#he doesn't understand their responses and the only reason he isn't blocking them all is that he doesnt know how

[normal-thoughts-official]

love it when people are like "joenicky influencer au!" babygirl. respectfully. it's never gonna happen. i can excuse canonverse nicky knowing how to use a phone because they need that knowledge for survival, but modern au nicky's idea of a "phone" is the rotary kind and i won't hear another word about it. look at his haircut. does this look like a man who knows how to pronounce "meme"? don't embarrass yourself

[shadow4-1]

I'm just imagining having spent the night with a lover who isn't in the 141, only to wake up the next morning and there's in intervention waiting for you in the rec room.

Like, at first you're just confused. But when Price opens his mouth to ask you about how you slept...you have a bit of a meltdown. Why does it matter? Why is everyone staring at you? What's going on?

Soap grabs the collar of your t-shirt and pulls it down so everyone can get a look at the dark hickies dotting your neck. You slap his hand away, tears in your eyes.

"So all of you can do whatever you want? Sneak bitches on base and fuck around at all the bars we pass through! But I'm not allowed to do anything with someone I actually like?!"

It hurts. It feels like you're being stripped bare in front of them.

Price sighs, his gaze softens. It's obvious he doesn't want to have this conversation but something you've done has given him no choice. Soap just stands a few feet away, chest puffed out, eyeing you with a strange annoyance. You know if you try to leave he'll stop you.

"You are...not in the same position as us." Price tries and winces. He's obviously not putting his thoughts into soft enough words, but he continues. "You are...it is our responsibility to keep you safe."

"Safe? You're trying to keep me safe?" Your voice is raised higher than you've ever raised it at Price. "Safe by what? Fighting off all the guys at the bars? Safe by spreading lies about me to all of the PMCs and the other Task Forces?"

Price just closed his eyes and set his jaw. He had to know about the subterfuge you'd been experiencing for well over a couple years now. Everyone in the room was guilty as charged.

"You're and asset. And you're also a liability." Ghost speaks up, eyes narrowed, stance way too relaxed against the metal folding chair he sits in. "Do you remember what happened to the 7th Division?"

Saliva pools in your mouth, a sudden queasiness filling your stomach. Yeah, of course you remembered. Their beloved medic had been kidnapped by a group of angry drug lords using a mercenary group as their muscle. The 7th Division had gone in guns blazing to get their member back and well...they'd been wiped out. And their star medic they'd sacrificed everything for? She'd been brainwashed and inducted into the very agency that stole her away.

KORTAC

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" You mutter. "Please tell me you're not."

"We can't have you fraternizing with anyone." Price states smoothly. "As our medic, you have a responsibility to us, your team. We can't have you getting caught up in something bigger."

"I understand what you're saying, but can't you see how ridiculous this is?" You try to reason. "I'm human, I have- god this is embarrassing. I h-have wants and...needs, just like you guys."

The silence is loud. You can't meet anyone's gaze. Price steps closer to you, swallowing hard. His next few words are spoken softly, conspiratorially.

"All of your needs will be taken care of. We will never let you suffer by yourself."

Price cocks his head to the men before you both. All of them straighten beneath his gaze. Price places a hand on the small of your back.

"Whatever it takes." He commands them. "I better not hear or see anything. Do I make myself clear?"

A trio of "yessirs" bounce off the white walls. Price just smiles and nods. He pats your back.

"There we go. You'll be fine." He sighs. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to your guest."

Your eyes widen, your throat drops into your stomach.

"Wait!"

"We've got ye, Bonnie. You n' all yer needs."

Six hands are on you from several different angles. Their massive frames block out the fluorescent lights.

"Ah, where are you goin'?" Gaz chuckles, his arm wraps around your belly.

You try to run after Price but the rec room door is slammed shut and locked. You try to push the closest man away, but he just grins down at you.

[miiukkaa]

raph's subway room 🧸

personally speaking, raph is both an easy and a difficult character to understand. he has grown up with the responsibilty of having to look after his younger brothers. he definitely can be rowdy, playful, goofy and irresponsible but there's a sense of responsibility that he carries and holds onto. i mention this only because i feel this shows in him wanting to let his brothers have things over himself (things like furniture, trinkets, food... just stuff in general). not in a dramatic way in which he'd sacrifice EVEYRYTHING for the sake of others and thus neglect his own needs, no, no, it's not black and white like that. this would simply mean that he owns less furniture/trinkets/things than what you'd imagine. a mindful guy looking out for those he loves (let us not forget that he looks after himself, too).

i gave the big guy a big bed which is supported by the subway car's seats opposite to one another as well as cinder blocks. again, very little space underneath the bed. there're a few teddybears by the foot of the bed (note that the mattress isn't as wide as the car so the bears are just sitting on the seat).

raph is a RnB fan and has shown to own a collection of vinyl records. i was feeling generous so i gave him a vinyl record player with an amp right next to his bed.

while i could have moved his DIY bench press in the car, i rather it stayed outside of the car as seen in the movie. he would probably still have some weights stored in his room (he could easily use smaller weights in his room, too - i feel there's enough room for that).

opposite to the main entrance, he'd have a clothing line to hang some of his clothes. oh, and the door on the right side? that's just half-open. i'm not sure if raph himself would fit through a half-opened door but i like to imagine it's more of a window to him anyway. (from the bed he would lean a little to squint what's happening outside before shouting "hey, what's the commotion about!?" or something).

posters! first we have ghostbear's poster which we have seen in raph's sewer room. i feel he would have ripped the poster off of the wall after feeling betrayed by the wrestler but then later taped it back up after having calmed down and feeling remorseful. he still does admire the sport and ghostbear after all. complicated feelings.

a new lou jitsu poster in which our favorite rat man is simply just posing for the fans. speaking of the rat man, i'd like to think he helped raph write down the famous japanese quote from the show: 「あなたは一人じゃない」 translated to "you're not alone". i mean, if i were raph, i'd want to write the quote down... ESPECIALLY since he doesn't know the language and it's easy to forget for that reason. it's like splinter signed his poster for his son in a way :)

the mad dogs flag looks like it was bought rather than self-made... so i doubt they would have bought just one for leo. i mean "mad dogs" is their thing so you gotta get all the siblings involved kind of like a shared tattoo!!

then a silly little drawing by mikey in which he drew raph flexing :)

and speaking of mikey! there's some graffiti art by him! both of them are near identical to the ones seen in raph's sewer room but... one of them just says "boss!" and the other is just flames.

a very simple room design but i feel it's just enough for raph :]

leo's room

mikey's room

[hamcakevaletguy]

My thoughts on the Damien situation, from the POV of someone who’s relatively uninvolved with posting on social media:

As a newer fan of Smosh myself (I watched some videos in 2012, but haven’t really kept up since, and only started regularly watching the last year or so), I went through the backlog of content that they have because I enjoyed their more recent videos. Zayna, a newer Palestinian fan, did the same and found this joke in an old TNTL disappointing and wanted him to address it firsthand and make his stance clear.

For anyone saying Damien has already made it clear that he is in support of Palestine: it’s not a given that the fan who brought up the clip would have already known about Damien’s stance on Palestine. Yes, he’s talked about it in a couple of his streams and posted Insta stories about it, but a newer fan of Smosh, not necessarily Damien himself, wouldn’t know about those unless they were looking for it because they are:

temporary (IG stories only have a lifespan of 24 hours unless you take screenshots) or

a few minutes hidden under several hours of game streams on a separate platform (he talked about Palestine several months ago and has streamed a lot since, unless you know the specific Twitch stream and the timestamp when he talked about it or had clips of it, most casual fans wouldn’t know either)

In his defense, Damien himself has recently said that more fandom stuff has reached his timeline than he would like, so maybe he thinks more people know about his activism because of that. However, even if Zayna did know, wanting a straightforward statement apologizing for the insensitive joke (because bringing up the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" [as it was called back in 2019, not accurate to what has been going on for 70+ years and counting, which is an ethnic cleansing] for shock value, as he himself said, is insensitive) is not an unreasonable request.

More under the cut

When all you have is 240 characters per reply, the things that you do choose to say matter even more. When you parse out everything in Damien's replies, he doesn't come out looking too good. Yes, he did apologize for the original joke. In his replies, he said:

using it as shock value was in poor taste and naive of him,

it was in poor taste back in 2019 and he wouldn't make it now

(in response to his first couple of replies) he is sorry for reacting in frustration and he'll learn from it,

and, in his final reply, his parting words were "With all my heart, I hope for safety for your loved ones. Be well."

However, he also says and does things that undermine his apology in the same replies:

questioning why the clip was brought up in the first place, as if bringing up old content wasn't something fans regularly do with things they're interested about and as if it's not still a public video fans can easily find,

bringing up that the fan in question had 19K followers, a fraction of the followers he has as a public figure,

saying that this conversation could have been done in private, as if an initial DM request wouldn't be buried in his other requests as a public figure, and as if he doesn't have the capability to start a DM himself to clarify things after the initial reply/post,

saying that the original tweets tagging him should have been deleted after his first response when he never asked for that, and just assumed it would happen for some reason,

deleting his replies a couple of hours later,

and blocking Zayna and several others who were only interacting with Damien through quote tweets (I'm not sure how quote tweets work, do they notify the OP?), some who don't even say anything remotely critical of him - in his defense, blocking is not inherently a bad thing, it just means that he doesn't want any further interactions from them for whatever reason. However, silencing any Palestinian voice isn't good, to say the least.

Damien has always been a proponent of “trying to understand and see from different perspectives” so his response here surprised me, personally. I get that he has a fear of being misunderstood, but jumping to the conclusion that the other party is purposefully trying to be incendiary is the opposite of that.

I'm not going to try to make excuses for him. He knows better. He's been a content creator for years. He knows he has more influence than any normal fan would. His autism is not a part of this conversation either. Mental illness is an explanation for behavior, it doesn't absolve you of the consequences of it. If you're citing Damien's autism as an excuse for his behavior, you have to also account for Zayna's autism.

People are also bringing up the possibility of Damien getting death threats as a result of this, which we have no proof of and won't have proof of unless Damien himself decides to disclose that. He has only stated that he is taking a social media break, which has been a long time coming, not necessarily only because of this, because he has been busy and tired in recent months. What we do know has happened is that Zayna has received death threats (weird of people to want the death of a Palestinian when the original argument they're defending Damien for is that he is in support of Palestinian liberation).

This isn’t an issue of cancel culture, it’s an issue of accountability and frankly, hero worship of Damien in the part of people attacking Zayna and other people on Twitter.

When the only people who had spoken about their support of Palestine in their own words, however briefly, are two or three cast members, some people are naturally going to put them on pedestals. This hero worship of Damien has been exacerbated by his image as the most politically correct member of Smosh, and Smosh’s (until recently) silence about the issue.

While we're at it, for people saying Smosh's sudden outward support for Palestine and joining Creators for Palestine is in response to backlash about Damien, or only in response to the block list going around:

It's only been a few days since the Damien's whole ordeal. Smosh is not that fast, and historically, their response to backlash would have been either complete radio silence or unlisting or privating the TNTL that the clip is from, combined with silence.

I’m sure Shayne, Ian and Courtney have been working on it for more than a few days, based on their liked posts, to get everything straightened out with the organization themselves and adding their names to the list of creators.

People have been asking for Smosh to be more public about their views on Palestine. Some of the cast members have said their piece on their personal social media, but their views could have changed. Those posts were made shortly after the events of October 7 brought even more media attention on Palestine and the Gaza Strip, which was not necessarily in favor of Palestine because of the effects of U.S. propaganda. It's been several months since then and people have a lot more information now, and more clarity.

Up until now, the only indication of Palestinian support not from social media is a brief statement from Ian who said something along the lines of "travel watermelon", while they were talking about their rejected roasts during Anthony's Funeral After Show in December, which are codewords that were used in TikTok for Free Palestine. However, this is heavily censored, behind a paywall, and temporary, because of the nature of their live shows. This support of CFP is the bare minimum of what Smosh could do, but the bare minimum is more than they were doing before.

They listed Smosh as the name under their $15,000 donation to CFP, not just Shayne, Courtney and Ian, which could be intentional, referring to Smosh as a whole company, or just referring to the three that have posted about it as a collective. Unless Smosh makes a full statement about it, themselves, it's still up in the air.

The timing of it is unfortunate. Damien has been silent about it so far, making his original posts about Palestine seem performative to some. However, it’s only been a few hours and he is on a social media break. The only thing he has briefly gone back online for is to promote something he's doing with Nintendo, which he could have been contractually obligated to do. He may or may not say something when he fully comes back from his social media break, but for now, that's everything we know. People can make their own conclusions based on all of this.

I am being very intentional with every single word I say on here, as to not be misconstrued in any way, however, if I missed anything or anyone else has anything to add (constructively, like images of either the actual conversation had by Damien and Zayna, or the cast and crew's support of Palestine prior to CFP, not outright anger and disagreement), please do. If anyone has any genuine questions about the situation, please feel free to message me directly and not bring it into this post, which is supposed to be a civil discussion surrounding more facts and events, less speculation. If I feel those questions have relevant points to add on here, I will add on in reblogs.

[notafragilething]

The Twitter Mess is Suspicious

So going through all the information that has been sent and shared with me today about Lou's twitter post I'm fairly sure it was a hacking. Obviously, we can't know either way and it's likely never going to be publicly addressed but that seems to be where it's pointing to.

I will say there is a lot of information out there that seems to just be made up so I'm only talking about what I have been able to confirm.

We know last night that Lou's twitter account followed an anti-BuckTommy, Buddie stan who had previously posted the old Instagram posts. His account also tweeted a random screencap of an Instragram profile that had an abliest joke about blind children in it. Shortly after the tweet was deleted and Lou's account blocked them. All of this was confirmed with by the owner of the twitter account his account responded two. I do not think the owner of that account has anything to do with the hacking because he seems equally confused by this behavior.

The first reason I think this is fake is because the account followed the anti-account. Which would make little to no sense for Lou to do. However, if you wanted to make sure that account saw and screencapped the response and shared it to their decent size following? Replying and following tracks.

The response is weird for two main reasons. The first being the fact that it's an ableist joke. The tweet was responding to criticism of Lou's previous posts. Even the account holder pointed out that this was a strange, strange way to respond. It wasn't an insult, it wasn't a response, it was a joke. If this was Lou responding to the criticism, you would think it would be more direct.

The second reason this response is weird is because it's a screencap of a profile on Instagram that has zero followers and no posts. The joke wasn't even a post, it was their profile message. To me, this seemed like someone was trying to replicated the style of early 2010s meme culture that was a lot of screencaps which include posts, usernames, etc. instead of just the actual image but wasn't around for it so they didn't fully understand it. People weren't screencapping profile messages, they would just screencap a post they wanted to share to make it their own that showed up on their feed. So this seems like a failed replica to me.

The quick deleting and blocking of anti-Bucktommy fans makes sense if this was a hacking. Lou is a verified account and I'm not sure how long he has been. But this means either he got verified because he's an actor (which proves he owns the account) or he pays for it (which is easy to prove by providing your credit card number to customer service). Either way, he was likely able to get it back pretty quickly, deleted the post in question and blocked people.

I know a lot of people are saying he would have said if it was a hacking but I disagree on that. To start with, it would have simply brought more attention to this and there truthfully doesn't seem to be a lot of traction around this. Second, if he did apologize it would draw attention to the original instagram posts (which are now deleted) and that wouldn't be good PR. So likely this just won't get mentioned moving forward.

Other weird thing I noted is both the anti-BuckTommy user and the screencapped acccount both have similar Chuu/Cuuh in their username. Which does make me think there might be some other options for what happened but I don't have enough information on that at the moment to express those.

Overall, I don't think this is the major issue that some people are making it out to be. I'm leaning towards hacking but there are a few other options. None of which are these awful, horrible things that some antis are making them out to be.

Until I get more information I'm opting not to give this anymore attention. It isn't picking up traction and it likely won't and most people will have probably moved on in another day or so.

If you have more information please reach out and share it with me.

[queensunshinee]

a cool idea for a blurb would be to see the two of them dealing with the lack of attention/jealousy they had towards Liana when she was dating that guy Jake

ps: the best of all is that probably at that time they still didn't really know how they felt about her, so even they didn't understand why they were so bothered by the fact that she had a boyfriend 🤭

I love it sooo much they are soo petty and mean it's WILD

"Have you spoken with Sarah recently? Liana hasn't come at all since Patrick and I arrived," Art asked his mother casually. Both woke up before everyone else and decided to have coffee together. He tried to make it sound as if it didn't really interest him. As if it wasn't strange that Liana hadn't contacted him for four days, even though they were only two blocks apart.

"Oh yes, I asked her why Liana isn't here at all because she hardly came to visit before, and we usually meet a bit, but she's busy with her new boyfriend," Christine replied, not taking her eyes off her son. Art swallowed and his eyes widened, unable to hide his surprise.

"What boyfriend?" He almost chuckled at the idea. "Someone she studies with at school, but don't worry, I'm sure she'll come on Saturday for your birthday. It's a tradition," she smiled at him, noticing the small crease between his brows and wondering if he even understood why this news bothered him. "I'm not worried. Just surprised," he tried to dismiss it.

When he returned to the room, he woke up Patrick. He shook him so hard that Patrick nearly fell out of bed in response. "What's wrong with you?" he muttered, trying to open his eyes calmly. "Liana has a boyfriend!" Art said dramatically, seeing Patrick wake up in an instant, almost jumping out of bed himself.

"No way." Patrick felt his heart pounding. She would have told him. She would have told him if she had a boyfriend. "My mom just told me. That's why she hasn't come to visit yet," Art's jaw moved slightly uncontrollably as he paced the room, unable to calm down. Patrick rolled his eyes because Art's reaction was ridiculous. "There's no way she has a boyfriend. You know Liana. She's too quiet for a boyfriend. She's too good of a girl," Patrick said, not knowing who he was trying to convince, Art or himself. He couldn't believe this was happening to him; he comes once a year, and Liana doesn't care because of some random guy?

"What's his name?" Patrick asked. "I don't know, why?" Art returned, rolling his eyes. "To look him up on Facebook, duh," Patrick smacked his forehead as if he was an idiot. He didn't have time to explain everything to him. They needed to figure out who Liana was hanging out with instead of hanging out with them. Instead of eating ice cream with them. Instead of lying on an inflatable mattress in Art's pool. "She'll come on Saturday, ask her then." Art rolled his eyes again. He lay down on the bed and bounced a tennis ball, trying to organize his thoughts. It didn't bother him at all. She can do whatever she wants. She wants to play family with some loser from her school? That's her right. She wants not to see them all summer for that? She can do whatever she wants. It didn't bother him. At all.

Turns out it did bother him. Because they came together on Saturday. And if you ask Art, he would say it's rude. Because it's his birthday, and he didn't invite her ugly boyfriend. He doesn't know her boyfriend, who made no effort to introduce himself. He also knows that Patrick thinks the same thing. Art also realized that Patrick and Liana talk on the phone and overall, his birthday was completely ruined. He doesn't understand why it bothers him so much. It shouldn't bother him. He comforts himself with the fact that it definitely bothers Patrick. That he's not crazy. That it's reasonable he doesn't like Liana's boyfriend because, well... Liana should have a nicer boyfriend. One who appreciates who has been her best friend all her life (so he decided. Liana would probably say otherwise).

Patrick considered murdering Jake. Assassinating him. He thought about drowning him in the pool. He tried to find flaws in him all evening and couldn't. The main flaw was that he clung to Liana's hand like a leech. Not letting her move away from him. Possessive bastard. Why does she need such obsessive behavior around her?

As usual, Liana and her parents stayed after everyone left, causing Liana to go to the guest house, where Patrick and Art usually hung out when Patrick arrived, and they wanted to smoke. "What's up?" she asked with a wide smile, happy to have a moment to say hello to Patrick properly. She wouldn't say it out loud, but she could even tolerate Art's presence now. She missed him a bit too. "Whoa, it's not a bird, it's not a plane, it's Liana Levy," Patrick tried to be amused, but he was angry at her. "In the flesh," she sat down, unaware that neither of them was in their usual mood. "Your boyfriend seems charming..." Patrick said, trying to keep it light. "Why are you lying to her?" Art said sharply, looking at her with a piercing gaze.

"Excuse me?" she replied, raising an eyebrow. "He kissed you in front of your dad, and I heard what your dad thought about it," Art lied. It was a white lie in his eyes because he knew what her dad thought about it. Unlike the little shit she was dating, he really knew her dad.

"What is your problem?" she asked. "There's no problem, Liana, you found new friends, so why are you here?" Art stood up. "You coming?" he asked Patrick, who was in shock. Liana was also in shock. Art had never talked to her like this. Even when they were little kids and fought, it was always with a tone of amusement and words they could easily take back.

Art was trying to hurt her. Art was trying to make her feel what she made him feel that evening when he found out she was talking to Patrick on the phone occasionally, that she had a boyfriend, that she preferred to be in touch with everyone but, well...him. "In a bit..." Patrick replied, swallowing.

While Art didn't understand why he was reacting the way he was, Patrick understood perfectly. They both felt in jail right now. They both felt like Liana cut them off from receiving attention for a complete stranger who allowed himself to kiss her in front of her dad. Who behaves like that?! for God's sake. "What's his deal? Why is he more of an idiot than usual?" she asked, furrowing her brows as Art walked away from them. "His birthday didn't go as planned..." Patrick replied, trying to maintain his usual composure. Indifference with a touch of humor. That's what Liana liked about him; he was easygoing and nice. He wouldn't lose that over her without a visible reason. "He should take the stick out of his ass, and maybe it would go as planned," she said louder, hoping Art would hear.

"How are you, Li? I haven’t seen you at all since I got here," Patrick tried to change the subject, giving her a light smack on the shoulder, trying to make her feel a bit guilty. "I'm sorry. With all the arrangements for Stanford and Jake, I just haven't found time to say hi," she smiled, a genuine smile. "Hi," he said, keeping a sincere smile. Truly happy to see her. Really wanting her to stay a bit longer. "Hi, how’s your summer?" she replied. "Not as good as yours, that's for sure," he said with a smirk on his face. "Oh, fuck off," she rolled her eyes.

"No, seriously. You have a boyfriend now. You’re all serious and mature," Patrick continued. "What's his name?" he asked as if he didn't know. "Jake. His name is Jake. Can you leave him alone?" she started to lose patience with the two boys she was used to spending every summer with, but this time they were acting terribly. "He has a very impressive smile, I see what you find in him," he said. Patrick hated his smile. He smiled too much and it looked insincere. "Thanks, I'll make sure he adds a line about his smile to his resume," she rolled her eyes and stood up, officially done with this conversation. "Also tell him that the polite thing to do is to say hello to the birthday boy," Patrick said, knowing he sounded petty. "I didn't know you had a birthday, Pat. I'll remember for next year." She started to walk away from him, and he didn't try to stop her. Feeling his summer slipping away and ruined even before her and Art's move to Stanford.

"Aren't you going to apologize?" she asked Art, who just sat cross-legged by the pool. "For what?" he asked, slowly shifting his gaze to her. "For being a jerk, for instance?" she replied. Not knowing why it bothered her so much and why she was reacting like this to these stupid boys. "Liana, you brought a complete stranger to my birthday and ignored me all evening. Now you care about how I behave? By the way, stop calling my best friend for no reason, it's pathetic," he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not looking away for a moment. Shooting words without thinking. "I didn't ignore you all even-" she started, seeing his gaze darken. "You know what? Go to hell, Art. Really." She rolled her eyes. "Great, at least there I won't see your face." he retorted, not looking away. "Wow, Art. Happy birthday. You’re an asshole, and I hope that for your birthday, you choke on cake to death, and I’ll have the chance to write that on your grave." She walked away from him too, just wanting to get home.

A week later, she broke up with Jake. She didn’t talk to Patrick and Art until the end of the summer, no matter how much they tried to get in touch. She decided to forgive them only two weeks into the school year at Stanford when she had no choice and felt lonely.

Rebecca once told her that boys will be boys, Right?

Send me more requests, it's really fun to write those. anything you wish to fiil the gap about my fav trio is more than welcome in my inbox <3

taglist:

@suzysface tqd4455 @soberbabes @nina357 @lamoursansfin @marley1773 @ruyaas-world @apolloscastellan @primlovesdilfs @fangirl-kimora @serenadingtigers @imbabycowboy @do-it-for-kicks @izzywags478 @4deline08 @igotmajordaddyissues @jackierose902109 @ganana @yoitsme-04 @swetearss

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Absolute Submission to the Queen

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors.

Blank, and ageless blogs will be blocked.

To prevent Silvio from being treated like a dog any longer, I needed him to stop being overprotective.

(I'm glad he feels the way he does, but this is really painful to see.)

Rio and Silvio went in opposite directions, turning their backs on each other.

Even after hearing the rumors, he didn't put me down.

Emma: "Prince Silvio, I have a favor to ask."

Silvio: "Denied."

Emma: "I haven't said anything yet."

Silvio: "You're probably going to say something about wanting to walk on your own."

(He's sharp.)

Emma: "Then, please take me to the doctor."

Silvio: "Is something wrong with you?"

Emma: "No. I just think it's about time to remove the bandages."

(If there's no reason for him to take care of me, then maybe...)

Silvio: "Denied."

Emma: "Why not!?"

Silvio: "If you take them off, you'll definitely want to walk."

Emma: "Isn't that a good thing?"

Silvio: "........."

Emma: "Huh? Why are you suddenly silent?"

Silvio: "You've been yapping nonstop since earlier."

I still had so much to say, but Silvio silenced me by stealing my words with a kiss.

Silvio: "Just let me spoil you while I can."

(It doesn't seem like he's going to give up.)

It was pretty tough to get a tyrant to change his decision once he made up his mind.

(I guess I'll see how things go until my foot fully heals.)

A week later, I was once again being carried by him.

Emma: "Put me down!"

Silvio: "I ain't putting you down."

Emma: "My leg has already healed a long time ago!"

Emma: "Even the doctor said I could walk."

Silvio: "I don't care."

(Something's wrong.)

His overprotectiveness had always been there, but this time, it felt like it had gone beyond the usual level.

(At first, I thought he was just worried about me, but now I suspect there might be something else.)

No matter how much I looked at him, I still couldn't find the answer.

The only thing I was sure of was that he had no intention of giving up being like a dog.

(What should I do?)

The rumors were still circulating in Benitoite, and every time I went outside, I wanted to cover my face with my hand because of the gazes directed at me.

(And day by day, he's becoming less and less responsive to my requests.)

I could still feel his agitation when I tried hugging his neck, but that's it.

Emma: "Prince Silvio."

Silvio: "That won't work."

(I need to think of another plan.)

(A special plan that will make him listen to my request.)

Emma: "………."

Silvio: "How long are you going to sulk?"

That night, Silvio tried to feed me again, but I averted my gaze.

It might be a straightforward approach, but I'd decided to maintain a defiant attitude for a while.

(He seems restless lately, so this should have an effect.)

Silvio: "Geez, you're such a handful."

However, he sighed in exasperation and circled around in front of me.

I tried to turn my face away again, but he firmly grabbed my chin.

Silvio: "I can see through your intentions."

(If you can see through them, why not just stop?)

He took a nearby drink, kissed me, and forcibly opened my lips with his thumb, allowing the drink to flow down my throat.

I couldn't finish it all, and some spilled from the corner of my lips, which he wiped away with his tongue.

His sudden actions made my defiant attitude fade away.

Emma: "What do you think you're doing!?"

Silvio: "I'm trying to feed you."

Emma: "I'll eat by myself!"

Silvio: "Denied."

Emma: "Aren't you the one being stubborn?"

Silvio: "Ha? I'm not being stubborn."

Emma: "You're being stubborn. You're not even listening to a word I'm saying."

Silvio: ".........."

Emma: "What's really wrong with you?"

Silvio: "Nothing."

Silvio: "I just don't understand why you're so against it."

Silvio: "Do you dislike being taken care of?"

Emma: "I do. Because you're not just some random guy; you're my fiancé. You're not a dog."

Emma: "Or maybe you really want to become a dog?"

There was a brief silence after I provocatively said that.

Silvio: “Maybe that’s not a bad idea.”

(Really!?)

Emma: “Prince Silvio, are you sure you’re not sick?”

Silvio: “No, I’m not.”

I could feel a hint of heat from the hand resting on my forehead.

(This must have been some kind of joke for that tyrant to say he wants to be a dog.)

Silvio: “If I were to be a dog, you would be...”

Silvio: “No, forget it.”

Emma: “Is something bothering you?”

Silvio: “Don’t worry about it.”

Silvio let go of me and flopped back onto the chair across from me.

While his behavior didn’t resemble that of a dog, his eyes seemed quite serious.

Emma: “Tell me.”

(If I back down here, I feel like this overly protective issue will never be resolved.)

I stood up from the chair and embraced him.

I moved my hands in front to prevent him from escaping and brought my lips close to his blushing ear.

Emma: “If you tell me, I’ll play along.”

Silvio: “You’re getting carried away.”

Silvio: “...........”

Silvio grabbed the hand I had placed in front of him.

Silvio: “When you hurt your leg, you tried to hide it from me, but I happened to notice it by chance.”

Silvio: “I don't want you to rely on others, so I just thought I’d train you so that you could only rely on me.”

(Ah...)

(So that’s what it was.)

(He’s already overly protective, so he didn’t want to worry me.)

(But it looks like it backfired.)

Silvio: “If you’re not gonna rely on me, I’d rather become a dog.”

Silvio: "Lean only on me."

He lifted my hand that he had been holding and pressed his lips against it.

Then he sucked my wrist, leaving behind a faint pain and a mark.

There seemed to be a sense of earnestness in that mark, making my chest tighten.

Emma: "I understand."

(This is my fault.)

(So I'll rely on him as much as it takes to reassure him.)

Emma: "If that's the case, I want you to remove my shoes."

Silvio: "Didn't you just tell me you didn't want to be taken care of?"

Emma: "That's because I didn't understand your intentions."

Emma: "This is what you wanted, right?"

Silvio: "Well, yeah."

(To be honest, it's a bit... no, it’s really embarrassing.)

He stood up and made me sit on the chair.

Then he knelt in front of me and used his mouth to untie the ribbon of my shoes.

Although kneeling in front of someone to remove their shoes wasn't something a prince would normally do, it looked like he didn't mind it as long as it wasn't an order he disliked.

His clumsy affection that showed through was so endearing.

(Still...)

It seemed like he was a bit embarrassed by the current situation, as there was a slight blush on his cheeks.

Watching him like that, the mischievous side of me peeked out.

(He might scold me for this, but...)

I gently stroked his head, and he reacted quite noticeably.

Silvio: "Cut it out."

Emma: "I suddenly felt like petting you. Am I not allowed?"

Silvio: "You're grinning."

Emma: "If you don't like it, you can shake me off."

I continued to pet him, and he remained calm.

Silvio: "Tch, why am I even doing this?"

Emma: "It's my way of saying thank you."

Emma: "Besides, you mentioned letting me experience what it's like to be a queen."

(If that's the case, I should be able to do as I please. I don't need to hold back with him.)

I brought up the words he had said to me before, and Silvio burst out laughing.

Silvio: "Ah, damn it. Feel free to give me any orders, Your Majesty."

Emma: "Then, after removing my shoes, I'd like you to put me to bed."

Silvio: "So, that means you want me to take you to the bath, help you change clothes, and then carry you to bed?"

Emma: "Not all of that..."

He suddenly lifted me and started unbuttoning my dress.

His actions were unreserved and relentless, making the situation more intense than I’d anticipated.

(I want him to spoil me, but this is...!)

The dress fell to the floor, and in an instant, I found myself in my underwear.

I was so embarrassed that my fingertips trembled.

Emma: "I'll do it...Nnn..."

Before I could finish my sentence, he silenced me with a kiss and swiftly removed my underwear.

The tyrant, who had been blushing and had his head petted just a while ago, was nowhere to be found.

He held me close with one arm, his fingers sliding over my skin.

Silvio: "You gave the order, right? I'll serve you wholeheartedly throughout the night."

Part 1╎Part 2╎Premium╎Epilogue╎Special Story

[flowerandblood]

The Prince and The Fox (Preview)

[ modern! • Aemond x friend! • fem!reader ]

[ description: After the events of her childhood, despite her best efforts, her neighbor and the younger brother of her friend Helaena, Aemond, does not want to know her. This state lasts until a house party organized by his older brother, Aegon, during which an incident occurs that will change their relationship forever. Slow burn, angst, sexual abuse, groomer ex-Alys, rough Aemond. This is several anon requests combined into one fic. ]

WARNING: The main plot between the characters takes place in high school. Yes, in high school. The belief that teenagers wait with an intimacy when they are in love in high school is ridiculous to me. Aemond and the character here are the same age. Don't ask me how old they are, in my country you are of the age of consent in your first year of high school and an adult in the last year of high school, so if it is more convenient for you, think about it that way and decide for yourself. In this story, I am not following the trail that they are magically friends right away, but how they become friends and what that even means. I'm writing this fic to give the perspective of young, lost people, not adult women who want to see exactly themselves in everything they read. If that's all you expect, this isn't the fic for you.

I don't want whining about this in my comments or asks. I will delete these and block you. You have been warned.

* English is not my first language. Please, do not repost. Enjoy! *

Next chapters: Masterlist

_____

"Which scene do you want to talk about?" He asked coldly, dispassionately, and she swallowed loudly.

"About the Little Prince and the Fox." She said quietly, feeling him give her a brief glance.

He grunted under his breath, apparently agreeing with her choice, waiting for her elaboration on the matter. She swallowed with difficulty, licking her lips.

"What moved me most was how true this scene is. That the greatest enemy of friendship, or any close relationship, is haste. That only by respecting someone's barriers, only by approaching someone slowly and with understanding, can you really look at them from a distance.

By taming someone, by making that person grow attached to you, you take partial responsibility for that person's feelings, for making them trust you enough to believe that you won't intentionally hurt them with your behaviour. Until we really get to know someone we are just a crowd of people passing each other on the street."

She said in a trembling voice, feeling for some reason tears under her eyelids and a tightness in her throat, her eyebrows arched in pain, her lower lip began to tremble, she played with the material of her white daisy dress in a nervous gesture.

She felt him watching her, an awkward silence fell between them.

She couldn't look at him.

She thought he was going to say something cruel, that he was going to tell her to stop wailing, but he said nothing. After a while he spoke up.

"I see this scene differently. They're both moving towards each other because they're determined to do so. They are both going their separate ways. There is a balance. The Little Prince doesn't force the Fox to approach him, just as the Fox doesn't force the Little Prince to approach him. They do it of their own free will. They tame themselves because that's the decision they made. You can't tame someone who doesn't want it." He said lowly, and she looked up at him feeling tears begin to run down her face.

Was he talking about himself?

Was she the Fox who wanted to tame him even though he didn't want it?

[ineffable-human]

Season 2 Hot Take - We're Being Manipulated

Yes I know this is going to sound like a conspiracy theory, but is it really a conspiracy if its true? So, as someone who spent the last four years obsessing almost entirely about Gabriel's character and arc (do not get me started on him in S2) and not much else, I feel like I have a different approach to Aziraphale and his actions. I mean, I'm sorry but I just don't buy the fact that Aziraphale is so deeply traumatized that he would return to heaven just like that. I just don't.

Like, c'mon, season 1 Aziraphale, the utter bastard who straight up lied to God's (metaphorical) face, who got gut punched by some 'bad angels', who was sentenced to death, who tried to talk to God for help and got the run around, merged with season 2 Azirpahale who saw that heaven would just let kids die and not understand why it's bad (also please don't get me started on his 'you really were truly awuful' line, I cannot), who learned the that line between right and wrong is blured and that sometimes graverobbing can be good, who found out he could do magic the real, human way, would not just be like fuck yeah heaven is the good guys let's gooooo. I just don't buy it. And I want to trust that the writing in season 2 was purposeful and for a reason, because I want to trust that Neil Gaiman knows what he's doing (weird plot-device of the miracle block aside of course because idk how that could possibly be explained properly). And one of my friends pointed out to me that season 2 was/felt very influenced by the fandom. So what makes the most sense? That Neil Gaiman would just write some really weird and off-character stuff to match what the people want? Or that he would use the fandom's expectations to influence how they react to a situation and event in order to hide what's actually going on? I mean, look at all the information we're missing.

We don't know what Aziraphale's relationship was like with heaven between seasons (and I'm thinking he had to have some kind of relationship for the Bookshop to still be considered an protected embassy. Because let's face it, vindictive lil heaven isn't gonna keep a triator safe for no good reason).

We don't know the full conversation between Aziraphale and the Metatron (and the fact that Aziraphale's response after the whole Crowley as an angel thing is blocked off is the most interesting tidbit of all. We never actually find out what Aziraphale said, and we know he hadn't given Metatron a real answer before he went to talk to Crowley {yet the Metatron walks in after as if Aziraphale already said yes})

We don't know how and why it was so easy for Gabriel to sneak off after the trial. (Like, I know all the other angels are clueless, but the Metatron has clearly shown himself to have a strategic mind and, let's be honest, he would have seen something like that coming).

There's so much we don't know about, that's being hidden and held back, and we don't question it too much because it's easier to just fill in the blanks with our four years of headcanons and ideas.

And all the posts that Neil Gaiman interact with just further these ideas! I mean, let's face it, he's not gonna like this one because it's too close to the TRUTH (and also because he's busy and there's like a million posts a day but MAINLY BECAUSE OF THE TRUTH)

Aziraphale is a smart character, who knows that heaven is toxic. He's strong and stubborn, and I truely don't believe he's going to just slide right back into that abusive relationship without a Plan. Aziraphale doesn't want to go back to heaven because he knows they aren't really the good guys, but that's the argument he uses because that's the only one he knows how to use. It's his default setting. (and the Metatron is most definitely probably listening in on them so Aziraphale clearly can't say what he actually wants to say, which only contributes to their horrible communication skills).

Aziraphale doesn't need to learn that heaven is in bad shape. He already knows that. But what he didn't know was that he could fix it. He's spent 6,000 years seeing all the cracks in the foundation and not having the power to do anything about it. That's his whole arch in season 1; taking control and doing what he can to fix the wrongs he sees.

But even now the idea that he actually has the power or influence to make the changes he knows are needed is a foreign concept. And the Metatron offering him the job is kind of like Crowley offering him the food. Azirpahale didn't know he could want to actually change things. That he could be the one to put in a suggestion box. He's not going back to learn the hard truth, he's going back to change the hard truth before others have to suffer a similar fate.

Our ideas and expectations were shattered, but that's only because we were coming at it with those expectations. We let them cloud the real story and distract us from the TRUTH.

This whole entire season was a magic act of the highest form using fan-service and shotty writing (dear god please let it be on purpose) as smoke and mirrors. and we're falling for it.

(And while we're on the topic, may I just slip in as an added bonus, Crowley has only himself to blame for Aziraphale thinking him becoming an angel would be a good thing, because how can he expect to go around calling Aziraphale angel all the time and looking at him the way he does and NOT expect Aziraphale to just assume that Crowley thinks being an angel is the best thing since sliced bread????)

[dean-winchester-is-a-warrior]

Hey there, lovely! 💜

Re: the ask game, I would love to know #13, #17, and #47 if you're willing to share. 😘

Thank you so much for these! They're fabulous questions!

13. Talk about a writing experience that has pleasantly surprised you.

This is really a hard ask for me, since I feel like I mostly hang on to the negative experiences, the times I just couldn't make an idea work, or when I struggled to get something out, but was really unhappy with it.

But a pleasant surprise...? 🤔

I'll give a very broad answer and say it was a pleasant surprise when I actually started writing fan fiction. I'd only ever written original works and characters, so I wasn't sure how it would feel to write other people's characters.

But the first fan fiction I ever wrote was for the show, Suits. And it was only because the writers were "will they/won't they" cock-blocking my favourite couple on the show, Donna and Harvey, for WAY too long. So, I got fed up and decided to give them the happy ending I felt they deserved.

So, I wrote a few fics in that fandom, and found that I actually really loved the process of writing for created characters. It was a very different experience because rather than defining your main characters from scratch, you had to try and find and replicate the voice they already had. I loved it, both as a writer and as a fan of the show, because it meant I had to really dive into the characters and try to understand them on a deeper level.

It was definitely a pleasant surprise how much I enjoyed it. Then I met Dean Winchester and the rest is history. 😄

17. What is your favorite line you've ever written?

That's hard too! Half of me thinks every line I've written is kinda trash and the other half has beautiful line babies that I'm so proud of. 😄

Here are a couple, as well as some context.

He leaned into your ear and growled deep and low. "Then give me what's mine."

Probably my favourite smutty line is from the One Shot, It's All for You

Context:

Y/N is trying to spoil Dean a little, take care of him for a change. But Dean wants to pleasure her too. So when she says, he should be the one being taken care of, this is his response:

Dean nodded. "I see." He rolled your nipple between his strong thumb and forefinger causing you to gasp.

"Was that gasp for me?" he asked, his deep voice causing your inner muscles to clench around nothing.

"I...yes, I mean..." You were back to nonsensical sentences.

He trailed the callused pads of his fingers down between your breasts and over your belly before he slid one finger through your slick folds.

"And this..." He brought his finger up to his mouth and sucked your juices from the tip. "Isn't this for me?"

You were panting as you answered. "Yes, god, Dean. It's all for you."

He slipped two fingers deep inside you and you whimpered.

He leaned into your ear and growled deep and low. "Then give me what's mine."

I mostly enjoyed the reaction this line got. People seemed to really enjoy it. 😄😁

Then my favourite angsty line is probably this one:

The story is set some time in S15, after they've found out what chuck wants as the ending to his story. Dean and Y/N get in a fight because he's, of course, stubbornly pushing her away for many reasons. These lines come out of that head space.

From the Drabble, When the Stars Love You

Context:

Even though you knew his heart - had connected it to your own with delicate stitches - his anger and desperate need to shove you away from him with both hands, often pulled the stitching loose, left your heart frayed and in danger of unraveling.

Sometimes you wanted to take scissors to them and cut him away from you for good, try to sew up the parts of you where he left holes. 

I love Dean with my whole heart and soul, but I imagine loving him would be very difficult sometimes. 😞

47. What story are you most proud of?

Great question, but tricky. 😄

But I think the one I'm proudest of is probably Green is My Favorite Color.

But, it doesn't get nearly as much attention as other series because it's a pairing with an OFC named Julie. But I absolutely loved writing and creating Julie too, so, it was a lot of fun.

It was the first series I ever finished (that was longer than 2 or 3 chapters) and I think that it shows my absolute love for Dean the best.

Because it follows his canon story relatively close (definitely made big changes too though, of course) it also feels like the most "realistic" Dean I've ever written. I was able to give him things I thought he deserved, and really live in those moments of pain with him. If that makes any sense. Lol!

Anyway, thank you so much for all your fabulous questions and I'm sorry I answered with a novel. 😄😄

[lostcauses-noregrets]

Before I say anything else I want to make it clear that I have so much respect for you Lost and I love your blog so much it's very precious to me but I want to be honest for once. I am an Eruri shipper, the reason why I am here in the first place, but before that I'm an Erwin fan and have always been and the amount of hate he gets is increased dramatically recently. And I mean of course twitter where the fans interact directly more than tiktok, tumblr or instagram. And the reason Erwin gets all that hate is because of this fandom. I don't say this on twitter or anywhere else because I am very shy but that's how I feel and I am pretty sure this will be seen as Eruri hate. But Eruri fandom on twitter is very much different and way bigger than here on tumblr. And they are very vocal. Most of the time it's fun, banter, jokes and things like that. But a part of the fandom is very vocal about their dislike for every other ship. They literally won't let anyone ship Erwin with Mike or Levi with others, especially Hange. They always mock Levi's fangirls and honestly, I don't appreciate how they talk about Levi (like something to be owned and only belongs to Erwin) or how often they insult other characters like Mike or Hange or "getting in the way of their ship". This isn't a problem for me personally because I am in the Eruri fandom and I choose who I interact with, I have an idea of who to follow and who to mute. But a regular person who doesn't ship Eruri doesn't know about that they often see those takes or jokes and this is one of the main reasons (apart from serum bowl) that Erwin gets so much hate. I would be pissed off, too if people always talked about Erwin like a guard dog or someone to be owned or a mindless lovesick idiot. I honestly forget why I like this ship when I see so ooc takes about them and I need to go back to manga to remember why. And I honestly don't understand why everyone is so defensive when another character's fan talks about this issue. Just because we like the same thing doesn't mean we are one, I am not responsible of other Eruris actions and it's okay to admit that there is a good amount of toxic Eruris. Just like any other ship. These days it feels like a big part of Eruris on twitter are very nice to Erwin for completely wrong reasons and mischaracterizing him and often cause the hate he receives. And I know you will probably disagree with that and it's okay but please don't take this the wrong way it'd kill me if you called me a hater or anything bad like that. I'm just a little frustrated with the fandom, every time I see an Erwin tweet I can't help it and click on it and oops it's once again started with an Eruri tweet mocking others or Levi or Hange or other ships whatever. It's getting worse than Armin stans to be honest.

So I have a policy of not responding to “I’m an Eruri but…” asks because they tend to be disingenuous at best, and outright abusive at worst*  I’m going to make an exception this time though, because I’ve had a number of asks like this. 

First of all, every fandom has fans who prefer arguing with other shippers rather than enjoying their own ship and the Eruri fandom is no exception.  There has always been a small minority of Eruri fans who are vocal in their dislike for other ships and characters and who seem to revel in provoking drama.  The fandom is far from unique in that respect, every fandom I’ve ever encountered has its fair share of troublemakers.  I’ve lost count of the number of fans I’ve blocked from every corner of the SnK fandom over the years.  If someone is starting shit, I don’t want them on my timeline. 

Here’s the thing though, I keep getting anonymous asks from people freaking out about all the drama and hate in the Eruri fandom, and I honestly don’t know where that’s coming from, because I’ve seen very little of it.  Certainly there are fans who hate other ships and characters, they're just a fact of life in fandom. I’ve got a particularly persistent “Anon” in my inbox right now who clearly dislikes Hanji.  I’m studiously ignoring them because a) I’m not interested in airing ship or character hate unless it’s Zeke; and b) they are very much in the minority.  I’ve been in the Eruri fandom for 8 years and I can probably count on one hand the number of Eruri fans I’ve met who hate Hanji. Quite the opposite in fact.  90% of the Eruri fics I’ve ever read feature Hanji as Erwin or Levi’s beloved best friend or wingman. Similarly, I have never seen anyone saying that you can’t ship Erwin and Mike.  Really?? I used to write extremely smutty Mikeru / Mikeri / Mikeruri fics but I’ve never heard so much as a peep of complaint. In fact one of my Mikeruri fics is my third most popular fic with almost 20K hits. 

Now, I’m not so naive as to think that drama doesn’t exist just because I haven’t seen it.  I probably spend more time on twitter than I do on tumblr, but I’ve got a comprehensive block list which means I avoid most of the bullshit.  However I usually pick up on the aftermath of any drama because people I follow tend to talk about it. What I have seen recently is people complaining about one or more trolls who are leaving abusive comments on AO3 and Curious Cat, and I’ve also seen fans getting abuse for fundraising for charities.  Doesn’t get much lower than that tbh. With one or two notable exceptions, who I’ve now muted, I haven’t seen large numbers of Eruri fans mocking other shippers and belittling Levi and other characters. So you’ll understand my confusion about your ask.  Perhaps the hate is real and I’ve just missed it.  Perhaps this has become a self-perpetuating rumour. Perhaps there’s something more disingenuous going on.  If you could give me more concrete examples of this bad behaviour, which is apparently rife in the fandom, I might be able to formulate a more nuanced response.  As it stands, I honestly don’t know how you want me to reply to this ask Anon. You’ve said that how the Eruri fandom behaves isn’t a problem for you and that you choose who to mute and who to interact with, but from what you’ve said here, it sounds like this is a problem for you.  I hate to break it to you Anon, but if that’s the case, it’s not a problem I can solve. 

I have no doubt this reply will provoke another flood of Anon hate, all of which will be ignored and deleted. That’s pretty much my last word on the matter. 

* If you think this is an exaggeration, here’s the most recent “I’m an Eruri but” ask I got just a couple of weeks ago.  This shit isn’t new, it’s been going on for years. 

[katalyist]

I rewatched Grian's pov of last life some days ago (you know, as everyone does with their favorite season of the series) and the surprise I had when in the last episode I heard "Joel, this is the ultimate betrayal, I'm sorry" when they were trying to trap the main path and Joel was under a lot of TNT and Grian was just one block away of the lever that triggered everything.

Like, I knew limited life was a lot similar to last life but Grian didn't had to pull out the same phrase to one of his red allies the two times, you know?

My natural response to this information is to make a headcanon about it and make it about Grian and his trauma responds to being betrayal.

If you watch the episode he sounds like he couldn't help himself, he was nervously laughing, seeing the lever and Joel and then the lever back and saying "Joel- Joel, you don't understand!" with the same defeat energy he said "There was buttons on the floor, Jimmy!" in limited life, like it is part of his nature, like he was trying to excuse his nature and even warn Joel to get away to the fire zone before he inevitable pull the lever. I'm pretty sure he would have done it if Joel stayed there.

So yeah, silly Grian response to pull down levers and touch buttons until seeing what it does. But I want to add how this might be also an unconscious response to the trauma of being betrayed several times in the past and fearing that people he trust would do that to him again, not only for Scar big betrayal in third life but the ones in last life too.

So, let's make a list of the ones I remember:

He was exiled of the Southlands when he become red (that isn't really a 'betrayal', but he did feel that one "exiling me from the base that I create", he felt that they abandoned him because he was a loose cause now).

Mumbo and Jimmy trying to kill him a couple times until Grian end up killing both of them for being traitors (isn't curious how when he was red he never try to go for the Southlands?)

Martyn inmediatly turning against him when he was the boogeyman and leaving for another alliance the moment he become red again.

When Bdubs pretend to join the red alliance but end up killing Lizzie.

Like, this one was a group of people he trusted and wanted to stay with. And I understand most of it is justifiable, but that doesn't erase the feeling of betrayal they provoke, that stays no matter how much you want to rationalize it (and Grian does try).

And in all of this except when he was exiled he has a fight response, Mumbo and Jimmy have tried to kill him for the fourth time, that's it, he is killing them, Martyn betrayed him the second he become the Boogeyman? He is trying to kill him, Bdubs betrays the red alliance? He is killing him!

His pilot answer of being betrayal is fighting back. I think that is the reason why he was 'ultimate betrayal' Joel in that episode, because Joel has become red two times, technically he is the reason he lost his friends one time, is logical that he thinks he could betray him and tries to do it first but at the same time doesn't want to do it, doesn't want to get rid of the only friend he has left.

I think this is something Grian starts to do automatically after this. In double life, he plans the stalactite kill on Ren and he doesn't have in count that for the soulmate link he is also gonna kill BigB until he does.

And finally in limited life the las episodes Scar was threating them, trying to kill Joel a couple times. But Scar was also someone that Grian considerate an 'allie' and was pretty chill with him when neither the noisy neighbors or Cleo where around, he does the ultimate betrayal and is successful, probably because Scar wasn't putting attention, but Grian does try to warn him that he is gonna attack him, he does a quite "I'm sorry, Scar... This is the ultimate betrayal" and he apologizes but at the end, he killed him.

My other theory is combining this with Grian's curse of getting rid or being the cause of the deads of the people he cares about, almost like this is the way the Watchers punish him for entering the game: forcing him to betray people he cares about.

I could talk about Last life Grian for hours, he is my favorite and the dynamic of Joel and him is so silly I love them.

Thank you for coming to my Grian rant of the week.

[nqn]

what are your building blocks Kyle headcanons?

YES YES oh i'm in love with him hangg on - some of this also rings true with our normal kyle so if you see overlap later that's why!! :3 also sorry for so much stan mentioning, these two ARE sort of sewn at the hip.

stan thinks that he's tying kyle down, keeping him from his dreams or whatever- but honestly, kyle finds helping him out really good for him? he's looking into doing psychological work in the future, and stan's the inspiration for that!

his dad wasn't a fan of that choice! he, obviously, wanted kyle to follow his footsteps- but um. after the whole... troll debacle.. kyle has decided that he's never doing anything his dad wants again. as much as he can, at least.

he's bi & has a preference for masc people! obviously, this doesn't mean he hasn't interacted with more feminine people. he's got a type though! he hasn't ever had a longterm relationship, but has had a lot of quick one-offs that last for a week or two at most; though very few have ended like.. badly? he's friends with everyone still, just... not romantic.

he's in love with stan. he cannot act on this. he knows neither of them would be healthy romantically right now. ( stan's in love with him too, but he's... a lot more obvious about it. kyle pretends that the drunk texts, quiet moments, and reddened faces magically didn't happen. he has to be the responsible one right now. )

he shaves whenever his beard gets annoying- just gets rid of the whole thing and deals with stubble over and over again. it grows fast, but he isn't interested in having a full beard right now- or ever, maybe. (well...... i won't tell him if you won't)

he's hypersexual! this isn't smth that most would really know, but his friends know because it's something that he gets really frustrated about because it distracts him n messes up opportunities for him sometimes;;

in general, he really really reALLY FUCKING HATES his struggles with control at all. he has days where he's keyed up and pissed off for seemingly no reason, and it really beats the shit out of him.

i don't think he actually gives that much of a shit about fashion, but his parents do- that's why he's like.. the most well dressed of the group. especially if they have to wear formalwear for anything- kyle's the only one in a properly fitted three piece.

he likes pockets! he likes having them- even if he's not storing stuff, he just likes knowing he can carry things around. this often results in him and stan carrying shit for each other- sometimes eric and kenny if they ask- and kyle getting home and texting stan like "hey shit you left your emergency inhaler in my pants? do i need to come over" (no, stan has multiple, kyle just worries.)

he's got a really healthy relationship with ike! as much as he has moments of 'god i have no fucking clue what you just said to me, PLEASE speak english and not leetspeak,' they tend to dedicate a slot between homework and sleep on certain weekdays for hanging out on the couch and mooching off their dad's youtube premium plan to watch shit together! or they'll sit in either ike or kyle's rooms, and chat about stuff. ike's still super smart, he always has been, so honestly they probably have really longwinded conversations about Smart People Shit. they also have just as many conversations when ike is laying on his back holding his ratty old dog plushie up above his head bitching about whatever dramas are going on in his friend group, and kyle's just nodding solemnly sitting on the floor like dude i get it. i understand so much. (i'm picturing a loose schedule like.. monday and wednesday being hangout days, and then occasionally saturdays if stan comes over, because stan also loves hanging out with ike! thats his little brother too!)

he used to be Really Fucking Mad at eric all the time, but he's really mellowed out lately and the antics have morphed more into general like... rolling his eyes and sighing. but he's not (usually) chomping at the bit to kick his skull in anymore. sometimes eric does shit that irks him but he's become pretty used to most things.

kenny is obvs the glue of the group, so kyle is really close to them! ken teases about his and stans mutual love, and about how if they dont act soon, kenny's gonna take one of them. neither of them take that seriously- and the k's normally spend their time high and hanging out. (don't ask what theyre taking. its fine.)

he's not as close with butters as the others, but would still do a lot for him. he just... butters is harder to pin down, emotionally? he doesn't know when either of htem will do something to set each other off- and they've had a couple really bad screaming matches because they both have a loud fight response sometimes. he doesn't dislike butters, they are friends! he's just wary.

outside of the main group; he's close with others, primarily like.. tolkien and wendy.

[aurorechaton]

Controversial and/or aggressive brambleclaw take for the warrior cats fandom incoming...

Let me just say that I won't argue any further on this. I haven't read the newest arcs, and I don't want to. I tried reading the arc with Alderheart and Twigbranch twice, and I still couldn't tell you what happened. I literally blocked it out both times.

I've been a warrior cats kid for my entire life. It was the first multi-book series I red on my own, I read the main arcs 7-10 times in roughly 4 years, trust me, I was OBSESSED.

But I was never a part of online fandom culture. I lived under a rock, I didn't have any social media, I barely saw the animations on youtube, and I never looked any deeper. I think that's why I'm so horrified by the fandom take on everything to do with the leafpool-squilf-brambleclaw/star-hawkfrost-the three-etc. thing.

CONTEXT:

When I was a child, I loved leafpool. I was never a big fan of squilf, and I can admit that may cloud some of my takes. I am going to arguably be defending Brambleclaw up until the end of the fourth arc, but I don't think I'll be doing it in the way you think?

THE ROOT OF THE ISSUE:

I was genuinely SO MAD , while the sisters were warning Brambleclaw not to interact with Hawkfrost.

While we as an audience know that they were correct to do so, I related heavily to Bramble's need to connect with family. Maybe it was the way I vividly remembered how Firestar kept thinking about how Bramble looked like Tiger I, maybe it was everything that Tawny went through, maybe it was just my intense need to see warrior cats who overcame prejudice, but I hated the way Leafpool approached the whole situation. Rather than attempt to connect with Bramble, her clanmate, and the tom courting her sister, she only interacted with him to speak badly about Hawkfrost. She literally had her in with Moth, right there. She almost always stuck her foot in her mouth, failed to provide much evidence, or to connect with him on an emotional level.

FACTS v FEELINGS, + my attempt to fight what I think are the most prevalent views? If you don't think this way, this post isn't about you.

Squilf's arguments were more convincing, but facts and logic won't win when what you are arguing against is emotional connections. It certainly didn't for Leafpool, or any cat with a cross-clan relationship who KNEW it was only hurting them. You can't out-logic the heart. I should think we all know that.

I believe the moonkitti video, (which I will being using as a rough reference, since it helpfully gives direct quotes,) about Bramblestar was the most aggravating for this particular reason. The excerpts given in the video often take such a lens that is presumably only about facts, when warrior cats is a soap opera, it's about the emotional connections. Squilf, for example, tells Bramble that Leaf doesn't Like Hawk, but admits she hadn't bothered asking why, and questions why Bramble would ever feel an emotional connection with his half-brother. I find this extremely hypocritical. Bramble has shown himself to be extremely obsessed with the way the clan sees him, his father, and the connection between them. Squilf should know by now that Bramble feels much stronger about keeping his connection with Tawny that vice versa. Moonkitti also implies that because Squilf doesn't even imply something, it's the same as denying it, which, pointedly she doesn't do. (not five minutes later, the video also shows an excerpt where Bramble doesn't tell Squilf something, and she immediately takes this as a sign of hostility and rejection. He didn't imply that with his voice, posture, or words, and they literally just had an argument. Bramble is clearly just insecure and in his own head. She's supposed to be the more socially adjusted one.)

When he jumps immediately to emotional responses, so does she, claiming that Bramble clearly doesn't know anything about her, but clearly the same goes the other way around, so I find this extremely wild. I could understand her offense in the moment, but it goes round and round like this every time, and at no point does she attempt to clear the air on a previous conversation in a patient or genuine way. I'm not saying she has to, but I think it is something at least worth noting. While everyone agrees she's attempting to reconcile with him, I would argue she does it it the worst way possible for him specifically.

Bramble is willing to accept her apologies, and will apologize himself later, but just because he's willing to forgive doesn't mean he's over it, and he's clearly been slow to trust anyone with what happens in his head. Mans spends way too much time thinking if you ask me. Was the most annoying part of the series. She then tells him off for gossiping with Hawk at a gathering. And yes, what they were saying was rude, but Squilf makes it sound paradoxically like disliking Onewisker's decision is somehow being disloyal to Thunderclan, because Onewisker is friendly to the clan, and also only unacceptable because he was discussing it with Hawkfrost. Plenty of cats in previous books would have been considered grumpy but loyal for expressing those kinds of opinions. I find it odd that she tells him off for criticizing someone he has no moral or personal allegiance to. She also deflects every question he asks her, no matter how genuine or asinine, which honestly does feel like an implication.

Which is why I don't like seeing Squilf as the sole victim here. Yes, she's a victim. Considering that when she realizes she still wants Bramble, she's been given a great out and he has made no attempt at winning her favor again (no honeymoon phase), and then she doesn't even bring up her issues with Hawkfrost again (supposedly the catalyst for all of this). This doesn't feel like her being manipulated back into a relationship; this feels like shitty writing. The fact that the narrative makes no move to actually reconcile them is not Bramble's fault, it's the Erins.

I think Moonkitti best exemplifies my frustration with this particular issue by saying "when he, again, criticizes her for being distrusting and being rude to Hawkfrost", which, in this situation, she was actually directly attacking HIM, almost more so than Hawkfrost. From his point of view, I wonder if it doesn't sound exactly like that. (She will continue to do this. It will only get worse.) Instead of Leaf and Squilf being worried Bramble is being dragged into this while he's emotionally vulnerable, they both begin to berate him instead of connecting with him. Why does anyone think that should work for them? They may be objectively right, but their arguments are not at all persuading. (Proabably on purpose, damn Erins shakes fist)

Not Defending Everything, OBVIOUSLY:

In the next line, of course, Bramble says he'd never choose someone else over her. (and if I were to fix this the only way fandom can, I'd interpret this to be a showcase of his desperate need to be trusted; a false promise to return that trust. In context I think the Erins mean this literally, so... eh, not a great moment for him, no.) This, I think we can safely say is objectively false in that moment, although not outright malicious.

In this case, the relationship is abusive not due to the will of the individuals, but because of the outside pressures of the horrible system the Erins have built that must not be questioned. When the Erins make terrible narrative decisions to defend their biased world-building, we're supposed to blame them, and work to remedy the situation within the fandom, not accept it as gospel. It's what we do with Hollyleaf and Ashfur, or any of their decisions about where dead cats go.

Yes, Bramble is horrible to Squilf, Warrior Cats is an inherently misogynistic story, this is hardly the first time toms treat their mates horribly. Given my experience with warriors, in none of the 7 times I read through this arc, even disliking the relationship, did it seem particularly toxic because of Bramble. Usually, it was Squilf being forced into courting because of the expectations of clan life, and Bramble doing what a lot of other toms did; flirting with her, seeing her as incapable of defending herself, especially from other men, etc.

SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN WARRIORS:

I've seen people ragging on the fact that Bramble hesitated to free Firestar, despite the fact that he was being actively manipulated, something shady was going on in his clan, he was isolated, and was afraid that Fire would accuse him, something that from his earlier distrust of Bramble as a kit because of his EYES, might even seem reasonable when Hawkfrost seemed (before that point) to be the perfect example of people only seeing their pelts. He also has a right to hesitate to figure out what to do next, seeing as Hawkfrost clearly wasn't just going to let this go? Idk, pretty nit-picky in both directions.

Before the journey over the mountains, Bramble only has an established relationship (From his perspective) with Tawny and maybe squilf? Even they are pretty distant. Bramble is never shown hanging out with other cats in the clan, or even thinking about particular cats he wants to get back to. If I didn't know about the third and fourth arcs I would have told you that Bramble's arc would only be resolved by connecting with Fire, or by leaving the clan entirely. Personally, I would have had Leafpool be his draw back to the clan, a brown tabby, Firestar's daughter, a calm and intensely caring cat, who cares so much about family and her clan, I wanted to see Fire basically become Bramble's surrogate father in the second arc it HURT.

On the other side, Ashfur IS set up with a sort of clique (although it quickly disintegrates because by this point the Erins were done writing genuine friendships outside of siblings.), and does appear to be close with other cats before his introduction. We have no reason to believe his is insecure about his relationships with others, and no reason to believe his reputation in the clan is in any danger (even if it's just in his own head). This is what, to me, separates the two sides of our love triangle. Bramble almost always backs off the second he sees Squilf with another cat, and I believe that if the Erins were less stubborn, or Brambleclaw had any other friends, their relationship might well have died out naturally. Ashfur on the other hand is just a creep. I don't like him, never did.

I don't think any of Bramble's actions make him nonredeemable until after Mudclaw's coup. Even after that, I found him mostly reacting in the way someone who's been ostracized, and whose clan is probably eyeing him with suspicion at the moment, which, near as I can tell, is literally his greatest fear. With the added patented warriors misogyny on top of course. People keep questioning his loyalty, so he becomes a hardass about putting the clan first, particularly pointing it the woman who he's desperate to prove wrong and also strangely overprotective of, that's pretty on brand for Warriors.

While I honestly don't think the Erins meant to set all of this up like this, I think there are some compelling narrative threads to Bramble's story in the second arc. I think author bias accidentally reflected some very real trauma that can come from the pressures patriarchy puts on men. But, again, this is the ERINS book, obviously there are lots of flaws to be found. Not even the characters that are meant to be perfect are without some semblance of bigotry. I find the specific hate borne towards Bramble to be the result of the fandom's pent up frustrations with the writing of this arc and the waffling characterization, rather than an honest reflection of how people felt when they were first forced to interpret this character. I do not think this is the only cat this happened to. I think Dovewing got similarly shafted by the fandom. I think she was one of the few "anxious" cats that felt somewhat authentic. (Again, ignoring everything with Tiger II, assume I didn't even read all that)

TL;DR:

OBVIOUSLY I DID NOT SHIP THESE TWO, I DO NOT LIKE THEIR RELATIONSHIP. (I think they should be surrogate siblings, and if someone could feed that delusion I should be ever so thankful)

I do not think their relationship actually had a power imbalance in the earlier arcs. Squilf has her father's favor and trust, as well as her sister, a medicine cat. If she at any point actually felt like Brambleclaw was a legit threat or bully, she had the option to do more than just avoid him. She never lets anyone else stand up for her, though. I think it's unfair to say that just because she didn't leverage her power, that she didn't have any. Were she a more viscous or cornered cat, she had the ammunition to sway the clan against Bramble. Their relationship didn't start until both of them were old enough to be warriors, even if Squilf was an apprentice when they set out, and Bramble had no say over her actions away from the clan. Squilf often makes this clear.

I think the abuse seen in their relationship is only more obvious to the reader as the Erins attempt to write their way around a willful woman without rethinking their bias against women. I do not think it is any more pronounced than many other warriors relationships. I think that Squilf's sudden change to submissive and powerless is a direct result of her perceived motherhood in the Erins eyes.

I think people forget that Brambleclaw's personal story is about trust and acceptance, making the fact that Squilf lied to him at any point push him to his most emotional extremes. Considering the entire third and fourth arc is just a whole bunch of secrets and espionage, I think it's telling that he's at worst, a petty bully or paranoid and cold deputy. (Also, I don't think anyone brings up the fact that STARCLAN INTERVENED when trying to defend Squilf in story? like, that feels like a big deal in our judgement of her, but I don't think any of them are privy to that info??) I'd argue his statement when he makes her deputy "there's no one I trust more" is the first time he extends trust willingly and freely to someone outside of his bloodline, and I wish this were treated by the narrative as a resolution to a lot of his character issues.

All this to say I believe there are charitable ways to interpret his actions, and I don't see people doing that?

Mostly, I just want to see Bramble convincingly written like someone with cptsd and who is crushingly isolated, rather than an arrogant prick.

Also, why didn't Leaf talk to Bramble, like, way more????

[radiomurdeer]

These rules are a constant WIP and I may modify or change them at any time

This rp blog is selective and private, 18+. This means I only interact with mutuals and may be a bit picky about who I’ll follow so I don’t get overwhelmed. I do not rp with anyone under the age of 18, 21+ is preferred. Mun is 30+ and goes by Lumen. I'm MST but work nights so it will probably end up looking like I never ever sleep :)

I will not follow back or interact at all if your blog doesn't have an about / rules page stating your age. Making at least a pinned post with such information isn't that difficult.

Askbox is always open, we don’t have to be mutuals for me to answer asks. Right now anon is allowed, but I reserve the right to disable that if needed.

I don't do drama. This blog is for writing and reblogging fun fandom stuff. Asks or messages regarding drama get deleted.

General RP etiquette applies. I allow minor godmoding to progress the plot (eg you can assume if you hand my character something he takes it. or not, whichever. you get what I mean)

In character actions have in character consequences. This applies equally to both muses.

I don’t match length or expect length to be matched. Generally I am a para to multi-para writer, reserving one-liners for spur of the moment crack threads. I only ask that you don’t give me one-liners in response to para+ threads. My reply length tends to change based on what's happing in the thread organically. Sometimes I use special formatting, small text and icons, based on my mood and if I remember to do so. My writing style itself is fluid - I tend to match that of my partner.

I prefer plotting over winging it, at least for initial interactions. Once we've interacted some then I'm more comfortable winging it. I'm really tired of first meeting threads so I don't mind starting after they've met before with a bit of discussion.

Feel free to turn asks into threads. If possible, please make a new post when doing so. If not, I'll do so when I reply.

Mun doesn’t equal muse. Fiction is fiction. Alastor is a bad person and I'm not going to sanitize him, and I tend to enjoy exploring darker themes. Depicting a thing is not the same as romanticizing it. I write from Alastor's POV, and his views do not at all align with my own.

I don’t have any squicks worth mentioning, and I don’t need anything tagged. Generally I only tag by request. I don't tag canon-typical things like violence, cannibalism, gore.

Dead dove content will be on this blog, most likely untagged This can include but is not limited to things like racism, non/dubcon, abuse, hurt no comfort, vore, cannibalism, grooming, necrophilia, platonic hand-holding and more. I have no problem writing questionable subjects. Not to say every thread will feature any of those subjects at all, by default or without discussion - I do my best to stay within each partner's comfort zone for individual threads. Often I'll put my reply under a Read More if it's particularly problematic or graphic. Policing will get you blocked. To reiterate from earlier: I expect my followers/mutuals to have enough media literacy to understand that writing something is not the same as supporting or romanticizing it. In return, I will attempt to make my partners as comfortable as possible and will not push limits and do encourage frequent discussion.

Please hardblock me if you don't want to interact. I'll probably think it was a tumblr glitch or forget and accidentally refollow if you only softblock. No fuss, no mess, just hardblock for any reason at any time. If you softblock, I may hardblock so I don't accidentally refollow.

Ship friendly but Alastor is aroace. That is not to say that ships cannot happen, but there'd need to be plotting and discussion as to what it'd look like. Check the About page to see some headcanons regarding shipping with him. The blog itself is NSFW friendly, though Alastor will likely not react favorably to any overtures out of the blue. 

Duplicate and OC friendly. Sort of crossover friendly? I likely won't be taking him out of the Hazbin universe since it feels weird having him without his radios and overlord status or putting him in another fandom and going 'yes, he is this powerful dealmaker and radio man that everyone has definitely heard about including your muse!'

At this time I don't do exclusives, but I do accept mains, which only means that I tend to reply to them more frequently/first. I only do this if we vibe really well both IC and OOC and have been writing a bit.

I don't often post memes or starter calls but there's no expiration on the memes I post and random asks are always welcome. It's the best way to get something started with me, aside from hopping into the dms and plotting.

I have a tendency to randomly drop threads without warning, especially if we have multiple. If I've been waiting on a reply for a month and we haven't discussed things, chances are I've mentally checked out of that thread. Sometimes I'll forget or lose track of them - if it's my turn and it's been a week please feel free to nudge me!

Discord available upon request. I despise tumblr IMs and would rather chat on Discord tbh. Any mutuals can hit me up for my discord at any time.

All graphics/icons/etc made by me! Some of the screenshots used for the icons are from magpiesicons

[i-want-my-iwtv]

I don’t understand why VC fans that are genuinely upset about and deeply dislike the stuff they’re finding out about the AMC show keep…. engaging with AMC IWTV content and posting about it? Like, I’m sure it’s not fun for them and it’s certainly not fun for the people who are enjoying the show…. Like, clearly this show isn’t going to magically turn into something they like, why keep baiting themselves?

These kinds of asks are so, so, so hard! Writing a short response feels too limited, but writing a lot feels like I’m doing too much...  if this makes anyone at least consider the issue(s) in a different light, then it was worth the effort.

And you know, answering this shouldn’t be so hard, we’re talking about fictional vampires, can we all keep that in mind? It’s sad that this is the heart of so much tension right now.

People are not going to stop criticizing media. That much is true. We can try to unpack why they do, and I will take a small stab at it in this response.

Okay so here are my TL:DR main points:

1) Curate your experience.  People are not going to stop criticizing media. You can stop yourself from seeing it, though. The block button is your personal bouncer! Or, use Xkit’s blacklist feature which is more of a softblock.

2) I still say it's unfair to call the criticism vs. praise all purely a binary. There's a spectrum of feeling that isn't linear, bc you can like some changes and not like others. 

3) People criticize media, and everything in VC. People are criticizing this bc they are getting smtg they didn't expect, and want to say so. Rollin Jones has even invited criticism, as a person in the film industry, he knows his work product is subject to criticism!

4) Criticism of VC in general, including about the show, from what I’ve seen on Tumblr, is meant more as intellectual exercise and a way to find like-minded people. How many decades have we criticized VC? “VC is a trilogy!”, or “X is a problematic character and you can’t like him!” or “Anne Rice endorses the problematic content she writes in real life, it’s propaganda!” People are seeking other like-minded people, and they make their arguments. Whether this comes from deeply disliking/upset by their topic, it varies a lot, but I would say that some of the criticism could be that, but some is coming from other emotional states, some more neutral than negative. Some is curiosity more than a negative place. Some people really enjoy criticizing things! Academic fans, for sure.

5) People who enjoy the AMC show: Try not to take criticism of the show as a personal attack. If you’re hurt by that criticism, block the person! From what I’ve seen, criticism is often disclaimered with “this is only my opinion.” Even if it is intended as a personal attack, it’s words on a screen. Nothing more. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” - Eleanor Roosevelt. People have to control their feelings and emotions because each person is responsible for their own feelings and emotions.

6) Engagement is engagement, negative or positive, and that’s ratings for the show. Content that draws engagement must be compelling to do both! After all, the opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. People don’t engage with content that’s boring. So the AMC show, at the very least, doesn’t appear to have committed the sin of being boring, and that’s a crime, canonically.

Rollin Jones: [X geffenplayhouse, Aug 20, 2015]:

“If there’s any problem with me as a writer, it’s that I’m crippled by, ‘Oh, I don’t wanna bore them!’” he says. “Mostly, it’s fun. There’s no other reason to do it. Nobody’s getting rich off it. So you want to have some fun, drink with some actors after, make sure one or two of your cast are having sex with each other. You wanna have created some love.”

Interview with the Vampire:

~~~~~

1) Curate your experience

Ultimately, we're all sharing this space together, at least for now. Anyone who doesn't want to see IWTV AMC criticism, or, conversely, anyone who doesn't want to see ppl enjoying it, the block feature is your personal bouncer! I also use Xkit’s Blacklist feature, which is a friendlier softblock.

2) I still say it's unfair to call the criticism vs. praise all purely a binary.

Some people love the changes AMC is making and some people don't, but I still say it's unfair to call it all purely a binary. There's a spectrum of feeling that isn't linear, bc you can like some changes and not like others.* Personally, I get why they had to age Claudia up, bc of the child actor labor laws, I assume that was of the issues back in 1994, too (tho, they did audition a ton of 5-6 yr olds, and none of them could act as well as Kirsten, so I think talent was - and is! - still a bigger factor than canon compliance for that role, it is for me, anyway, if I was casting that character).

*Obviously, there will always be the outliers who well and truly want a book-accurate adaptation and those who want a completely revamped version (pun intended!) that brings the story up to more current issues and morality. Neither can be totally satisfied bc the visual medium is necessarily different than the act of reading! Even the original LOTR trilogy, widely praised for canon-compliance, still changed things. I haven’t seen anyone on tumblr really seriously deeply upset about that, we all know here that that’s impossible. There are probably people on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube who think 100% canon compliance is possible, and to them, I say, Wow you must be fun at parties 😅.

3) People criticize media, and everything in VC.

People who don't express their criticism/opinions are essentially accepting what they're given. 

Re: fictional content, people who are served something that isn't up to their expectations criticize it. "I ordered X and it's not X!" You know? We want to know why it's not what we expected, was it an intentional change, like someone decided to give me blueberry pancakes when I ordered chocolate chip? Maybe I should prefer blueberry pancakes, bc fruit is the healthier option, but it's still not what I expected, and maybe I dislike the texture of fruit in bread. Maybe I'm allergic to blueberries. IDK! But people instinctively want to say something so that the people who made the item are at least aware, and whether the criticism is in good faith, or whether the creators listen and/or accept the criticism or not, well, that's up to them. 

Anne Rice herself was famous for not accepting criticism, but that hasn’t stopped the fandom from criticizing VC canon itself for decades. More on that in a bit.

Rollin Jones said he’ll take criticism [X, Den of Geek article, July 22, 2022]:

What fan backlash are you predicting?

Look, if you can make it through these first seven episodes, I’ll be back at Comic-Con next year, and if you’re still upset with me, I will set myself up at a booth, and you can kick me in the shins. I’ll be there for you. I really do think [the fans] will be surprised at how we are constantly going back to the book.

We’ll see, I’m open to being pleasantly surprised. I’m ready to see this cover band rework and play these beloved songs, so to speak. Johnny Cash did such a moving cover of Trent Reznor’s “Hurt” that Trent said it was Johnny’s song now. 

Once Johnny Cash covers your song– it’s not your song anymore.

Here’s a few more Johnny Cash covered and commentary about them. 

4) Criticism of VC in general, including about the show, from what I’ve seen on Tumblr, is meant more as intellectual exercise and a way to find like-minded people. 

Criticism of the show is an intellectual exercise, especially in a fandom full of ficwriters and fanartists, we’re challenged with our own creative choices, I write fic, we want to know the reasons for the changes to canon. We like to speculate. And we have our own taste. Are these blueberry pancakes better than chocolate chip? If not, why not? Ultimately, maybe it’s a flavor preference, maybe you just prefer fruit and I prefer chocolate, but we can still talk about the merits and faults. I don’t think of this as “baiting” oneself. More on that later. If people can talk about specific reasons they’re enjoying the show, the other side of the coin can certainly be that people want to talk about the specific reasons why they dislike the show.

It’s also a way of finding like-minded people. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people state "VC is a trilogy!" in a way that was clearly intended to fish for more people who agreed with them, which is totally normal fandom behavior. Or how many times people have critiqued Antonio Banderas' Armand being aged up and not auburn-haired; they wanted a canon-compliant Armand, and they were disappointed with what they were served, no matter how pleased other people were with Antonio's performance. It doesn't matter that some people loved him! Other people didn't like it, they criticized it, and they continue to do so, as is their right. Personally, I loved Antonio's performance but I'm not a huge Armand fan, I'm fine with saying that I'm not as invested in him as the disappointed fans are/were. 

I also disagree that it's not fun for people to criticize AMC, bc it's fun for other people to criticize things! We've been doing it in VC fandom for decades. I’m pretty sure that the  "VC is a trilogy!" advocates have fun saying so, because they’ve kept it up for years. 

I confess I don’t really know what “baiting themselves” means. I assume it means tormenting themselves? Trying to be angry about it? Well, people do that, too. In our fandom, there's always room for more sadists and masochists! 😂

5) People who enjoy the AMC show: Try not to take criticism of the show as a personal attack.

I think one of the major fandom problems we have is this feeling that disagreement = attack. There’s a lot of tension right now. There are people who want to escalate it. Even if the criticism is an attack, please try not to engage with it, seek like-minded people to enjoy the show with <3

6) Engagement is engagement, negative or positive, and that’s ratings for the show. Kind of already explained this one!