#i have never cyberbullied in my life but i was about to start

[thecoolestfreakyouknow]

for a horrible armpit-sweating, hair-raising 5 minutes i thought they pulled a 2521 and broke sam dal and yong pil up and i was about to start my new career in cyberbullying kdrama writers

[syntia13treeman]

Case 16.01

CAT1RB1565-30102023-25032024

what I think happened in:

Case 16.01, the case of "The Inked 4eart" or "RIP your heart out, Madam E".

Today we have a little bit of social media drama. More specifically, a tragedy in 5 acts.  

Act 1, October 2023 (Halloween Eve)

FADE IN Enter stage left: Our protagonist – Madam Elecrum. She's a self-proclaimed ubergoth, and a lifestyle/beauty influencer, who'd apparently build her online persona by throwing fistfuls of trendy words and phrases at a bubbly / happy base to see what sticks.

Enter stage right: Our antagonist – Ink5oul (we've met before). They do magic tattoos and occasional grave robbing (it's for research). Their online persona is: 'I'm too cool for you. Loser.'

Madam E, long time Ink5oul fan, gets a tattoo (her 'heart's desire') done by her celebrity crush. For "free". (It's never free). Like we've seen before with Daria, she has no control over the design, and process is so painful she passes out.

Act 2, November 2023

The effects of Ink5oul's tattoo kick in fast, and they seem to be translating Madam E's popularity to a perpetual 'happy high'. Enamoured with her tattoo and tattooist, Madam E tries to start a relationship. It seems very one-sided, no matter how you look at it.

Act 3, December 2023

Ink5oul decides to find some fresh inspiration underground (again) and tries to manipulate Madam E (by questioning her self-image as 'goth') into doing the dirty work for them. Namely, digging up some graves. When manipulation fails to work, they resort to threats, which go right over Madam E's head (to be fair, if you don't know about their magic, 'I'll break your heart' is just a turn of phrase). Regardless, she does the smart thing and bails.

Ink5oul goes ahead with their grave-robbing plans anyway.

Then Madam E does the dumbest thing so far, and instead of going to the police or forever holding her peace, she blabs about the incident online.

Act 4, December 2023 cont.

Ink5oul retaliates with their own call-out video, among other things accusing Madam E of their own crime. And even though M.E. said the truth and I5 is lying, they have the power of larger fanbase and magic ink behind them. Things go poorly for Madam E. Being cyberbullied by enraged mob is bad enough, but the tattoo makes it so much worse, translating the 'hate' into physical pain (and injury?). M.E. still clings to her persona, but cracks are plainly visible (and full of fear). Ink5soul stans continue doing their worst, up to and including setting her place on fire.

Act 5, January 2024

Madam E is admitted to a hospital with some unspecified 'heart problems'. In her very last video her persona has gone out the window; she is scared and hurting and painfully honest as she begs for the pain to stop. As she begs for her life. I can only assume that the hate campaign is still going strong, since her condition keeps rapidly getting worse, until the cumulative effect rips her heart out in the most literal sense. I can only guess what was put down as cause of death on her death certificate.

FADE OUT

Here lies Madam Electrum. She was survived by her cats and her parents (now living together). So let's talk about the person who killed her.

Ink5oul, tattoo artist/influencer/streamer/grave robber. The Magic Ink Pal. Talking points:

They dig up old graves to study old tattoo's (are they a die-hard fan of Oscar Jarrett, or Sutherland Macdonald, or any old ink master in general?). I wonder if 'studying' takes form of 'looking at them for inspiration', or 'looking at them to learn new symbols and techniques used in them', or 'cut them out and frame them and hide them in my studio to get their power flowing through my space'. Or 'siphon their power through some other arcane means'.

They summon (potential) accomplices by sending them location in 3words code (which was a cool thing to learn about, ngl). I get it, why use rot13 when number 3 is so much more universally significant?

Their art is at least partially based in alchemy (that's how Daria found them – researching alchemy symbols; and there were some symbols incorporated into her paintbrush tattoo. They might have been in M.E.'s heart tattoo as well, we never got a description). I wonder if the symbols are the 'meat' of the tattoo, the things that carry the power, and the rest of design is just window dressing to keep the recipient happy, or are they equally important. They are significant for the people who get them for sure: Daria's paintbrush vs M.E.'s heart vs Ink5oul's floral snake (???).

Power of their art (as we've seen so far) was focused on appearances/image. Ink5oul is referred to as they/them even by a chronically off-line stranger in ep. 11, so there must be something going on with how they appear to others that conveys their non-binary-ness. (mind?) Daria hated her physical appearance, and was given power to change it. (body?) Madam E was living for her online image, and was bound to it so that it would affect her in ways beyond usual. (Feeling great when popular, getting ill and dying when hated and bullied). (soul?)

They occasionally offer tattoos for free or at a discount (both Daria & M.E.); ostensibly in exchange for views it gets them on live-streaming. I wonder if there's more behind that. Are they creating a magical debt, some kind of obligation they can later exploit?

The moment when they threatened Madam E. to 'break her heart', I at first thought they meant that being the creator of the tattoo, they had some kind of direct power over the person who received it. But with the way things went, I think it actually was that they knew how the tattoo worked, and they knew they had more than enough pull online to tank her reputation and send a tonne of hate her way, which in turn, through the heart tattoo, would hurt her and, very literally, break her heart.

I wonder if they actually know what they're doing (have full knowledge of how their craft works) or if they are experimenting. Maybe they once copied some symbols from an old book, just becaue it looked cool, noticed that things started happening, and are trying things out ever since. What will happen if I put this symbol next to this symbol? What if I arrange them this way? Wait, let me take a peek at how Oscar Jarrett did it. Oh, interesting. But what did it to? Must copy to a living person and see how it goes for them.

[whoyouwillcomehometo]

I am a Harry Styles fan. I am not a "girlfriend stan." But when he dates someone, I don't automatically find reasons to hate her, pick her apart, dox her, ridicule her, belittle her, harass/cyberbully her, make up lies about her, talk shit about her appearance, judge her parenting if she's a mom, etc.

My first instinct is to uplift and encourage women. And when I see women being bashed or belittled for no reason, I want to protect them and defend them. I truly don't understand why a woman comes under immediate, intense scrutiny and harassment just because she dates Harry Styles. And I mean that for ANY and EVERYONE he has ever dated.

This fanbase picks women apart like they themselves are perfect, have never done anything wrong, never have put their foot in their mouths or said anything questionable, never had a bad hair day or a bad skin day, never had a wrinkle, a zit, never worn a bad outfit, never made a bad decision, etc.

How can the 1D fanbase be okay with inflicting pain and torment on other people, on women that date Harry? Because that's what constant, everyday bashing is, it's pain and torment. And if you're not bashing them directly, constantly talking shit about them online "empowers" other fans to go directly to their social media and bash them. Why is this fanbase's first instinct to immediately pick apart and HATE someone who dates Harry? I don't get it. Why is that seen as a "normal" thing to do, and if you don't do it, you're a "girlfriend stan?"

I am not a girlfriend stan but a women stan, a compassion-for-other -human beings stan, a stan for fairness, a stan for mental health, a stan for confidence, self-esteem, and uplifting others.

This fanbase tried to destroy Olivia Wilde for absolutely no reason at all. Olivia is only 10 years older than Harry. Harry is not 16 or 18. He's not an inexperienced, vulnerable teen, or a 22-year-old virgin with no life experience. He's well past the age where he can date someone 10 years older and it not be a problem. Why is it okay to age shame Olivia or mom shame Olivia? I know there are Harry fans the same age as Olivia or older who love Harry and have crushes on him. I know there are moms who have crushes on him. So why is it so wrong for him to fall in love with a mom who is older than him? Who in the hell are we in this fanbase to destroy, tear apart, shame, make up stories about, and harass her?

You have no right to pick apart Olivia and talk shit about her at every turn, and then uplift Taylor just because you "like" her and think she's "better" than Olivia. Or because he finally dated someone who "looks like you. (And I say that as a person of color). Do you know why? Because you have no right to judge, or "approve" the people who date Harry. You don't own him. You don't know him. And you don't know the people who date him.

I knew who Olivia Wilde, Kendall Jenner, and Taylor Swift were. But with Camille Rowe and Taylor Russell, I had never heard of them before Harry. But you know what I did when I first saw them with Harry? I smiled because it's nice to see someone I like, Harry Styles, dating someone, because that's what most people want in life, to find love. Not everybody, but most people. I don't stan women he dates, but I sure as fuck don't hate them or talk shit about them. Like I said, my first instinct is to uplift women, see the good in them, etc.

Do you know how abnormal, how freakish it is to start disliking and trashing someone just because they're dating your favorite popstar? You are not a good person if you do this. You are not kind. You are not sweet. You're not cool. You're not funny. You are not a "safe space."

Can you think of how awful you would feel, how traumatized you would be, if you started dating Harry, or someone in the public eye you're attracted to, and all of a sudden you get picked apart in every way possible and cyber bullied? Or a whole different situation, where if you posted something immature or questionable online, or put your foot in your mouth, you're judged or punished for it forever? Why is it okay for you to make mistakes and for people to give you grace, for you to have second chances, but you can't do the same for a stranger who just happens to date Harry Styles?

Don't you know that people have harmed themselves from getting bullied and abused? I'll bet that you'd say you never want to cause that type of pain to anyone, but the first thing you do is pick apart, harass, and shame anyone who dates Harry Styles. Please look deep within yourselves and fix whatever is going on inside of you that makes you do this to his girlfriends, or to any human being for any reason.

Instead of immediately hating on a woman who dates Harry, do you know what you can do? You can leave her the hell alone. Stop talking shit about her. Stop leaving disgusting hate on her social media. I'm going to be very blunt, but you AND me never stood a chance with Harry, not at all. So him having a girlfriend changes nothing.

You know why you bash his girlfriends, right? It's out of pure jealousy. And there's use denying it, because everyone knows it. that's the only reason. Those of you who are enjoying seeing Taylor Russell and Harry together, but who bashed Olivia, Camille, Kendall, and whoever else Harry has dated in the past, you've helped create an environment where it's okay to hate on Taylor. See what you've done?

(And another thing...why is it okay and "allowed" for some of the the 1D men to have girlfriends, get applauded for it, get talked about how cute they are as a couple (for example, Niall and his girlfriend), but Harry and his girlfriends immediately bashed hated on? Why is okay for Niall and say Liam, to want to have a partner, but not Harry? But that's a story for another post, and I'm tired right now).

[lady-of-the-spirit]

tagged by @goldheartedchaoticdisaster thank you bestie ❤❤❤

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

55!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

183,074

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The short answer is basically "whichever one I'm feeling".

the longer answer is: Arata the Legend, the MCU (specifically my own OC content and Eternals), Good Omens, The Old Guard, The Wicked + The Divine, A Discovery of Witches/All Souls Trilogy, Doctor Who, Ted Lasso (in theory, so far) and like... other stuff I can't think of right now that I haven't published but still write for, and other stuff I have written fics for but wouldnt say I "write" for the fandom.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Okay

Rotten Work

Ethereal

First Word

everybody wants someone (i want to be somebody)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Or I try to - I try to respond to every comment people leave, even if it's only a heart emoji or a 'thank you'. Because I want to show them I see them and appreciate them!!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Toss up between "no home sweet and no sweet home" with Joan having to run away from an abusive household in the middle of the night to a life of just constant running and loneliness she's not emotionally prepared for after having a relatively normal life and "my heart is a stone, my body is not my own" with Yataka dealing with years of blackmail, sexual assault and noncon suddenly being exposed to everyone by one of his abusers and just refusing to talk about it at all and rejecting the (admittedly flawed) attempt at comfort shown to him (points for being a fic I wanted to end with comfort and instead became my first hurt/no comfort).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

It's hard to choose but I'm gonna say probably First Word (link above) because. I mean how does it get better than Human!Ten, Donna and Jenny being a little family together and Jenny's first word being Donna's name and Ten being absolutely in love with his girls-

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Oh I did like, back when I was 13. My ATLA OC fic got cyberbullied by some dude on tumblr, who copy&pasted whole chapters of my fic and then would go through the chapter and add shitty comments.

The only good thing about that situation was that he even added a whole post to express his confusion that all the comments on my fic were positive. everyone else was loving it. and then he apparently needed to ruin me and left his own comment telling me he was reviewing my fic. which of course led to a shock and some hurt feelings but uh, seeing him annoyed at everyone else liking the fic helped lmao now I can look back on it with amusement like what was going on with that guy that he felt the need to harass a 13 year old.

I also got another comment on the same fic accusing me of plagiarizing their fic and OC because both my oc and hers could bend 2 elements and had sort of similar names and when I went to read her fic it was so completely different from my own I had to LAUGH.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I've attempted it a few times but I really don't know what I'm doing with it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've never written a whole crossover - I admit I did start an au fic where all different studio ghibli characters were in the story of Anastasia the movie, but it did not get super far before I stopped.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

luckily no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No but if anyone ever asked I wouldn't say no!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Oh my god.... I mean as hard as it is to choose it's gotta be TenDonna. like platonically, romantically, a secret third thing, they are amazing together and I love them so much.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I try to never say I'll never finish a fic, but there's one for certain I don't think I'll ever finish, Prince Mononoke - a role swap au of Princess Mononoke. I was writing it for years and had my grandma proofread every chapter before publishing. I put it on hiatus for years, but then she died, and it didn't feel right to keep going.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I feel I write dialogue really well. I try my best to hit the right voice for every character and I think I do a good job at it. And honestly it's hard for me to not write dialogue like half the time I'm like can you guys shut up already and progress the plot with actions instead-

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not as poetic as I'd like to be, I guess. Like. some writers are just fucking masters with words and I feel like I'm stammering. I'm also not super confident in writing romance - like, pining, or friendly relationship with a splash of romance for fun? I've got that. Actual romantic relationships? Not so much.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

If I do, I use google translate and hope for the best, but usually I don't. Ethereal has a lot of Canadian French in it because Marianne is from Quebec, but I use my sister (a French Immersion student) as my translator.

I mean I don't think there's anything wrong with it. Like, use the best translator website you can find and hope for the best.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

If we want to get really technical it was for The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, before I even knew fanfic was a thing. If we want to be specific to published fic, it was Avatar the Last Airbender.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

UGHHHH HOW DO I CHOOSE

honestly I have no way to choose. So I'm simply not going to lol

tagging: @dani-luminae @sighonaraa @altschmerzes @jamietarttsnorthernattitude @fallenangelontheceiling @vinatintasupernovita @strangelock221b @mousedetective @linguini17 and like, anyone who wants to do this!!!! it's fun :)

[ceasarslegion]

I don't think that anti-fandom can really be blamed on kids being "cringe" and having an AU or OCs or ship that's far-fetched. I think it's due to a popularity treadmill. Things start getting pointed out as media ages, it may not have aged well, and instead of taking it into consideration they just blow the whole thing off and treat is as evil. This site is not good at nuance. Don't blame it on people having fun, blame it on the people who can't take "it's complex" (btw not trying to be rude!)

I think you misunderstood me. I dont care about people having fun, ive been vocally anti cringe culture for a long time now. I think everyone should do whatever they want forever. I think there is a certain group of individuals however who ignore a lot of the source material and then get angry that... its the source material.

Thats why i used marvel as an example in the tags. It was the biggest fandom on tumblr and arguably the wider internet when superwholock ran its course, and yet ive seen the same people who ran marvel blogs claim its the worst thing ever made and that anybody who likes it has terrible taste, as if they didnt... used to run with the URL stevelovesbucky or something. They become cold and mean and cyberbullies over something as inconsequential as blockbuster movies and you end up not with the critique they claim to be doing but just cyberbullying over other people liking the same thing they used to like. Except they didnt really like MARVEL, its more that they liked what their IDEA of marvel was. And theres nothing wrong with fanworks and fics, ive been in fandom all my life and I participate actively in those things too, its that they never actually liked whatever the source was, just the other people who did.

Theres a lot more examples I can think of that fit the same metric. Voltron, Steven Universe, Hamilton, hell I once saw someone get driven out of the Fallout fandom because they wrote a fic where their OC was a legion slave. Meanwhile, roman-style slavery has been a major theme in the Fallout universe since day 1! Thats a perfect example of what I'm saying: someone engaged in the actual source material, but it wasn't approved of by the folks who only liked Fallout aesthetically and not genuinely, because they were bullied and driven out for exploring problematic themes through the safe medium of fiction in the game series ABOUT exploring problemic themes through the safe medium of fiction

I dont have any issue whatsoever with people making fics and art and AUs and fanwork. My issue is with people who act like that fanwork is devoid of a source, and don't actually like the source at the end of the day, take the fanon as gospel, and then end up crucifying the source material and everyone who engages in it genuinely

[sanguinala]

some quotes i cannot stop thinking about from recent lifesteal streams: 

“i can’t get therapy because how do i explain twitch and youtube and the lifesteal smp to a therapist? and how twitch chat says stupid things that make me really, really angry. but also that chatters coming over from youtube are different from regular twitch chatters. and worst of all, how do i explain mapicc?” - princezam

“you should sue mapicc for cyberbullying and make a video called “i took my minecraft enemy to court in real life” - poafa

“i’m going to be honest, ro’s build is ugly as shit but i could never tell him that... oh wait is he watching the stream?” - mapicc 

“please don’t be lying to me” - mapicc to bacon (bacon was, in fact, lying to him)

“zam actually started trying and in the most absurd base i’ve ever seen” - mapicc sort of dragging subz’s eclipse federation base, RUDE

“these mfs are pissed” - spoke leaking the current mental state of duality duo to jaron after bacon, clown, leowook et al. ruined their plan

“i’m scared of having more allies, i just want to cling to subz” - princezam (wholesome?)

[dearlexies]

ok, I deleted the other post because god there a lot of typos (don't rely too much on Google translator) sooo i finally plucked up the courage to write a 4433 au, the problem is i had ideas for 8 different aus but i have serious focus and organization issues so i wanted to focus on just 1. Some are just ideas that haven't been written yet, others are already 1 or 2 chapters, others are just the name and a poorly done synopsis. I separated my favorites (and most likely to be made) and I want you to decide which one I should focus on.

1- something started in a getaway car

In this one Jos is forcing Max to have an arranged marriage, but ofc he doesn't want that, so on the day of the wedding Max runs away and ends up getting into Lewis' car, which is cool enough to drive him a long way away. Lewis takes him to a small town and temporarily shelters Max in his house while he is on the run from his father. As the days go by, Max begins to enjoy life away from the city as he slowly falls in love with Lewis and the quiet life he has.

Important information: long-fic, anxiety, past child abuse, single dad Lewis, parental neglect, kinda coffee shop au, found family, probably will be a series with fics of the other drivers.

2- Delicate

This would be after the Vegas GP where Max e Lewis have been in a secret relationship for years until at a party Max ends up drinking too much and ends up making posts on Twitter that imply that he is not straight. his and rbr PR team takes care of this, deleting the posts, paying journalists to not spread this information, and ofc Max says this is just a misunderstanding and that he was hacked, because he wasn't ready to come out. Everything was fine, the dust below and he even thought people had forgotten about it, that is until just as the 2024 season is about to start, pictures of him kissing another man appear. Now the media is on him like hungry sharks, his father is pissed off and is trying to disown him, and all Max wants is Lewis but at the same time he is terrified of dragging him into the madness his life has become, especially knowing everything that the media had done with Lewis over the years, so he tries to pull away and leave him alone even though I know it's not right.

Important information: Long-fic, established relationship, secret relationship, forced coming out, homophobia, anxiety, a little bit of miscommunication, angst with a happy ending, probably a series with fics of others drivers

3- I'm the reporter, baby, you could be the news

Max is a reporter who is covering his first Formula 1 GP, he ends up being responsible for interviewing the drivers who went to the podium and everything was fine until Lewis started looking at him with these lovely eyes, as if were looking at the most beautiful person in the world (like he does in THAT interview) Max doesn't notice at the time because he's so nervous and just trying to do the best he can so he's not really paying attention to Lewis or his answers, but then he comes home and he gets a text from daniel asking if he and lewis were dating and he's super confused because he had never talked to Lewis before, Max asks Daniel where he got the idea and he starts sending out a bunch of twitter posts of people asking who was the reporter and why Lewis was looking at him like that. So he looks at his interview trying to pay more attention to Lewis and he can't deny it, he looks at Max like he's the most beautiful person in the room. When they meet again it's kinda weird, but Max tries to be a little more open in communication and even tries to joke with Lewis about it, and when he flirts and Max blushes the fans go wild and start shipping them and getting really interested in this.

Important information: long-fic, angs/comfort, media being media, stalker (not lewis or max) cyberbullying, past toxic relationship, homophobia

4- We never go out of style

Max is a photographer who gets a last-minute work call to photograph a famous designer's newest collection, he accepts without a second thought, for the money ofc. there he meets a man, who he assumes is one of the models because of his beauty, he's really nice and for some reason is flirting with him?? Max doesn't understand why such a handsome model would be interested in a clumsy photographer like him, but that doesn't stop him from flirting back. While talking with him Max confesses that he didn't like that designer's collection, the model explains the clothing concept, but still Max didn't seem to like it, he looks a little offended but doesn't say anything. When the photo shoot finally ends, Max asks George (who had called him offering the job) why that model was the only one who wasn't being photographed and he reveals that he is not a model but actually the designer Lewis Hamilton. So Max runs over to apologize to him, but of course Lewis still looks a little pissed off. They have a small argument, with Lewis saying that Max has a very close mind for fashion and that he is not able to see the cultural and political messages behind the clothes, Max trying to make a joke (and get them to end this fight on good terms) says that Lewis should teach him about this complex and political world of fashion, and Lewis sees that as a challenge and doesn't think twice before invites Max to the louis vuitton fashion week in Paris.

Important information: long-fic, one bed, slow-burn, mentions of ed, anxiety, past toxic relationship, racism, mentions of transphobia, homophobia

[richincolor]

Title: Wander in the Dark Author: Jumata Emill Genres: Contemporary, Mystery, Thriller Pages: 400 Publisher: Delacorte Press Review Copy: eARC provided via NetGalley Availability: Available now

Summary: Amir Trudeau only goes to his half brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. Chloe is rich, and hot, and fits right into the perfect life Marcel inherited when their father left Amir’s mother to start a new family with Marcel’s mom. But Chloe is hot enough for Amir to forget that for one night.

Does she want to hook up? Or is she trying to meddle in the estranged brothers’ messy family drama? Amir can’t tell. He doesn’t know what Chloe wants from him when, in the final hours of Mardi Gras, she asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone.

Amir never finds out, because when he wakes up, Chloe is dead—stabbed while he was passed out on the couch. And in no time, Amir becomes the only suspect. A Black teenager caught fleeing the scene of a rich white girl’s murder? All of New Orleans agrees: the case is open-and-shut.

Amir is innocent. He has a lawyer, but unless someone can figure out who really killed Chloe, things don’t look good for him. His number one ally? Marcel. Their relationship is messy, but Marcel knows that Amir isn’t a murderer—and maybe proving his innocence will repair the rift between them.

To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed. Parents will go to any lengths to protect their children, and in a city as old as New Orleans, the right family connections can bury even the ugliest truths.

Review: [Wander in the Dark prominently features discussion of systemic racism in the U.S. justice system and racist cyberbullying in a private high school, in addition to some brief but intense descriptions of violence, an infidelity subplot, and past animal death.]

A surefire sign that a mystery or thriller is hitting the way it should for me as a reader is just how worried I get about the characters. And let me tell you, I spent so much of Wander in the Dark extremely worried about Amir, Marcel, and their family. Author Jumata Emill really knows how to craft a fast-paced mystery, and I raced through the book because I desperately wanted to know what would happen next.

Amir and Marcel are great character foils for one another, and their contrasting narrative voices served to strengthen their respective plots and highlight the similarities they developed. Race and class/privilege shaped both Amir and Marcel, often in noticeably different ways, and their experiences influenced how they saw, related to, and interacted with the world. It made the gradual development of their sibling relationship immensely satisfying to read, especially the times when they united together against other people and in support of each other. I also appreciated how complicated their views of each other and the rest of their family were, especially how neither “side” was blameless in how the conflicts had played out.

Jumata Emill did a fantastic job of layering subplots into Wander in the Dark’s murder mystery. The different investigative paths Amir and Marcel went down as they tried to prove Amir’s innocence developed nicely and tied in to one another in unexpected ways. I never felt like the story was lagging or that a potential red herring was dragging out for too long, and while I had some nitpicks about how particular things played out, none of them were significant enough to detract from my enjoyment of the story. This is the kind of mystery that I would enjoy reading again specifically to spot more of the clues/foreshadowing the second time around.

Recommendation: Get it now if you enjoy mysteries. Jumata Emill’s Wander in the Dark is a fast-paced murder mystery that tackles complex families, systemic racism, intracommunity politics, corruption, and so much more. Amir and Marcel are fantastic narrators, and watching the two of them figure out how to be brothers while trying to clear Amir’s name is a great way to spend a weekend.

Extras: Book Talk: Five Questions with Jumata Emill

Author Interview – Jumata Emill

[en-lista]

🖥 ... ⃕  THE CIRCUS UPLOADED A NEW VIDEO !

description : on the latest episode of mirror mirror, the studio is blessed by the goddess of hearts’ presence. oh, and she brought a enchanting friend too!

warning : mentions of low self-esteem, cyberbullying, and other things that may be triggering. viewer discretion is advised.

“hey, i’m enhypen and pandora’s calista. thank you for inviting me!” the female idol bows to the camera before taking her seat. 

her fictional counterpart walks into view and shyly waves at the camera.

“my name’s naeva, it’s nice to meet you all.” she speaks so softly, and with such a pretty smile on her face, you can hear the staff cooing.

we, the editors, decide to leave that sound in because #relate.

“we’re here to answer some questions that you, the audience, have sent in.” calista looks over at the lavender-haired girl and holds up her fist in a hwaiting motion. “shall we get started?” 

“mhm, let’s do it!”

THE GODDESS OF HEARTS : CALISTA !

👤 : what do you want to be remembered as in the future?

“i’d like to be remembered as someone who, despite having the odds stacked against her, pursued her dreams. life’s too short to play everything by the standards, do what you love without restraint.” 

calista looks proud of her own answer, until she hastily tacks on, “of course, within non-harmful boundaries!”

do what you love without restraint, but within non-harmful boundaries — roh aejeong, 2023

👤 : favorite concept you’ve done so far?

“since i haven’t properly debuted with pandora yet, i’ll pick my favorite from enha. honestly, i really enjoyed the concept we did for dimension-dilemma. compared to most of our eras, tamed-dashed had more of a carefree.. summery type of vibe, you know?” 

she pauses to look at naeva, who nods; the latter obviously invested in her words. 

“we didn’t have to worry much about acting seriously or pulling dangerous stunts because we were given the opportunity act like people our age.”

👤 : who had the most negative impact on your life?

“i wish i could answer but..” calista pretends to clear her throat before continuing, “well third place would be those who claim to be fans. it’s hard to just act like those criticisms and negativity don’t exist because they lurk everywhere, acting like they enjoy our music and watching our content when they actually find joy in tearing us, and others who come to our defense, down. 

so while i acknowledge that they’re here, waiting for me to slip up or even just breathe, i refuse to fall to their level. because at the end of the day, they’re just insecure people hiding behind screens to feel better about themselves.”

👤 : who’s your celebrity crush?

“at the moment?” 

the production crew gasp dramatically, eliciting both girls to laugh. it’s adorable, the way they try to cover their mouth but end up revealing their angelic smiles between peals of laughter.

“i just wanted to clarify- okay, i wouldn’t call it a crush, but i really admire zb1’s jiwoong. i’ve been following him from his acting debut to boys planet. he’s so cool and confident i just wanna ask him tips on how to do that too.. maybe i’ll ask gyunnie to put in a good word for me..”

to hourglass’s gyuri, please introduce calista to zb1′s jiwoong. love, the circus ♡  p.s. everyone here on this channel loves your group, never stop being queens! 

👤 : an idol you’d like to collaborate with?

“i’m stuck between seventeen and txt.. and no it’s not because i have friends in both groups.. okay maybe a little-”

calista pouts, causing the staff to fawn over her.

“seventeen are such exceptional performers that if i ever got to collab with them, i think i saved an empire in my previous life. at the same time though, txt are well-rounded idols with fantastic concepts to match so yeah-”

👤 : pandora or enha?

“or.”

calista’s smiling, yet it doesn’t quite reach the corners of her eyes. she fidgets with the ring sitting prettily on her index finger, the golden rose acting like her anchor. the memory’s still vivid—she scolded the guys after seeing the price tag they forgot to discard.

“i’ll never choose only one of them, not when they’re all amazing, talented, sweet people. and while i haven’t known my girls for as long as i’ve known my boys, the time that i’ve spent with them so far makes me certain that choosing to debut with them isn’t a regret.”

she sheds a shaky breath. one of the producers ask if she’d like to take a break. calista shakes her head. “thank you for your concern but i’m okay, don’t worry.”

nevertheless, a staff member walks onto the scene to give her some tissues and water. 

👤 : would you like to continue acting as a full-time career?

“if you asked me this three years ago, i’d have said yes. but when i get on that stage with my members, and i hear the cheers of our engenes and planetes, i feel like i’ve found my true calling. but i am still open to receiving acting gigs. who knows, maybe you’ll see me in the next season of all of us are dead..”

“wait, are you implying that you didn’t..” naeva hesitates for a second before making some motions—a sequence of gestures that hopefully won’t give away the story for those who haven’t watched the show yet.

the idol merely looks at the camera with a smirk.

👤 : what’s your favorite song to perform?

“in terms of enha, i love performing drunk-dazed. it’s got these hypnotic beats, along with a bold and energetic choreography to complement it. i can’t deny that at the end, i’m absolutely winded from all the jumping and spinning on the floor, but it really is fun to perform for engenes.”

“what about pandora?” naeva asks, then initially gets silence as an answer.

“it’s hard to pick because again, i haven’t debuted with them yet..” the idol drifts off again, head tilted while she looks up at the ceiling—seemingly expecting the answer to fall from up there. “i’d say, mainly because we’ve practiced this song several times, blue & night is my favorite.”

👤 : which country would you like to perform in?

“oh that’s easy, the u.k!” calista smiles fondly as she recalls, “while chobao and i were hanging out with chiara unnie, she told us a lot about the country, especially the cities she grew up in. thanks to that, i’d love to perform there and have a few days to explore the places.”

naeva raises her hand. “if it’s not too much to ask, who’s chobao?”

“it’s not, don’t worry—that’s lanfen! she might come off as mean and blunt but beneath that impression is a considerate and hilarious fluffy cat.”

“when you put it like that, she reminds me of jaan. maybe they could be friends..”

“maybe, but they could also butt heads due to their similarities.”

“at the same time though-”

this commercial break is brought to you by the guests who spent five minutes engaged in a debate about whether two tough softies can get along, and how long can they last. 

👤 : if you could go back to the past while knowing your future, would you change anything?

“as cliché as it sounds, i’m the type of person to believe that everything happens for a reason. decisions may not bear good things right away and that’s okay. while i have made some choices that make me go ‘i shouldn’t have done that’, i wouldn’t change any of them because i did get something precious out of those.. admittedly at times.. dumb decisions.”

the answer receives applause that resonates throughout the entire studio. calista’s bottom lip juts out as she jokes, “can i keep everyone here in my pocket? you all are so sweet to me and nana.”

“you’d need a very big pocket for that.” naeva giggles even more when the determined female looks past the cameramen and clasps her hands, “please nayoung unnie! pretty please!”

to be continued.. 

THE HEART’S REFLECTION : NAEVA !

👤 : who is your best friend?

“how do you define a ‘best friend’?” she wonders, looking over to calista for guidance. of course the older girl readily provides it, “it’s someone who, among your friends, you’re closest to.”

“then that’d be solon. he’s always there for me no matter what. when i need to talk to someone about something, he’s ready to listen. or if i’m confused about a certain subject, he’ll break it down so i can understand. he’s quite protective too—nowadays, i rarely ever go to the sea without him or jino accompanying me.”

“it sounds like he really cares about you.” calista approves before gesturing to the camera. “why don’t you leave a message for him, just in case he watches this.”

naeva shifts in her seat and beams warmly. “thank you nono, i really appreciate everything you do for me. i’ll always do the same for you so please don’t be afraid to approach me.”

👤 : what is your favorite subject at school?

“i have two, but one isn’t an official subject, is it okay to mention both of them?”

when one is so polite and soft-spoken, how can the crew say no? 

translation: of course it’s okay, anything and (almost) everything is okay when it’s for naeva the sweetheart.

“i really like creative writing. there’s something enjoyable in being able to unleash your imagination on a piece of paper, as well as stirring ideas around to see what can be made out of them. at the same time though, i enjoy after school because nightball practice occurs at that time, and it’s pretty much one of the few occasions i get to see my friends together so that time is really important to me.”

👤 : does it feel like you don't fit in sometimes?

similar to her human counterpart, the hybrid hesitantly nods and strains her rosy lips to show a smile. “yes there is. it’s not easy being a supernatural creature, let alone being the offspring of a common and rare species. maybe that’s why i don’t have much friends outside of the brothers and sooha—everyone else is scared that i may use my allure on them.”

naeva falls silent shortly after that, her head hung low as she stares at her lap. it only lasts for at least 30 seconds before she hastily fixes her posture and rubs her palms against her skirt.

“i don’t mind it that much, my little group is more than enough for me. they may have different personalities, and sometimes they hang my sanity over the edge of no return, but none of them have ever made me feel like i don’t deserve to be in decelis; like i don’t deserve to have them as my friends. they trust me, and that’s what makes me happy.”

👤 : are you and sooha friends?

“yes we are!” the excited lilt in her voice makes everyone’s hearts flutter; some even acting like they got struck by cupid’s arrow. she doesn’t notice as she’s busy rolling up her sleeve to reveal the beaded bracelet sitting snug on her wrist. “unless my memory’s foggy, we made each other matching bracelet during our first girls’ night. granted, we live in the same dorm building, but we hadn’t really been able to hang out one on one until then.”

out of the blue, a sheepish aura begins to surround the student. “don’t get us wrong, we love our other friends but..”

“..but it’s nice to have a girl friend to spend time with, discuss and do things you can’t do with guys?” calista guesses, though the twinkle in her syrup-tinted irises says she’s far too familiar with naeva’s struggle.

“exactly! she also doesn’t use me as an armrest or suddenly leap on me to get a piggyback ride so my head and back manage to get a well-deserved break.”

what an.. interesting taste in furniture and transportation..?

👤 : what is your biggest secret?

“if i tell you then it won’t be a secret anymore, right?” she jests, the apples of her cheeks lightly heating up when her joke is met with laughter and agreement. “i’ll tell you a wish of mine.

when i was younger, i met this boy, and he became my friend for a day. i don’t recall much about him—just that his eyes were so pretty, i felt like i was staring into the sun, and he had a tendency to give more than he should.”

her fingers instinctively rose to her necklace; specifically, the silver pendant that hung on the middle. with nostalgia injected in her smile, she summarizes, “if i ever meet him again, i’d like to thank him for showing me that even if the world turns its back on me, there will always be someone waiting for me with open arms.”

👤 : are you a day or night person?

“oh, i’ll have to think thoroughly about that one.”

how to think thoroughly and look cute while doing it, according to naeva:

first, play with your sleeve while you ponder about it. next, begin to mentally compare the pair of times. finally, snap your fingers as you come to a satisfying conclusion.

“i’ll say night because that’s when my mind’s will to be productive is at its peak. i mean, i do manage to complete tasks during the day, but it tends to feel like i’m fighting tiredness while doing so. meanwhile, when the moon is hanging above me, i have so much energy that i genuinely enjoy the things i do like watch the nightball practice, practice writing a novel, play around by the sea—those kinds of activities.”

at the end of her explanation, she notices the look of awe some of the crew are giving her. while she attempts to ignore the urge to curl into herself, she meekly asks, “did i say something wrong?”

“have you ever considered becoming a rapper?” someone pipes up.

..hiding her face behind her hands shall suffice for now.

👤 : have you ever wished that, even if it was temporary, you could be normal?

“yeah, definitely, but that’s in the past. i’ve stopped caring about people’s impossible ideals, and now i’m content with who i am.”

it’s not hard to tell—not when she speaks confidently and exudes it. of course, calista sounds like she supports the ‘younger’ girl.

“i like that you mentioned embracing yourself, regardless of whether you fit others’ definition of ‘normal’ or not. at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is your own, so be kind to yourself. never be afraid to be your own monarch.”

be your own monarch — naeva & calista, 2023

👤 : do you have a crush?

naeva purses her lips and looks at everything but the cameras. the mannerism doesn’t fall short on calista’s radar, and her lips curl into a cheshire smile.

“who is it~?” she playfully prods efore leaning closer to the blushing girl. “you can whisper it to me if you’d like.”

lavender tresses momentarily create a halo around naeva before they fall against her back once more. she hastily explains, “it’s just a silly little infatuation, i’ll get over it sooner or later.”

“let’s check in later to see about that..”

all of a sudden, there’s a sly kitty and bashful puppy in the studio.

👤 : what are your abilities?

“i have quite a few, yet the most notable is imitation. what that means is i can copy others’ abilities and use them how ever i wish.” naeva recites it without much thought, it sounds like she’s explained it before.

her companion hums, thoughtfully nodding along. “you mentioned allure before, is it okay to explain what that entails?”

“oh yes, i have this special song that when heard, lowers a person’s guard enough for me to take control of their mind.” her voice falls a little towards the end as she adds, “but i swear i’ve never used it unless absolutely necessary, like in a battle.”

calista pats the lavender-haired girl’s armrest, a small gesture of assurance. despite that already being enough, she tells her, “we believe you.”

👤 : heli or jino?

the girls share a look of confusion before one falls into a stream of laughter. it doesn’t matter if she covers her mouth, everyone can tell calista’s gigging at the question. on the other hand, a mortified naeva slouches in her seat and stares up at the sky.

fly high naeva’s spirit!

once she’s calmed down, calista can’t help but note, “that’s such a random question, what on earth..” 

“it’s not when you know someone who’d definitely ask this.” naeva mumbles, the face of a certain troublemaker immediately popping in her mind. but before she can begin plotting what to do with the culprit, she recalls the question. 

she thinks about saying the name of the boy with the pretty golden eyes; the boy who’d stay up with her, talking about everything and nothing while her lithe fingers played with his ebony tresses..

“jino. in terms of people i’m close to, he’s right on solon’s heels. even though he can’t be near water, he always comes with me to the sea to make sure i’m safe. whenever i don’t feel good about myself, he’s popping out of thin air to dispel the negativity.” 

she wanted to say more, but the words don’t get past the tip of her tongue. instead, she beams with a crescent eyed smile.

“to my candlelight, let’s stay together forever, okay?”

“we have made it, thanks for sticking around ‘til the end!” calista bows in gratitude, her companion shortly following suit.

“if you enjoyed this episode, please tap the like button..” naeva send a glance to calista to check if she’s doing the outro right and gets a thumbs up in return. “then subscribe to this channel if you’d like to see more, thank you.”

“this was enhypen and pandora’s calista..” 

“accompanied by naeva..”

“..and we flipped your heart.”

taglist : @stealanity​ @lost-leopard-beanie​ @annoyingbitch83​ @starmaniic​ — send an ask / dm to be added !

[1moremilgram-enjoyer]

Continuing on "Haru's quest to annoy FF about every character in Milgram because they had the bad luck of getting interested in it basically at the same time he did" (/lh) Next on the list of prisoners is Fuuta. I remember you once said that he's one of your favorites along with Amane, Mikoto, and Muu, so I'm interested to hear you cover him !

Ah, so that’s why you’re doing this, your character motivation. The lore thickens. /lh

Yeah, I like Fuuta quite a bit. I’m always a sucker for protag foils, and since we can consider Es and even ourselves as the protag(s), then obviously I was going to love Fuuta. His views on justice are really interesting when considering we kinda do the same thing he ended up in Milgram for, deciding on people’s fates with horribly incomplete information and trying to justify to ourselves why we’re in the right for causing these people psychological pain. Not like it’s gonna stop me from voting people guilty when I think it’s deserved though lol.

CW: Cyberbullying, mention of suicide and murder.

(T2) Q9: How do you feel about the first trials results?

F: You’re the same as me.

Oh yeah that’s the good shit right there.

That is certainly a huge factor, Fuuta is great as a reflection to some of Milgram’s main themes and I love him for that. Even if his personality is maybe reminiscent of some other characters I’ve seen (when did Xander Matthews and Ace Markey have a secret love-child and why does he have a Bakugo complex), he’s still unique enough that I don’t see it as much of a problem.

And let’s not kid ourselves. Part of me enjoying a character sometimes comes from loving their song, and not only is Bring it On a banger like no other, Backdraft is probably my favorite Milgram song.

There’s also just a certain amount of hilarity that comes with the fact that people in Trial 1 managed to inno someone they believed to be a damn organ harvester then turn around and guilty my guy for having a Twitter account. Truly the most unforgivable of crimes.

It’s especially interesting now with Backdraft the theories around his “murder”, because I actually think it may be one of the more unclear ones in terms of what happened. You might have seen there’s a theory he wasn’t the one to start the witch hunt on the girl that ended up dying, which I find is quite believable even if we still have to explain what was going on with that photo he took of someone’s home in his Undercover silhouette thing. But what’s even crazier to me is the goddamn Undercover kill shot where his victim has both shoes on, unlike Mahiru’s and Kazui’s. Does this imply it wasn’t a suicide? Is it because whoever has the orange spray paint that shoots really straight at the one graffiti’s forehead actually murdered the girl themselves? But Fuuta still got blamed for it?

Hey remember when I said the more headache inducing a character the more I’m going to love them?

Anyways, I also think it’s cool how much Backdraft references the events during Milgram themselves. I love Es appearing in a prisoner’s song, too, especially with the whole “the one shadow from Purge March kinda looks like Es thing”-

Oh yeah Amane! I love her dynamic with Fuuta so, so much. They’re so cool and awesome and great and I hope Fuuta doesn’t get too indoctrinated but also I think it’d be kinda funny. I don’t think it would happen though, I trust big bro Fuuta will help Amane reject her cult’s teachings please I need them to have a wholesome ending where they just eat cake and play video games together you know Amane would beat his ass in any game even though she’s probably never touched a videogame in her life-

I am immensely normal about them, as you can clearly tell.

Anyways, some other things which I find really interesting.

(T1) Q1: What is a friend?

F: Folks you can get hyped over the same thing with

(T2) Q16: Do you have a lot of online friends?

F: I don't know if we were friends or not. There were times when we had fun together. But I don't know if I can call it that.

Am I reading this wrong or did my guy change his definition of what a friend is specifically to exclude his old friends? Because that’s some crazy character development right there.

(T1) Q9: Do you have apologetic feelings for who you killed?

F: I never killed anyone. Didn't you hear me? I thought you were a guard!

(T2) Q6: Do you remember the name of the person you killed?

F: I'm pretty sure I do. I saw it often after all.

So he’s admitting he did kill someone in a way. More character development.

(T1) Q10: Which prisoner do you get along with the most?

F: I'm not anyone's happy friend. Well Haruka's younger, so I take care of him.

(T2) Q2: How do you feel about Haruka?

F: This isn't the time to worry about other people. Plus it's not like he's a kid either.

More changes, my guy really is very different from trial 1 himself and I think that makes him extremely compelling.

Okay I need to stop or I’m gonna be here forever, this guy is just all kinds of silly. Anyways, love him. Please don’t get indoctrinated into Amane’s cult.

(T2) Q14: What are you thinking about now?

F: Maybe because I'm anxious, but I want something to rely on.

Please. Fuuta you’re like the only one there who might be able to reach her Fuuta please.

Anyways, I gotta go before those two rot my brain further. Hope you enjoyed! Take care!

[opinated-user]

This might be an unpopular opinion but I feel like Mikayla gets an unfair short end of the stick by LO critics, unless she did something terrible I was unaware of.

I just got out of a relationship with someone very similar to Lily, at least based on what we know her to be. My ex was incredibly manipulative and let me tell you, when a partner is *really* good at doing that shit it's a psychological nightmare. The 2+2=5 shit they were talking about in 1984 is no lie. You will genuinely start to believe things you've known all your life to be false and it's fucking scary to finally be free of those shackles.

So when I see people deride MO for being a bad person because "she defends her wife's actions and backs up her cyberbullying!" I... take pause. Because one part of me knows you can't get away with being mean to others JUST because of manipulation and she does have to take some accountability, but the other part of me knows that she probably wouldn't be like that without Lily's overruling fist.

idk this is probably just me being parasocial but y'know. A patterns a pattern no matter how small

indeed, i absolutely agreed with you, anon.

we can talk about MO's questionable actions (her stealing fanart for a video and still profiting off of it even after the artist said they didn't want their art there, participating along with ginger on the harassing of Lizzy and also strip herself for youtube next to LO), but we should never forget that for every abusive action we have seen LO display during streams, where she knew she was being watched, there's a lot more behind the scenes that we can't even imagine.

we don't know what a MO without LO is like. we don't know if that MO'd have agreed with the actions of the current MO because none of us ever met that version of her. a person is not themselves when they're on a relationship like that.

t's worth repeating: leaving an abusive partner can be one of the most difficult things a person can go through. it can take multiple attempts before it's actually effective and MO is still on the phase of just excusing LO whenever possible, there's no intention of leaving. we need to take that into account and realize that for whatever thing worth calling out MO has done, LO still has done so much worse, to her and to others. unlike with MO, we do know for sure that LO is that bad completely out of her own volition without any influence. she was always toxic, always bigoted, always entitled and abusive, regardless of who she's with.

[jasontoddthings]

Dean Anon:

You asked why I reblog stories by a certain writer, because you see my reblogs as suggestions on your feed, and you don’t understand because “there (sp) literally the WORST Jason todd ever”

I am answering your ask as a post for two reasons:

1) To protect the name of the writer you mention (because, let’s face it, you’re hoping they’ll see it and be upset). If there are other writers out there that you think write him better that maybe I hadn’t run across yet, you’d have suggested them, and you wouldn’t have used an anonymous ask.

2) Because I realize that English may not be your first language, and I’m not going to embarrass you by reblogging your other grammar and spelling mistakes.

I also believe in encouraging young writers and generally being nice to strangers, because have you looked at the news lately? There is WAY too much nastiness, violence, and general fuckery out there in the world, and I don’t want to add to it if I can help it. Plus, in another fandom I have a side blog on, I see so much arguing and bullying and hate, and again - I’m not going to take part in it. I’m sorry you don’t appear to feel the same way.

Hurt people hurt people. I’m guessing someone has hurt you in some horrible fashion at some point in your life, if you feel you have to resort to cyberbullying people to try and control what they choose to reblog on their pages, instead of being a sensible adult and scrolling past things you don’t like. There are over 8 billion people on this planet; mathematically, it’s impossible for us all to agree on most things - look at all the religions, political parties, etc. out there. At least we’re allowed to have our own pages on sites like this, where we can post things we like to read and not what we’re told to. It’s why we post MDNI on our fics, so we can read mature themes and mature characters, because we’re supposed to be mature people and not act like cranky children on the playground.

I know you know Jason Todd is a fictional character and not the subject of a non-fiction biography. Fans’ definitions of cannon depend on which Jason they’re thinking of, because Jason changes with every writer in the comics, the games, the movies, and the TV shows. We can’t all be Chip Zdarskys, Neil Gaimans, Shakespeares - and they didn’t start out being the literary titans they are, they had a learning curve from their first story to their current bodies of work.

Am I a writer? Nope - I write articles, technical reports, boring things with no literary value, but I love to read. It’s how I found Tumblr in the first place. Do I like everything I read? No, of course not - if a paragraph or two in to a story I don’t like it, I stop reading and scroll on past like a mature adult. If I read a whole story that someone took the time to write and share for free, even if I wasn’t over the moon about it, I’m going to thank them by commenting something positive and reblogging it. If we don’t complement and reblog things on this site, authors get discouraged and don’t write, things don’t get reblogged, and this site dies.

Know what also discourages authors, especially if they’re insecure about their writing? Bullying and hate-posting. If there’s a problem with something like duplicated sentences/paragraphs in a story I will comment about it (because I’d want someone to do it for me so I could correct it). I would never presume to tell an author “X wouldn’t do that,” or “this is awful,” unless the author *specifically* requested constructive criticism (and then I’d sure as hell be respectful about it), because there are as many Jason Todd’s out there as there are people to write about him. I’m not a Nazi - unless I’m commissioning a story and paying the author to write what I want, I would never presume to tell an author they’re wrong or something is the WORST. I can almost guarantee you, as bad as you think an author is, there’s always someone out there in the world writing the character in a way you might consider even worse.

Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe the author hasn’t read a lot about that character? Or they’re young with not a lot of life experiences to draw on, so they’re writing what they know? Or they’re new to writing, or (whatever language) isn’t their first language? Or, for characters like Jason Todd, The Winchesters, Matt Murdock, or thousands of other characters out there who didn’t have happy childhoods (if they even had a childhood at all), the author wants to read about the character as a young person, and are writing the AU or medium-adjacent they want to see out there? I’ve not seen many fics on young Jason, and I was curious to see what they’d come up with, especially as he’s doing a lot of the things I did at that age (but far more vigilantism than I did - I just did roller derby). Whatever the reason they chose to write about young Jason in their world, they envisioned it, took the time to write it, and shared it - that took a lot of time. I took the time to read it to the end, so I reblogged it to thank them - because it’s my blog and I decide what I want to share on it, not you. Simple as that.

Just because the character doesn’t act the way you want them to doesn’t make you right and the author wrong. You’re entitled to your opinion, just like they’re entitled to theirs. Writers don’t get better unless they get encouragement, find a mentor to give them constructive criticism, and read a lot of things (not just about their favorite character) to help them learn what they like and what they don’t. Maybe you’re a writer yourself - if so, you must have a thick skin (not because of your grammar and spelling, as English may not be your first language) but for your willingness to be so disparaging about another writer that you take to sending anon messages to those that reblog the author’s work to try and get them to stop. If so, I’m sorry someone in your past hurt you and showed you that treating others the same is acceptable behavior for an adult. At least reading the stories of the author you disparaged in your ask to me has given you an opportunity to learn what you don’t like, and will hopefully inspire you to be a better writer yourself. I also hope that after reading all of this, if you bothered to read to the end once you realized you haven’t changed my mind, you’ll be a little kinder to other authors and treat others the way you’d like to be treated. You may be anonymous here, but Karma knows your face, and she keeps score even if I don’t.

[mbrainspaz]

Well there was only a little unpleasantness at the lakehouse, mostly in the form of thoughtless misgendering. Maybe one or two belligerent ones, but everybody was at least pleasant to me even though I was masc most of the time. Things like my gruncle saying 'you look lovely in that hat—I think hats look so nice on women,' I'm still willing to chalk up to cluelessness. I got to chill with the guys while we admired the McLaren and talked shop and then swim over and chill with the ladies while they talked about cousin drama. Maybe it had something to do with the queer to straight ratio being a little more in my favor than usual, given it's my gay uncles' house and one of my young gay cousins was there too. He was being an obnoxious anti-vaxx kiddo online so we hadn't talked in over a year but he seems to have matured a lot in that time.

My conservative gay uncle does have a point when it comes to the divisiveness of the social media environment. There are a lot of people I can't stand online who are tolerable in person. Is it because they're stripped of the dark power of beaming their most bigoted thoughts at me while I'm drinking my morning coffee? Yeah. Is it because they suddenly can't summon infinite minions to cyberbully me? Probably. Is it because face to face I have the power of being a visibly compassionate and friendly person with an understanding of lots of topical issues that I've studied while they can barely hold a coherent conversation that goes beyond mentioning a post they saw once? Mmhmm. Will anything I explained to them in these conversations actually make them think and change their minds? ....most likely still no, but more likely than when I talked to any of them online, I bet.

I ended up having some surprising conversations with my grandparents and others. My grandpa asked me what I meant by 'queer' so I explained that and then he asked me about being bisexual and 'if there was a website for bisexuals'—honestly not sure if he was hoping for a link or what lol. I explained that I'm actually ace and, you know, explained it all in a grandparent appropriate way. I was shocked that he actually seemed interested. Later my gran started telling me a story about one of her friends having an encounter with a trans woman in a grocery store. She wanted to use it as an example of trans people being unreasonable and angry but I spent the whole story patiently correcting her pronoun use until at the very end she actually started getting it right. Then we had an interesting chat about the prison industrial complex of all things.

It's such an experience talking to conservatives one on one while you're sipping margaritas in a pool. They'll repeat an earworm they got directly from fox news 10-20 years ago and then you just get to go 'that's not true though and here's what's actually going on.' Ad infinitum.

My gruncle asked me what my name means and seemed to appreciate the explanation. "I never even thought about changing my name," he said. "I never liked mine," I said, "and a few years ago I just decided life is too short, you know? To live with discomfort for no reason."

One older cousin got emotional when we talked about how I don't really have a relationship with my parents anymore after coming out. I wonder if she might have been gnc or queer in a different life. She hugged me goodbye after other people in the fam assured me that she wasn't a hugger. Idk, sometimes you just need the right person to hug?

Overall it was a lot easier to spend time with everyone than it has been for me in times past. I didn't feel the urge to flee and hide out in the attic so often. Nobody bullied me. I felt more comfortable taking up space as myself than I used to. They might not believe or understand I'm also a man but that didn't stop me from being one.

[leedongwook]

seeing the other anons on here, regarding the whole reblog vs. like debate on tumblr, is interesting to me. and i must say that i'm a bit amused by the fact that getting blocked apparently causes so much anxiety in people that they simply refuse to use tumblr as intended. i was anxious when i got my first anon hate or when i was first blocked by someone 10+ years ago when i was still a teenager myself, but i'm glad that i always understood that none of this was a me problem. haters be hating, trolls be trolling. there are millions of bored, dissatisfied people who come online just because they think it's funny to make other people angry. this is why getting blocked and blocking others is a daily occurrence for every normal blogger on here, just as it's normal to meet people in real life who simply do not and will never like you for reasons x, y, and z. it's par for the course, it's life, baby, but nothing you should take personally because, in the end, we're all strangers here and none of this determines your value as a human being!

also, blocking is one of the most important tools to curate (a) your dash, (b) the tags you frequent, and (c) the interactions others have with you. it's quite literally the most polite, respectful, no-drama way to ensure that you do not start unnecessary online fights that are nothing but a big waste of time. the most efficient way to ascertain that you do not expose yourself to people, blogs, and content that you know make you angry, sad, or anxious. blocking is not a hateful action (well, if can be, but i think we should appreciate silence and keeping a respectful distance to each other over open hostility, flaming, and cancel culture). blocking is the tool we use to prevent trolling, cyberbullying, arguing, and cognitive dissonance. and that goes both ways! if somebody blocked you, always assume they have a reason for it, even if it may an incredibly simple or vague one. there must be one. and that's okay, and probably good for both of you. if the other person knows that you two will not get along, then trust in that decision and move on with your life.

like, this is the internet, with millions of strangers (many of them very young, and many more of them simply stupid af) who have very strong opinions on the most banal things you could never dream of arguing about. the other anon said they received hate for reblogging things: welcome to the club! i do point to what i already said above and want to ask directly: did you know that you can block anons in your inbox? did you know that you can disable the anonymous option in your inbox or even disable the entire inbox if necessary? did you know that you can disable comments and reblogs on your posts and that you can curate who is allowed to hit you up via chat function? did you screenshot the anon hate and share it privately with a friend so you can make fun of it together, as god intended? i promise that handling hate and curating your user experience aproperly gets easier the more you use all the tools that tumblr offers you.

most importantly, did you eventually manage to externalize the problem (i.e., realize that the real problem is the person who sent you hate) instead of internalizing it (i.e., thinking that you are not allowed to reblog/post anything anymore because some stranger on the internet was being an immature baby in your inbox once)? the last bit is essential. you have to learn that your blog is your house, and you can decorate it however you want, as long as you follow common netiquette regarding tagging and such. other are allowed to block you if that helps them curate their dash, as much as you are allowed to block them if that helps you to curate your dash.

if those are the big reasons why so many users are only liking posts but never reblogging nowadays, then i'm honestly unsure if you (@ the other anon, but also everybody else who might potentially read this and relate) should be on tumblr of all places. being able to handle some cognitive dissonance while you are blogging, whether it's because of something you come across while scrolling through tumblr or something that is directed towards you specifically, is essential. this is not instagram or twitter or tiktok, where the algorithm allows you to consume passively (i.e. liking posts) while remaining in your comfortable echo chambers and still contributing meaningfully to creative work, communities, and fandoms (i.e. your likes actually affect the algorithm in favor of the content you liked, which equals more exposure, which can even be turned into real life money).

tumblr is a content-centric website that is about curating your person dashboard and filling your own personal blog while not relying on a like-based algorithm. ergo, reblogs are the only currency on tumblr that truly counts because they are the only action that actively leads to the circulation of other people's content and facilitates the discovery of new blogs and users that you can connect/interact with. yes, liking is a quick form of appreciation, and we all use the like button for a variety of reasons that are all important in their own right, but you do not contribute to the survival of fandoms, to the real validation of creatives' works in form of more exposure (because unlike insta, tiktok, and co., likes and exposure are not linked here), and to the circulation of content by only using the like button. that passivity is not an issue on algorithm-based social networking sites because they do have an algorithm, but it surely is a problem on tumblr.

just to be clear: liking is not forbidden or frowned-upon in a general sense. but on tumblr dot com, unlike many other social networking sites, it's meant to be a side hustle at most.

if anyone feels unprepared or anxious to handle the tumblr-specific environment that was created for blogging (i.e you are meant to contribute by actually filling your personal blog with content that you either made yourself or that you reblog from others), then idk why y'all are here, in all honesty. i must ask this: do you even know what a blog is? it certainly feels like a lot of people all came here with the expectation that this is twitter 2.0, but the reason we're here is specifically because this is the blogging website. the website specifically made for blogging. why do people come to the blogging website just to refuse to reblog or post their own content? if all you want to do is use the like button, why aren't you literally anywhere else except here? nobody forces you to be here if that's not the type of social media experience that you enjoy. if you do not want to use the main feature of tumblr, which is Having Your Own Blog, then simply use sites where you do not have your own blog and are not expected to use said blog. it's as simple as that! don't complain when bloggers point out that you're simply invading their blogging space with foreign ideas of how netiquette must look like – tumblr has never been like the more popular sites, and that is a deliberate choice and something we love and appreciate it for! do you all also create wordpress accounts and then complain about having to use wordpress like it's intended to be used? do you also go to the gym and then complain that you have to actually use the dumbbells yourself instead of letting somebody else do all the work for you? i highly doubt it.

it makes absolutely no sense that so many people come to a place that has a specific environment only to refuse to adapt to how it works, which is why i find this entire debate so silly. we have so many websites we can choose from, but people choose to stay on the blogging website to complain about blogs and reblogs to the bloggers who have been blogging for years and actually know what blogging means.

meanwhile, the solution is so very simple: you could, instead, move the any algorithm-driven websites and click on every like button in sight until you die of old age! only liking posts does simply not meet the rightful expectations of the bloggers on tumblr who share their hard work on here and ask for no other reward except exposure, which is the same thing that every creator online wants, be it on twitter or insta or tiktok! exposure which you can only grant them with reblogs, because Liking Does Not Do Anything On A Website Without An Algorithm.

this weird passivity shrinks exposure to laughable sizes (200 notes max on a gifset that took hours, and 80% of those notes are likes?!), destroys creatives' motivation to create and share their work in the future, and inevitably deteriorates entire online communities and fandoms. if everyone was unwilling to blog on tumblr, this website would be empty. zero posts. empty dash. then what? you wouldn't be pressing any like buttons at all if everybody brought this attitude to the blogging website that was created specifically for sharing content. google dictionary on "sharing": have a portion of (something) with another or others; use, occupy, or enjoy (something) jointly with another or others. you enjoying a meal alone in your room (liking posts and not reblogging) is not the same as putting the meal on the table (reblogging it to your blog) and enjoying it with others (followers seeing your reblogs on their dash).

it's stupid. imposing algorithm-rotted expectations on how tumblr is supposed to work even though (a) it is fundamentally different from other social media sites and (b) has no fucking algorithm is stupid.

tl;dr tumblr netiquette does not have to adapt to you; you are the ones who have to adapt to the tumblr netiquette. people who have been here for years are rightfully angry at you for not adhering to the easily understandable social contract between creators and consumers.

I’m just gonna leave this here ✌️

[bloodiedbeloveds]

Wait, you wrote BDTA?? Just wanna jump on the bandwagon that my-deer-friend started because I loved that verse <3 The whole series is bookmarked and it definitely left a profound impression. Especially the one written as an article by A. Hamilton, that one felt like such a masterpiece to read.

I remember trying to picture John's art, and the 'tumblr discourse' fic of the series (genius btw). I remember how I broke a little when that poster had seen the picture of John after the attempt and said "how small he looked" 😭 shit i'm shedding some tears rn, that line just gets to me for some reason, as if i can see him

Body horror fascinates me, especially as a trans man, so I seriously adore the concept of this world. This may sound a little nonsensical, but the way you write is evocative of paintbrush strokes on an impressionist painting to me.

I agree wholeheartedly with my-deer-friend; BDTA!John is precious and intriguing, and he pops into my head now and then, just wondering about what his life has been like before the story and what might be in his future.

hi oh my god we are so flattered. yeah that was us!!!

we have so many thoughts about we never really learn-- at one point we even had a whole bunch of lore for the ten deaths of acadia setter, despite the fact that its narrative purpose is exclusively to be Problematic. every tumblr discourse must pull in some very irrelevant dispute about a piece of media. there are so many tiny details in that fic that we think a lot of people overlook but We Know. we know they're there

the way people received this particular fic is interesting too, because without the context of the later work + stuff we haven't even written we can totally see how it reads like john's suicide was mostly about this internet cyberbullying stuff but oh, boy, it was not. it very much was not. after not a perfect son i think most people have figured it out but there was a while there where we were always internally like "oh you don't even know the half of it"

we're obsessed with body horror also-- for us it's not just being trans but also being autistic and plural and just all around weird. love monsters. love fucked up shit. also that's so very kind thank you!! verbal impressionists, that's us, i guess?

(his life before the story: sucked, but in various different ways. his future: no spoilers, because the urge to come back to this series is hitting us. we left the next fic (which is mostly about our unhinged polly headcanons) unfinished, but we're thinking of finally finishing it + going through the hell of putting all the html for it in properly.)

[shinyturtlelady]

An account of my losing it through 'My Dearest'

I am three episodes in and I adore the main leads. I just adore that banter and the fact that baby girl is so wonderfully delusional and that the only way to get out of it is through a touch of trauma.

My guy on the other hand? He's perfect. 😭😭 I'd have hated him irl but he's perfect there - on the other side of the screen.

Anyway, I am entirely convinced this is going to be one of those shows that will break my heart in utter completeness.

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I truly hadn't meant that level of trauma, please 🙂 wh-what is going on?

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It gets worse? 🙂

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What in the utter nonsense is the start of episode 7? I'll fight someone if it ends up being a dream sequence. I'll cyberbully. I am not above it. 🙂

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I do not like that I am not on the side of my fellow homosexual. 🥹 the other side has it this time. Maybe in another life?

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About to start episode 10. If it's nonsense, fuck everyone and I hope the writers never know cool pillows.

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No matter how it's being put, I truly do not see a valid reason for her to escape with him. It is so monumentally disadvantageous for her in every single angle. Plus, it is so out of character for her at this point to not think about her people first.

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Wait, has their love story truly ended like that? 🙂 is part two going to be about this guy with that war criminal by today's standards?