#honestly what's the point of trying to be diverse with your show if you're gonna do it like this

[macaro-mochi]

As a Nicola fan, I was really excited for season 3 and it's been amazing to see her get her flowers + see all the amazing promo for her.

With that said, as a brown woman who was so thrilled to see Simone Ashley play the romantic lead in a show like Bridgerton in season 2, I can't help but feel grossed out by the clear differences in the s2 and s3 promos.

[bluecrocss]

Yes. You are racist. (Buckle up, this is gonna be a long one)

So approximately half a year since the premier of the Disney+ Percy Jackson show, and almost two years since the announcement of the Trio's casting, I would like to take this moment to look back at the insane, racist and anti-black backlash that was launched at Leah Sava Jeffries and a few other cast members from the PJO fandom.

I'm not concerned with the trolls who are openly racist, who resorted to racist slurs and outright threats, everyone agrees that they "took it too far". I want to talk about the rest of you, the "I'm not racist, but.." people, the "What's wrong with wanting book accuracy?" people. Just to let you know, for the unasked question... yes, yes you are.

I've noticed the Percy Jackson fandom has been lording some weird superiority complex over a certain *unnamed* fandom that has fallen out of grace due to their recently outed bigot of an author. But honestly, y'all are not much different. The amount of vitriol and anti-blackness I have seen from this fandom (beyond just bullying a 12 year old girl), y'all don't have a leg to stand on.

Below is a breakdown of the most common arguments I have seen used to justify y'alls absolutely insane bigotry. I am going to explain why none of these justify the amount of anger and vitriol y'all have sent towards Leah, Rick or any of the cast.

I am not here to argue, and this is not a democracy. I am giving you a chance for some self-reflection and to understand that this pattern of violence directed towards POC actors (mostly black women) has never been justified in the name of "book accuracy"/"comic book accuracy"/"ending forced diversity" or whatever other excuses y'all try to make up.

If you still try to justify or argue further for any of these points, I will just block you. I am not coddling you through your racism. If anyone has seen any other dumb arguments floating around that I might've missed, feel free to sound off in the comments.

She's not book accurate:

Neither is Percy, Luke, Grover, Dionysus, Poseidon, and just about every other named character.

Rick already made it clear that physical features were not the priority with casting, rather it was actors that embodied the role. So why are the biggest complaints about Annabeth and Zeus? 🤔

What? You're gonna say everyone else got backlash too? I see you trying to obscure the main issue by playing dumb 😉

See my friend, yes, there were one or two comments about how Percy's hair should be black or how Luke is supposed to be blonde, but as soon as Leah was cast, none of those actors got any significant backlash. In fact, Walker and Charlie literally have an army of fan girls at their beck and call, calling them the perfect Percy and Luke, despite neither being "Book accurate". But then again, have we not observed the pattern of White boy of the month vs WOC to hate for the year? (Yes, I know Charlie isn't white. Further adds to the irony, doesn't it).

Why include character descriptions if you won't stay true to them, you cry? Well, my dear sweet moron, see, books and TV are two different mediums. Because in literature, you can't *Literally* SEE the characters, the author has to add descriptions to paint a picture in your mind, in TV... that's not an issue. So unless the character's appearance is necessary to the plot (like Luke's scar, or Nico being Italian) the show runners can actually focus on more important things.. Like ACTING and PERSONALITY.

2. It's just not how I imagined her:

News flash, babe! ANNABETH ISN'T REAL. None of these character are. They are concepts that originated from the brain of Mr. Rick Riordan. It doesn't matter how YOU imagined her. There are millions of people who read these books that imagined her several different ways. When the creator of the character watched Leah's audition and said, 'Yes! She embodies the character I created!", your imagined version of Annabeth ceased to matter. And guess what? The books still exist... they have not been burned. Your version of Annabeth has not disappeared. Go read the books.

3. Zeus can't be black/Gods have to be Greek/*Insert Character* can't be black:

Y'all did not read the books, I swear. You have to be fake fans looking to troll atp.

The gods move based off the center of western civilization. They change their forms/environment to reflect the culture they are occupying (they did it with Rome, now they're doing it with America). The gods change forms all the time. How we see them is not their true form as a mortal would disintegrate if they were to see their true form.

America is a cultural melting pot (specifically NY where Mount Olympus is now based). If the god's choose forms that reflect the current society they inhabit, they could literally be any race (keep in mind NYC is only 33% white).

All of this is literally SPELLED OUT in the Lightning Thief.

Furthermore, if you're going to push the ethnically Greek thing... Poseidon is British with a British accent and Hermes is Latino. The only ethnically Greek actor is Dionysus (who still doesn't look book accurate). Y'all are sounding like some white supremacists because do you forget that race is a social construct?

Before the advent of the transatlantic slave trade, I can promise you that the Greeks and the Anglo-Saxons did NOT view themselves as the same people. Why are y'all not taking issue with Poseidon's actor then?

Also, Percy Jackson has canonically had a slew of explicitly black demigods since the second book (including Harriet Tubman, which I have mixed feelings about 😭), so I genuinely have no idea where some of y'all are going with this point.

4. She was our smart blonde representation:

Don't pmo. I swear to God!

White, blonde women have NEVER been excluded from Hollywood. Representation is not something you lacked. The dumb blonde stereotype was a simple branch off of a larger misogynistic "dumb woman" stereotype. It has not truly been relevant since the mid 2000s outside of childish jokes.

This iteration of Percy Jackson will probably not go beyond the first 5 books, based off pacing and the age of the actors. So here's a fun game: 5 bucks to the first person who can find me a quote in the first 5 Percy Jackson books, where Annabeth laments her insecurities about being blonde (hint: there aren't any).

Also, her blonde hair does not hold her back at Camp because she is head of the Athena Cabin who are highly respected (and guess what?), ARE ALL BLONDE!

Her insecurities about her hair color are two or three lines at most in the later books, not this fundamental, core part of her character y'all all of a sudden wanna pretend it was. And guess what, as a non-blonde black girl, I was able to read those scenes of Annabeth feeling undervalued because of her looks and relate to her even if she didn't look like me at the time.

Why all of a sudden can y'all not do that with a black Annabeth? By every metric black girls are undervalued for their intelligence in academia more than white girls are, regardless of hair color. So your little representation of a woman undervalued by her looks would still hold. Do y'all dehumanize black women so much, that you are incapable of empathizing with show!Annabeth's plight in the way I could with Book!Annabeth simply because she doesn't look exactly like you?

Your issue isn't that she isn't blonde, it's that she is NOT WHITE.

Furthermore, Becky Riordan had tweeted previously (before the show was even cast) that Annabeth never needed to be blonde (probably recalling the BS y'all put Alexandra Daddario through), so even if they cast a white Annabeth, the blonde hair was never a guarantee. the author and producers all agree that it was not a significant part of her character. It's been a non-issue since day one.

Also, stop acting like smart blondes are rare in media... If you don't go watch some Legally blonde, Iron Man (Pepper Potts), Zack and Cody (Maddie), Liv and Maddie, FMAB (Winry), Captain Marvel, She-Ra, Buffy, The boys (starlight) etc. etc., and go sit down somewhere 🙄🙄🙄 (those were literally all things I've watched recently, off the top of my head, btw 💀)

5. It's not about race, but...:

Yes it is. It was always bout race. No other actors got as much hate as Leah. Her grandmother and other family members on IG had to mute their comments because they were getting so many threats.

Alexandra Daddario had to come to her defense on Twitter. Rick had to put out an official statement on his website. This girl has endured years of psychological torment for simply having the best audition. No one else is book accurate, no one else is ethnically Greek (except Jason Mantzoukas). Walker literally has British and German ancestry.

Why was she being called racial slurs on reddit and in youtube comments?

I know what you're gonna say, "I actually had problems with the entire cast", "I actually had a bigger issue with Walker's hair color", blah blah blah. Then why aren't you in Walker's comment sections? Why are you only making your displeasure known on posts defending/advocating for Leah? Why is she always your first example of 'wrong casting"?

Well, she "looks the most different"... Look up the term "scapegoating".

"Oh, I don't agree with the harassment. I just don't like the casting." Guess what? She's already been cast. They are not going to uncast her. What do you get out of still complaining about it.

All the vitriol you're stirring about her when you complain about her on Social media, it is directing people to send her hate, even if you're not writing it directly. It's is not enough to "not agree" with the racism, it is your duty to actively prevent it. And btw, these are young gen z actors, they are active on social media. They see the edits of themselves (even comment on it) and they most likely see these little "harmless" complaints you're posting. Are your upset feelings really worth contributing to the racist dogpile on this poor girl?

6. Why couldn't they atleast give her blonde braids?:

Why should they? Y'all wanted blonde because of the "dumb blonde" trope... that doesn't apply to POC.

A blonde black girl is gonna be viewed the same as a non-blonde black girl (or at worst, someone might decide she's "ratchet" or some shit for wearing colored hair). What difference would it make?

Why shouldn't Walker dye his hair, then?

7. Annabeth has Gray eyes:

Less than 3% of the global population has "gray eyes". Even if they cast a white actor, they would've needed contacts. Her being black is not the reason Annabeth's eyes aren't gray. Simply put, it is a plot element they removed, like the whole "names have power" element, or Ares having flames for eyes, or Dionysus using his powers to grow strawberries at Camp.

That's how adaptations work. Unnecessary plot elements are cut to save time and budget. This has nothing to do with her casting. They probably also didn't want to make child actors wear contacts (not a new practice).

8. Even if Rick chose her, he was wrong/Disney is forcing him to be okay with it:

Where do I start? Rick created the character. He can't be wrong. Do y'all have no self-awareness? Death of the author has no place here, because y'all are hung up on an aspect of the character that is not relevant to her arc or development.

Y'all's justification for wanting a "book accurate" Annabeth is that she was such an inspirational and important character growing up, and yet your behavior is so in conflict with the character you claim means so much to you. You're narrow minded, dismissive of bigotry and injustice, and disrespectful to the wishes of the creator of your favorite character; everything that Annabeth would never be. Y'all were never genuine fans of the books. You're bigots that needed an outlet for your rage.

Keep in mind, Rick has said countless times that PercaBeth directly mirrors his relationship with his wife. Y'all think he would have allowed them to cast someone who doesn't live up to the woman who has been by his side for decades? The mother of his children?

Regarding Disney forcing him, show me one piece of direct evidence that proves Disney in anyway pressured Rick to cast her. Cuz if you can't, that's baseless speculation. And if you have to resort to baseless speculation, maybe try to examine why it's so important to you to hold on to this belief.

9. So, I'm racist because I hate "race swapping"?:

To start, there is a difference between "race swapping" and "color blind casting". Often times, when y'all complain about the former, you're actually mad about the latter.

It would be "race swapping" if Rick and the team decided ahead of time that they wanted a black Annabeth and ONLY allowed black actors to audition. But the actual reality was that they accepted auditions from everyone (there were white actors and non-black poc that also auditioned for the role) and chose the best person who embodied the role. They didn't "make Annabeth black" and they didn't "make Zeus black", they cast black actors for those roles.

Y'all think you're being slick with your wording. Dismissing that is implying that they did not earn their roles fair and square. Which is racist. It's the equivalent of going up to a black college student and telling them they only got in because of affirmative action. You're dismissing the achievements of a person solely because of their racial background.

For all you people complaining about "unfairness" and "forced diversity", I would think hiring based on merit would appeal to you 🤔

71% of theatrical Hollywood leads were white in 2024 in comparison to 29% POC and you still think "black washing" is a thing? You still get this angry over a black person fairly earning a role because you think in a time where Hollywood only knows to do remakes and adaptations, that the majority of lead roles still *have* to be reserved for white actors?

Once again, white people have never been excluded from Hollywood for being white. Representation has never been something you lacked nor is it something you can lose. Your anger comes from seeing a black face where you think they don't belong. Because you feel you are owed a disproportion of representation in Hollywood.

10. Woke agenda/DEI/Forced Diversity:

If you are unironically using any of these terms in a negative light, it's already too late for me to reason with you. Look up the term "dog whistle". If you are sharing the same terminology with Elon Musk and his fanboys, maybe reevaluate some things.

POC are objectively underrepresented and have been historically excluded through actual laws and policies in Hollywood. There is no such thing as "forced diversity", you have bought in to a right wing conspiracy theory.

"Woke" is a term that was intentionally appropriated from the black community. It originally meant being aware of injustice and systematic threats to the community and is now being weaponized by bigots. Good job.

Diversity and inclusion is a good thing.

11. But POC deserve to have their own stories told:

We do. And we have been fighting for it for over a century now, and we've made great strides, no thanks to y'all.

No thanks to y'all gaslighting us about how little representation we get or that representation matters at all. No thanks to y'all pushing the idea that POC can't sell globally and obscuring POC actors in international promos. No thanks to y'all continuing to whitewash even to this day (Bullet train, the beguiled, gods of Egypt, atla, every portrayal of Jesus ever, etc.). No thanks to y'all calling every piece of media that has more than one black lead and more than one queer couple "woke". No thanks to y'all throwing a fit every time a black person in a fantasy setting isn't a slave.

Fact of the matter is, y'all never cared about POC "getting their own stories", you're only parroting our own words back to us now as a politically correct way of saying, "leave white roles alone" lmao

Well fun fact, actors of color getting opportunities to play lead roles and allowing poc to "tell their own stories" are not mutually exclusive. If y'all cared that much, instead of bullying a 12 year old actress, you could actually support up and coming independent POC writers, directors, and studios 😱

12. Studios need to stop "setting up" actors of color:

Do me a favor and google the term DARVO.

Your racism is not the fault of the studios for giving a POC actor a role that they earned. It is not up to the rest of society to tiptoe around racists to avoid their vitriol. It is our responsibility to hold them accountable and protect minorities from unwarranted hate. At most, you can say it's the responsibility of the studios to provide adequate support to POC actors who face this backlash.

At the end of the day, Hollywood only allows very few spots for POC actors (especially WOC), while simultaneously pushing a new white boy every month to put in everything. Putting minorities in these roles that are usually closed to them, usually opens the door to more actors of color than before.

Brandy being cast as Cinderella did a lot to push her into the mainstream (yes, she was already extremely famous in the black community atp), Halle Berry being the first, black, bond girl literally shot her to icon status, and even going as far back to what Anna Mae Wong did for Asian American actresses with her "femme fatale" roles.

At the end of the day, even with the backlash, *some* rep does more good for POC actors than *no* rep. The solution to racist backlash isn't to take away those opportunities, but rather to not be racist??? 🙄

Also, for everyone that claims that "POC race-swapping" is just as bad as "white-washing", despite white washing having a longer history and objectively causing more harm, note how the backlash to white washing never lasts as long as the harassment that POC get.

Like, no one brings up Scarlett Johansson's ghost in the shell role anymore, but you can best believe Candace Patton is still fending off racist trolls. As much as people hated the atla movie, people moved on quick from Nicola Peltz playing Katara since she was just a kid that accepted the role (re: daddy bought her the role), but y'all would not have any of that consideration for Leah Sava Jeffries.

But I digress...

13. What if we made Tiana white? Wakanda white? Hazel white...:

Ah, my favorite inane point. I was so excited to get here :)

See, I could start out by pointing out how "White washing" and casting a POC actor as a traditionally white character are not equivalent.

I could point out the history of hollywood ACTIVELY excluding POC actors and POC stories. I could point out how grossly over represented white people are in hollywood. I could point out that POC characters are so few in comparison that whitewashing them causes actual harm, where white people have never lacked rep.

I could point out how, because poc characters and stories are so often tokenized that their racial/cultural background is often directly tied to their character's identity, in opposition to a lot of white characters, since hollywood treats white as the "Default".

See, I could make all those points, but the thing is, the people who make this argument already know all that. They are trying to waste time by drawing me into a pointless circular argument that will sum up to "fair is fair", while ignoring all the context and nuance I previously provided.

So you know what? Forget it. Let me play your game.

I am actually fine with a white Tiana. Would it make sense, for her and her family to experience Jim Crow era racism, in the south while white? No. But we can look past it. Disney was never known for historical accuracy anyway 🤷🏿‍♀️

However, in exchange, the live action frozen will have a black Elsa and Anna, live action Rapunzel will be black, live action Merida will be black, we're re-filming Cinderella and Beauty and the beast to cast a black belle and Cindy, snow white will need to be recast as black, and we also get aurora whenever the live action sleeping beauty is announced. But then y'all can keep Tiana, deal?

You want a white T'Challa? Fine! (I'm partial to Ryan gosling), in the meantime, we'll be recasting Iron man, Captain America (Steve version), Bruce banner, Thor, Loki, hawk eye, black widow, ant man, captain marvel, Bucky, Peter Parker etc. All the avengers and their side characters, then y'all can have Sam Wilson, war machine and the whole of Wakanda (will it make sense that a sole, hidden, African nation is randomly made up of white people? Who cares? We get the avengers!).

You want white Hazel? You got her! I hope you have no problem with us taking Percy, Nico, Will, Poseidon, Jason, calypso, Rachel, Tyson, Silena, the stoll brothers, Sally Jackson, Hades, Hepheastus, ares, etc. But y'all can have Hazel and Beckendorf.

If we're gonna do this, let's commit all the way. Fair is fair, after all.

14. Leah isn't as "pretty" as Book Annabeth/Movie Annabeth:

I wish I could say this wasn't a genuine point I had read, but when all else fails, they will always go for a woman's appearance.

Now first of all, as a rule, I will never hold black women to white beauty standards. Our hair will never be long and silky enough, our nose will never be narrow enough, our skin will never be fair enough and our eyes will never be light enough (Might I recommend Toni Morrison, when you get the chance?). But Leah is unfairly gorgeous idc what any of you say, and you're not gonna have me use my defense of Leah as an opportunity to bash Alexandra either because she is also beautiful. These two queens slayed to the best of their abilities within this toxic ass fandom.

I find it funny, however, that so many of you harped on the "blonde" issue because you thought it was important that Annabeth be seen beyond just her looks, but quickly devolve to bashing an actress's looks when it comes to why she's not right for this role 🤔

I would also like to sincerely apologize that the 13 year old girl they cast in the show, wasn't as sexually attractive to you as the 24 year old woman they cast in the movie and sexualized through like 25% of her screen time (I'm actually not sorry. You're very weird if this is an actual point for you).

15. I don't agree with sending hate to the actor, but she's just not right for the role:

Once again, what are you doing by complaining about her casting on no other basis than her race?

The creator of the character said she embodied the role. She has already been cast, and Disney would be in a legal/production hell to recast her atp. Just because you're not directly leaving comments on her social media doesn't mean you're not part of the hate mob.

No matter how you look at it, your issues with her casting come from a very entitled and narrow-minded place. When you join in on these dialogues you are bolstering a sentiment that pushes more people to harass this teenage girl. When you leave these "harmless" complaints, on show content, fan posts or posts defending her, she's liable to read them because the cast regularly interact with fans online.

What do you have to say that is so important that it trumps protecting a young girl from the long-staying trauma of racism, of being told she doesn't deserve something she worked for because of how she was born?

16. I can't even criticize the show without being called racist:

Get. Over. Yourself.

Y'all are not the victim. Have fans of the show gotten protective of Leah and the young cast? Yes.

With good reason. This fandom is unbearably toxic.

Racism outweighs your need for a "perfect adaptation", sorry.

If you explain yourself properly and keep your critiques fair (like, even I don't think this was a perfect season, and will be sharing my thoughts shortly), no one is gonna call you racist.

You're preempting with that because in all honesty, you're probably planning to use your "critiques" of the show to pivot to one of the many points that I just outlined, and you want to pre-empt the criticism.

If a black Annabeth is the end all be all for you, just don't watch the show, no one's holding a gun to your head. Geez.

17. I'm Black/POC and I don't agree...:

Hey, Candace Owens... No one gives a shit.

First of all, for all the "I'm POC and I don't agree" people, you don't speak for us. Anti-blackness is rampant in just about every culture globally. You being not-white doesn't somehow make you less prone to hating black people.

But for the "I'm black and I don't agree" leftovers (assuming you're not just a 👩🏼‍💻 behind a keyboard). Black people are not a monolith. You're not obligated to think a certain way because you're black.

But consider why you're putting yourself up as a barrier to protect this hate mob. It's one thing to just state why you don't like Leah's casting, but to start off your spiel with "I'm actually black" as a way to weaponize the very identity politics you're critiquing... very strange. Not to mention, what are you defending?

The black community is coming together to defend one of our own, a kid who has been receiving death threats since she was 12, and this is when you feel the need to back the opposition?

I mean whatever... sometimes the house slaves would snitch to the master. There will always be some of y'all in the woodwork. It is what it is.

But when the exact ideology you defend is turned against you, when a Baltimore elected official is being accused of getting his job through "DEI", when conservatives are claiming that they wouldn't "trust a black pilot", don't decide that's where you'll finally draw your line in the sand.

All that being said, This is my Annabeth:

May every tongue that rose against Leah Sava Jeffries Shrivel and die in 2025 🙏🏿 My girl will keep winning ❤️

(video by @/waleahhasmyheart on TikTok)

[theredengineapologist]

From the ttte movies you seen, whats your fav?

✨THE GREAT RACE✨

The Great Race is THE BEST ONE! I may not have seen most of the other movies yet, but I'm very sure NOTHING is ever gonna beat this movie for me.

You're telling me they made a Thomas movie centered around what is basically a Train Pageant (tm) AND they made it a MUSICAL!!??? Hell yeah! Sign me up!

But then you actually get in to the movie and it gets even better.

EVERY SONG IS A BOP! EVERY! 👏 SINGLE! 👏ONE! 👏 THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE MISS IN THIS MOVIE! I don't know what they were on, but they were pumping out JAM after JAM!

Secondly, I think the Great Railway Show was a great way to introduce more foreign engines into the show in a way that made sense. Pity that we didn't really get to see much of them. But I also feel like we didn't really need to. I mainly just liked that we got to SEE them.

One of the things I LOVE about Brenner Era CGI Thomas is how the world of Sodor feels so much bigger. In the model series I get this sense that the Island of Sodor is this quaint little English countryside island where nothing much happens, and the engine's shenanigans are the most interesting things to happen in day-to-day life. Whereas I feel like in Brenner Era CGI Thomas, the world feels much grander. Still very much an English countryside island. But the island itself feels much bigger. The engines and the people living on it feel much busier. And in some ways I would say the cast itself feels more diverse once they gave the characters unique voices. I'm a sucker for shows that allow their characters to speak in different dialects, and giving Duck his West Country accent and the narrow gauge engines Welsch accents honestly endeared them to me more.

Anyway, main point I'm trying to get at is that the introduction of The Great Railway Show helped to expand the Thomas universe and show the rest of the world interacting with Sodor and vice-versa, even if only for a short period of time. It adds to the grandness of the world.

I also really like Thomas's arc in this movie. With how often he gets picked on for being a "little engine" over the course of the series, it's no wonder the guy's a little self conscious. If the narrator called me "short and stumpy" three times in a row I'd be pretty self-conscious too lol. But jokes aside, I did like seeing Thomas have conflict with this part of his identity. His verses in "You Can Only Be You" really made me feel for him, and I loved being able to see him finally come around at the end.

And of course, we can't talk about The Great Race without mentioning

HOW PRETTY JAMES'S DECORATIVE PAINTWORK IS!!!

LOOK AT HIM! LOOK AT MY PRETTY BOY! GAZE UPON HIS BEAUTY AND HIS SPLENDIDNESS!!!

And you know what? I'm gonna say it. James deserved to win Best Decorated Engine. Sorry not sorry RAJIV! But they don't call me the Red Engine Apologist for nothing! My pookie deserved to win!

One of these days I've got to do humanized versions of James's and Emily's looks from this movie. I can see it very clearly in my head but I also want to, um, draw other characters HAHAHAHA

Anyway, TLDR, The Great Race was an amazing movie with a killer soundtrack, great story, and a concept that appeals to ME SPECIFICALLY. I also genuinely think it would adapt very well into a stage musical (similar in visual style to the Spongebob musical). I have a clear vision in my head for what it would look like but unfortunately I don't have the money nor resources to make it a reality so it would just stay in my head. But just know that every time I watch this movie I am actively thinking about how I would hypothetically adapt this to the stage.

I''ve spent WAY too much time rambling about The Great Race but yeah, there's your answer.

Also if you're curious, here's every Thomas movie I've watched so far ranked from favorite to least favorite.

The Great Race (obviously)

Sodor's Legend of the Lost Treasure (Thomas had a great arc in this one, "Never Overlook a Little Engine" was fun, and visuals are spectacular. Solid movie but it can't beat the campiness of The Great Race)

The Adventure Begins (Solid movie. The other two are just more fun imo)

Tale of the Brave (It was a good movie and I probably would have appreciated it more if I watched it in High Quality. But unfortunately I can't stand Kerry Shale James and so I chose to watch a grainy upload on YouTube instead.)

Journey Beyond Sodor (I'm sorry to my one mutual (you know who you are) who said this was their favorite movie. But unfortunately, in my opinion, the songs do not slap as hard as in The Great Race)

[ithinkdogshouldvote2]

Hey, just wanted to say that I thought you handled the whole Terry Jr being black post very well and very civilly. Even while faced with backlash about your design, you responded politely and respectfully.

I also didn't know it was confirmed on the aftershow that Terry and Samantha are black, not having access to the patreon, though I happened to headcanon them as black beforehand anyway. Personally, I think it's unfair to expect someone to know what has or hasn't been confirmed by the creators when the information is behind a paywall.

Also, there's nothing wrong with having different ideas than what "the fandom has decided". The whole point of fandom and diversity means people interpret things differently. While I understand how your designs along with the character's individual stories could be easily misconstrued, and that should definitely be taken into account, you haven't done anything wrong by interpreting a character a certain way, especially when they barely have any confirmed physical appearance on the show itself.

You said you're working on a redesign for Terry, but you shouldn't have been bullied into it. I understand that the original post was mostly a vent about personal experiences and feelings, and that's valid. There was probably a more respectful way to handle to situation though.

To end this tirade, let me just say that I think your artstyle is adorable

Thank you, that's honestly very gratifying to hear. The whole situation was unfortunately pretty stressful, maybe just because I'm a very anxious person, but it was really eating away at me.

I said this before in the post, but my first experience with a podcast was the adventure zone where designs were fully up to interpretation, so it was maybe my bad coming into dndads with that attitude. I've seen fanart of pretty much all the character in all different races, including Terry jr as white, so I kinda just took that as confirmation that this was the case.

The thing is with the patreon paywall is that I AM a patron, so I would totally be able to look up the talking dads episode if someone directed me to it, but no one has yet. and the op never responded to my request for it. Even though I will be changing Terry's design regardless, I would still like to see what Anthony said since I've never seen someone say it was confirmed before.

I also fully agree about not loving the whole "the Fandom has decided" thing. There will always be exceptions to the rule. I've seen plenty of people draw the characters in plenty of ways and that, to me, the fun part of podcasts. That there is no ONE design. And mine was just an ingredient in the pot of the Fandom. People who don't draw and just enjoy fanart have the ability to basically shop for what designs they like best. They can choose one person's Lark and Sparrow designs, and another person's nick design. It was maybe small minded of me to assume that people would just keep scrolling if they didn't like my designs. The op called me a popular artist in the post and I've never been a popular artist before, so it's also possible that my work might me kinda hard to avoid if it's near the top of searches. Especially with how much I DO draw Terry and with the unintended message of "good dad = white guy" which was obviously never something I was trying to convey.

In regards to changing my terry, I do have to admit that I am sad to see the old design go, and I don't feel awesome about how we got here, but I do really like the new design and hopefully you guys do too. I didn't change too much since I still like alot about the old design and changing how i see him in my head isnt gonna be a fully new design, just necessary tweaks on the template, but it'll hopefully be a good change.

I never imagined I'd be at the center of something like this, and it really didn't feel great, haha. Especially when looking at the comments on that post of people saying they've been avoiding my art because it makes them uncomfortable, something I NEVER wanted to happen. I just really hope I can turn it around and the people who avoided me before will understand that I really didn't mean any harm.

But genuinely thank you for this, sorry I'm kinda just using it to get out the rest of my feelings regarding the situation before moving past it. It feels a bit better to know that people like you had similar feelings to the situation as I did as the whole thing felt a bit isolating. Obviously it was probably also stressful for the op so I don't want to insinuate that I'm the only one who was affected by this whole thing. I'm really thankful for the support. Or at least the reassurance haha

And thank you for saying my artstyle is cute! Honestly with all the crazy talented people in the dndads community I'm really thankful to have gotten the following and attention that I have. Despite this experience, maybe not leaving the greatest impression, this fan base is one of the most kind and supportive communities I've been in. =]

[ryansjane]

axelle judges bl shows > Zenra Meshi

summary: Souta leads a boring salary man life. When he inherits his grandma's house in the countryside, he meets Mahiro, who helps him cook recipes from his grandma's cookbook.

where to watch: dramacool

grade: 6/10

pros:

I always like the countryside setting in any show, so this was very pleasant.

I loved the representation of dishes from around the world, and was happy to see a taiwanese character in the countryside which made the show feel slightly more diverse. also love the two out gays supporting each other & being bffs!

the mahiro actor, whom I love from cherry magic & I will do it in the next life, literally has my whole heart & he just carried the show for me :) but also to be fair, the souta actor has some of the most captivating eyes ever & his overall look was fascinating. I just wish they'd been given better material.

cons:

for what should've been a simple & wholesome show, they tried to make it far too complicated to fill the 12 episodes, when the show should have never been that long.

similarly, the writing wasn't so good tbh, and most characters weren't that likable by the end of the show bc of the nonsensical choices they made.

this contained one of the most annoying female characters in a while for a bl, which was kinda disappointing. she's such a pushover & really selfish, and her ending up with her creepy boss that was using the power imbalance between them to try & seduce her was honestly disheartening. I thought at this point bl writers had understood that if you're not gonna give somewhat good roles to your female bl characters, you shouldn't even write them into the plot in the first place, but oh well.

honestly the chemistry was really stilted & lowkey some of the worst I've seen from a jbl in a while, and I think it's mostly from the writing.

would I rewatch it: no

This had some potential to be wholesome & cute, but truly became more & more dumb and annoying as time passed by.

[plexxaglass]

Previous anon here. Where did I say Izzy Hands was perfect? Where did I say he had no flaws? Just because I don't think he's racist or homophobic doesn't mean I think he's a perfect baby angel.

And again, your interpretation is not canonical fact. You can insist it is, but "has bigoted intentions" is not observable outside of internal dialogue. Something a character says or does is canonical fact, reasons as to why the character says and does those things is interpretation.

"Izzy had three characters who are people of color lift the anchor" is observable fact. "Izzy made them lift the anchor because he's racist" is interpretation.

Personally, I don't think Izzy is racist because he's equally fucking awful to white people. He stabbed Stede, hit Pete, yelled at Lucius, and denied rations to Wee John. He is rude to quite a few people of color, but I think that's the result of being the character that is a jerk on a show that has a diverse cast. He's a jerk to people of color because those are the characters available to be a jerk to at the moment!

"I think there’s also something to be said for Izzy fans denying certain behavioral aspects" I have read this sentiment near verbatim from Izzy haters justifying harassing us. I wasn't frustrated when I sent that first anon, but I certainly am now.

What you've written comes off like "Izzy haters, I know we're all right about Izzy being homophobic and racist and Izzy fans know this and are willfully ignoring this, but it's still bad to harass people m'kay?" I don't think you're gonna get what you're hoping to achieve from that.

I apologize for frustrating you. I, frankly, feel like nothing I say will have you back down from insisting that I’m saying something dangerous or harmful.

Would you like me to walk back that he’s definitively racist or has exhibited racist tendencies? Okay. Your point is proven. I’ll recant that. He does, however, have internalized homophobia that is quite clear— and I honestly find that very interesting. Most Izzy Stan’s I’ve interacted with, agree with me on this, tbh. I don’t see it as an evil bad thing like Izzy haters do. I see it from a storytelling perspective as being a great way to introduce his backstory.

It seems you’re trying to make me out to be something I’m just not. I’m sorry that you’ve received abuse from Izzy haters. It’s unacceptable. But I’m not one of those people just because I see these characters as all having room for growth. And I think it’s a disservice to the fandom to see any of them as without room for development.

At any rate, I’ll continue to speak out in defense of Izzy fans and against any abuse thrown their way. You can feel free to see me as adding fuel to the fire, that’s fine. Doesn’t mean I won’t still stick up for you.

If you’d like to go off anon and message me privately, I’d be happy to continue this discussion, but I’m too old for this anon back-and-forth.

[chenle-dressed-in-black]

Hii! I'm so happy you're back! 🥺 I would like to request dreams reaction to your period staining your clothes at a party but you dont notice it.

✰ 𝕟𝕔𝕥 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟 ✰ | you bleed through your clothes & he notices before you

     Hello, everyone! I’m trying to get back into my groove and prepare some new content for you guys as I work through old drafts and requests. I didn’t use the party setting for all of them, but I hope that’s okay! I just wanted to expand it a little more and give room for diverse situations. Sorry for the long delay, but please enjoy~

m.list

Mark

     He tried to tell you—he really did, but you weren’t paying him any attention as you sang your heart out to a Taylor Swift song with Jeno. The disco ball and colored spotlights of the karaoke room left everything in a bright glow, but especially you, if you asked him. 

     Last night, Mark had rubbed your back and tried to help you through some cramps, so the second he spotted a dark spot on your skirt, he jumped up and tried to pull you close enough to tell you without the boys and your friends hearing, but you shrugged him off. 

     “Let me sing!” you said, more than a little drunk. “We can dance after this song.”

     “Wait!” He sighed in defeat as you moved back in the center of everyone. A moment later, one of your friends pointed out the spot and your face reddened. When you make it for the hallway, he follows you with your bag that you’d definitely just forgotten to bring to the bathroom.

     You turn on him. “You noticed, didn’t you? Why did you say anything?”

     “I did!” You’re walking fast enough that he’s really working to keep up. “I mean, I tried. You were distracted and it was too loud.”

     “What happened to our rule?”

     Mark frowned. “Which one?”

     “The one where we have to tell each other immediately if there’s something in our teeth, hair, or if we have anything that someone else’s gonna notice!” 

     “You’ve got something in your hair,” he said, reaching over your head where you couldn’t see. Then, he slyly pulled your forgotten bag off the top of your head like a magician might find a coin in a child’s ear. “You forgot this.” 

     Snatching the bag, your drunk argumentativeness faded and you cracked a smile despite yourself. “God, you’re the best.”

Renjun

     It was a wonderful day. It was your debut on live television, and your sweet boyfriend was accompanying you for the backstage festivities. Renjun significantly helped with your nerves, as well. You’d been changed into an outfit picked out by a stylist that was making you exceptionally nervous for two distinct reasons: it was all white and you were on the second day of your period. A disaster waiting to happen.

     When your manager called time, you hurried toward the set where a host was waiting to interview you as Renjun uttered reassurances. His voice calmed you down and you took a deep breath, but then his words cut off mid-sentence. Your head whipped around in his direction to find his eyes wide. 

     “What is it?” you asked.

     He looked around nervously, then leaned closer to whisper, “You bled through a little bit in the back. Just a tiny bit, though!”

     “Oh my god.”

     “Excuse me,” Renjun said, getting the attention of someone on the staff standing nearby. “Can you delay the interview for, like, five minutes? We’re having a last-minute fashion emergency. Thanks.” 

     Using his hands to guide you by the shoulders, he steered you back toward your dressing room. You don’t fail to notice the way he’s intentionally covering you so no one else can see the spot. He helped you find a new outfit and, honestly, you like wearing an outfit chosen by you a million times more than an outfit picked out by a stranger. 

     “You saved my ass,” you said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.” 

     “Of course. Now, go. Break a leg!”

Jeno

     You had come over to watch a new horror show with Jeno and his members. The first episode, watched in the dark with only the city lights coming through the windows for illumination, frightened everyone enough that you all agreed to make some snacks and take a bathroom break before resuming. 

     “You guys get scared so easily!” Jaemin said, heading for the kitchen with you on his heels. “It wasn’t that scary.”

     Throwing open the fridge, you reached for a soda. “Easy for you to say, because nothing ever scares you! And didn’t you say you watched it already?” 

     Jeno glanced over as you two kept bickering, which is when he noticed something on your parents. He made a face and said, “Y/N, what’s th—”

     He swallowed his words the best he could the second he realized what it was. However, it was too late. All the boys were looking your way. 

     “What are you talking about?” you asked, examining yourself. “Jeno?”

     Before he could speak, Donghyuck said sympathetically, “You might want to take a trip to the bathroom, sweetheart.” 

     “What, why?” you asked, then your face fell. Your cheeks flushed. “Oh, shit. Please forget this happened.” 

     “Forget what happened?” Jeno inquired, smiling like an angel. “Didn’t mean to call you out like that. Sorry.” 

     You backed down the hall so they couldn’t see the stain. “I’m taking a pair of your sweats for this, Lee Jeno! It’s the cost of betrayal.”

     “Deal!”

Donghyuck

     These past few days had been rough, because your period always gave you severe pain and it was incredibly heavy. While your boyfriend’s first instinct tended to mischievous and taunting, you had given him a fair warning to keep any jokes under control for a few days. He’d surprised you with his capability to take everything seriously. 

     Right now you were trying on tops in front of your full length mirror, searching for the perfect outfit for a friend’s party you both were attending. Hyuck lay on your bed—flopped onto his stomach—watching you with admiration. 

     You caught him staring and pretended not to be flustered. “I’m enlisting you to keep a look out for any leaks tonight. I’d die if I bled through my shorts and somebody noticed. So you have my permission to look at my ass as much as you want tonight. Actually, the more the better. Can you promise to keep a lookout?”

     “I’m off to a bad start then,” he said. “Because you already have.”

     Spotting red on the front of your shorts, you groan and shrug them off. “God damn it.” 

     “Try those black pants you love so much. You might have better luck.” 

     “You’re right! They’d look great with this top,” you said. “Thanks, love.”

      “I’ve got your back, love.”

Jaemin

     Jaemin jogged behind you as you fled down the hallway of his apartment complex. “Y/N, wait!” 

     “No, Jaemin! I can’t believe you did that in front of my mom. I only asked you not to do a few things, but you managed to do all of them like it was a checklist or something? I mean, what the hell? I asked you not to cuss—because she can’t stand that kind of thing—and you dropped an ‘f’ bomb? Then you told her about my Madrid trip even though I specifically asked you not to mention it because I knew she’d try to force me into inviting my rude ass brother, which she did. Now I don’t know if I can even take that trip because she’ll probably send him to my house on the day I leave. It was two things, Jaemin.”

     He caught up to you and let out a long breath. “I am so sorry. I messed up. I didn’t mean to cuss, but the ant on my plate scared me and I blurted it out. And I’m really sorry about your trip. She was asking me about what you’d be up to while I was on tour next month and I accidentally said you would be on vacation, anyway, and I didn’t know how to lie my way out of it. I am really sorry, Y/N.” 

     “Whatever,” you said, running your hands through your hand. “The damage is already done. I’ll just tell my brother he can’t come no matter what Mom says. They can’t ruin it for me. I’ve been looking forward to it for four months. It just makes me so freaking angry that they think they can have so much control over my life and insert themselves in everything I do. It’s ridiculous! I saved up forever for this, but my brother just wants a free trip like always. And my mom thinks I owe it to him because . . . well, I don’t fucking know why!”

     Jaemin’s lips are pressed together tightly. “Hey, um, Y/N?”

     “Yes?”

     “Are you still going to your friend’s party after this?”

     “Yes, but why does that—”

     “This might be a bad time to mention it,” he said, glancing down at your thighs, “but I think you started your period.” 

     Your eyes darkened. “Excuse me? Are you seriously saying that just because I’m upset? I think I have every right to be mad at them and for being a little annoyed that something smaller than a fingernail scared you enough to get you drop the worst cuss word in front of my mother and—“

     “There’s a stain on your pants, I mean.” 

     You looked down. “Oh.” 

     “Yeah.” 

     “I’ll change, but you’re still not off the hook.” 

     But the corner of your mouth twitched as if you were fighting a smile. His face lit up. “I’ll make it up to you. Cook you dinner, clean your room, buy you flowers and—”

     “That might do it!” you called as you rounded the corner and he could practically hear your grin. 

Chenle

     The two of you were at a mutual friend’s party with at least fifty other people, if not more. This house, although rather impressive, had to be near capacity. Chenle had lost you while catching up with some old friends, but now he scanned the room. 

     “Missing your beau already, after three minutes apart?” his friend asked and when Chenle nodded, she added: “Y/N seems really amazing. You’re lucky to have her.” 

     “Damn right I am,” he said, not looking at her. He caught sight of you laughing with a guy he didn’t recognize, leaning against the kitchen counter. There was a red solo cup in your hand. Then Chenle saw your shorts. “Uh oh. It was nice to see you again, but I’ve got to get back to Y/N.”

      She followed his gaze. “Because she’s talking to a guy? Don’t you think that’s a little possessive?”

     “Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. See you around.” He was already walking away. As he came up to you, he leaned close enough to cover your shorts from anyone else’s view. “Hey, babe. Thought I lost you.”

     “Hi!” you said, perking up. “Have I introduced you to Donghyun? We work together.” 

     “No, you haven’t.” Chenle shook the guy’s hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Chenle. Y/N’s boyfriend.” 

     Donghyun gave you a strange look, shaking Chenle’s hand. “Yeah, you too.”

     “Chenle, can I talk to you for a sec?” Before he could agree, you pulled him aside and he let you. He made sure to cover you with his body the entire way. “Are you jealous?”

     “Huh?” said Chenle. “Oh, you mean of him?”

     “You’re acting really weird.”

     He lowered his voice. “It’s not like that. Aren’t you on your period?”

     “What does that have to do with anything?”

     “Just answer the question.”

     You shrugged. “Uh, yeah.”

     “Then, you’re welcome,” he said. “You leaked through your shorts and I was trying to cover you so nobody else would see. You thought I was jealous! Of that guy? No offense, but really? Him?”

     You shoved his shoulder playfully, which made him burst into laughter. “Shut up.”

     “As if that guy has a chance when there’s literally me right here.”

Jisung

    While sitting a table with you and all his friends, he was thinking about something you said to him once, several months ago. I’m always nervous that I’m leaking while I’m on my period, so if you ever notice any spots, please tell me, like, immediately, you had said. Jisung had promised. And, despite the fact that he had no clue how to pull this off without embarrassing you and or exposing the stain to your friends, he was not going to break a promise to you. 

     For now you were sitting and he was the only one who could possibly see the red stain, so he had a moment to think. After great consideration, he pulled out his phone and sent you a text. 

     Nudging your arm softly, he said, “Hey, check your phone.” 

     Confused, you picked your phone up off the table and read his text. Your eyes went big; your voice dropped to but a whisper. “How bad is it?”

     “If you put this on, it should cover it until you can change,” he said, shrugging off his hoodie and putting it in your lap. “I can go find you some pants?”

     “Yes, please.” You reached across the bench suddenly, placing your hand over his and squeezing. “Thank you, Jisung.”

     He blushed. “Of course.”

[chaotic-carnifex]

Hi! So I love the concept of hellpunk, deeply identify with it, and even before I heard of that I’ve been having Thoughts lately on the reclamation of and identification with villainy by marginalized groups. Specifically, the deconstruction of the concepts of “good” and “bad” and how to meaningfully engage with the world in the absence of a definitive right-and-wrong framework. Oh my god I’m using so many big words rn I’m sorry it’s the autism. ANYWAY so!! As the coiner of “hellpunk” I’d love to hear your own Thoughts on like,,,how you redefine that moral framework

Oh shit this is not something I should be trying to answer after midnight hfjfjhcvh this is gonna be so rambly

Honestly I think there's a lot of ways to go abt redefining the whole good & bad thing and that's one of the things that makes it so cool bc different people may take the concept in entirely different directions and there's something beautiful abt that kind of diversity and I can't wait to see what other ppl may do with it

A lot of my thoughts on essentially deconstructing and playing with the way we categorize things as evil and good are still kinda vague and nebulous and hard to grasp so I can't put them into words just yet unfortunately (I'm hoping they'll solidify through engaging with other ppl's takes on the whole thing but hellpunk hasn't gotten that much traction so far, definitely let me know your ideas & thoughts tho please!!)

What I do have words for is gonna seem somewhat disjointed and like snapshots but like

Okay so outwardly there's the aesthetics of evil and the way ppl will mark evil / represent it in a character's physicality / point out physical traits on bad people as if those have any influence on their morals, and there's a lot of very different things there already, from tropes that use disfigurements & scars as visual representations of some kind of inner flaw (red right hand and all that) to linking fat to gluttony & excess to camp / flamboyant cartoon villains to making fun of bigots' looks to rare natural variations like albinism being used to make evil characters more "other" and just so many other examples of morally neutral things being seen/treated as outward signifiers of evil and like yeah some of this is already getting plenty of criticism and being deconstructed a lot but even then it always endures in some way (and there's definitely room to lean into that kind of thing and build an aesthetic on it if one's looks are demonized like that and one wants to)

And then inside there's neurological things like mental illnesses and personality disorders and other neurological differences that are demonized and there is just so much there that I'm getting overwhelmed just thinking abt it. Why is it called the Dark Triad anyway, isn't that stigmatizing? What does it mean if people are demonized for how their brain works? How do we recognize & judge the amount of effort somebody may be e.g. putting into not acting on some harmful compulsion? Some people will say having that compulsion at all makes them evil (wow thoughtcrimes much), some may argue since nothing happens it's morally neutral, some may say the person is good bc they are putting that effort in! Is it bad to think you're superior to others? Is there virtue in having high empathy (cognitive, affective, does the type change the answer?) and is there anything wrong with not having any? Also hey you remember when a study showed that autistic ppl are on average more altruistic than allistic ppl and they tried to spin this into a flaw? Altruism bad, apparently, but only if it's influenced by your neurotype

And also inside there's feelings. Anger is seen as evil but look at the world and tell me how a good person could not be angry at the state of it. Sadness & suffering are painted as noble in Christian belief systems but where is the virtue in hurting? How does your pain make the world better? The demonization of pleasure and of just feeling good abt yourself - wasn't there a story with a man who tells a rabbi he's worried that building an orphanage would cease being a good, moral thing to do if he did it bc it made him feel good abt himself? (And how much do intentions vs outcome matter anyway? The road to hell and all that) And yes of course there's always the whole thing if whether feeling or not feeling something / being capable or incapable of a certain kind of feeling is good or bad or neutral, like is having little emotional reaction to things in general bad? Is there virtue in feeling things strongly? Is being aro bad? What abt being apl? What about being loveless?

If everybody is the hero of their own story, is it the morally right thing to be the villain in certain people's stories? If yes under which circumstances? Ethics are fucking complicated anyway, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is supposedly made up of villains, but. Is it? "Magneto was right" is not an uncommon sentiment

Also personality traits, like selfishness is supposed to be bad but what is or isn't selfish? Is this boundary you're setting for your own comfort selfish? If somebody wants their friends to be well bc they are their friends, is that selfish? (Something something Sir Pterry quote abt witches and selfishness, you know the one.) Ambition is often painted as evil. I stopped knowing what I'm typing 20 minutes ago at least. Fuck.

Damn this got long, I hope it's. somewhat coherent? There's probably so many typos in there. Shit. I hope I at least somewhat managed to address you question bc I don't fucking know what I just wrote my brain is dripping from my ears right now ugh

[jacktherph]

Hey there Jack. We know you're not as well knowledged on discord rps but we value your opinion. We're a brand new discord rp based off the tv series t@gged. In our group you get to see how social media can effect everyone, and how hard secrets are to keep. No one is safe with King Cobra around. Could we bother you for an opinion? Public is perfectly fine.

hi there @newflashhq! i’m happy to give you an opinion. you specified public as being okay, but let me know if you want me to take it down at any time.

NOTE: all opinions expressed here are mine, jack’s, belonging to jack. i make no claims to knowing what is best for every group – i only offer advice based on my experiences, what i’ve seen in the community, and my personal knowledge. no one person knows what is best for you or any group other than yourself; because you were the one who put all of this together in the first place. so take everything i say as a suggestion, and remember that you have accomplished so much!!

and if you have any questions, want feedback on something specific, or want elaborations on anything said in this opinion, don’t hesitate to message me!!

start: 10.59 | pause: none | end: 11.12TOTAL: HERE 13 minutes to read all pages (please don’t take this as a measure of anything, I simply time myself and am a speed reader) 

I just want to say first off I don’t know the source material this rpg is based off of, so if anything I suggest or recommend contradicts with the canon please feel free to disregard it or let me know and I’ll remove it from the opinion!

So first impressions are good here!! You have a great colour palette and aesthetic going on with your background image and the relation to the plot. The banners underneath where the tags are sort of jarr me away from the content of your rpg -- it looks like stars which I couldn’t find in relation to your concept so maybe change that design?? But it isn’t a big enough deal to take me away from the idea in general. The custom fonts the theme uses are a bit off -- they look nice but the flowery nature of them doesn’t mesh well with the concept. But that’s a theme for you and can’t really be helped. If the theme maker doesn’t mind the custom fonts being changed, I could help you do that if you need! The thing that does take me some time and the change I would recommend you look at is the information in your sidebar. While all important, it presents as just a block of text that can cause eyes to glaze over. Maybe adding in some bold, italic, underlined, or different color font would help mix it up and keep it sort of fresh? That way it isn’t just “text wall here,” you know?

While I’m personally not a fan of themes that present this kind of navigation page -- where everything is sort of in different boxes and you have a lot of imagery at once, what I think about a theme is irrelevant to an impartial opinion. So y’all definitely utilized the space given to you really well. Your links listed are important and your calendar space will no doubt fill up over time. And the graphic made about the text is really cool!!

So objectively, your Plot is good. It provides all of the information needed for someone who knows the content/source material to get a good feel for what your rpg is gonna be about. But I think my not knowing the source material is actually a good thing in this case because it means I can tell y’all that if you don’t know the story, everything is… really hella confusing. I don’t know if you wanted to market to people who haven’t seen the show or leave your member base to people who have seen it, but that might be something to think about and revisit at a later date. Otherwise the length is good and I enjoy the introductory paragraph style and the summary at the bottom.

Your Rules are where I’ll be recommending the most changes. They are good, and have everything you need, but they’re very wordy. So much of what you say in a whole sentence you could simply make a bullet point with and be done with it. Long rules are good, but when its just a simple matter of what people need to know, potential members could end up intimidated by the sight of them. Your first rule, for example: “This group is a 21+ discord roleplay - for both mun and characters - don’t apply if you’re not at least 21 years old.” That could easily be condensed into: “newflashhq is a discord rp for muns/muses 21+” and done. I’d say look through all of your rules point-by-point and see where you can condense them. My one big change suggestion would be the rule about being open to all genders, sexualities, and races. An easy fix would be, for example: “We are a LGBT+ and POC inclusive group, and encourage diversity in our members and characters” or something of that ilk.

So while your Locations page is a good idea, I don’t know if you can see a few formatting problems on your end? Overall I think it’s a great idea and provides everything potential and current members will need, so it’s a great thing. But there are some issues with the theme. I’ll include a picture below of what I mean:

If you tried to install a custom font, it didn’t work and instead is showing Comic Sans. If you want that, that’s fine! If you don’t, that’s something to note. If you want a tutorial on how to install and host custom fonts I can link you to it!! Also, your images cut off and are not the width of the description boxes they are beside. I don’t know if that’s a you thing or a theme thing, but I’d look into it!

I like your Application a lot! Asking for headcanons tells you as admins things about that character and helps people as applicants think deeper beyond the character bio, so that’s a great thing to include. And you’ve check-marked everything I would normally look for in an app so I don’t have any recommended changes here.

So I clicked on a few of your Skeletons just to see the layout and such, and again I’m not a big fan of them but I can see why you chose it in relation to the theme you’ve chosen?? And they are aesthetically pleasing but I’m not getting a lot on the information of the character right away. But when you have more taken roles this will obviously change so I’m not judging! One thing however: in the “Inspiration” link I think you might have some broken links, because when I clicked on one for “The Runaway” I got this:

“https://newflashhq.tumblr.com/newflashinspo.tumblr.com/tagged/runaway”

If you’re trying to link to a new url, you need to include the “https://” in the link section of the theme because they’re set to automatically redirect to a page on the current url. So switching it to “https://newflashinspo.tumblr.com/tagged/runaway” will remove that problem!

Your Discord Guide is honestly so impressive and a great resource. Did you guys put it together yourselves?? Because not only did it answer my questions on how discord rps work, it also opened my mind to them because it provided a lot of information I didn’t know I needed. I’m sure it will also do that for people looking to join but hesitant because of the platform. Seriously guys, if you cleaned it up and added a few more points on an intro and went into more detail, it could be something you post on an rph and a great resource for the community. The one suggestion I’d recommend is explaining a bit about the Instagram and Snapchat sections in relation to your discord concept, because that lost me?? All of a sudden I was like “wait there’s stuff to do on instagram, too?” before understanding a little further down, so maybe just a quick sentence about how that pertains to the group would help a ton.

My FAVORITE THING about your rpg: probably your Discord Guide and, by affiliation, how helpful you appear to be in acclimating your members and potential members to how your group will be run. That’s always an important thing no matter what platform you use but with your concept it really helps.

My LEAST FAVORITE THING about your rpg: the Rules page, and that’s just because it needs some work before looking a little more formal and accessible to anyone looking at it. I recommended how to go about changes above, but let me know if I can explain anything else.

OVERALL, my excitement would be kiddy-corner to what I know about the source content, so I’m pretty impartial to your idea as a whole, but in terms of being a formatted rpg with information, skeletons, a concept, and a direction for your characters and members to go, you’ve done everything needed and then some!! I wish y’all the best of luck going forward!!

Sincerely,Jack

[winterywitch]

Hey. You're pretty smart in terms of media and social issues, so I have a possible media-related discussion point for you. What do you think is a realistic ratio of straight/cis to non-straight/non-cis individuals in a main cast? Obviously 'realistic' is not the same thing as 'ideal' here - ideally everyone'd be gay to some degree - but if people were focus testing a show to correspond with 'reality', what would be the likely ratio?

in terms of what's "realistic," i don't think we'll ever really know. maybe in another century lolbc it's very easy to say for example, as many do, "only 10% (or w/e) of the population is gay, bi or trans!" ... when it's still incredibly unsafe to be out as gay, bi or trans. people still face physical violence of many kinds for being openly Not Cis and Not Straight.plus, given what i know about the field, im not sure how possible it is to give people a realistic idea of how much of the world population is LGBT, ESPECIALLY right now.so why are we to believe that statistics (already a pretty shaky, quite imperfect science as it is, as anyone who anyone who has taken statistics classes would know) regarding the LGBT population are accurate at this point? for that reason im gonna say that striving to resemble "reality" is not the most "realistic" goal in the here and now. the goal imo should be more about representing different groups.to me, a balanced cast would involve a minority cishet 'population', since there are so many sexualities and genders out there, even if we're only going with pretty basic identities like, say: straight, gay, lesbian, bi, pan, aro and ace // cis, trans, intersex // male, female, nonbinary, genderfluid, bigender and agender.ofc i have not given the exhaustive list of sexualities and gender identities+configurations and i might not have listed them in the most masterful way, as im human and therefore fallible, but that's really the perspective i come from about it.i definitely strive to be more diverse than more obsessed with "well let's be Realistic (in many cases a term used to justify discomfort with venturing outside of the cishet perisex norm)". it's definitely a process when you've been raised on these normsim not the kind of writer who's concerned with "well but the setting is medievalish so no one is allowed to be LGBT - besides maybe one person who is killed off very quickly," im more concerned with "what would be more appealing to me as a writer, what would help me put more interesting shit into this universe" which usually for me means there's more LGBT characters than cishet ones. in my Big Setting ive been trying to refine into a comprehensible story for like 10 years now, i can name probably one or two cishets in it off the top of my head - which isn't me trying to brag or anything about ooh look how diverse my cast is, it's just the way i prefer to write characters lolidk if this even really answered the question I tend to go on tangents and i am on mobile rn which makes that worse but i guess the bottom line is on this chill and pleasantly rambly post opportunity you just gave me, "realistic" numbers of cishet and LGBT characters might not even be a goal we as writers need to concern ourselves with as a stop on the road to Being A Good Writer-- did my dogs just fuckign open a door one secok no they didn't but they have several times before BUT OK IDK in closing,I think ideal is what we should be going for. i think it's more important to balance the scales of cishet vs LGBT representation than to try and aim BELOW what we want. think about it, we are encouraged as writers to underrepresent ourselves in the interest of supposed realism. but cishets don't rly have to police themselves like that so fuck em neither should we, to TRULY balance the scales we'd need literal centuries of only lgbt characters which honestly, fine by me. write whatever your gay little heart desires

[omglr]

dumb as bricks dude

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You both like feminism.

Stranger: hi

You: hi

Stranger: asl

You: 32 F

Stranger: m 22 canada

You: cool, i am also in canada

Stranger: Vancouver

You: Toronto

Stranger: cool

Stranger: Feminist?

You: yes

You: you?

Stranger: im a man so... DUH.. NO

You: kurt cobain was a feminist

Stranger: never knew that

Stranger: our retard PM is a feminist.

You: eh... is he though?

Stranger: claims to be but hes useless regardless

You: yeah

Stranger: so why are you a sexist?

You: lol

You: in what way?

Stranger: feminism is hatred of men

You: i like kurt cobain

Stranger: hes dead

You: yeah, he was good dude though

Stranger: yeah.. but feminist men are pathetic

You: mmmmeh

You: it kinda sounds like you're the one who is sexist?

Stranger: how so?

You: cause you think that feminism is about the hatred of men, and that men who are feminists aren't manly enough

Stranger: exactly

You: and that says something about how much you value women

Stranger: feminism is about female superiority and any man who supports it needs to grow a pair of balls and realize hes the superior one

Stranger: I dont value women.

You: yeah

You: so you are sexist

Stranger: and women dont value men so...

You: mmmm, that's also pretty obviously wrong

Stranger: sure

Stranger: lets say a woman has a boyfriend.

then she meets a better looking, stronger richer man whos showing interest in her, shes dumping the current BF for the new guy.

You: women rarely value sexist men, so maybe you just didn't recognize that your attitude was effecting how people treat you and creating a feedback loop

Stranger: LOL I avoid women now

You: yeah, maybe you need to get a hobby?

Stranger: I have hobbies

Stranger: I've had 3 girlfriends, and guess what

You: are you MTGOW now?

Stranger: yeah.

Stranger: its freedom

You: have you considered castration?

Stranger: why...

You: that's freedom from sexual needs

Stranger: I can jerk off

You: focus on playing the chello or whatever

Stranger: sure

Stranger: if women were not so shallow and heartless I wouldnt be MGTOW

You: i think that's the self fulfilling prophesy speaking

Stranger: well, im not good looking, im not 6'2 and I dont make $100K a year after taxes, im of no interest to a woman .

You: you're 22 though

Stranger: I know. and?

You: dudes still look like teenagers at that point

You: at like 35 you're probably gonna look pretty good

Stranger: not really, people have guess that im 30...

You: eh, i mean, it just seems like you are giving up too early and getting advice from other dudes who also gave up

Stranger: I gave up 3 years ago

You: you are gonna let a teenager tell you how to live?

Stranger: no

Stranger: I decide how I live

You: yeah but its never to late to change directions

Stranger: also, my dream job is bus driver, I cant say how it is at the TTC, but here, the pay is awesome, the benefits are great, the pension is fat, once im older and driving a bus women will probably want me, but not for me, for the perks that come from being with me, the fat pay checks, the family benefits etc

You: yeah that sounds good

You: go for it

Stranger: yeah, so, sorry girls, im not interested in you.

You: its ok not to be interested in girls

Stranger: im not gay

Stranger: im just not a betabux

You: it is a bit weird to think women are mostly interested in money though

Stranger: but its the truth

You: like, women are interested in feeling secure

Stranger: because god forbid she has to work to support herself

You: and couples who are financially insecure tend to have a hard time unless they work together

Stranger: ok

You: like most women have goals and shit they want to do with their lives, no body is really expecting to be a stay at home mom in this economy

Stranger: i know

Stranger: but they want a man to get the money to pay the bills while her money goes for fun stuff

You: i've never been in a relationship like that

Stranger: then you've never been married

You: i have been married

You: have you?

Stranger: FUCK NO

Stranger: why would I do that?

You: it just seems like you were speaking from some authority

Stranger: I know what a marriage is like

You: how?

Stranger: by listening to other men

Stranger: its bullshit, nothing but being controlled by a wife

You: lol, ok

You: those dudes probably shouldn't be married

Stranger: and she'll get bored and cheat sooner or later

You: did your parents get divorced?

Stranger: never married

You: where they partners?

You: were^

Stranger: they were dating.

Stranger: Anyway the 3 girlfriends i had were nothing but lying whores

You: and this was before you were 19?

Stranger: yeah

Stranger: your point?

You: teenagers are dipshits

Stranger: sure

You: and treat eachother terribly

Stranger: thats odd, I treated them fine, I guess im just smarter than they are

You: mmmm, maybe

Stranger: obviously

You: you sound pretty arrogant though

Stranger: oh well

Stranger: women need to learn how to respect men and how to treat a BF

You: ehhhhhh ok, what do men need to do?

Stranger: nothing, they are fine

You: how come their needs aren't being met then?

Stranger: because women dont value men

You: perhaps...

You: but maybe its because men need to learn how to communicate?

Stranger: nope

Stranger: woman -is mad-

man "are you ok"

woman- still mad- "im fine"

but men cant communicate... ok then

You: like the men who are married and being controlled by their wives and are expected to pay the bills and shit

Stranger: its either that or get divorced and pay alimony and child support

You: could have had conversations with their partners about responcibilities

Stranger: LOL a woman taking equal responsibility

You: eh, unpaid labour is often taken for granted by dudes

Stranger: aww, did she make dinner?

You: shrug, i don't know, I'm giving you a lot here

You: but its boring me,

Stranger: well women are boring

You: like, you can keep repeating sexist shit until you die alone and unloved

You: like, i don't care, really

Stranger: im not good looking, im not worth of love

You: dude your self esteem is bonkers

You: stop listening to men who tell you shit like that

Stranger: but they are right

You: stop listening to women who tell you shit like that

Stranger: but women know what women like

You: focus on your bus goal, read some fiction by diverse authors, take a fucking pottery class, stay off incel and mgtow message boards

Stranger: but MGTOW and Incel is the truth

Stranger: I am an incel

You: get your shit together, drop your shit attitude and stereotype nonsense, and change your stupid life

Stranger: nah

Stranger: I live the truth

You: next time i'm in vancouver I'm gonna slap the shit out of any busdrivers over 6 feet

Stranger: have fun judging their height when they are sitting, plus any new buses purchased after 2018 have a driver barrier

You: they all take smoke breaks

Stranger: no

You: ok, well, i'm not actually going to, i forgot what the point of that comment was

Stranger: lol

Stranger: I'll be too busy driving to have a relationship

You: maybe go see a dominatrix or something where the value exchange of sex for money is clear and you don't have to get all resentful about it

Stranger: nah, I like keeping my money

You: mmmm you ever go on rollercoasters?

Stranger: long ago

You: you ever go for a fancy dinner or a 3d movie?

Stranger: no and yes

You: back massage or dentist appointment?

Stranger: no

You: yeah, 22 and you haven't seen a dentist?

Stranger: well long ago

You: before you had to pay for it?

Stranger: yeah

You: you still got your wisdom teeth?

Stranger: nope

You: lol, lucky you have a mom to take care of your teeth

Stranger: yeah

Stranger: Anyway when im driving a bus I wont have time for dating

You: oh yeah?

Stranger: yah

Stranger: there is so much available OT to do so when will I have time to try (and fail) to get a girl

You: when you are walking your dog in the park

You: like a responsible adult

Stranger: I dont care for pets

You: ok, well, i've spent a lot of time here trying to problem solve your stupid shit, do you have any questions about feminism?

Stranger: why is feminism even needed?

You: to fight for the rights of the marginalized and prevent social regression

Stranger: sounds BS

You: meh

You: its pretty awesome honestly

Stranger: not its not

Stranger: women are not oppressed, they are just greedy and demanding

You: lol, but imagine their was a mgtow/incel support group for woman

Stranger: nope

You: except not shitty

Stranger: sure

Stranger: dating is shit

You: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

Stranger: what is that?

You: website for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls

Stranger: dont care

You: ok, so you don't care about the parts of society where women are oppressed

Stranger: nope

You: no wonder you didn'

You: t notice

Stranger: ever seen a homeless man?

You: yeah dude

Stranger: "oppressed" men

You: capitalism man and conservative pollitics man

Stranger: ok?

You: socialist feminism is about getting the needs of homeless men met

Stranger: nope

Stranger: socialism is bullshit

You: lol

You: but a workers union for bus drivers?

Stranger: yes

You: bs or no?

Stranger: nope

You: welcome to the labour movement

Stranger: socialism is bullshit.

You: its fuckin socialism

Stranger: "free" "free "free"

You: you dork

Stranger: "Socialism cause I dont want to work, I want it free, paid for by those who do work"

You: you don't actually know shit about it

Stranger: sure

Stranger: lets raise taxes for the rich so you dont have to pay for shit

You: mmmm, well that doesn't sound too bad

You: are you rich?

Stranger: nope

Stranger: you know why those people are rich?

You: exploiting the working class

Stranger: nope, working hard

You: no dude, they extract value from the work and pay them as little as possible

Stranger: well, get a new job, maybe a union job, they pay more

Stranger: stop being lazy

You: lol, dude, if you don't want your boss to exploit you and take 95% of the value created by you working your ass off, guess what helps with that?

You: fucking forming a union

You: fucking socialism

Stranger: yeah, but not socialist bullshit

Stranger: "boo hoo, I have to work hard boo hoo"

You: UNIONS ARE SOCIALIST

Stranger: nope

You: lol, ok

You: tell that to the guys when you are applying for your union job

Stranger: I will enjoy my union job

You: and you'll be an ignorant hipocrit

Stranger: I'll be richer than you simply by working.

You: lol,

You: jesus

Stranger: so stop being a crybaby and get a job

You: i have a job, and i'm in a union

You: but i know what i'm talking about

You: i'm not regurgitating capitalist bullshit

Stranger: no you dont, you seem to think those who work harder than you should pay for your stuff

You: lol dude

Stranger: what

You: i don't know where to start

You: you are just really thick

Stranger: nope, just smarter than you

You: ok, so remember how you had your mom pay for your dental care

Stranger: yeah

You: remember how your teeth are growing out of your skull

Stranger: yeah...

Stranger: get on with it idiot

You: and how if you had head trauma you could get free health care at a hospital

Stranger: GET ON WITH YOUR POINT IDIOT

You: but if you have a tooth problem you have you pay hundreds of dollars

Stranger: whats your fucking point moron

You: dentistry could be socialized like the rest of healthcare

You: and it would be better for society

Stranger: "boo hoo, I dont wanna pay when I have too, boo hoo

Stranger: "

Stranger: "make it free cause I dont wanna pay, wwwaaaaa"

You: and it wouldnt cost people much and it would imrpove the quality of life of lots of people

Stranger: sure

You: that's the kind of free shit socialists want

You: not Ipods

Stranger: sure

You: although, with the savings... you could buy an ipod

You: but then apple would also get taxed properly

Stranger: they want free college, higher taxes for those who work so social assistance rates can be raised for those who cant be bothered to work

You: and pay for dentistry....

Stranger: aww, did you have to pay a bill like an adult?

You: dude, you already said you have never paid a dentist bill in your life

Stranger: but did you

You: yeah I'm 32

Stranger: yeah but you act like a child

You: dude you don't even understand taxes

Stranger: i do

You: yeah, you are worried that your taxes which you pay for will be used for something usefull for society

Stranger: but I' be paying MORE taxes, I dont want that

You: and you are worried that people who make millions of dollars more than you are going to have to pay more

You: progressive taxation doesn't work like that

Stranger: well, they earned it why should they have to pay more?

You: because they have extracted that value from the world, and that's what taxes are, for taking care of the world

Stranger: sure

You: yeah

Stranger: im not intrested in your bs

You: lol

You: i mean, you're a piece of work buddy

Stranger: thanks

You: i mean, you've got a lot of growing up to do

Stranger: I could care less what a socialist loser thinks

Stranger: I worked for it, its fucking mine

You: lol

You: jesus, ok

You: lets start over

Stranger: you want it? work harder

You: "I worked for it, it's fucking mine"

Stranger: yeah

You: yeah

You: agreed

Stranger: so you want something? work harder and earn it, dont expect someone else to pay for it

You: you get hired for a job flipping burgers

Stranger: no thanks, I can do better than that

You: you work 9 hour shifts, and cook 300 burgers an hour

Stranger: is that your job?

You: you get paid, 12 dollars

You: no i'm an electrician

Stranger: then why do those shit jobs matter?

You: but this person gets paid 12 dollars for making 300 burgers sold for an average of $4 each

Stranger: your point is?

You: they process the food that made the company $1200

Stranger: ok and?

You: and got paid 1%

Stranger: your point is?

You: the $1200, I WORKED FOR IT, I PRODUCED IT, ITS FUCKING MINE

Stranger: nope

Stranger: you get paid $12 per hour worked, not per item cooked

You: yeah dude its the same shit, you are worried about the people who took 99% of the wealth from a shit job employee having to pay more taxes and give poor people dental care

Stranger: if they want to get paid more go get a higher skilled job than flipping burgers and salting fries

You: it can be a fucking hard job

You: like, seriously watch a fast food employee next time you are in one

You: they are always having to do shit

Stranger: I did, she was cute and bent over

You: yeah, you should have paid her for that

Stranger: nope

You: you stole a look

Stranger: paid her to pick up trash from the floor? I believe the company pays her for that

You: again, the wealthy will pay their employees as little as they legally can, and keep as much money as they can and pay as little taxes as they can

Stranger: oh

Stranger: well

Stranger: get a higher paying job?

You: and you think that these people are working harder

Stranger: there is no skill in burger flipping

You: when they are just working hard enough to exploit resources of other people and hoard wealth

Stranger: sure

You: so yeah, burger flipping is a job that is grueling and bullshit and annoying

Stranger: well, get a new one

You: but the metaphor is applicable to most jobs

Stranger: sure

You: you figure out how much the company is making off of you, and you realize it is a lot more than they are paying you and they should be respecting you a lot more for doing your job well

You: that's why unions are fucking awesome

You: because they can protect you from exploitation, get you better wages and services

You: and fight for you if you are wronged

Stranger: yeah, so those burger flippers can go get a new union job

You: the burger flippers can also start a union, but mcdonalds is pretty keen on union busting

Stranger: I've had to repeat my order to some of the morons working there and sometimes they still cant get it right, so why should they be paid more?

You: again, you don't have to focus on burgers,

You: like, shit man

Stranger: oh well

You: anyway, your bus job sounds cool and i hope it treats you well and you learn from your coworkers what the union is doing for you

Stranger: yeah

Stranger: because I have the high skill required to drive a bus, I will be paid more than a no skilled worker in a store or Mcdicks

You: i mean... some would try to say that driving a bus doesn't take much skill at all

Stranger: explain to me how to do a right turn while driving a bus,

You: like it's basically sitting on a couch

Stranger: sure.

You: i mean, what goes on a double mcRib, no L, ex P,

Stranger: dont know, dont care

You: yeah, dude people undervalue the labour of workers

Stranger: sure

Stranger: "duuurr I put cheese on a burger"

You: "I made 600 burgers today, and some shithead started screaming at me for getting onions when he asked for no ketchup"

Stranger: well, do your job right

You: lol, show some compassion and empathy in every aspect of your life

Stranger: nah

You: yeah, dude

Stranger: if they cant figure out what "no ketchup" is they are not too bright

You: i think you missed the part where the guy didn't ask for no onions

You: he only asked for no ketchup

Stranger: oh well I dont care

Stranger: get a better job

Stranger: I've seen quite a few downright useless fast food workers, so tell me why they are worth more than $12 an hour?

You: your anecdotal evidence is as flawed in observations of fast food employees as it is with women

Stranger: sure

You: you have no empathy and only think about yourself

You: you are short sighted, ignorant and arrogant

Stranger: I had to repeat my order of "2 double cheese burgers and 1 regular sized M&M Mcflurry " 3 times

Stranger: only to get slow service and an oreo Mcflurry

You: yeah dude, i had to repeat unions are socialism like 5 times and you still don't understand

Stranger: but unions are not socialism you fuckward

Stranger: if you want to get paid more EARN IT

You: fuckin' you want me to crack open wikipedia

Stranger: dont care

Stranger: I dont care what some socialist moron thinks

Stranger: burger flippers are skilless, so they get low paid

You: ok, but you understand the central theme though right?

Stranger: high skill= high pay

low skill = low pay

You: a burger flipper does a variety of tasks for 8 hours a day and gets paid 1% of the value they produce, or less

Stranger: burger flipper has no usefull skills

You: YOU EAT THE FOOD DIPSHIT

Stranger: and?

You: THEY MADE THE FOOD FOR YOU!

Stranger: making food isnt hard

You: YOU DIDN"T MAKE THE FOOD AND YOU GOT FOOD

Stranger: they are paid to make the food

Stranger: I bought the food

You: ok, so you paid a company 99% for them to exploit a worker tyo make you a burger

Stranger: yeah, so what

Stranger: why do you even care? its not your job

You: we move up, and look at the day shift managers, the night shift managers, they get paid quite a bit more than the employees but aren't working much harder

Stranger: managers are overpaid slackers

You: they might actually be working less hard

You: yeah, and above them, managers of the local franchises, and up ward and upward to a ceo who is perhaps having a meeting once a day? and getting paid how much more than their lowest employee

Stranger: oh well\

Stranger: I dont care about the useless burger flipper

You: again, its not burgers, its everthing

You: its you right now

You: you don't even have this kushy bus job

You: with union support

You: you are probably unemployed

Stranger: you realize their job is pretty much

cooking food

taking out trash

sweeping the floor,

stuff you do at home, its simple shit

Stranger: I have a union job

You: what is your job?

Stranger: loading trucks

You: and that takes how much skill?

Stranger: a fair amount

You: in what way?

Stranger: gotta load 4 trucks, sort it according to the load sort, keep up with the pace of freight coming to you

You: but anyone with muscles could do it?

Stranger: if your loading a company truck keep count of the number of stops, if its owner op dont count it

Stranger: muscles and a brain

You: ok

Stranger: harder work than burger flippers

You: i mean, I was gonna scrutinize it further to make the point that your job seems pretty simple but you have lots of insider knowledge about the challenges of the job to say otherwise

Stranger: exactly

You: it could be argued that it is an unskilled labour possition though

Stranger: harder job thus for higher pay

You: maybe, or a labour rights movement that had your back

Stranger: no the unskilled is unloading trailers, all it takes it watch your head, watch out for the guy your with and put the labels facing up onto the conveyor

Stranger: still not socialism you idiot

You: i mean, i don't need to argue that rain is wet

You: you can deny it if you want

Stranger: nah

You: you can even call me an idiot for saying the rain is wet

Stranger: your dumb enough to think the morons at fast food deserve higher pay so I cant take you seriously

You: but it only reflects on your arrogance

Stranger: sure

Stranger: "2 double cheese burgers and an M&M Mcflurry"

I had to repeat it 3 times and they still couldnt get the order right.

but you think they should be paid more?

You: i guess should have picked a better metaphor

You: you are really hung up on that eh?

Stranger: its an example to prove you wrong

Stranger: picking up an empty cup from the floor is so hard, oh poor girl

You: it proves nothing really

You: except that you hate poor people

Stranger: it proves they are not worth more than min wage

You: and that they deserve worse treatment than wealthy people

Stranger: no, they just need to work harder to get higher pay

Stranger: also whens the last time you were in any fast food place?

You: and that caring about the needs of the marginalized and downtrodden is outside of your wheelhouse, and that you should eat shit and die alone

You: simple as that

You: fuck off

You: and die

Stranger: lol guess what

You: mgtow to hell

Stranger: I used to be homeless

You: yeah, sounds made up

Stranger: well its not

Stranger: you see, I did what was needed to get off the street, finish school and get a job

You: and you have internalized all sorts of capitalist bullshit along the way

Stranger: so what

Stranger: hard work is all you need

Stranger: get a skill

You: lol

Stranger: why are bus drivers paid so much?

high skilled job

gotta deal with shitty people sometimes

You: you're still pretty thick

Stranger: also, since you dodged my question, most fast food workers are high schoolers anyway, so who cares if they make min wage, most of that money is just blown when they hang out with friends anyway

You: ok, but that's not actually true

You: most fast food employees are between 28 an 40

Stranger: odd. I was in Mcdonalds today, the oldest guy there looked 20

Stranger: hmm, then how come I've seen people from my old highschool working there? they were a grade or two below me as well...

You: cause of the neighborhood you live in doesn't represent the majority of fastfood service jobs?

Stranger: I've been to quite a few and its all highschool looking kids workin there

You: and so you know a lot of workers who are 18-20 but that doesn't actually mean that's the average

You: https://groundswell.org/fast-food-misconceptions/

Stranger: want higher pay? get hire skill

You: 40 percent of the workforce in the fast food industry is 25 or older, and the average fast-food worker is 29 years old.

Stranger: get a skill

Stranger: https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/best-paid-job-skills

You: but also, tax the rich and give services to poor people

Stranger: so tax those who work hard and have skills to pay for things for people who are lazy and have no skill.

Stranger: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-10-skills-you-need-to-earn-higher-wages-may-surprise-you-2017-04-18

You: alright lazy brain, i gotta go to bed

You: got work in the morning

You: gotta put these skills to work

Stranger: get a skill to get higher pay

Stranger: dont want to flip burgers? get a skill

You: dude I'm an electrician

Stranger: exactly, so your paid more than a burger flipper cause your usefull

You: not everyone can do this work, we need a diversity of workers doing all sorts of shit

Stranger: there are plenty of skilled jobs

You: you're dumb as bricks but you are getting paid decent with your loading job

Stranger: yeah, because its skill

Stranger: and im not dumb as bricks.

You: i want a society that takes care of you even though personally I hope boxes crush your legs and a woman shits in your mouth

Stranger: lol

Stranger: see, your so bitter

Stranger: you cant accept that not everyone agrees with you and you freak out

You: yeah, its just cause you are 22, a bitter misogynist and unable to process new information

Stranger: I have processed it

Stranger: and its bullshit

Stranger: you dont get high pay for low skill

You: eh... your bs assessment skills are weeeeeek

Stranger: everyone knows that to get high pay you gotta work hard

Stranger: take from those who work to give to those who dont, your fucked in the head

You: aight duder

You: eat shitbricks

You have disconnected.