he's a lot more bold in intimate moments than people might think so he'd like some who knows what they want in that regard
He likes when you tell him directly what you want
He also likes someone who's playfully and gets him flustered
He feels like he can let go and enjoy himself with you in that way
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Zayne
He'd like a talker
Someone who talks a lot about how their day was and who asks him questions, making it easier to verbally communicate his feelings
He'd like having someone who understand how he feels without having to say it aloud
Having a partner that accepts that his job as a doctor is hard and his priority would be important for him aswell
He wouldnt neglect your relationship ofc but as a doctor saving people is your priority
So he'd want someone who doesn't take offense in that and understands him in that regard
He wouldn't want someone who's jealous really quickly
Someone who's confident in the relationship and who values trust and loyalty would be right for him
A bonus would be if you give good massages
He just sometimes needs them to relax
He'd appreciate you so much if you do that for him
He would like someone who's independent and takes good care of themself
I think he'd like someone who smells like/uses lavender parfum
Or any floras scent really but lavender helps him relax as well
I don't think he'd have any strong physical preference but I do think he'd appreciate if you take good care of your hands and nails
He would LOVE to look at your nails if you went to a nailsalon or if you painted them yourself
Bonus points if you painted little snowflakes or similar
He'd melt
He would like someone who gets hot easily in the summer so he can cool you down with his evol
It makes him feel strong and kinda protective like he can take care of you in that regard
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Rafayel
Rafayel would like someone who's not very sensitive
He likes to make jokes that poke slight fun at you (in a playful way ofc) so he'd appreciate if you don't take them to seriously
Generally he'd love to have someone he can joke with
He'd someone he can playfight with cause its a lot of fun to him and makes him feel closer to you
To him it's really intimate to let someone that close to himself so he loves it if he can do that with you
He'd want someone who can appreciate the small things in life
And someone who appreciates art
Whether it might be looking at street art or going to museums, his heart would melt if you would start to talk about theories about the paintings and their meanings
He loves to see your face when you look at the drawings/paintings or whatever and would point out details that stand out to you
Bonus points if you're an artist yourself
He'd love to spend quiet time with you sketching or observing what you're doing
Physically, he'd like someone with interesting features
Whenever it may be your face, body, style or whatever, he'd like to see someone who stands out
He would want someone who talk with him when he's in the mood to and someone who he can spend quiet time with, without it getting awkward
He would love someone that teases him slightly
He'd pretend he doesn't like it but he actually does
For example if he were to (playfully) ignore you or something, he'd want you go try and talk to him until he gives in and talks again
He wouldnt like it if you just ignored him aswell.. It would bore him and make it seem like you don't care about him
Back to the physical features, I feel like one of his favorite things would be if you had an interesting mole or something like two eyecolors
He'd also like someone who doesn't complain too much
His clothes are pretty much always somehow covered in paint, aswell as his hands and sometimes face
If you were to always complain about that, he wouldn't like that
He'd need someone who laughs about it and helps him clean it up instead of throwing a fit
I think he'd also like someone who'd like to take baths with him
Not necessarily in a sexual way but just in a normal way
Basically you two washing each other, it makes him feel closer to you
He'd like someone who's comfortable with that
I think he'd also like someone who comes behind him to hug him or surprisingly showers him in kisses
It makes him feel appreciated if you'd make the first move
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bloodpen-to-paper · 7 months
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Gonna throw my hat into the ring here, as someone who very recently had a streamer they loved and supported go down for serious allegations and crimes. Feel free to skip around my long ass response, I'll break it down into parts:
---Public Reception
Part of the reason I despise these situations is because people online don't ever know enough to make 100% accurate assessments, but will act like they do anyway (I don't care if its authoritarian, I want a bill where people on Twitter can't post about drama until after at least 5 minutes of being forced to critically think). Having said that, here's my opinions on how everything should go forward:
-Shelby shared her story in order to spread awareness on domestic abuse and the signs, so that others can read those signs and keep themselves safe (or leave an actively abusive situation they've been convincing themselves isn't that bad). That is the priority here, that is what people should be focusing on. If you make this situation about stirring drama with the other CCs, you're a dumbass and you need to stop posting. Give support to Shelby, uplift the voices of women like her sharing their stories, spread awareness on what domestic abuse can look like so everyone can learn, and wait for more information. Its that simple.
-CCs don't owe statements for conflicts they weren't involved in. Philza, Tommy, Quackity, Charlie, and other CCs close to Wilbur who aren't part of this don't owe you an explanation. They're people, they're most likely having to come to terms with the fact that a dear friend, someone who could've been like family, isn't who they thought he was. Have a fucking heart and cut it with the parasocial entitlement. I'm hoping Quackity will remove Wilbur from the Qsmp, but just like with Forever, he probably won't make a big announcement of it, and that's perfectly ok. I understand wanting to make sure you're not supporting a CC who would defend someone guilty of committing domestic abuse, but its still not your right to get anything from these people. If they share, they share. If not, then they don't. If you can't handle that, then leave.
-Having said the above, its worth noting that CCs aren't just a fun group of friends, they're coworkers. Much of what they say publicly and when they say it can be shaped or restricted by situations that can affect their careers or get them in legal trouble. You don't know these people personally or what goes on behind the scenes, its a network and you can't measure their responses the same way you would your own opinion piece. The CCs will always need to be careful about how they respond to an issue, and they will most likely respond in "safe" ways considering what's on the line. Not accusing anyone of anything, nor demonizing them for it, just something to keep in mind. They're human, but they're also working a job.
-If you have Lovejoy or Wilbur-related merch, DON'T THROW IT AWAY OR DESTROY IT. I've seen lots of people pointing out merch can be donated to thrift shops or shelters, and its more eco-friendly than burning or trashing. Remember, anything can be repurposed; a book, a hoodie, there's always someone who can find a use for it. Likewise if you want to keep your old merch, that's fine to. You can wear it if it brings you comfort, or if its something you just like the look of. As long as you're not supporting the source, you already have the merch so don't let people pressure you into thinking you're bad for keeping it if you're not ready to let go/throw away those $70.
---My Opinion Regarding His Response
Everyone and their cousin has been dogpiling on Wilbur's response (rightfully), but I think people online don't understand how public responses work when there's legal team and PR interference. The tweet for me had a weird lack of personal touch and emotion from the guy I've observed to be very personal in his writings, whether its his music or a community post about a life update (blah blah parasociality I know, but I'm letting you know the observations I've made of his behavior simply as someone who notices these things). He also never explicitly stated Shelby's name, rather saying "that person" (you even had the textbook 'black text on a blank white background' screenshotted response). Finally, there was a consistent standing on Wilbur 'not being aware of how the other person really felt' regarding his actions. What I'm trying to say is... y'all really gotta start putting two and two together. Its a textbook PR response. As in, I'd be surprised if Wilbur had over 50% involvement in making it because the wording is exactly how it reads when a response has been initiated by someone's lawyers rather than themselves. The reason he doesn't take more accountability and openly admit to having abused Shelby (other than the obvious public backlash) is probably cause his lawyers are banking on the feigning ignorance angle, that Wilbur didn't intentionally abuse Shelby and was ignorant to how his actions affected her. Its the best way to get him out of hot water on the legal side, because again, this isn't messy drama; its a genuine accusation of a crime. I don't think the response is tone deaf and unaware, I think its a deliberate and measured legal move not even fully created by Wilbur himself. This isn't to say I think he's innocent, but I do know that Shelby and others have brought up some serious accusations, and Wilbur is lawyering up as a result.
---Nuance
Prefacing this part by saying that things are not looking good for Wilbur in regards to what other CCs have brought up about him, and I fully believe and support Shelby, hence why I support that the community should start distancing from him and his work. But I would like to take this opportunity to look into the greater aspects at play. We are within a system that brings up men to do what they want without teaching them to be considerate and aware of the consequences. Men are taught their harmful behavior is perfectly fine, often at women's expense, which makes these situation a very different story depending on who's telling it. Its because of this that we need to critically analyze the system and how it causes men to turn out as they do, instead of giving an immediate opinion without any nuance.
There's a possibility that Wilbur is being genuine in not realizing how bad his actions were. There's a possibility he truly is a manipulative liar who knew exactly what he was doing. He could be a piece of shit. He could be genuinely trying to improve and do better. We don't know. I'd say its pretty cut and dry that he hurt Shelby, and for that I'm glad she's getting justice for herself and spreading awareness. But if we're to entertain the idea of redemption, we need to look at situations like these with nuance so that we can understand the "why". I'm not trying to justify Wilbur's actions or even give him the benefit of the doubt, I have no idea what's going on in that guy's head. I'm just putting this out there because its something I want everyone to think about, especially when it comes to topics regarding narcissism and mental health issues. Don't support him or Lovejoy, just keep something like this in mind for the future.
---The Community/Now Displaced Fans
To everyone who's immediately telling Wilbur's fans (the ones that don't support his actions and are actively mourning no longer being able to enjoy his stuff) to just listen to other music or move on, and who are celebrating each negative new thing that comes out about Wilbur's current status, sincerely, shut the fuck up. You are completely lacking in empathy or emotional intelligence, and what you're doing is the last thing the community needs. Wilbur and his work could have and for many did get fans through some of their hardest moments, and losing that wonderful sense of community you get from streamers and their work (especially with the roleplay stuff) is awful. It fucked me up losing that after almost a year, for some of his fans its been even longer.
If you're a (former) fan of his, its ok to feel like shit. We're human, we get attached and we grieve losing something like this because that's how capable we are of loving. Take your time, as long as you know where to stand (supporting Shelby and raising awareness on domestic abuse), you're doing good. You can keep enjoying his characters and work and making content about it, separating the art from the artist (though don't stream his music from platforms that would give him the money, find a way to pirate it).
This sucks. I feel it as a casual fan who was once hugely into his content, I can imagine what its like for those who were huge supporters all the way up until now. You didn't do anything wrong supporting someone you thought was a good person, its just a thing that happens and its so fucking shitty. You ain't alone though, I know some of you have that knee-jerk reaction to avoid anything to do with him but reaching out to others in the community and actually processing it all is way better, you won't be bottling it all up. Don't be afraid to continue engaging with this part of your life until you're ready to move on from it in your own time, and be kind to yourself. From someone who went through exactly what you are now, trust me, you'll get through it.
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boredom-reigns · 9 months
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You know, as frustrating as aro discourse existing in 2024 is, it's kinda made me think of stuff.
Primarily, how seeing some non-aspec people's responses to aromanticism really highlight how some just don't understand or don't try to understand what the aromantic experience is like.
It's easy to brush off aromantics. It's easy for them to say "oh but you're straight-passing anyway" and then say that there's no reason for aromantics to cling to the lgbtq+ community—to cling to any community at all.
But you know? I feel like what a lot of non-aspecs don't get is just how fucking alienating being aspec is.
Hell, before I even identified as aromantic, I just felt so disconnected from society because I couldn't fall in love. I remember just feeling something was so wrong about me because everyone was talking about falling in love and having crushes and the media everywhere says you need to find The One and get married and that romance is a requirement for a happily ever after. And it’s not like I didn't know gay people existed! I knew! Because I tried to check if I was gay or bi or pan—I tried so hard to get attracted to people, and I just never did.
There's just that specific feeling of loneliness... wondering if somehow you were broken in some way. And that fear of thinking you'll never be happy because society promotes the idea that romance is True Love. That it is the best relationship you can have in your life. That you will never get a happy ending and that you will die alone.
Discovering that aromanticism is a thing made me feel normal. It told me I'm not broken—that other people like me existed. And that's why the community is important to me. Because the feeling of thinking something is wrong with you is something I don't want others to feel. The more people know and discuss aromanticism, the less people have to experience the negative emotions that I and other aromantics felt.
And aromanticism just doesn't feel alienating in the cishetallo society. It's can be so fucking isolating being in the lgbtq+ community too. Th
Because this is a place that's supposed to accept anybody who diverges from the societal norm of cishetallo. But no, we're either rejected, excluded, or treated invisible. People don't bother to listen to aspec experiences. People would say they support aspec people but then turn around and spout aphobic rhetoric.
So then this ngl, it's honestly kinda predictable that this discourse pops up and people go "oh aspec people are queer but—" NO BUTS! Aspec people are queer. Cishetaro and cishetaces are queer. No ifs and buts.
Why is the aspec identity inherently considered less priority than the cishet identity? Aspec isn't some secondary label—it's a part of who we are. An aromantic heterosexual still diverges from the norm. They have experiences that heteroromantic heterosexuals would never understand. They are still hit with amatonormativity and heteronormativity.
And at that point, yeah, I get it. Those arophobes probably think it's easy to ignore being aromantic in day-to-day life. I've seen people assume we just put on the label, then don't have society tell us we're wrong for being who we are. That we don't need a community.
To that, I say: listen to aromantic people. Listen to their experiences. Try to understand what it's like to live in our shoes.
But also—queerness isn't about oppression. The lgbtq+ community exists so people who aren't part of the "normal" in regards to gender and sexuality can find a safe space. So that people wouldn't feel alone and broken and realize that there's more people like them than they think. So that we can break these societal norms that just harm all of us.
Basically, my god, shut up. We're queer, we're here, and we're aromantic.
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miss-musings · 4 months
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"Can't You See They're Using You?": The Parallels Between Cid and The Empire as Exploitative Employers in "The Bad Batch"
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In rewatching "Star Wars: The Bad Batch" after the series finale, I've realized just how many similarities there are between Cid and the Empire as employers for the Bad Batch and Crosshair, respectively.
I know I'm not the first person to point out how badly Cid used and abused the Batch, even from their very first meeting in 1.05 "Rampage." In fact, @xylionet has a great post summarizing just how much Cid took advantage of the Batch's -- mostly Hunter's -- desperation and inexperience dealing with the galaxy's shadier people.
But, beyond that, the show ultimately drew a lot of parallels between Cid and the Empire as employers, from their attitude toward clones to their manipulative personalities. Even the timelines for the Batch's and Crosshair's employment align very well, down to the conditions at which they start working for them and why they ultimately reach their breaking points.
Before we dive in, a few clarifications:
I'll mostly be focusing on Cid in this analysis, as I think the Empire's faults are pretty clear.
And, when I say "the Empire," I mean the Imperial officials Crosshair interacts with and/or takes orders from -- mostly Rampart and Nolan, but to a lesser degree, Hemlock and Tarkin as well.
SHARED TRAITS
Manipulative personalities
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From the beginning, Cid did whatever it took to leverage the Batch into working for her.
Once she realizes that they're 1) desperate for information/money and 2) inexperienced/gullible/etc., she very quickly works to get them on her side.
She offers an exchange of information and money if the Batch bring in Muchi, but she neglects to tell them Muchi is a Rancor, probably because she figured they wouldn't have accepted the job if they knew.
As she gives Hunter the information and 30% of the cut, she says that with a bounty hunter after the Batch, they'll need "friends and money -- mostly money." It's objectively not an incorrect assessment, and she offers them more work. Hunter says he'll think about it, and that's when she pulls out the blackmail card. She knows how valuable they are and knows people are after them. If they cross her, she can turn them in.
Cid ultimately uses whatever tactics she has to get the Batch to do what she needs, whether that's sweet-talking or strong-arming or leveraging them (either financially or via blackmail).
Likewise, Rampart especially gets on Crosshair's good side by initially praising him as an experienced clone and elevating him to commander of an elite non-clone squad. He also seems to give Crosshair plenty of clone troopers as well when needed. However, once we get to the Ryloth arc, we see that Rampart is more than willing to threaten Crosshair when he feels like he's underperforming.
Even in Season 2, Rampart continues to play this game with Crosshair by praising him just enough that he still feels valued, while also demoting him and then insinuating that Crosshair needs to continue proving his worth or risk losing his position.
Assigning morally questionable jobs/missions
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While this is obvious for the Empire, it's something I don't see talked about much regarding Cid.
Her clients are shady people, and she either doesn't ask her clients a lot of questions or doesn't provide that information to the Batch.
After she strong-arms them into working for her in 1.06 "Decommissioned," she sends them after a tactical droid. The information it has could be useful against the Empire, but it could also lead to the deaths of thousands of clone troopers -- the Batch's reg brothers.
This is something the Martez sisters point out to the Batch, and Hunter says they're "being paid to acquire and deliver," admitting that who the client is or why they want the information isn't a priority. The Martez sisters argue that it should be.
Granted, a lot of the jobs we actually see the Batch doing for Cid are later hand-waved as being a good thing. They deliver arms to freedom fighters on Ryloth, they reunite Ruby with her owner, they free Muchi from slavery, etc. But, there are plenty of jobs we partially see them do or hear about them doing, which could easily have been "bad" things, especially given how shady Cid's clients are.
Arguably, if Cid ever gave them information or the Batch guessed that a given job was a "bad" thing, they could just not do it for her. But, again, she has leverage over them, so I don't know whether they have much of an option.
Dislike of clones
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Basically all the Imperials we meet in the show don't like clones.
Rampart pretended well enough in Season 1, but we know from later episodes that he hates them. Nolan is very brazen in telling Crosshair how much he abhors working with clone troopers, saying he "doesn't like used equipment" and that the clones are ultimately expendable. And, obviously we know of Tarkin and Hemlock's hatred for clones.
But, Cid inexplicably hates them as well.
I think she was willing to bring the Batch on because she felt she could use them, but she's very rude Rex in 1.07 "Battle Scars" and apparently didn't like hosting Gregor in 1.15 "Return to Kamino."
She tells Rex and the Batch that she's "done taking in strays," that she's not running a charity, and that her parlor "isn't a clone clubhouse."
She could feasibly have concerns that, if enough clones start hanging out at her parlor, they'd get on the Empire's radar. But, if that was her concern, there were 100 better ways to say that.
We don't get to see her interactions with Gregor, but I don't understand why she was immediately so hostile to Rex. For all she knew, he could've been there to pay her for information or hire the Batch for a job -- something where she would've gotten paid. Shouldn't she have been trying to get on his good side and at least see what he wanted first? But, instead, she immediately and very rudely dismisses him.
Also, Cid has a clone trooper helmet on the wall in her office. (It's on the lefthand side as you look at her desk.) Considering she used to be an informant for the Jedi, I wonder how she got that helmet. Was it a gift? Why would a clone trooper give her a helmet? It seems more likely that it was a trophy of some kind. She seems to have a lot of strange items around her office, but a clone trooper helmet should've been a red flag for the Batch.
Asking a lot & giving little in return
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Cid ultimately had the Batch risking their lives for her and her clients, and was apparently only giving them 30% of the payout.
By 1.07 "Battle Scars," they're also in debt to her despite doing at least 10-12 jobs for her. In 1.10, Cid tells them that the Batch needs "a big score for us to be square," and Omega ultimately pays off the debt by hustling people at the strategy game.
So, even if after 1.10, the Batch renegotiated off-screen so that Cid started covering their expenses and that their standard 30% is pure profit, that still seems incredibly low to me. I would think 40-40-20, with the 20% going to cover expenses would be a decent starting point.
But, apparently, they're still doing jobs for her in Season 2 and still only getting 30% -- their standard rate. We're not sure what their success rate is, but they've been able to complete some big jobs for her. They definitely should've renegotiated up to at least 50% or something, especially considering how frequently they were endangering themselves and Omega on these jobs.
With Crosshair and the Empire, he doesn't really have much in the way of benefits, because the Empire ultimately considers all the clones their property.
They were never given a choice on whether they wanted to serve the Empire once it replaced the Republic. They're assigned these dangerous and morally questionable/reprehensible missions. If they question their orders or refuse, they're labeled traitors and arrested; and if they leave, they're branded deserters.
Crosshair at least gets room and board, but he probably isn't getting paid much or at all. Once Senator Chuchi's bill passes in 2.08 "Truth and Consequences," he might be eligible for a retirement/severance package like we see the clones talking about in 2.12 "The Outpost," but he likely wouldn't have a say on when he gets to retire/leave.
Meanwhile, Crosshair and the other clones are risking their lives for the Empire. We see in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone," that the clone troopers are sent in to complete the most dangerous work -- securing Desix and freeing the Imperial governor. But, once it comes to actually occupying the planet, the Empire assigns stormtroopers.
I also always found it interesting that the clone troopers bothered to get Crosshair medical attention in 1.08 "Reunion," but Nolan doesn't in 2.12 "The Outpost." I feel like the clones, at minimum, cared about each other even under Imperial command. But as more non-clones started taking command, they basically said, "Why bother? Clone troopers are a relic of the past, and we have millions of TK troopers who can take their place."
Lack of intel/resources to complete missions
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Speaking of 2.12 "The Outpost," we hear about Mayday's predicament: The Empire doesn't provide enough men to defend the oh-so-valuable cargo at the Outpost and doesn't provide the equipment needed to keep their troopers safe. They have to wrap their armor to stay warm; the conditions degrade the sensors; they don't have the tools needed to disarm mines; and so on.
Similarly, the Batch bring up several times in Seasons 1 and 2 that Cid withholds information about their jobs.
Wrecker in 2.11 "Metamorphosis": Limited intel. Huh. There's a surprise.
Maybe sometimes her clients or sources don't give her information as we see in 2.11 "Metamorphosis," but there are plenty of times where she purposely withholds information, like Muchi being a Rancor in 1.05 "Rampage."
Cid was either accepting jobs without much intel because she was getting overconfident in the Batch's abilities, or -- more likely -- she was getting greedy and sending them on as many jobs as possible regardless of the conditions.
The latter seems more likely, especially with how it aligns with how the Empire treats the clones. They're more than ready to put money into the TK trooper program -- and we know from the Original Trilogy that TK troopers are also essentially treated as expendable -- but the Empire clearly doesn't give a crap about the clones, especially after 2.08 "Truth and Consequences."
Ultimately, both the Batch and Crosshair and the other Imperial clone troopers have to make do with the little they’re given, despite putting so much on the line for their employers.
“All you’ll ever be to them is a number”
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Something I haven't talked about much yet is how Hunter is so prescient about Crosshair being used by the Empire, but doesn't see how Cid is using him and his family to a similar degree.
This is something @xylionet pointed out too:
It’s rather ironic that Crosshair and Hunter are both able to see each other’s situations for what they are, but not their own.
One of the things that hit me during my rewatch of 1.15/16 was Hunter telling Crosshair: "All you'll ever be to them is a number" referring to the Empire.
Admittedly, Hunter isn't wrong. As we see, all the Imperial officials Crosshair interacts with only call him by his CT number, never by his name. (The only exceptions are fellow clones like Cody, Mayday and Emerie.)
And, in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone," when Crosshair asks Rampart about Commander Cody, Rampart acts like he's never heard the name Cody before in his life. He ONLY knows Cody -- one of the most famous commanders in the entire Galactic Army of the Republic -- by his number. Hell, even EMPEROR PALPATINE knew Commander Cody's name in "Revenge of the Sith."
But, while the Empire being a bunch of assholes makes sense, what gets me is that Cid is the exact same way:
She ONLY ever called the Bad Batch members by her little nicknames.
Cid absolutely knew their names. She would have to if she was ever planning to turn them in, as she eventually does. Maybe she didn't know their clone numbers, but she definitely knew what they called each other.
Yet, even in those moments where they came through for her like in 1.13 "Infested" and 2.04 "Faster," she never uses their names as a sign of respect or gratitude. Hell, even after Tech dies, she still only called him "Goggles."
Now, I'm not saying that nicknames are inherently bad. I have plenty of nicknames for people, and vice versa. But, I think there has to be an established relationship first, and then the nickname should be a sign of affection rather than a way to demean someone.
Cid calls the Batch mostly by their outward appearances or accessories -- Tiny, Muscles, Goggles, Bandana, Dark & Broody. (Note: she uses "Dark and Broody" for both Echo and Hunter on different occasions.) It just indicates how she sees them -- not as people but as objects. She's only looking on the surface because that's all she cares about.
“Blind allegiance makes you a pawn”
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It's obvious to see that Crosshair's misplaced loyalty to the Empire ultimately made him one of its pawns, to be used and abused.
But, as I've outlined, the Batch was in a similar position with Cid.
Hunter definitely sees that their "mutually beneficial arrangement" with Cid isn't great, but he doesn't really have much choice. They're on their own; they're deserters/traitors; and now they're in charge of a kid and being pursued by bounty hunters.
However, as I'll talk about more in a second, the Batch had several opportunities to walk away from her and try to find some other ways of "making a living." Yet, they continue to work for her despite all the red flags that they definitely see but choose to ignore. This is partly why Echo eventually leaves, because he disagrees with Hunter's decision to maintain this lifestyle rather than fighting for their fellow clones.
While Hunter is arguably the most at fault for letting Cid use and abuse them as long as she does, Cid takes advantage of Omega's loyalty the most.
Even as Omega is trying to convince Hunter and the others to -- and I can't believe I'm about to say this -- pit two crime syndicates against each other just to get Cid's parlor back ... all Cid can say is, "You tell 'em, tiny!"
Twice she asks/convinces her family to stick their necks out for Cid despite all the risks involved, and yet they get little to nothing in return -- including respect.
Despite all the risks they take for her and all the money they bring in, Cid doesn't give a crap when the Marauder gets stolen and the Batch are stranded on the mining planet in 2.09 "The Crossing." That's when the Batch -- particularly Omega -- finally reach their breaking point.
By 2.11 "Metamorphosis," Tech suggests that they only do this last job for her to ensure they leave her on good terms, because she knows so much about them. But, it's clear Omega and Hunter are fed up with how badly Cid used them, which happens to coincide nicely with Crosshair coming to the same realization about the Empire.
Which segues into the timeline analysis:
THE SIMILAR TIMELINES BETWEEN THE BAD BATCH/CID, CROSSHAIR/THE EMPIRE
Reluctant employees (early S1)
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As mentioned, the Batch and Crosshair start working for their respective employers because they don’t have a lot of other options.
Crosshair is, of course, practically abducted by the Empire and forced to do its bidding under the effects of the inhibitor chip. This starts in 1.01 "Aftermath."
Meanwhile, the Batch do the initial job for Cid in 1.05 "Rampage." They do a one-off job to get intel on the bounty hunter(s) after Omega, as well as earn some much-needed cash. The Batch didn't really have much of a choice in either finding or working for Cid, because Cid was the only Jedi informant Echo knew how to find, and they were desperate for the intel.
Then, as mentioned, she subsequently uses strong-arming and blackmailing as needed to get them to work for her in 1.06 and beyond.
Falling into a routine (mid-S1)
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By 1.07 "Battle Scars," we can see the Batch has fallen into a routine of doing jobs for Cid. As she said, they need friends and money with bounty hunters after them, and they don't really have any other ready sources of income (as demonstrated in 1.04 "Cornered').
Yet, despite all the jobs they've done for her, they're also in debt to her. Meaning, they can't easily walk away without giving her even MORE reason to turn them in, so they have to continue doing jobs for her in hopes of paying off the debt.
Meanwhile, Crosshair and his ES troopers have been continuing to operate under Rampart, presumably carrying out missions under his command. Granted, we don't see any of these except the Onderon mission in 1.03 "The Replacements," but based on how effective they seemed to be in 1.08 "Reunion," I imagine they were doing missions together off-screen.
The first possible turnaround point (late S1)
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If we accept the fan theory that Crosshair's chip was removed or deactivated/damaged around 1.08 "Reunion," then Crosshair has regained his free will by the next time we see him in 1.11 "Devil's Deal."
Yet, despite the Empire hijacking his mind and body and forcing him to do all sorts of terrible things, he continues to work for them of his own free will. He has an opportunity to walk away, but he doesn't.
Likewise, the Batch have an opportunity in 1.13 "Infested," after Cid's parlor gets taken over by Roland Durand.
But, thanks to Omega's misplaced loyalty, Cid's blackmailing and other factors, Hunter decides to pit two crime syndicates against each other to get Cid's parlor back and continue working for her. (I cannot emphasize how stupid of a decision this was!!)
Even after Cid's schemes get the Batch in trouble with the Pykes to the point that Omega is taken hostage, the Batch continue to work for Cid. They're lucky this was a "family show," or the Pykes would've definitely killed them or injured Omega or something else just as bad.
If ever there was a time for the Batch to walk away from Cid, this would've been it -- either before the job or after. But, like Crosshair, they don't take the opportunity to walk away.
The second possible turnaround point (S1 finale)
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Crosshair had another opportunity to leave the Empire and rejoin his brothers at the end of 1.16 "Kamino Lost." But, instead he decides once again to double-down and stay with the Empire for a myriad of reasons that might have to be its own meta some day. (I touched on it a bit in my S1 Crosshair/loyalty meta.)
But what might be overlooked is that the fall of Kamino was another opportunity for the Batch to leave Cid.
Again, the reason they sought her out and one of the reasons they started/kept working for her was because bounty hunters were after Omega. The bounty was active through 1.09 "Bounty Lost.” At that point, the Batch learn that Lama Su put the bounty on Omega because she's crucial to their cloning operation.
But, as the Batch see for themselves, Tipoca City is decommissioned and destroyed. The Kaminoan cloning facilities are gone. The Kaminoans aren't in a place where they need Omega anymore, because the Empire has effectively ended cloning (at least for military purposes).
So, they could've left Cid after the events of Season 1. Maybe they could've even left her on good terms after saving her ass in 1.13 "Infested." But, they don't.
Starting to second-guess (early S2)
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Admittedly, Hunter was never super-comfortable about their arrangement with Cid, but he persisted because he didn't see a lot of alternatives.
But, Omega (and Tech and Wrecker) clearly start to have doubts about working for Cid during 2.04 "Faster." They once again stick their necks out for Cid by offering to clear her debt with Millegi. And, while Cid is grateful at the time, we see later that her gratitude is short-lived.
Based on what Millegi tells them, especially at the end of the episode, it's clear Omega (and the others) are beginning to doubt whether Cid is someone worthy of their loyalty.
Likewise, Crosshair's experiences in 2.03 "The Solitary Clone" start to plant doubts in his mind. He was stranded on Kamino for a month and comes back only to get demoted and sent on a dangerous and morally questionable mission. And while Crosshair and his squad complete the mission, and Rampart even praises Crosshair for it, we also see that Rampart really doubts Crosshair and the other clones' loyalty.
Ultimately, after his experiences with Cody and their mission on Desix, it's clear that Crosshair is beginning to doubt whether the Empire is worthy of his loyalty.
The breaking point (mid/late S2)
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As I've pointed out in another post:
Both the Batch and Crosshair fell into a routine that provided them security and stability in an otherwise chaotic time in the galaxy; and both only reached their breaking points when their employers left them for dead.
For the Batch, this is a combination of 2.09-2.11. The Marauder gets stolen while they're on a job for Cid. They ask for her help, and she doesn't readily or easily commit any kind of assistance. They get the Marauder back on their own, and Cid is more than happy to give them another job, framing it as: "Do you wanna make money?"
It's become clear to them that she views them as tools -- only useful to her, not the other way around.
Meanwhile, at the start of 2.12 "The Outpost," Crosshair sees that the Empire has started to retire clones, but at least he's still getting missions.
But, Barton IV ultimately becomes his breaking point when he sees just how expendable he and all clones are. Based on what he said in 1.15 "Return to Kamino," he thought he was "superior" to the other clones, but as Nolan proves, the Empire didn't care either way.
As Mayday points out, the clones sacrificed everything for the Empire while getting nothing in return. Crosshair and Mayday are essentially left for dead, and when they come back looking like absolute hell, Nolan first yells at them for not retrieving the cargo and then tells them to get to work.
As Nolan blatantly tells Crosshair, he and all the other clones are expendable -- only worth keeping around as long as they're useful.
Not out quite yet (late S2)
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By 2.13 "Pabu," we can see the Batch has completely cut ties with Cid and are working with Phee instead. Cid leaves them a message, saying that their absence has cost her a lot of money and she once again threatens to turn them in.
Despite emotionally cutting ties with her, they're still physically at her mercy to a degree. Plus, even once they made it clear they didn't want to work for her anymore, she still wants something from them and she's willing to hurt them if they don't cooperate.
Thankfully, Phee comes through for the Batch and introduces them to Pabu -- their future forever home.
Crosshair, meanwhile, is imprisoned at Tantiss. Despite emotionally cutting ties with the Empire, he's still physically at its mercy.
Hemlock offers him a deal: his freedom in exchange for helping him find Clone Force 99. Crosshair refuses to give up his family, even under torture.
Just like the Batch, despite Crosshair's attempt to "walk away" from the Empire, they still want something from him and they're willing to hurt him if he doesn't cooperate.
The fallout (S2 finale and beyond)
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Of course, everything falls together in 2.16 "Plan 99," as Cid sells out the Batch to the Empire. The Batch's and Crosshair's former employers temporarily join forces to screw everyone over in the worst ways possible.
Although it was clear to us from the get-go that Crosshair was wrong to trust the Empire, 2.16 confirms to us the audience just how wrong the Batch was to trust Cid. They came to her in a moment of need, and she betrayed them.
Granted, I think this was mostly Hunter's failing, as they never should've gone back to Ord Mantell. I understand they were hurt and desperate to have AZI heal Omega, but Cid told them multiple times she was willing to turn them in. Plus, they just showed on her doorstep after striking a high-level Imperial compound. They knew -- or at least suspected -- that they were already being targeted based on Crosshair's message, but after hitting Eriadu, they would've been on the Empire's "most wanted list."
Jumping to Season 3, Cid's nature is made even clearer as she gives up the Batch a second time.
It's unclear whether CX-2 bribed or tortured Cid -- probably the latter -- but Cid also sold out Phee. And Cid told the Batch she considered Phee a friend. (Although based on Phee's comments in 2.13 "Pabu," that feeling wasn't mutual.)
For all Cid knew, CX-2 could've tortured or killed Phee to find the Batch, and she still gave up the information.
Once again, the Batch's and Crosshair's former employers work together to screw them over.
One last thing I'll add is how the show gave us glimpses of Crosshair and Cid's true colors around the same time. Crosshair is first bribed and then tortured for information about his family, but he doesn't give them up; meanwhile, Cid sells them out after everything they did for her. And, if CX-2 really tortured Cid in Season 3, it just proves how little she cared about the Batch (or even Phee) compared to how much Crosshair cared about them despite everything that happened in S1.
IN CONCLUSION
I want to state for the record that, as frustrating as it is to see our favorite characters allow themselves to be used and abused by their employers, I don't hate any of them.
These characters are human. They're not perfect, and hindsight is 20/20.
I know several people who were hoping that Cid would come through for the Batch, that she would be a true ally even if she was grumpy and rude (and that's putting it mildly).
If anything, I think this all shows just how similar Hunter, Crosshair and Omega are. They share a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses. Hunter and Crosshair see just how terrible the other's situation is, but not their own; and Crosshair and Omega are loyal to a fault.
They all just wanted some security and stability in what was a very chaotic time for the galaxy and their family. I can understand, to an extent, why they made the decisions they did even if I find them frustrating.
If you want to take any of this meta and apply it to your own lives, by all means. Despite what some folks might think, Star Wars has always been political, and I don't want any of you to end up like our favorite Bad Batch characters.
At the end of the day, "The Bad Batch" is a family show with a lot of morals and lessons about the importance of love, hope and family -- whether blood relatives, adopted or 'found.'
But, it's also a show about the evils of political systems and corporate greed, and how the forces around us will profit off our blood, sweat and tears while giving us little to nothing in return.
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zykamiliah · 2 months
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Tell me about Shen Yuan's mental gymnastics
oh boy where do i start
there are various sides to sy's mental gymnastics:
-his sexuality, that directly correlates to his feelings for binghe; we know how he projects his desire for lbh into the Women/Wives characters, he is in complete denial and actively suppressing his own sexuality, for quite a while and even before he transmigrated, since he has some "skeletons in his closet" in regards to past crushes. he frames his feelings for lbh and his responses during sex as submitting to lbh's charm and "technique" as if to imply he doesn't really have a choice or is being convinced into loving and having sex with lbh, which is one of the biggest misunderstandings for readers in the whole novel. for him admitting that he likes gay sex is tremendously embarrassing, and a consequence from being raised in a homophobic/queerphobic culture.
-his self-image, not in the sense that insecure or lacks confidence, but in that he perceives himself as inconsequential-- he doesn't expect much to come from his good actions except maybe that people will spare his life (lbh, lqg) and instead weighs his bad actions as worse than they are. even if he doesn't think about it a lot, he expects lbh to hate him and kill him for pushing him into the endless abyss, yet doesn't take into the equation everything else he did as a shizun for lbh and the other qjp disciples. this probably comes from his fandom-agreed third child syndrome, in that as such he grew up thinking his actions don't have any impact in the people around him (not taking into account the impact of his death in hua yue city, for example, in lbh and his martial siblings and disciples); related to that, is the part where he doesn't ever talk about his own accomplishments because he thinks that's too cringe or something, so he's always downplaying himself and the stuff he does, like being a good damn teacher, and liking it! he describes himself as a lazy guy who just wants to lead a no-effort life but that's what he actually wants or does; he's always doing something post-transmigration and if fact gets antsy and restless when he's forced to stay inside doing nothing
also related to him downplaying his good actions, is that he sketches himself as a selfish person when his actions completely contradict that characterization.
he also downplays or completely hides from the narration how much being cool matters to him lol he wants to distract the reader and himself from the fact that he's not an easygoing person, who will take anything life gives him; no, no, that man taught his disciples about payback; he gets reeaally pissed off when mbj dismisses his cultivation at the immortal alliance conference. i've talked about how he projects on shen jiu here to go around those feelings .
overall he's unreliable when talking about himself and you have to look at everything he says really carefully and contrast it with his actual actions to understand what's real and what's a lie.
and one of my favorites: he tells us he's pretending at being a lofty immortal cultivator, when in truth the transmigration has allowed him to become the best version of himself (ok there's still room for improvement but he's getting there!) the moment the OOC was off, and later when he's in the mushroom body, he thinks of himself as shen qingqiu all the time, going so far as to put finding a folding fan as a top priority, saving people just because he was around, and being unable to let cqm disciples be in danger to the detriment of his own survival. he tries to sell you a picture of himself where he's pragmatic and selfish and self-serving, but in truth, despite having a bad temper and sometimes resorting to anger as a coping mechanism (the tsundere allegations are true), he's a big softie and unconditional when it comes to the people he cares about.
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genericpuff · 10 months
Text
zoo wee mama, the new Hbomberguy video is a RIDE and it's absolutely relevant to everything going on in webcomics. let's talk about it.
youtube
I'm sure a lot of you have heard about this video going around already (it's gotten 2+ million views in just a little over 24 hours) but if you haven't, I highly recommend you set aside time to watch it yourself, I was surprised to see how much he had dug up especially regarding Youtubers that I never suspected were plagiarizing. He also says some very on-point stuff about how we view content creators and plagiarizing in this "do it yourself" industry that really resonated with me because it's stuff I've been saying for years in the webcomic sphere.
I won't spoil the video much because I think it's best experienced watching it for yourself (especially because he's putting all the money he earns off this video towards compensating the people who had their work plagiarized by one Youtuber in particular who's especially guilty... I'm not even gonna mince words, it's James Somerton) but this passage in particular just felt so validating to hear from someone who clearly holds themselves to the standards that more Youtubers - and creators in general - should be holding themselves to:
"I think a lot of people are inclined to protect creators they like on the grounds that plagiarism is a very academic-sounding problem, like something that happens in research papers or journalism, not something that you can do in a silly video made for entertainment purposes. Why are we holding Youtubers to standards? That would be like expecting accurate history from someone whose name has 'historian' in it! Because Youtubers often project a sense of being scrappy, do-it-yourself amateurs, it feels almost wrong to expect them to be professional... but a lot of them are professionals, regardless how authentic their persona may be. Youtubers are now among the most recognizable faces on the planet, and have become immensely wealthy doing this. Some are so influential we literally call them influencers. Maybe it's a good idea to have some standards for not stealing. Maybe." - Hbomberguy, "Plagiarism and You(tube)" timestamp: 3:35:32
Obviously this has nothing to directly do with webcomics but I do think it's something that reflects very similar behavior within the webcomic community that's, frankly, worth discussing. Many people justifiably want to make a living off their work, want webcomics as a whole to be taken more seriously in the mainstream next to traditional publishing, and for webcomic creators to be taken more seriously as professionals.
But at the same time, I still see a lot of infantilizing of the people in this industry, done by both their fans and the people within it, the idea that being a professional (noun) isn't mutually inclusive of being professional (adjective). It's how we've gotten creators in the past like Snailords, mongie, and yes, Rachel Smythe, who are often shielded by their fanbase on the basis of, "they're just indie comic creators doing what they love, leave them alone!" when they're very much not that, at least not anymore. At least two of those three creators have TV deals (though whether or not they'll make it to the screen is debatable), and all three of them have or have had Webtoons seemingly wrapped around their finger more so than any other creator (though mongie has argued she left Webtoons over unfair treatment, it really doesn't seem like that to the people who know how much mongie was intentionally pushing the rules of what she was allowed to post on the platform, particularly with her Sam x Charles smut).
They are not 'indie creators' anymore and they are not exempt from criticism just because their younger fanbase mistakenly assumes them to be the same age as them. Rachel, mongie, and Snailords are all in their mid-to-late 30's. They all have merchandising deals and either have TV deals or want to have TV deals. They've all been given priority advertising by Webtoons even at the cost of undercutting all the other creators and series on the platform that need it more. They are not "scrappy" creators, they're contractual professionals now and they all do not act like it. Whether it's reacting poorly to criticism or using their characters as a mouthpiece for their own egos or even just using their comics as a poorly disguised fetish, they're all contractual professionals who do not act professional. And they're not the only webcomic creators who do this.
And again, I've talked about this before on here and in the discussions on reddit concerning LO and other webtoons, so it's incredibly validating and refreshing to see Hbomberguy put those feelings into words (albeit about Youtubers, but let's be real, Webtoons is definitely trying to be the "Youtube of webcomics", as is Tapas and other competing webtoon platforms) because that sentiment rings true for a lot of the webtoon creators who have practically failed upwards and only forgo their advertised "professional status" when they're under fire for their actions and writing. Rachel is an "award winning creator" and "self-proclaimed folklorist" until her comic is criticized for its blatant misrepresentation and disrespect towards an entire culture, then all of a sudden "it's just fanfiction". Mongie is the creator of the bestselling series Let's Play until she's called out for racist depictions of Asians and Hispanic people in her work, then all of a sudden she's "just trying to make a fun comic" that's not meant to be taken that seriously. And of course, their audience of teens and young adults who don't know any better keep forgiving them and vehemently defending them because they wrongfully assume that these creators are scrappy teens just like themselves who just started making webcomics for fun and then achieved fame and glory overnight (which they're not!)
We should be having bigger discussions about what awaits the webcomic and "content creator" industry as a whole in the future and what standards we should be holding creators and their work to. We can't possibly expect these mediums to be taken seriously as a professional industry if we don't set better expectations for the quality of the work that's being created and the creators who are building these platforms for themselves.
"In current discourse, Youtubers simultaneously present as the forefront of a new medium, creative voices that need to be taken seriously as part of the 'next generation of media'... and also 'uwu smol beans little babies who shouldn't be taken seriously when they rip someone off and make tens of thousands of dollars doing it." - Hbomberguy, "Plagiarism and You(tube)" timestamp: 3:36:18
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utilitycaster · 17 days
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Do you get the impression CR has been subtly trying to tamp down speculation C3 is the last campaign lately?
No, I do not.
I'm guessing this was prompted by the WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED video but that just tells us that they have ongoing production plans going into 2025, which, we knew, because if nothing else the Mighty Nein animated series is still in production. They will still exist as a production company that puts out new stuff long after they stop running longform campaigns.
I want to stress that what I'm about to say is not directed specifically at you but at the fandom at large based on some patterns I've seen - this ask felt like a good opportunity to do so because it touches on some of those patterns but please understand I'm not holding you accountable for all of this; I just use anon asks as this sort of jumping off point sometimes.
I think the cast overall cares WAYYYYYYY less about what the fandom is doing and saying than much of the fandom thinks they do. I think most of them are barely aware of what the fandom is doing and saying. When they do know and care, they are not shy about saying when they think the fandom did something they think is obnoxious (Bowlgate freakouts, sharing Braius's original backstory, thinking Orym or Ashton should have stopped Laudna; or on a more serious level, Liam and Marisha both did a lot of damage control after Molly's death when people were being hostile towards Matt and Ashly Burch and told those people to cut it out and be nice to their guests.)
I've gotten a few questions about whether I think C3 is the last campaign, and my genuine answer is I feel less certain it is than I was before, but as I have zero insight into the CR cast's discussions or priorities or production plans, this means literally nothing, because I was guessing wildly then and I'm guessing wildly now. (I'm pretty solid on making narratively-based guesses but that goes out the window when it comes to production decisions). But also I saw a poll yesterday on whether this is the last campaign, and like. Look. Someone asked me towards the end of Campaign 2 if this was the end of Campaign 2 and I was like "Surely not! We still have Molaesmyr!" and then Campaign 2 ended like 3 episodes later. It's normal and understandable to try to say "but we'll get more, right? RIGHT?" and I've done so myself, but that poll could get a 100% response rate of "OF COURSE THERE'S A CAMPAIGN 4!" and then 5 months from now we could get an announcement that C3 was the last longform campaign, because no one answering that poll knows the answer. It's very normal to want an answer and to hope for more campaigns - I would be thrilled with a Campaign 4 - but literally we don't know. It's entirely possible the cast is still deciding; and if they have, this is probably information that only the company and like, their immediate circle of friends know, if that.
It's literally impossible to shut down speculation, and even subtle attempts to do so are likely to backfire. Without going on a rant about one of my most deeply felt subjects, while fandom is a great place in which I've met many wonderful people, it is also fertile breeding grounds for conspiracy theories, a thing I loathe with every fiber of my being. Again, I think that the cast could run a QA panel in which every single cast member said in unison "The canon ships in TLOVM are Vax and Keyleth; Vex and Percy; and Pike and Scanlan" and someone would be like "well, I saw Taliesin in the bathroom two hours later and he took precisely 47 seconds to wash his hands and from this I can conclude PERCY AND VAX REAL." And from what I understand regarding anime fandom it's about a million times worse, which is to say, I think the cast knows that and knows to just not bring up a Campaign 4 until they're good and ready and to let the fandom do what they will.
tl;dr the cast cares way less about what any of us think than many of us think; you will almost certainly not find out if there's a campaign 4 and what system it is in until the cast announces it; and the thing about wild speculation is that there exist people who will straight up ignore direct unambiguous statements in order to persist in their own personal alternate reality.
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taurusreads · 1 year
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what do you need to know right now? 🤎
masterlist || paid services || ko-fi
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what does spirit want to tell you?
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pile one
overall energy: ten of pentacles
for some of you i see that you may be struggling with your own thoughts a bit. the cards were being very sporadic and many of them were flying out at the same time. i think some of you might have a tendency to shut down when there’s a lot going on, like your beak. just kind of shuts off and it feels like a “no thoughts head empty” kind of vibe. spirit wants you to know that it’s perfectly fine for you to take time for yourself. focus on your mental health, and do what needs to be done for yourself before going to help someone else. you can never be the shoulder to someone until you can take care of your own well-being.
i also think that some of you have projects going on regarding your career. be very selective with who you give information to, as not everyone is your friend. sometimes it’s better to keep the information you have to yourself rather than telling others about it, because some people may not always have your best interest at heart. i see that this is something important to a lot of you, something that you’ve been manifesting for a long time. im hearing “dream come true”. these things were brought to you by the universe because you asked for it, waited patiently, and put in the effort to receive it, don’t let someone pretending to be your friend interfere with that.
on the same note of your work/career life, try not to overwork yourself! it’s great to love what you do, and it’s amazing to want to do it all the time, but make sure that you’re not pushing yourself past your limits. everyone has a breaking point, a moment in time where everything becomes too much and it takes a toll on you mentally, emotionally, physically, or spiritually. take time out of every day to check on your own health, and give yourself the love that you deserve!
channeled messages: headache, work, fashion, warm weather, yellow, 555, celebration, milestones, manifestations, something about being in the dark, secrets, self care, bubble baths!
pile two
overall energy: the star
there’s a lot of things that this pile wants to do, but you feel like there’s not enough time to get it all done. spirit wants you to remember that life is a marathon, not a sprint. you have ample time to do the things that you want in life, so don’t beat yourself up too much! there’s also a message of balancing out your work and home life. it’s okay to want to prioritize things, but make sure you have room in your life for the rest of it too! there’s plenty of time to figure out your career/life plans, so make sure that you give yourself time to have fun also! go bowling, see a movie, or just stay inside and stare at the tv. whatever makes you feel good should also be on your list of priorities.
i also see that for some of you, you’ve been wanting to get into a relationship. spirit is saying that healthy relationships stem from people who are emotionally and mentally ready, and sometimes it’s okay to admit that you’re not ready. being able to understand when you’re ready for a relationship and when you should just focus on yourself is an amazing strength to have, and it can save you from a lot of unfortunate situations in the future. spirit wants to make sure that you can discern when you are and are not ready for love, so you can focus on the things that are really important to you.
i think now would be an important time to focus on your work. focus on establishing yourself in the career you’re currently in, and completely immerse yourself in doing what you love. im also getting the message that some of you might possibly have a particular interest with someone that you work with. look within yourself to truly know whether you are ready for any sort of relationship, or if you should just focus on your own well-being. and be honest with yourself! no growth happens by ignoring the truth.
channeled messages: retail, D.D.D - the boyz, kpop, literal dancing, heartbreak, partnership, music, connection, dreams, soulmate, patience
pile three
overall energy: knight of wands rx
let out your inner child! some of you have been wanting to do something new for a while now, and spirit says go for it! if there was anything that you’d been wanting to try, some place that you’d been wanting to go, take a leap of faith and try it out! it’s never too late to do something new, life is all about making new memories and experiencing new things. i feel like some of you haven’t had the time to do things that you’ve wanted to, any i think now is the time to make room for it!
if some of you are in school, use your free time very wisely. you get a couple months out of school, so take the free time to experience all the things you didn’t have time to before. for anyone who is working, if you’ve been considering taking time off, do it if you can! spirit wants you to start trusting your instincts more. we all have intuition, some peoples are just stronger because they use trust in it and use it more often! trust in your own intuition and follow what your gut is telling you to do! you’re not missing out if you take the time to do what you want, nor are you lazy or a fraud. you deserve to take time to yourself, just like everyone else does.
if you’ve been cooped up in the house for a while, spirit always says to go outside for a little bit! i think interacting with nature can be very healing for some of you. take a walk, go for a run, or just enjoy the scene of nature! im seeing a lot of green, a lot of trees and grass, as well as a park/playground. maybe some of you have kids, or this is something that you like to do! go outside and do the things you used to do as a kid, and reignite that spark within you!
channeled messages: games, sun, playground, recreational parks, soccer, running, exercise, listening to music while walking, tanning, vacation, happiness, relaxation, 333, laughing, joy
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picrewquiz · 2 years
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Perfect Picrew finding Uquiz
I’ve made a Uquiz that asks you what you need in a picrew, and spits one out with as many attributes you need as possible! as of right now it’s only using ones on our blog, and theres 24 possible picrews it can give you depending on your needs, but I plan to be consistently updating this with new picrews until I hit whatever uquiz’s max capacity is! 
[Feel free to check it out here!]
and feel free to let me know what you think of the picrew you were given, if it was accurate to what you asked for! we also accept submissions for adding picrews, just DM us them! 
Important edit!
I feel like some people are confused about how this works. I’ve had a lot of people say ‘i specified x and the picrew i got didn’t have it!’ Especially regarding things like neurodivergent options, disabled options, etc. So let me explain further. This is a limitation of uquiz itself. Uquiz gives you the answer based on how many choices you pick that result in one of the designated possibilities. That means if you want a picrew that has, say, lots of skin variation, disabled options, tattoos, neurodivergent options and textured hair. It’s going to spit out whatever picrew has the MOST yes answers to those categories, with no priority to any specific category. ontop of the fact there is only so many picrews with some of these options, it means often times the Picrew you get may not have some things you selected. But it WILL have as many things you selected as possible out of the possible options. If one option is significantly more important than others, I recommend selecting more ‘no’s except for the option you really want to increase the chance it has that option. Hope this makes sense!
-Kevin
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jangofettjamz · 11 months
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Overwhelming
Jenna Ortega x Autistic!Male!Reader
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Summary: Your were nervous about going to the Scream 6 premiere, but it turned out to be a lot of fun... until it wasn't.
Words: 1993
3rd Person POV
The premiere for scream 6 was but a few hours away. Tensions rose as Y/N tried to prepare himself for the event, despite being an actor he has very secluded and did not enjoy the limelight as much as his fellow peers.
He had been trying to muster up the courage to become more socially involved in his work such as: going to interviews, late night shows, going to dinner with directors etc. Unfortunately, It just seemed for too difficult.
However, this time was different. He was going to try this time; to attend a premiere. He knew this would be no easy feat, the camera flashes alone would overstimulate him into madness but he was determined, scared but determined nonetheless.
His girlfriend and co-star, Jenna Ortega has been helping him to confront his fear of social interaction through love and support. She had studied his language and helped him navigate in a world that didn't understand him.
Y/N has also made a life long friend in Mikey Madison, who also happened to be close with Jenna. Though she never was on the set of scream 6 due to her character dying in the previous film, she remained close with the cast and crew and treated him as an equal.
Y/N, although adamant in his choice to attend the premiere, was still absolutely terrified at the thought of hundreds of people in one space wanting him to sign autographs, take photos and pose on the red carpet. It made him feel ill.
Jenna was his shield from everything. She promised to protect him from the cameras, should he not want his photo taken. She promised to protect him from the hyper fans who have little regard for personal space.
"Alright sweetie, I've got all your stuff in my bag: stim toys, plushie and snacks if you need one. If you need a break or want to leave just tell me, your comfort is my number one priority."
One problem; Jenna didn't pack the headphones and Y/N was too stressed to even remember them aswell. The noise would likely send Y/N spiralling.
"Jenna how many people are gonna be there?"
"Atleast a thousand people honey" she says sadly knowing that this was going to be tough for Y/N.
"We don't have to go you know, we can just chill here for the night." She suggests not really thinking of the consequences that could have on her career.
"Wouldn't you get in trouble?" Y/N asks but imm receives an answer.
"I don't care, as long as your comfortable it's worth it" she states making Y/N feels warm inside, like a scarf wrapping him up in the cold winter but on the inside.
"It'll be fine Jen', we're all ready to go now anyway so there's no point in backing out now." He reassures making her form a toothy smile.
"Besides I know how much this movie means to you and I wanna make you happy aswell." She approached him with loving intent.
She placed a hand on his cheek. "Can i kiss you?" She asked, knowing he doesn't like spontaneous kisses without permission. He nods and she kisses him lovingly which he reciprocates, light pink blush painting his cheeks.
Their private car soon arrived and they made their way to premiere. Y/N was on edge, he wasn't as excited so much as he was nervous.
Jenna held his hand rubbing soothing circles with her thumb and he put his head on her shoulder as she held him tight around his waist for the rest of the car journey.
-
The premiere was more packed than usual, containing around 2230 people; far more than they anticipated. The movie drew more hype than Y/N and Jenna thought possible, some just there to see Jenna.
This troubled Y/N, yes he had prepared to undertake an entire crowd but not to this extent. Jenna could sense his fear as if she was some sort of telepath and held his hand tight.
He started to stim by clicking him fingers and tapping him knees, though seemed futile as the feeling of overstimulation didn't seem to falter.
"Y/N/N, do you need your stim toys?" He nodded violently, starting to sweat as the noises from outside became more irritable.
She grabbed a fidget cube for him to play with for as long as he needed until they had to walk onto the red carpet. He slowly leaned back into her shoulder and she held him tightly again, placing feather light kisses on his scalp.
"Remember, we can always leave if you want." She reminded him wanting to make feel as safe as possible.
"I'm gonna be with you the entire time okay, Mikey's gonna be there too and she'll protect you aswell; we both will I promise." He nodded and took deep breaths while Jenna rubbed soothing circles on his back.
He took one final deep breaths before opening the door of the car and out into wilderness of: fans, paparazzi, reporters and fellow actors. He was gonna hate this.
He instantly grabbed a hold of Jenna's hand and she squeezed tightly letting him know that she's there. Fans wanted to Jenna to sign stuff for them, but she made it a point that she's putting his comfort first, much to their dismay.
"Let's go find the others okay, I heard Jack's here aswell and I know how much you two get along." Jack Quaid visited set often in vancouver when he wasn't Filming for The Boys and the two of them clicked because of their shared nerdiness.
Jenna and Y/N made their way up the red carpet and were called for an interview by Vanity Fair. Y/N considered his options, he could either do this interview with Jenna by his side and be extremely uncomfortable or walk away and still be extremely uncomfortable. The choices were negligible so he figured he'd do the interview.
They walked hand in hand over to the interviewer for Vanity Fair. "Well hello you two, how are feeling about tonight's premiere." She started
Jenna was the first to respond. "I'm so excited, I can't wait for everyone to see this film we worked so hard on it and I think fans are gonna be very satisfied with what we've created." She says smiling.
"Y/N L/N so lovely to see you at the premiere, how was filming with veteran talent like Courtney Cox and Hayden Panettiere?"
He answers "They're very lovely people and easy to work with too. This film project is probably my favourite one I've done thus far." The interviewer asked more questions before promptly ending the interview.
"It was very lovely speaking to you two, congratulations on the movie." Jenna looks at Y/N with a proud look on her face which made Y/N's heart do cartwheels.
She cups his face making eye contact with him. "You did so well Y/N, I'm so proud of you for getting through that interview. You should be proud of yourself too."
Y/N kisses her on the cheek thankful for her words of encouragement, he felt elated on this new found confidence, he wanted to do more and that's exactly what he did.
"Y/N/N!!!" He heard and he saw Mikey and immediately tackled her into a hug. She had become a very good friend to him.
"I'm so glad you came, you having fun?" She asked and he was indeed having a good time.
"Yeah you know what, I think I am having fun." He said with a wide grin.
Everything went great, he did more interviews, conversed with his co-stars and even took a few pictures with fans. He was having a good time... until he wasn't.
The next interview he did was with Fox News and they did not hold back on their questions. He and Jenna both went up to talk with them.
"Hello Miss Ortega and Mr L/N, how's you're evening?" she starts "It's going great, we're having a wonderful night" Y/N answers with tremendous enthusiasm, which will be snuffed out soon.
"Y/N is it true you have spaz attacks when people are screaming on set?" He was confused, Jenna was pissed.
"I'm sorry?" He says politely but still confused. "We heard that you have spaz attacks on set, it would be really unprofessional if you did you know." Now he was annoyed "spaz attacks" who does she think she is?
"I don't have meltdowns on set, or "spaz attacks" as you call them when people scream on set. The screaming is on script so why would I complain? Has anyone ever told you you're extremely unprofessional and terrible at your job?" He says, his voiced laced with venom.
Jenna snickered, she was proud of him for taking a stand for himself, plus she thought is was hot. But that confidence soon faded.
The interviewer says under her breath "Yeah well atleast I'm not a retarded spaz like you" just low enough for the camera's not to pick up but Y/N and Jenna heard it well. Jenna was PISSED.
Suddenly Y/N felt his confidence diminish, the voices around him became louder, the camera flashes became more irritable, creating spots in his vision. He could practically hear all the clicks and cracks coming from each of the cameras as they snap photos.
The colors around him became more and more irritable to look at; too bright so he clamped his eyes shut. The voices and music hammered his ears drums, he held his hands to his ears and started to hyperventilate, thoat closing up in the process. He was having a meltdown.
Jenna saw this and instantly whisked him away from the crowd and into the theatre, they found a quiet corner and begun their techniques. She searched through her bags only to find that his headphones weren't there, he started to panic.
He babbled uncontrollably, he needed his headphones to block the noise. She pulled out her headphones that she carried with her 24/7 and moved his hands and put them over his head; noise cancelling too so that helped.
Once she put her headphones on his head she began to speak. "Honey, can I hold you?" She says, her voice quiet and muffled due to the headphones but he nodded nonetheless.
"We're gonna rock okay?" She says and he nods they begin to sway side to side. His head was in her chest and her head on the top of his, she was his safe space and he was so thankful.
After a few minutes he took the headphones off, but was still feeling non-verbal. Jenna continued her rocking as she began to speak.
"What she said was bullshit, you know that don't you?" He shrugged in response. "Sweetie, you're not a spaz or retarded or whatever horrible words she called you, she's just a bitch and she will be dealt with, believe me."
He nodded against her chest. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, buddy. I hope you didn't regret coming here." He shook his head, he didn't regret it and he had fun.
She pulled something out of her bag. "Here, I've got your ghostface plush. You wanna take him with you while we watch the film?" He nodded and they made their way into the screening.
They sat down and Y/N put his head on her shoulder as she stroked his hair to keep him regulated, keeping a vice grip around his body as they watched their new movie.
In moments like these he felt safest, like no could hurt him as his girlfriend shields him from all the bad things in the world. It felt like home. She felt like home.
Despite everything that just happened, he was very happy.
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'when blue and yellow meet in the west'
Hello byler tumblr (if you're seeing this)! This is a remake of an old post of mine about the (byler-centric) color coding in the show !! I wanted to remake it cuz I read it again recently and have some new thoughts about it. Sorry if this is all a bit redundant.
At this point we all know about the blue and yellow thing. Mike's color is blue, Will's color is yellow.
This will be a post analysing the use of colors in their outfits and enviroments, and what those colors could mean and possibly tell us.
⭑ Season 1:
The first time we see them, Mike is wearing a fully blue sweater while Will sports a plaid, blue and yellow shirt.
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When Mike first met El, he was wearing a blue hoodie in basically the same shade as his sweater (the outfit he chose to go looking for Will), and El was wearing a yellow shirt.
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That's actually really interesting, considering Mike's s4 v2 monologue where he says he fell in love with El at first sight. This was their first sight, back when most people (including Mike) thought El was a boy, when several people mistook her for Will, and when she was wearing Will's color. The yellow Benny's Burgers t-shirt is actually one of the main things Mike remembers from that day.
After meeting El and bringing her home, the sweater he gives her is his blue sweater.
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This is the start of a theme that was brought to my attention in @62percentmaplesyrup 's post (sorry for the tag and thank you so much for the help!), where El wears blue, Mike's color, to appease to him.
El's actual color is pink, or red. It's the color that makes her feel the most like herself. When she sees herself in that dress, she finally feels pretty.
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Going back a few episodes to episode 2, when Mike is bonding with El for the first time, his outfit gains red tones, which makes sense now that we know it's Eleven's color.
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It has a few streaks of yellow, but it's still mostly blue. The way I see it, yellow details can signify his bond and connection with Will, just like green. He was getting to know El, but she also signified hope for them to be able to find Will.
The night they find Will's fake body in the quarry and the day after, Mike wears a green and black shirt. Green, his and Will's colors, and black, the traditional color of mourning.
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His shirt is white, red and yellow when they go out to look for the gate. Yellow for Will being in his mind, and red for the trust he puts in El to help them find him, as she brought them hope once again.
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Unfortunately, he has a bad fight with Lucas regarding El, in which she panics and accidentally hurts him, cue Mike's "what's wrong with you" part 2, and El running away. Mike's hope for finding Will is gone once again, and the shirt he wears after that is white, green and yellow.
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Then we have the quarry scene. Troy threatens Dustin with a knife and tells Mike to jump into the quarry if he wants to save Dustin's teeth.
Mike jumps. He jumps into the quarry where Will's body was found, while wearing a green jacket with blue accents.
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He was still wearing this same shirt during his first kiss with El,
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and when they got Will back.
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I went into a lot of detail during this season just for us to have a basis to continue. I won't add as much content from the next seasons, I'll only try to get some key points, for the sake of clarity and this not becoming tedious and boring.
⭑ Season 2:
The arcade scene, aka Mike not giving a damn about Princess Daphne and being worried about Will, happened with Mike and Will wearing shirts with matching blue, red and white stripes, which is adorable. Will wore a green jacket and Mike's is kind of blue?
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Mike not giving a damn about Max and being worried about Will (pt2) had him in blue with red stripes.
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The red stripes make a lot of sense, as although Will was his priority, El was still in his mind and he tried to call her everyday for 353 days. Those stripes continue onto a lot of his other outfits this season. Interestingly, almost every outfit Will wears this season also has those red stripes.
Blue and yellow shirt, blue hoodie, blue and yellow blanket, green pillow. No comment needed.
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Mike wears this outfit the entire time he's with Will.
This season has El start trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs. Her episode 7 outfit was her trying to fit in with others that are "like her", only to realize she doesn't feel like she belongs there at all.
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Mike was still wearing the blue and yellow outfit in the shed scene.
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"It was the best thing I've ever done."
At the Snow Ball, Mike is wearing browns and greys, and just like Maple pointed out, El is wearing blue. The pink accents are extremely subdued, El is still trying to cater to what Mike likes, and not herself. She's not wearing purple, the mix of her and Mike's colors, either.
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Pink and blue being El and Mike's color combination is honestly funny. It's the most heteronormative color combination out there.
⭑ Season 3:
This season starts off strong with Mike and El making out. Right off the bat, El's flannel is mostly blue, and Mike is wearing mostly yellow. This is where my theory comes in: too much yellow for Mike means repression. It's another pattern that will continue to come up in the series.
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My guess is that the blue denim vest he's wearing over the yellow is for the wonderfully homoerotic lumax-byler double date scene, where he looks at Will's lips like twice and they're both blushing around each other.
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Now they're both wearing blue.
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I wanna add something Maple said here, about Mike pushing El away the more feminine she becomes. I find it interesting that to appease to Mike, El wears the stereotypically masculine color.
Here's Mike, lying to El in his yellow shirt.
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Here's El, being happy and having fun being herself for once. Notice the pink headpiece that she chose!!
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Also the colorful outfit she chose, almost like to match Max's!
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And here's Mike lying to her again.
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Where else is Mike not being honest?
Right here.
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He wasn't being honest with Will, and he definitely wasn't being honest with himself. This whole season, he's been trying to distance himself from things that are "childish", "immature", and from the things that remind him of Will. Lucas is dating Max, Dustin is Dating Suzie, and Mike has El but deep down he knows it's not the same thing, knows he doesn't feel for her the same way that his friends feel for their girlfriends, and that terrifies him.
He projects onto Will, here. The truth is Mike wants to spend forever with Will, he's always wanted to, but that's one of the thoughts he was led to think are childish and stupid. He didn't think Will would want that, too, and the second he finds out Will did want it just as much as him, he regrets it immediately.
Will bikes away, and Mike throws on his green jacket.
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Will is his priority, forever and always. He's the only one that can make Mike actually own up to his mistakes without blaming them on everyone else. And Mike was so scared here, so sure he just lost his best friend forever, sure he ruined everything. Will never hears him apologize, and this conflict doesn't really get resolved until season four, when even more tension has built up between them.
By the end of the season, he goes blue again.
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He doesn't react well at all to El's kiss. He seems confused and upset.
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I do think this was his very real realization of his current situation. Mike is so lost, scared and confused. So many feelings and thoughts are piling up and hurting him all at once. He just realized he doesn't love his girlfriend the way he's supposed to, that he lost her anyway, that he lost Will again and that it hurts more than he could imagine and he's never going to be the same. He canonically goes deep into depression and self-isolation after this.
i can't believe it, but i'm gonna need to make a part two.
it's here
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Long overdue Pipeyna posting:
It’s the way they balance each other out and mirror each other.
I think a lot about what Piper said in regard to love and hate being almost identical emotions, neither of which can be reasoned with, and that being why Ares and Aphrodite like each other.
It’s about how they start out resenting each other—Reyna sees Piper as the person who took away her best friend. Piper sees Reyna as a threat to her relationship with Jason. Except that’s not the whole story, is it? Because Piper thinks about Reyna much more than she should. Much more than Jason does, honestly. And the second Reyna lets herself trust Piper, she trusts her fully. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world. And it startles her, because usually Reyna takes a long time to let people in. But the others join the fight and though Reyna’s eyes should be drawn to Jason, she finds them on Piper instead.
Reyna and Piper understand each other in a way only the child of a war goddess and the child of the goddess of love can. They’re two sides of the same coin.
Piper sometimes struggles with thinking she’s not especially useful in comparison to her friends who seem much more powerful, whose skills seem much more helpful in combat. Hell, she’s outright stated to be surprised Reyna and Annabeth find her diplomatic skills handy at the end of BoO.
A lot of Piper’s character centers around her feeling invisible—the first time we see this is with her dad, whose attention she keeps trying to gain with her stunts, except it doesn’t work. She stays invisible to him. And that can never change. Because once he sees her for who she really is, it breaks him, and she has to make the heartbreaking choice to ask him to look away again for his own good. Piper has a power that literally centers around her ability to make people look at her and listen to her, and yet she cannot keep the attention of her dad, and she doesn’t think it’s really enough to have earned a place among her friends.
But Reyna sees her, even without her charmspeak. Reyna looks at Piper and in her role as the child of a war goddess, what can she see except all the ways in which Piper is a warrior? All the ways in which Piper is capable and brave?
Reyna on the other hand struggles with her emotions and not being able to let other people in. She keeps her cards close to her chest because that’s the only way she knows to keep herself safe. Even when she loves, she loves in a way that’s subdued, because she was taught from a young age that love isn’t a thing that’s safe. Love locks you up at night because you’re a threat. Love is angry and dangerous and could get you killed if you slip up—if you say the wrong thing or move the wrong way or if it’s simply having a bad day. Love is a thing that at any given moment could explode in your face.
She doesn’t even share how her powers work because she’s afraid it might go wrong somehow if she does—that the others will feel like she’s somehow manipulating them instead of supporting them.
But Piper looks at Reyna and she sees right through her, sees all the ways she’s hurting and how exhausted she is, because with her powers, what can she see except Reyna’s emotions, no matter how tightly Reyna tries to keep them locked up?
Piper knew what Reyna’s power was without being told. She just sensed it and immediately understood how it worked and how it must drain Reyna. And Reyna feels briefly terrified when Piper brings it up because she always assumed people knowing would change their opinion on her. But Piper is only mentioning it because she’s worried about how those powers must affect Reyna. About whether she’s getting enough rest and has a shoulder to lean on about it all. And that’s never been anyone’s main priority before—especially not Reyna’s (something something Reyna being raised to protect New Rome. Her powers actively benefiting others while draining her. The way she’s never quite able to live for herself).
They instinctively see and feel drawn to the part of each other that other people struggle to see at all and it makes me a bit crazy actually.
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