#i believe in [ WANTED SHIP ] supremacy *

[danwhobrowses]

Okay sure just split the group again I'm sure nothing could go wrong this time dividing them into sub-groups to sting at high levelled and relatively unknown areas with high risk and high threat of boss level enemies in the vicinity and then go on another break to make us stew on that, it's fine IT'S FINE!

[woulddieforloki]

not to start another post with "kinda want to write a fanfic about" and then not write the fanfic but I kinda wanna write a fanfic where Loki feels so bad about the role he played in the Jotunheim invasion and the punishment Thor's facing because of it that he jumps through the Bifrost after him. and since he wasn't just yeeted out of his home, he's a lot less disoriented so he helps Thor get his shit together and they both absolutely expect Odin to call them back (or at least call Loki back like he wasn't officially banished) but he doesn't so they're pretty much stuck here now. Loki still has his powers so he's able to inadvertently prove to Jane and co. that they're gods pretty easily, and Jane obviously decides they gotta take them in. Loki and Jane really hit it off because they're both booksmart people and Thor and Darcy really hit it off because she's weird and Thor's more than happy to go along with it and they're one big happy sciencey/magical family. and then a few days later after Odin's decided they've both learned their lesson, he brings them back to Asgard. he still needs a successor, after all, and he can't do that if they're both banished. except??? they don't really wanna be king anymore??? like yeah Thor misses his hammer and his lightning and all but tbh he really likes Midgard like there's so much less pressure to make something of himself he just gets to have fun. and Loki's always kinda known deep down that he never stood a chance at being king and at this point he's very obviously a last-ditch effort but he's having so much more fun working with Jane and Selvig than he would on the throne and actually if he could just go back to his room he has a really good textbook that Jane would like to see—

[all-that-jazz-93]

Holy shit dude, Peggy haters on this webbed site have the weirdest fucking takes

I mean honestly, talk about willfully ignoring canon to form your own (wrong) opinions about a character...

[huntedspy]

I think it would be so funny if mercy didn't end up with genji nor pharah. or she got with both of them on separate occasions and things just ended quickly. like imagine how disappointed everyone would be if blizzard revealed mercy got married to just some random ass background character

[amorremanet]

given the state of things in 2296, and especially given the wasteland of it all, can you honestly tell me that an admittedly somewhat car-crash-shaped polycule would be the most complicated thing facing lucy, maximus, cooper, and dane? like, if they can cooperate to find relatively non-irradiated sources of food and water because only cooper can handle all the rads, i have faith in their collective ability to make this polycule work

[firendgold]

If you're still doing the choose violence ask game: 2 (👀), 9, 10, 22 ?

I got such a rush from finally answering the first ask that I'm doing this for as long as people send me questions. So here we go again!

2. a compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

anon, I'm at work. I'm seeing this at work. :'D

Okay, serious face. Albus Dumbledore is probably my fave if I have to choose between him and Harry on this blog. I just have to figure out why he would never...

Bottom. Albus would never, I'm sorry. He won't. He can't. Like, maybe when he was having his whirlwind summer romance with Gellert, he bottomed every single time they fucked because he was so in love and this was his equal and his partner and so what if he was a little rough and distant sometimes in the bedroom, and always wanted to top and tug his hair and hiss out orders? This was The Man The Universe Had Crafted For Him, and he would absolutely bottom for him every time... and then the summer of 1899 ends. And Ariana dies. And Aberforth breaks Albus' nose. And Gellert fucks off to go be a fascist.

And Albus, alone and heartbroken, resolves to never trust someone that completely again, never love someone that same way, and never let anyone get into a position of power over him where they might be able to use his knowledge and talents for ill. That means physically, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically... carnally. So he has sex with plenty of other people, and even falls in love with a few of them, but he is in control at all times. He never bottoms again.

That's all I've got for that one.

9. worst part of canon

So the first answer that came to mind is posted here, but for fairness' sake I'll try to come up with another worst thing. (That's not related to ships, because I'm trying really hard not to be THAT violent on the violence ask game.)

I think... that if That Woman was going to introduce international schools, students and characters in the middle book of the series, she should have done more with them than having them vanish after Goblet of Fire, only to come back for either fake romantic tension and one line of exposition about the Hitler allegory Dark Lord of the Before-Times (Krum, Deathly Hallows) or to be married off to a Weasley for an aesop of It's Not About His Looks Now That They're Jacked Up (Fleur, Half-Blood Prince). I'm not saying Fleur and Viktor HAD to be best buddies forever with Harry, but it is weird that they have this unique bond that no other young students have had with each other in hundreds of years, they even lost one of their fellow champions, Dumbledore gives this very moving speech about remaining connected and not letting darkness and prejudice sever new ties, and then... nothing. No side adventures in France or wherever Durmstrang is, no communication from either side, nothing.

Feels like a huge letdown in hindsight.

10. worst part of fanon

Oh, no. That's not fair. There's just so many.

If I had to consolidate what I currently don't like about the HP fandom/fanon into a few lines, I think I would say that I hate the pureblood/Dark side apologism. I do believe in nuance in characters. I do believe redemption and/or walking different paths is an important theme in Harry Potter, and I think it's fascinating to explore that with any and every character you can think of, even characters I may not personally like. But I really, really hate the way the fandom has taken that and twisted it into this idea that we were sold a lie at the start: that the British magical government was fine the way it was, and so was the society around it; that Dark magic Isn't All That Bad, Really, and there are actually Good and non-prejudiced things about a few rich bitches passing down their knowledge and secrets and slurs for generations within the Family, and keeping the Family "Pure" is cool actually, and none of this has any relation to real life ideas about miscegenation and classism and racism and eugenics, what are you talking about?

It's just so worrying. As a minority, when I see people on tumblr/twitter/AO3 gleefully agreeing that we need to eat the rich and fix society and eradicate all the horrid -isms and -archys ruining all our lives, then watch them turn around and write a 200k epic where Dumbledore was the evil one for locking the Horcrux books away and championing marginalized members of society, Hermione is just uppity for wanting to make necessary changes to the darker parts of magical society that That Woman was literally pointing out for a reason, and Tom Riddle is only bad because he took the good segregationist pureblood ideas and added murder to them... and when that fic gets thousands of comments agreeing with them full stop with no examination of any of that... it makes me anxious, at a minimum. The same thing is happening now with Grindelwald now that he's actually a figure on the screen and not just some dude mentioned a few times in the book series: same apologism, same justification of atrocities, same good-guy-blame-games, same blorbofication even.

On the one hand... fiction doesn't always directly reflect or affect reality. On the other... this unironic pro-pureblood meta is a pervasive concept that has popped up in thousands of fics written by thousands of fanfic writers. It's happened for years, and it keeps happening, and I see very few fans speaking out against it or even acknowledging it as a problem. So that makes me ask myself, who actually is willing and able to examine the injustices of our society and build a better imaginary society through the lens of HP fanfiction, and who's okay with the prejudice in the HP world as long as it's coming from the faves they're attracted to?

22. your favorite part of canon that everyone else ignores

Happily, this is a harder question to answer because I've been finding so many like minds in the past 5 years who go feral over the same 20 HP scenes as I do. ^^ But give me a sec, I'll think of something.

...

Okay. Got it.

In order to answer this question, I have to go back to the first time I, young teenager, avid reader, recent reader of the HP series once book 5 was out, realized that Harry and Dumbledore had a much deeper relationship than just headmaster and student. The thing that made me latch on to them and project like crazy, basically.

It's the scene in Goblet of Fire chapter 36 where Harry has been rescued from Fake Moody and he's in Dumbledore's office with Dumbledore and Sirius. Dumbledore asks Harry to relay everything that happened to him once he touched the Portkey in the maze—and immediately Sirius tries to protect Harry from having to relive it now, so soon after it's happened. And then this scene happens.

Dumbledore stopped talking. He sat down opposite Harry, behind his desk. He was looking at Harry, who avoided his eyes. Dumbledore was going to question him. He was going to make Harry relive everything. “I need to know what happened after you touched the Portkey in the maze, Harry,” said Dumbledore. “We can leave that till morning, can’t we, Dumbledore?” said Sirius harshly. He had put a hand on Harry’s shoulder. “Let him have a sleep. Let him rest.” Harry felt a rush of gratitude toward Sirius, but Dumbledore took no notice of Sirius’s words. He leaned forward toward Harry. Very unwillingly, Harry raised his head and looked into those blue eyes. “If I thought I could help you,” Dumbledore said gently, “by putting you into an enchanted sleep and allowing you to postpone the moment when you would have to think about what has happened tonight, I would do it. But I know better. Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it. You have shown bravery beyond anything I could have expected of you. I ask you to demonstrate your courage one more time. I ask you to tell us what happened.” The phoenix let out one soft, quavering note. It shivered in the air, and Harry felt as though a drop of hot liquid had slipped down his throat into his stomach, warming him, and strengthening him. He took a deep breath and began to tell them. As he spoke, visions of everything that had passed that night seemed to rise before his eyes; he saw the sparkling surface of the potion that had revived Voldemort; he saw the Death Eaters Apparating between the graves around them; he saw Cedric’s body, lying on the ground beside the cup. Once or twice, Sirius made a noise as though about to say something, his hand still tight on Harry’s shoulder, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him, and Harry was glad of this, because it was easier to keep going now he had started. It was even a relief; he felt almost as though something poisonous were being extracted from him. It was costing him every bit of determination he had to keep talking, yet he sensed that once he had finished, he would feel better.

This is one of the best scenes in the entire book, the entire series. It completely refutes the fanon Dumbledore who is often cold, cruel, inflexible and unrelenting in his quest for whatever the author wants him to be inflexible and cruel about at the time. It shows that Dumbledore, the real Albus Dumbledore, is one of the few people who understands what Harry needs and is able to provide it to him, even when others who also care for Harry would rather protect him or shield him from what he needs.

Kid me was particularly taken by how gentle Dumbledore is with Harry here. It made me look back and see how in some ways this scene, this closeness, is the culmination of all the times they've met and spoken before.

(You can imagine how painful it was reading Order of the Phoenix right after this.)

But yeah, that's probably one of my favorite scenes that other people ignore or haven't talked about/drawn/written about much. Which is ironic, because the scene right after that where Harry talks about Voldemort taking his blood and Dumbledore's eyes do the triumphant "lol Voldemort just fucked up" gleam is probably one of THE most talked-about scenes in the fandom (even though to this fucking day in 2023 people still don't realize what the gleam meant, when even That Woman has clarified what it meant in INTERVIEWS).

...And for me, safely at the end of the questions, that's all she wrote.

[diazisms]

hi so I just looked up what proship means. and I just wanted to ask if you like/support incest or pedophilia ships?

i support uncensored media. does that mean i like all of it? no. do i believe it’s important it exists and continues to exist? yes.

you don't have to like/support "problematic" content to believe it shouldn't be censored. censorship affects all of us, but especially lgbt and poc creatives. it starts with the things that everyone agrees is bad — no one, not even the people who read underage, thinks harming kids is okay in any capacity.

but it never stops there. it doesn't stop at underage or incest or rape. once a corporation realizes it has your stamp of approval to censor shit, they'll keep going until it's a white cishet conservative's dream. nothing queer, nothing where poc struggles are a focal point and it's talking negatively about white people and white supremacy. no sex. no sex no matter how vanilla. that's a problem. everyone, especially people who fall into marginalized identities, should be really, really against that.

this purity culture that's started to run rampant in fandom, this need to sanitize everything, to make sure everything exists very neatly within the box of Morally Right is harmful. fiction is not inherently good or bad because it's not real.

reading about siblings having sex doesn't actually hurt anyone, neither does writing it.

this shame surrounding taboo sexual topics, though?

that hurts people. that hurts kids. purity culture is spreading in fandom but it didn't start here. people are so worried about being "morally good" about media that has no moral responsibility in the first place that they completely ignore the real life repercussions of telling children that talking about sex is wrong, that if you've ever had thoughts that don't align with the purity mindset that you're gross, that if something ever happens to you you shouldn't talk about it, that if something happens to you and, in your trauma, it becomes something you're into in a consensual, pro-kink context that you're dirty.

the vast majority of people i know and have seen both online and in person with rape or ageplay kinks are victims of sexual abuse.

fiction is a comfort and it's allowed to be no matter how weird someone else thinks it is.

no one's telling you you need to go on ao3 dot com right now and filter everything with "underage". no one's telling you to make nsfw fanart of siblings if you don't want to. the point of being pro-ship is that you're in favor of people doing what they want with fiction. i know it's got "pro" in the name, but the point of being pro-ship is to be anti censorship.

(and, yeah, i ship the brothers from supernatural.)

[canichangemyblogname]

Actually, no. The shippers in the 911 fandom who primarily complain about Tommy and his past don't actually care about Tommy's past or his actions that contributed to the previous toxic workplace environment and harassment at the 118. Not everything is about a fucking ship, believe it or not, yet the only time they bring up his behavior is in relation to shipping. And because the only time they bring up a valid critique of Tommy's character is during shipping "discourse," I'm convinced it's not brought forth in good faith. Finding a way to tie everything to a ship—especially things like racism and misogyny—is cheap and tasteless. Not everything is about "shipping;" shut up about the shipping.

I don't think they actually want to discuss how white queers contribute to the marginalization of others, including other queer people, by weaponizing the patriarchy and/or white supremacy in their favor because so many of them are fellow white queers themselves. They don't care about how Tommy inadvertently, because of his past, provides a realistic portrayal of how white queers divide or hurt the larger community because of an inability to find solidarity with people of a different background, culture, or race (especially if it would "inconvenience" them or if it does not directly benefit them, like Chim saving Tommy's life). White people would rather choose misery and isolation over standing with or up for non-white people. White people are generally not willing to put in the work to build community; they'd rather contribute to the system or fly under the radar to avoid being shunned by the structures they, and the Ol' Boys Club, benefit from, like white supremacy or the patriarchy. Most white queers would rather be complaisant, complacent, and complicit. It's the white queer's adherence to oppressive systems that divide the community, not people's calls to tear those systems down. And it's only the white queer who can change their perspective on this.

Tommy only has himself to blame for his jealousy and alienation from a supportive and familial community, and only he can take the steps to ameliorate the situation. Tommy was an absolute fucking dick to Chim and Hen, and that has had long-term consequences on his life. Only he can correct for his behavior. He contributed to a toxic work environment, referring to Chim as a Chinese takeout delivery man, actively participating in Chim's hazing, and telling Chim that he did not like the man (mostly because he didn't know him). He would later call Hen "bitchy," and the men of the 118 would leave the "domestic work" to her as they did Chim, actively contributing to her hazing. He did not (verbally) stand up for her, iced her out, and also contributed to a homophobic work culture that made same-sex attraction the butt of jokes. He contributed to this toxic culture to fly under the radar, and that directly hurt people he should have extended a hand to.

Unfortunately for most of the fandom, this is, ultimately, a show that loves stories about redemption and resolution. And there is actual, explicit (meaning, non-subtextual) evidence that Tommy has put in some work to remedy what he did and who he was (including being able to 1.] own up to his past actions, 2.] understand how he hurt others, 3.] recognize why he did what he did and how that it is an explanation, not an excuse, and 4.] begin to make amends or rectify the situation, like reporting Gerrard and changing his mind about Hen and Chim). Hen and Chim would not have invited him for drinks regularly if they thought he was "irredeemable." The 118 would not have thrown him a going away party if they disliked him. Chim would not call in favors from Tommy on more than one occasion or even describe him as "so cool" if they weren't—well—cool. Eddie wouldn't enjoy ring-side fights and basketball games with Tommy if he didn't enjoy the man's company. Tommy also clearly refers to the type of man he was in the past tense, implying change over time. It can be argued that he has not put in enough work, but that's not what's being argued. We're getting bad faith arguments that Hen, Chim, and Eddie hate Tommy or bad faith arguments where Tommy's past actions are only brought forth as some sort of "gotcha" when a fan prefers canon representation over homophobic fan fiction tropes. You don't have to like Tommy, but making up non-textual reasons to dislike him is absurd.

Tommy, as a character in a narrative, provides a lesson for the general audience (GA), the majority of whom are white. It's not just important to see queer people on screen; it's important to see white people learn and change and admit they were wrong. It's also important that the show—well—shows the GA that whiteness and man-ness affect people's perception, position, and treatment. Tommy isn't just a gay man; he is a white gay man, and this has had a direct impact on how he navigates the world and how the world interacts with him. Gerrard treats men like Sal and Tommy differently than men like Chim or women like Hen, and staying in Gerrard's good graces—like the good graces of oppressive power structures—requires one to conform to a very narrow definition of a "real man," like being straight, white, palatable (like... not kinky, not risqué, not queer, all the things the fandom seems to actually hate Tommy for), and not helping oust regressive figures from positions of authority for the way they treat your coworkers. The audience got to see how Tommy went from being the prodigal son to being openly mocked by men like Gerrard. And it's important to show the GA that someone can and will be happier if they go against the grain and that admiration from men like Gerrard means very little in the grand scheme. Tommy is happier now after having been "rebuked" by men like Gerrard than he was when he strove for their praise and acceptance.

It's also important to show that men like Gerrard and his beliefs belong in the past, even though they exist in the present. This is a network TV show. A non-zero number of men like Gerrard catch this show weekly. It is still important to show that Gerrard is not the "type" of man anyone should aspire to be. His beliefs and actions are not commendable, and the show is very heavy-handed about this. The show is going to once again compare Gerrard ("bad captain") and Bobby ("good captain") to show how Bobby has created a good legacy at the 118. It began this parallel with Bobby Begins Again, continued to reinforce Bobby's good legacy in Buck's coma arc, and then revisited how Bobby has had a positive influence on the lives of the 118 in his season 7 montage. Now, the show is going to compare and contrast him and Gerrard to reinforce how important Bobby is to those around him. The show will also continue its inadvertent parallels between Buck and Tommy, showing how Buck is a different man under similar circumstances because he has had good influences (re: Bobby, Hen, and Chim) in his life. Buck and Eddie's relationship was shaping up to be very similar to Tommy and Chim's relationship: oppositional because of one-sided disregard and dislike, but it didn't because they had a good influence: Bobby (given the rather... fucked timeline, Tommy was likely newer to the 118 when Chim joined and, like Buck, his hostility and posturing were also likely influenced by insecurity and a desire to secure his position at the table).

Most unfortunately for many, the show is also going to show how Tommy has changed due to the same influences (re: Bobby, Hen, and Chim). They wouldn't have re-introduced both Tommy and Gerrard and mentioned their dynamic on more than one occasion if they weren't going to do something with that. Season 7 set up Tommy's upcoming arc very nicely. He knows the man he was, he knows the man who shaped him into that, and he knows how and why that was wrong. We'll get Tommy confronting his obvious daddy issues, jealousy, and desire for community (and why he didn't get a family-like dynamic at the 118, re: Gerrard *and* Tommy's own behavior). Tommy has been explicit about this, literally telling Buck that he envies the relationship the people at the 118 have and mentioning that he was not a good person, and this played a part in why he didn't have the same rapport.

9-1-1 is not a perfect show, but it does reflect some of the positive changes of our time. It's important to see representations of comp-het—like Buck, Tommy, and Michael—and how it negatively impacts people's character or relationships, and then how they—the character—can amend that. It's important to see stories that depict how silence is complicity and how refusing to be silent—as Hen refused to be—makes change and changes minds. It's important that the show reminds the audience that Hen is a black lesbian and that this has impacted how people see her and treat her, but that she is just as capable, if not more so. This includes men like Chim. Because I see nearly none of the people who "critique" Tommy in the name of "shipping" ever bring up how Chim has leaned on the patriarchy for support and a position at the table. He may have been the kindest to Hen, but he was by no means normal about women. And it is important to see how non-white men benefit from the patriarchy even as they are victimized by white supremacy. It's also important that the show shows the GA that non-white men are not affected by white supremacy equally, as Michael and Harry have had discussions about blackness and police brutality, a conversation that Chim is never going to have to have with his children, but that doesn't mean that Chim won't have to one day have a discussion with Jee-Yun about how and why some people treat her differently.

But the fandom approaches everything in a very... Catholic way. They don't approach this from the view that people can change and should be pushed to change; rather, they shun people like they've been marked by original sin. The structures we live under have deeply affected each and every one of our worldviews. "You are not immune to the propaganda" includes your personal philosophies and ideologies as well as the things you were taught since you were a child, consciously and "subconsciously." But, people would rather condemn everyone else as "irredeemable" than look critically at their own behavior out of fear of being "one of the bad ones." They'd rather *not* accept the fact that everyone has learning and changing to do as that would reflect upon them, too. This leads to being very resistant to being told that you're mistaken, you've hurt others, or that your behavior and beliefs contribute to repressive, dangerous, or toxic ideas (and we've seen a lot of that; y'all do not create safe online spaces). This leads to a lack of personal change as well as a lack of change at the interpersonal level because rather than teach or challenge, they stick up their nose and turn the other way. "Their barbaric bigotry; my enlightened neglect."

So, really, they've learned nothing from a character like Tommy.

[hussyknee]

(alt included in all images)

Another thread by Senator Ben Ray Luján here.

A book on the subject (haven't read it myself):

One of the sources in another one of Alisa's furiously impassioned twitter threads have been debunked, so I didn't include that. But she claims that her own family was caught in the fallout zone when her mother was a baby, which eventually led to her and large numbers of her community developing cancer. It's human for that kind of grief to be caught up in inaccuracies. People are already being ghastly and racist to Hispanos and Indigenous people criticizing the hype for the movie. They're not attacking Oppenheimer for being Jewish, they're criticising the erasure of the human cost of these bombs and the continued valorisation of the U.S military's actions in World War II as some kind of moral saviourism.

While Oppenheimer himself believed that the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were morally justified (they had planned to drop them on Germany except they surrendered before they could), he also felt had blood on his hands and regretted his role as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb". He spent the rest of his career vehemently opposing further development of thermonuclear weapons and the hydrogen bomb accurately predicting the concept of mutually assured destruction. This eventually made him a victim of Senator McCarthy's Red Scare and his clearance was revoked. I haven't seen the movie (Christopher Nolan is the kind of casual white racist I avoid on principle) but people who have seen it say that it doesn't glorify nuclear weapons and depicts the man himself with the complex moral nuance that seems to be accurately reflective of his real life.

The backlash to Indigenous and Hispanos people's criticisms and to people pointing out that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were genocides is also frustrating because...both world wars were a clash of genocidal empires. The reason they were world wars is because the countries colonized by Japan, China, the European powers and the US were all dragged into it, whether they wanted to or not. Jews were one of the many colonized peoples that suffered in that time, who were left to die by everyone until they could be used to frame the Allied powers as moral saviours, establishing a revisionist nostalgia for heroism that powers the US military industrial complex to this day.

As early as May 1942, and again in June, the BBC reported the mass murder of Polish Jews by the Nazis. Although both US President, Franklin Roosevelt, and British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, warned the Germans that they would be held to account after the war, privately they agreed to prioritise and to turn their attention and efforts to winning the war. Therefore, all pleas to the Allies to destroy the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau were ignored. The Allies argued that not only would such an operation shift the focus away from winning the war, but it could provoke even worse treatment of the Jews. In June 1944 the Americans had aerial photographs of the Auschwitz complex. The Allies bombed a nearby factory in August, but the gas chambers, crematoria and train tracks used to transport Jewish civilians to their deaths were not targeted.

(Source)

Uncritical consumption of World War II media is the reinforcement of imperialist propaganda, more so when one group of colonized people is used to silence other colonized peoples. Pitting white Jewry against BIPOC is to do the work of white supremacy for imperialist colonizers, and victimizes Jews of colour twice over.

Edit: friends, there's been some doubt cast on the veracity of Alisa's claims. The human cost to the Hispanos population caught downwind of the nuclear tests is very real, as was land seizure without adequate compensation. However, there's no record I can yet find about Los Alamos killing livestock and Hispanos being forced to work for Los Alamos without PPE. There is a separate issue about human testing in the development of said PPE that's not covered here. I'm turning off reblogs until I can find out more. Meanwhile, here's another more legitimate article you can boost instead:

[eiuuei]

Sandra Lynn and Jawbone!

I believe in Sandra Lynn Muscle Mommy supremacy 🧎‍♂️

Another ko-fi request!! I was super excited to get this request because it was the first ship one and I loove drawing romantic couples!

If u want to request a sketch of ur own, ko-fi info is in this post!!

[codgod]

y’know generally i try to limit colour palettes to as few colours as possible to make things more cohesive but despite my best efforts only jay ended up being able to stick to that </3

ANYWAYS here’s the as-of-right-now fully updated designs for these dickheads. these will no doubt undergo even more tweaking as i draw them more but this is a start i guess. also pls open the pictures to look at them properly i worked so hard LOL

some random notes under the cut yaaaay

chip —

he jingles when he walks. somehow he’s still stealthy. i do not know how

kept the platinum ring that bonded him to gillion in the block! because hey he doesn’t really have a reason to take it off (and it’s a nice reminder of how much gill cares about him, and how far their friendship has come since that ice arena)

his tattoos shift and flicker like actual flames, and sometimes (harmless, purely aesthetic) sparks fly off them when he’s excited

i just think smoke coming out of his mouth when he’s angry would be cool :]

chipped teeth from biting rocks and coins all the time :/

he has scars from the red lightning, they’re just mostly contained to his back and shoulders. they’re a similar red to his coat even once they’ve healed

gillion —

the tail sleeve thing is so he can rest it on the ground without damaging his scales, he doesn’t usually wear it when he’s just on the ship because the wood is soft enough that it’s usually fine + it can hinder swimming a bit. it’s mostly meant for places where there’s cobblestone or gravel streets and such. i think his armour would probably have a version that looks similar but covers the whole tail minus the fins, maybe with some armour plating of its own. i didn’t draw it because there wasn’t any room lol

his scars from the lightning are pink mostly because red stood out too much tbh. they softly glow in the dark the same as his coral and the pink parts of his fins

also kept his ring! his hands aren’t really made for jewellery, though, because the webbing means it won’t sit very secure on his finger. so he keeps it on the same chain as the necklace he got from aslana to keep it safe

tried to make him look a bit bulkier and more his age than in my original design? i feel like i was leaning too much into the naivety and. shortness. originally lol. he also has thicker eyebrows now and i’m still trying to decide how i feel about them but i think? i like it? i don’t tend to give many character thin eyebrows so it could’ve been a unique thing for him but alas

i think i made the sword too small but like ignore that

also forgor to include pretzel </3 that’s okay though she can get her own design sheet later. she’s special like that

jay —

i believe in tall jay supremacy

blue magic! i was considering gold but that’d look a bit more like a canary than i wanted for her wings so. blue jay :]

her hair is supposed to look kinda like fire to mimic her dad ! kinda showing that even if she runs from her family and the navy they’ll always be a part of her. and also i just like drawing messy hair

i gave her sturdier gloves just because i feel like it fits her better. also changed up the shirt to more of a button up solely because i don’t like tank tops very much LOL

i did WANT to make her outfit a bit flashier to match the boys better but i couldn’t quite figure out where to Put the flash. maybe that’ll come later, the way the story’s going i might get to design some cool prosthetics for her or something

overall —

because there’s just so many fucking colours i triiied to add at least one or two colours from each of them into the others designs. jay has her necklace with each of their main colours on it, her wings are the same blue as gillions eyes, her jacket and right eye are the same dark blue as destiny’s blade, her hair is the same orange as the lighter part of chips tattoos. chip has a dark green sash under all the belts, the same as the hilt of destiny’s blade. they all use the same shades of black, gold, and brown

the only real exception is gillion doesn’t have anything from the other two because he has Such a specific colour palette and he already had so much going on as-is orz jay was obviously the easiest to do this with because she has both warm and cool colours in her palette by default lol (and i did her design last, so that helps)

[bigfan-fanfic]

Iphicles (Part 3) -

Part 1 Part 2

Dionysus has always been an admirer of mortals.

Humans, despite generally lacking the power of shapeshifting, are so malleable compared to the gods - they can be whatever they wish, while gods are trapped into their own great power.

"Oh, boy, you have no idea what power you have sworn yourself to - what great events you meddle in." Mr. D groans.

The centaur -Chiron - groans alike. "It is not unheard of for the gods to choose a mortal champion. It is not our place to question their decisions."

"Hardly. I shall question as I please, Chiron."

You look at them. "I'm not here to meddle or disrupt. I'm here to protect my brother. What happened last night?"

"Your family were attacked by the Minotaur. And your mother, I believe was taken as... a bargaining chip of sorts. By the Lord of Death."

"I am a mortal. I have no godly ancestor or heroic lineage. That might make me weak. But it makes me strong, too - I am not beholden to the Olympians. I don't believe in your supremacy or omnipotence. You are dangerous, but I am not trapped by the patterns that confine you. I do not fear your Death."

Chiron looks nervous. Dionysus grins. "Well said! I await your imminent demise, but well said."

It is decided that you will stay in the Big House- being a mortal of no lineage, it seems taboo to place you in a cabin. And for a while longer, your little brother remains in the dark about his lineage.

But you walk to the ocean, late at night. "Yuri. Please."

And Poseidon appears to you - there are no taboos or favoritism worries with mortal champions. Often mortals fall beneath the notice of gods.

"Where is my mother?"

"She is with my brother. Hades will not release her."

"Unless?"

Poseidon frowns. "This is not your quest alone. This belongs to Percy."

"She's my mother too."

"I-"

You look at him. "Yuri, please. We're not involved in this."

"Percy must find and return Zeus' master bolt. A son of Poseidon calming our... feud."

"Really? Nature is going crazy, and my mother is being held hostage, my brother is in danger, because you and your brothers are having a pissing contest?" You growl, the rage of the sea cresting within you. Poseidon lays a hand on your chest, and the world seems to calm.

"So you think Hades stole the bolt?"

Poseidon looks at you. "It is not my place to accuse without evidence."

"But if he already has the master bolt, why would he need my mother as a bargaining chip?"

"I do not pretend to know my brothers' minds."

You sigh. "You gods are really starting to get on my nerves."

"Mind your insolence. Few of my relations are as forgiving as I."

You hold your tongue, harsh words leaping unbidden to your lips - channeling your aggression into combat training only works so well, and there is an ocean's worth of fury in you.

"Ease, my champion. I will give you foes to fight soon enough. Stay the course and protect your brother."

He claims Percy after a few more days - you haven't seen the kid often as you want, because camp is a tight ship and full of activities. Though you have been sparring with Luke, who's surprised at your prowess.

Percy looks at you, when it comes time to choose his two companions for a quest.

"I would. But... you're mortal. You cant heal with ambrosia. And if something happens... I can't lose you too, bro."

And you watch your brother walk away.

It hurts, it really does, but - come on, that's your little brother. Did he really think you'd just stay at camp?

You walk towards the beach, and walking out from the seafoam to meet you is a pure-white horse, abalone woven into its mane. It bows to you, and you remember that Poseidon is the Lord of Horses.

You see the blue saddle on the creature, already marked with a trident, and you sling yourself over it - grateful that horseback training had been somewhat covered during your brief time at camp.

The horse gallops over the water with ease, and you hold on tight, hoping against hope it knows where Percy is...

[dalekofchaos]

Imagine the Virmire Sacrifice as the Cerberus assassin instead of Kai Leng

Inspired by my poll

Kai Leng was a terrible character from terrible novels. No one wanted him in the games. He could barely handle a Drell with space cancer and couldn’t even kill Anderson and Sanders, but they want us to expect us to believe that Leng is Shepard’s equal? To me I would just have him executed on Omega since Leng DID kill Aria's daughter.

But yes storywise, it's better. Shepard was haunted about not being able to save either Kaidan/Ashley. TIM would use the Virmire casualty as Plan B should Shepard turn against his interests.

Imagine Cerberus was on Virmire. Cerberus scientists working on a counter agent to stop the Genophage cure and even working on a virus that could kill Saren.

The Illusive Man reveals to his agents it's too late, however he tells them there can be a valuable asset they can retrieve.

Cerberus mad dashes to the bomb site and grabs Ash/Kaidan in time, however the bomb goes off and the after shock hits the Cerberus vessel and renders the Virmire survivor in a comatose state.

A second Cerberus ship comes and rescues Ash/Kaidan. They report to TIM that Project Virmire is ago, but once they wake up, it will take a lot of convincing. TIM has a plan.

The Virmire survivor wakes up during the time of ME2. Confused, they recognize this is not an Alliance facility and definitely no Council race facility. They put two and two together and realize it's Cerberus and try to escape and then they are sedated.

They are brought before TIM. Ash/Kaidan swears they would rather die than join Cerberus. Explains they know about Admiral Kahoku, the Rachni, Thorian and Husk experiments and most importantly Akuze.

TIM explains it easily. That they were a necessary evil. and tells them how easily their near death experience could've been avoided if those monstrosities were weaponized against Saren. The Admiral knew too much and Akuze, Shepard/Toombs got justice and Dr Wayne was put on a very public trial that damaged Cerberus reputation.

Then the manipulation begins.

If it's Ashley, then TIM uses the fact that he knew and personally served under her grandfather. Shepard, The Alliance and the Council left her for dead and acts as if the Reapers don't exist, as if the very reason she went missing never happened. Says things how "I've seen your records and seen you in action. If you were there, Shanxi never would've fallen and the Williams family would be the most prestigious family in the Alliance and you would've been the first human Spectre, not Shepard." "You were looked down on the Alliance, the family that was cursed because the good general wanted to protect and save lives. Little do you know, the Turians were looking for something on Shanxi. Saren was there, and his brother" Ashley looks curious. He has her. He explains his story with General Williams, Desolas Arterius and Saren. Desolas indoctrinated for Turian supremacy, leading Saren down the path he would take and what would be the foundation of Cerberus. Ashley asks one simple question. "When do I start?"

If it's Kaidan, TIM uses Kaidan's past against him. His righteous murder of Vyrnnus that he was shunned and how gifted he was. Admitting Cerberus should have snatched him when they had the chance. "Had we had you, you could've provided our failed experiment the guidance she needed(obviously I'm talking about Jack here) then goes on to tell him how the Alliance abandoned him, Shepard has forsaken him and worse of all, they all deny the existence of the Reapers. Kaidan refuses to believe him and snaps. Cerberus agents are prepare to stun him, TIM wavers them off. Kaidan gives off a look that he wants revenge. On The Alliance, The Council and Shepard. "They will all pay."

Ashley would be turned into Cerberus' Super Soldier. Wearing the Cerberus Assault Armor(the armor WE wear, not the shitty ME3 grunt armor), but with the Shade/Nightmare/Spirit helmet.

Kaidan becomes a mix of Phantom and Phoenix. The ultimate human biotic, he is what Jack could've became if they kept her.

Their goals would be to eliminate high valued targets for Cerberus. Killing key Alliance figures, people who are close to cracking down on Cerberus(example, Dr Wayne was publicly assassinated and after Toombs threat to get a merc team to hunt Cerberus down, they kill him) killing Alien leaders and a whole bunch of targets that stand in Cerberus's way to control the Reapers.

Or in a different scenario. The explosion nearly destroys the ship carrying them in, causing them to be husks of their former selves.

Cerberus in this scenario would experiment on them to make them the ultimate soldier for Cerberus. They would essentially become The Winter Soldier of Mass Effect.

it would’ve been far more impactful if the Cerberus assassin was masked, and later revealed to be a heavy cyborg’d and indoctrinated Ashley/Kaiden, whichever you left behind on Virmire. There would be a reaction if you bring the one you saved with to encounter the one we did not save on Thesia.

But storywise.

The first time you meet the Cerberus Assassin, is on Earth. We see this shadow stalking you and Anderson and as we’re leaving Earth, we see Kai Leng killing Anderson. With Shepard swearing revenge.

Throughout ME3, Ash/Kaidan would be stalking Shepard. Causing trouble as we encounter Cerberus. Trying to kill Eve, attempting to abduct the Grissom Academy students, activating the bomb on Tuchunka and the attempt on the Council.

When we finally confront them on Priority Citadel, they kill Thane and omni-slash their mask off. We get the reveal. Shepard is shocked, Ash/Kaidan hesitates after hearing Shepard utter their name.

It would also help to explain his inexplicable plot armor. Rather than surviving against the onslaught of Shepard due to plot reasons, he would not be killed, as Shepard is haunted by not being able to save them, Ash/Kaidan uses that as the opportunity to take him down on Thessia.

Because Ashley did not undergo her character arc, I could imagine Ashley saying things like "I should have been the First Human Spectre, a hero for humanity, not aliens." "I am the hero humanity deserves" "I will make my grandfather proud." "The Alliance has failed humanity and my family" If you romanced Ashley and accidentally left her behind "You BASTARD...I loved you and you LEFT ME TO DIE!"

With Kaidan I can see him saying things like "I am the peak of Biotic perfection." "The Alliance betrayed me. You left me and the Council deserves to die" "Vyrnaus deserved to die, I know that now." "You will pay for leaving me to die" If you didn't save Grissom Academy. "I personally went to Grissom Academy, took those kids and made them like me. Subject Zero never should have left us, now she is ascended to perfection."(if you got Jack's loyalty, Jack begs Shepard to kill her) If you romanced Kaidan and accidentally left him behind "You're just like Rahna. You left me and you betrayed me. After I kill you, I'll kill Rahna."

If we go with the Winter Soldier concept, then it's just TIM manipulating them like a puppet. However periodic exposure to Shepard and the other VS makes them remember

However, if you bring the other Virmire survivor with to Thessia, then there is a chance to turn Ash or Kaidan back to the light.

This works better if you romanced the other Virmire survivor, but if not it works the same result. You can only save Ash/Kaidan if you bring the other VS.

With a charm/intimidate option, Ash/Kaidan follows Shepard's lead and talks down Ash/Kaidan. and in the end they break through their indoctrination and apologize for everything.

Otherwise, they would have to be killed and could not be saved. I don’t think that convincing him to commit suicide like Saren or TIM would work, because it would be too similar to the TIM suicide not too long, and would lose impact because of it. They would have to be fought and killed one last time in combat, and have a tragic end with Ash/Kaidan cursing Shepard while Shepard looks on them with despair or disdain.

If you saved them, then Ash/Kaidan would board the Citadel with you. And when TIM tries to talk you into controlling the Reapers, Ash/Kaidan will shoot him dead.

If Winter Soldier scenario, then both Shepard and OVS can break through and save them. They join us and depending on your war assets, if high, they kill TIM without incident. If low, they sacrifice themselves and gives Shepard the opening to kill TIM.

We talk, have a moment. If it's Kaidan, they talk about the good old days with the original Normandy. Jenkins, Dr Chakwas and Anderson. "Oh Shepard, I'm so sorry" Shepard forgives them. If romanced, they talk about the relationship they were going to start and Shepard says "we can have a cup of coffee and see where things go from there" "I'd like that, Shepard". If Ashley, they reminisce on meeting on Eden Prime, the Normandy, their almost relationship with Shepard saying "we can finish where we left off" "Oh Shepard" and remembering why she volunteered to stay behind.

Alternatively since Ash/Kaidan wasn't shot, they save Shepard. They call the other survivor and rescue Shepard as the Crucible is about to be fired off if destroyed is chosen. If you choose Control, then Ash/Kaidan shoots themselves because they can't bare to live after Shepard fulfills TIM's desires. If Synthesis is chosen then they will be on the Normandy with the other crew members.

[bfpnola]

image description under the cut

when i was 12, i was ambitious. a heart of gold, in the words of earth, wind & fire, i truly believed that nothing could stop me so long as i gave it my all. no obstacle was too large, no goal was too distant. now, at 20, my dreams are shattered in many ways. yet in many ways i am still grateful (and i am aware that i have so much left to live). i owe it to the family i have created to tell this complex truth over a neatly told lie:

for the nearly 8 years that better future program, inc. (bfp) has existed, i have run it almost entirely alone. each time that we gained momentum, it was as though the narrow visions of others dragged us right back to the depths of the void. and i was the one always left to pick up the pieces. you see, for nearly 8 years, i fought and cried, chased and fell, lived and died. but it was through my struggles that i made lifelong friends to kiss the very scars this organization has graced me with. i will always hold a place in my heart for the volunteers who showed up, who bleed alongside me as these words rip into our spirits.

you see, i am writing this because i am a changed person. called every name in the book right down to ngger whore*, something about my soul is hurting. my children and i, my wonderful children, have spent 8 years begging our white peers to care. it does something to you… to look into someone’s eyes, to say that you feel as though you could die, that the world has cursed you with this endless sense of urgency, and for them to only center their themselves whiteness in the end. even in the home we had created, we could not escape white supremacy. i refuse to sugarcoat just how heartbreaking a revelation this was. in the words of one of our truest and most gentle-hearted allies, internally, we had become parasitic, only existing to serve the needs and wants of our white members. and of course, we were disposable. when cycles of harm were disrupted, they left us without a single word of remorse.

my children and i, we are a broken people. torn from our homes, our hearts cracked open, we are a people whose throats are hoarse from screaming, who eyes flood like the mississippi river, whose soles are calloused from chasing after dreams (after humanization) across red-hot coal. we are burnt out.

so where does this leave us? what does any of this mean? crucial details highlighted below:

better future program, inc. (bfp) is changing. our nonprofit status will remain. but our volunteer positions will not. our liberation library will remain. but our discord server will not. we will no longer accept donations. our current funds will be redistributed through mutual aid networks. our 3,000 free resources will still be available. but our capacity for material change has truly been diminished. we hope to continue to provide marginalized youth with educational materials for as long as we possibly can. and so we will do so, for as long as we possibly can.

you see, my children and i, we are a resilient people. borne of slave ships and reservations, occupation and colonization, abuse and grief, we are survivors. our hands grasp one another’s tightly so that we may never lose each other in this world. we have held hands since before we ever even met. as we venture back out into our local communities, we will never stop being intentional in our relationships (in fact, we already have a new project in the works so that may stick together). better future program, inc. (bfp) has still given us so much. and for that we will always be grateful.

if you have any further questions, which i imagine you might, feel free reach out through info@betterfutureprogram.org, instagram (@bfpnola), or tumblr (@bfpnola), as these socials will remain available.

thank you so much for supporting us for as long as you have. it’s time we take a new path.

sincerely,

reaux (she/they)

founding executive director

[ad0rechuu]

★ MILKY WAY. ━━ (032) as hot as i expected

WORD COUNT. 1222

WARNINGS. idk insecurity? also tall yn supremacy!!

credits to @ari-shipping-stuff for being my beta reader / writer <33

DISAPPOINTMENT AND GUILTY— THAT’S WHAT YOU ARE FEELING RIGHT NOW AS YOUR’E STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU WERE SUPPOSE TO MEET TAEGYU AT.

Disappointed that your crush had called you to cancel your plans last minute. Guilty for feeling disappointed and embarrassed because you must look stupid to passersby staring down at the pavement with your phone in your hand.

Staring blankly at your call records, it’s not like you are mad at Taegyu or anything. When he had called he was clearly distressed and out of breath, saying he couldn’t come because an emergency had happened involving someone close to him.

You don’t blame him. It’s nice that he still thought to call you in such a situation, but there is still a part of you that can’t ignore this weird, uncomfortable feeling in your chest.

Stuffing your phone in your coat pocket, you decide that it’s better to go, before you actually start bawling on the street. You are selfishly craving for comfort.

Seonghwa watches his friends scold the current youngest for leading them to San’s parents' cafe while he wasn’t even working.

The shortest of the bunch huffs in annoyance before accepting that they aren’t getting free drinks today.

“Alright since someone loves to do shit without thinking first, what do you guys want to instead?”

Wooyoung shoots an offend look at Hongjoong.

“It’s not my fault that he wasn’t working today? He always works on Fridays!” he exclaims, his voice raising in pitch an embarrassing amount.

“If it’s not your fault then who is it? You didn’t even ask him!” The yellow-orange haired giant next to him yells in a similar volume.

Seonghwa finally speaks up. “Can you guys please lower your voices, people are staring at us!”

“Let them! My nickname isn’t eye candy for nothing.” Wooyoung spreads his arms and twirls in place, nearly hitting a costumer trying to get to the cafe.

“No one calls you that—” Mingi doesn’t get to finish his sentence as the sound of an item falling on the concrete cuts him off.

The older two let out a gasp as Hongjoong pulls their friend out of the disoriented strangers way.

“Oh my god, we are so sorry!” Hongjoong forcefully bows with Wooyoung, the other two following suit.

“I-It’s okay.”

Mingi bends down to retrieve the phone, his eyes widen as he notices a crack across the screen. He inspects it a little longer to make sure that the only damage before noticing a familiar group chat name.

“Huh?”

The person still doesn’t look up but gently grabs their phone out of his hand.

“Don’t worry the crack was already there.” They say with nod of goodbye before walking around the four boys to reach the door.

“Wait!”

Mingi’s loud call startles not only the target person but also his friends and a random passerby, they look at him in confusion as the person turns back around, finally making eye contact with him. A smile only visible in her eyes slowly makes its way on her face as she realizes.

“Yn?” Mingi carefully asks as the girl pulls down her mask.

Seonghwa, who stands closest to her, raises his hand to his neck to subtly check his pulse. He is so sure his heart stopped when her eyes meet his briefly. This is the person he has been dreaming about for years. The moment he has been imagining is happening right at this very moment. He can’t believe it!

“How come every time I'm at this cafe I meet one of you?” Yn laughs. The dark circles underneath her eyes are still noticeable but her smile outshines it.

She first walks to Hongjoong who quickly lets go of Wooyoung to meet her halfway. They embrace each other in a passionate hug, one that was a long time coming.

“It’s been so long Yn!”

“Too long, in my opinion.” Her hands fall on his shoulders as she looks at her childhood friend for the first time in about 16 years. “You lied to me, by the way.”

Hongjoong doesn’t answer but gives her a confused look.

“You said you were taller than me now!”

Wooyoung and Mingi erupt in cackles while Hongjoong rolls his eyes, still holding the girl.

“There is not that much of a difference!”

A whine comes from Wooyoung as he walks up behind his friend with a pout. “Hyung, you never let me hug you that long.”

Hongjoong turns around and smacks the back of the younger ones head with a warning look.

As Wooyoung rubs the back of his head dramatically, his eyes scan Yn. Instantly, he seems to forget about his pain and he pushes his hyung out of the way to take his place.

“Yn! You are as hot as I expected.”

They share a quick hug while laughing. “Not as hot as me though.”

Now it's Yn's turn to roll her eyes.

“Careful, Wooyoung. I might make you pay for my phone.” She shoves him playfully out of the way to get to Mingi.

A wide smile has been on Mingi’s face and his cheeks have been red since he called her name. He immediately takes her hands in his own, mirroring what happened at their first meeting.

“Princess! We meet again.” Is all that she says and Mingi feels as if the butterflies in his stomach are having a party.

She looks up at the tallest of the bunch innocently, like she didn’t just make him one of the happiest men alive just with her presence.

“Y-You..I— w-we..... uh?” He stumbles over his words when he looks into her eyes. All the while, her thumb calmly massages his knuckles in an attempt to calm him down.

Eventually, it works and he manages to get his words out.

“You are prettier t-than I remember.” He stammers. “I-I mean even prettier. You were pretty back then too…” His voice trails off in embarrassment.

“I knew what you meant, Mingi.” She doesn’t laugh at his mistake, she only nods understandingly with a grateful look on her face. “You are adorable, the name princess really fits you!”

The smile on his face grows even bigger, too happy to say anything back. He is ecstatic that someone called him adorable, let alone his idol!

Yn turns around and softly lets go of Mingi’s hands, making her way to the oldest of the group.

Although it hurts his pride to admit, a little part of Seonghwa was scared that she forgot about him when he saw her interacting with everyone but him.

“Don’t worry, I didn’t forget about you.” She tells him as if she can read his mind. She scans his face as his eyes avoid her own nervously.

The pink haired boy doesn’t speak but internally his mind is going a thousand kilometers per hour.

Suddenly, her arms wrap around his shoulders, pulling him into a gentle hug. “You are even prettier than in the photos, Hwa!”

His arms wrap around her waist and his face falls into the crook of her neck. His mind finally wraps around the very real feelings he has been trying to push down.

When he makes eye contact with Mingi, their minds are seemingly connected as the same realization dawns on them.

They are in trouble.

‹ PREVIOUS ᜊ NEXT ›

NOTES. 난 Trou-ou-ou-ouble! Trouble! Trou-trouble maker! anyway to yn these boys are becoming her rocks that’s i’m all i’m gonna say for now also look at profiles chapters if u forgot how mingi met yn

TAGLIST. @bunnystrm @seongwin @aestheticsluut @meginthebuilding27 @gaebestie @stopeatread @pr1ncessm1ng1 @persphonesorchid @se0nghwaswife @seonghwasslytherin @leeknowsnothing @alixnsuperstxr @bluehwale-main @miriamxsworld @tocupid @lvsmeph @sunoo-bby @jcngh0-hq @dudufodd @nikisbf @mrowwww @end0rchans @qtdenks @mintgki @dear-dreamie @leo-seonghwa @legohwas @evilsailorsenshi @seonghwaddict @choichaeyiul @iw4milf @yunstarz @cvberidiot @tubatu-wari-wari

[laniusbignaturals]

I genuinely confused about the whole drama fuss is all about. All fandom always at least have that one toxic ship, it's inevitable. And master/slave trope is not a new concept either, heck people seems fine about the trope as long as two party are attractive i suppose (shrug).

Plus dead dove do not eat also is a thing. It's unavoidable, if someone really didn't like a content there's literally a mute or filter

TLDR: It was always gonna go this way.

The long version: people originally started arguing about Caesar/Arcade because bickering over how to write characters’ romantic lives is time honored fandom tradition. This has been happening since the days of Star Trek and Harry Potter, it’s nothing new. These scuffles become especially aggro & self-serious when related back to a popular blorbo - those (usually male, almost always white) characters that are kinned, stanned and projected onto moreso than others. Arcade is absolutely that guy, right? He's a lot of people's favorite. He's special.

This spat featured casual racism, offensive name-calling and some brazen, truly nonsensical appropriations of AAVE, because those are also time honored fandom traditions. (Even if you niggas are cagey about acknowledging that.) Art in western culture is heavily influenced by white supremacy, and fandom, including the FNV fandom, is just one niche within that culture. White people, especially the young n cool™ ones, value their position as consumers & beneficiaries of black culture more than they value black people. They are known for selecting parts of our identity, language music clothes hairstyles etc, removing them from the original context, and bastardizing them so they can be used as a cultural commodity for nonblacks. Something that is put on and taken off for funsies, cosplay style. That FD Signifier video I was hyping up over the summer had a whole section about this. He also just released a new video on black cops which is worth checking out.

Now, tumblr's userbase generally believe themselves to be more enlightened than fandoms as you see them on reddit and twitter. And this is true, on a superficial level; you are much more likely to be met with slurs and open hostility on those sites than on this one. I also believe that, because the demographics which form the majority of tumblr's userbase - white gays and white women - have traditionally been marginalized & subjected to mistreatment within mainstream pop culture, they are especially resistant to identifying and dealing with the ways in which they fall short of their own progressive ideals. No one wants to see themself in the same light as their own bullies.

The problem is that, when it comes to their behavior, tumblr's FNV fandom can be pretty damn regressive, especially on the topic of race. They tend to have an excellent grasp on liberal terminology and identity politics, so they are comparatively much better at keeping these misgivings covert. But in practice, you will find them to be no less self-centered, entitled and anti-black than the FNV fanboys you would expect to find on reddit and twitter. I got into this game right around the time it was revealed that some white users were producing extreme anti-native content behind closed doors, an experience which has fostered an increased sense of isolation and paranoia among the remaining people of color in the community, as far as I can tell.

Okay, so, some white users start doing the ~Oooh Chile You'sa Lame Ass Homeskillet~ routine characteristic of digital blackface. They go out of their way to be as disrespectful and verbally abusive as they can in the process, because atp they're still on the offensive. And they misuse the black words they're "borrowing" because they don't know what they actually mean. When myself and a few others respond in kind, they double down, carrying on with the nastiness and the bizarrely racialized talking points. (Unironically calling people you don't like "degenerates??" Really?? School failed some of y'all smh)

A couple days go by and, instead of moving on and finding something else to do, they press the proverbial self-destruct button and engage in civility politics. The malignant tone of the original posts is abandoned, and instead, the people who once adopted it become… shocked and confused and wounded. They start talking about how, instead of matching their energy, their contemporaries should've just been "nice" and "civilized." They start complaining about being “canceled” just for having “opinions,” going back and forth between making half-assed apologies and insisting that the original issue wasn’t that big of a deal because they didn’t have “the intention of being racist” as if “having the intention of being racist” is something people ever do.

You would never guess that 1.these were the people all but outright referring to their peers as unwashed subhumans not last week, or 2. that they did so while identifying as left wing. Because rhetoric like this is borne from a place of privilege. Expecting that no one you’re denigrating will be allowed to meet you with an equal level of vitriol, because your space considers doing so to be taboo, is the kind of behavior that arises from too long spent insulated from the nonwhites who created the language they were mimicking. Nonwhites who might take umbrage with their broken attempts to use it while in the same breath calling them & theirs a bitch.

And if theres anything I would like people to take away from this, it's that the parts of fandom culture which they might have expected to have evolved in the past decade or so have, by and large, not evolved. Even some predominantly queer spaces will readily adopt the talking points of the right wing and prove themselves to be every bit as hostile to poc if you don't abide by their rules and center their perspective. So you should think before you speak and make an effort to not throw rocks and hide your hands, as is the parlance of our time.

Lastly, please do not go find these people and bother them on my behalf. I'm gonna take the poor english language comprehension between the both of them to indicate that they’re probably all, if not minors, young adults, which means they’ll likely learn not to act like this on their own. Or not! Maybe they'll be like this forever. Maybe one day I’ll see their names in the news after getting their shit rocked for saying a slur on campus & crying to the press about how they’re the real victims here. I can't influence whether or not that happens, because I’m not their counselor or their mom, even if they expect me to act like it.