#if it were me i would boycot the HELL out of all these companies but nooooo

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP, I'm not one to cry over the hate the boys get because I truly believe they are resilient as hell and I try to curate my space as much as possible so that I'm not subjected to it. Im so bummed though about Hobi's JITB hope edition dedication and how he was concerned that his and armys relationship wouldn't be able to get past him not releasing a physical. Im disappointed that solo narratives were able to infiltrate army spaces and convince the boys to change their mind about something. Im really sending all the love and good energy to Hobi and all the members today and I sincerely hope this wont occur again in the future. Thanks for letting me use this space to vent a little

*

Ask 2:

i'm honestly a bit confused about this hobi thanks to letter bpp. i went back to your post where you talked about jitb and you were right that this was his decision, but were people wrong to ask for a physical album?

*

Ask 3:

People on Twitter keep whining about how ppl complaining about jitb album format made Hobi feel bad and I of course feel bad he was disappointed with the feedback but it's such a mind numbingly stupid thing to be mad about he's a professional musician. It's part of his job fans dont have to like everything all the time sometimes people aren't gonna like a song or even an album or the photoshoots or artist merch or styling or if you choose to release your album as a piece of colorful cardboard with no cd and everyone just has to cope with it. Hobi is a first day million seller and we got live versions of some songs now people need to take the w and be happy and everyone who wanted a physical physical better be over the fucking moon

***

Hi Anon(s),

Anon in ask 2, since you're the only person actually asking me a question (lol), I'll work with your ask.

"were people wrong to ask for a physical album?"

Let's look at it this way. If Hobi released a song you didn't like, would it be wrong for you to say you didn't like the song, and mention instead the genre of music you'd like him to do instead?

The answer to that, is no. Obviously. As I've been saying, I think it's perfectly fine for you to not like something BTS /Hobi does, the music they make, choices you disagree with, etc, and it's not like there's a gag order in the fandom so of course you can say so and leave that feedback for the artist because they monitor fan chatter. You'd be right to do this, and it works both ways for positive and negative feedback.

Now, would you still be right if you:

Defaulted to asserting that Hoseok had no agency and that the choice of the song (or no physical albums) was forced on him by the company

Trended hashtags with your demands on him, asserting that he was a pawn the company was using and sabotaging to prop up maknae-line members

Threatened to boycott and actually boycotted his album

Review-bombed Weverse album app, Weverse shop app, and Weverse app

Reported and took down ARMY playlists for JITB that included other members' songs

Threatened to send trucks stating your demands for a physical album (or to continue the example from above, a song genre you prefer)

Became abusive to other members in the group, asserting that they are complicit in Hobi's 'mistreatment'

Took your frustration out on other members, disparaging them and their solo debuts

Threatened the other members, Bang PD, and PDogg with physical harm

Continued this barrage for months on end

Etc...

Would you be right to do this?

The answer to this, too, is no. Obviously.

Hobi akgaes who didn't get a physical album did all of the above for their 'feedback' because of what fundamentally motivates them.

The thing about akgaes is that at the crux of it, they don't actually think highly of the person they stan. Especially in the case of BTS solo stans. If you listen to akgaes talk about their 'fave' members... pick any member: Hobi, Jimin, Taehyung, etc, they all think said member is "too kind", "too humble", "too helpless" etc, to assert themselves to receive things they actually want for their careers within reason. Akgaes in general don't actually think the artists have any real say over their career direction.

They ultimately consider that artist a puppet who is supposed to bend or acquiesce to meet any demand made of them, and so when they see outcomes they don't like, the thought that it could be a choice the artist agreed to (talk less of it possibly being the artist's idea) is completely foreign to them. The only thought in an akgae's mind when they see outcomes they don't like is how to switch out who is controlling the puppet, how to force an outcome on and for the artist, an outcome that the akgae thinks is best for the artist's career in their own imagination.

They're delusional enough to believe that with their limited information of the artist's plans, resources, and limitations, that whatever they envision as goals for that artist aligns precisely with what that artist desires. They never really frame these demands as things they'd personally like or want, but as something that the artist secretly wants or outrightly deserves which the company maliciously withholds for *insert your favourite conspiracy theory here* reasons, that necessitates the akgae intervening.

So, where (some) ARMYs could look at the JITB rollout situation and think Hobi was likely involved in that outcome, even if we didn't like the outcome; where (some) ARMYs could see how even if Jimin didn't get all the MVs due to limitations unknown to us, that Jimin still has agency to effect any changes he wants in his career; where ARMYs could see how all these imperfect outcomes are still possible even while the members retain their agency.... akgaes instead default to catastrophizing any outcome they disagree with, and actively work to remove/change who controls manages the puppet artist to give them the outcomes they think is best for the artist.

As with everything else in fandom, the devil is in the details and it's unhelpful to talk in very general terms about fandom dynamics sometimes because we all know different factions could say similar things but have very different motivations. And that a lot of 'fans' are actually a bit insane. I mean, I know many of my followers are newer fans but you all should have seen by now that something like 90% of what happens in fandom is fans of various kinds criticizing things of all sorts, and that what counts as 'criticism' here covers a very wide spectrum, from abuse and slander to frankly insane irl/physical attempts and threats to change/control the artist.

Of course, ARMYs in true fandom fashion try to correct for this impulse by overcompensating, either due to

Their own guilt in joining in with mantis and akgaes at the time, or

Performative bullshit to make up for being hypocritical or to virtue signal over other ARMYs, or

As a natural consequence of how information is communicated in social systems, or

Some other reasons I can't think of at the moment.

Now the refrain from some ARMYs is that voicing any dissatisfaction with anything whatsoever is wrong. But at this point, after everything I've written above, I hope it's clear that I think fans can, should, and do express when they like and dislike certain choices, if they like. The difference between a fan and any other faction though, is that fans actually respect the artist, and recognize that even with the music industry as shady as it is, even if outcomes aren't always perfect or there are outcomes fans disagree with for the artist, that the artist is the person who ultimately knows what's best for them and has the tools to effect any needed changes. Especially in the case of BTS. BTS knows what's best for BTS and they have the ability to choose and work within their teams and the industry to effect any real changes or outcomes they want for the management of their careers. BTS does. Not Sally from Ohio, nor Jiwon from Jeonju.

In my opinion, at least.

[princess-of-thebes-1995]

Harlan Thrombey clutched his sad ridden face as he rested his elbows on the wooden luxurious desk of his study.

He asked his nurse, Martin Cabrera to step out for the moment. 

The door opened and walked in Ransom Drysdale. Harlan’s eldest Grandson and successor of his life's work. 

“What's up, Harlan?” Ransom grinned playfully at his favorite family member as he sat down Infront of him. Well… tied to first place family member. 

Harlan didn't want to come to this but his suspicions were eating him alive. Ransom reminded him of his late son, Ian who died twenty five years ago. It was obvious that Ransom was his favorite grandchild. Well…. Tied with you.

Ransom narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “Did the stock of your publishing company decrease?”

Harlan ignored him. He leaned in. “Did you rape my granddaughter?”

The widened sapphire blue eyes of his Grandson confirmed his evil actions. 

Harlan sighed and leaned back on his leather office chair. 

It's true.

One day, you came to his mansion without announcing yourself. Which was odd. You were always the best mannered in the whole family. 

Harlan was worried. His favorite granddaughter was crying. She told him that her mean cousin blackmailed her to bed him.

The poor man couldn't believe it. Then remembered all the times he caught Ransom staring at you. Like he was possessed. Harlan dismissed it saying it was natural hate cousins had for each other. 

Rivalry. When you came to America after the death of your mother in Afghanistan. Ransom was more rude and sarcastic. 

Harlan assumed that Ransom was jealous that you tried to be his new favorite grandchild.

Now. It's not the case. 

“I didn't rape her. She consented. She changed her mind out of shame and now blames me.” Ransom clenched his jaw as he explained.

Shaking his head. Harlan reminded all the times Ransom would pick on Name. Poor girl would not come to family events because she feared Ransom. 

Harlan glared. “If you don't leave her. I am going to sue your company and condemn your name. Understand?”

The handsome face of his grandson was stoic and emotionless. But Harlan knew on the inside. The young man was pissed. 

Ransom embarrassed the entire family almost his whole life. Why? He was a player. Slept with many celebrities and models mostly. He published a dirty book series. Fifty shades of Grey. Then became the CEO of only fans. 

Harlan was glad Ransom was not a moocher. His kids always depended on his money despite being adults. Especially his son Walt. 

Ransom became richer than Harlan and made his own empire. Not the way Harlan was expecting to.

But, if Harlan disowns Ransom, and ruins his name. Damages and loss of money can be to Ransom’s property. 

Ransom scoffed. “Whatever.” He picked up his jacket and left the room.

He doesn't need you. Fuck you. Oh, yeah. He already did.

Ransom started his car. 

He can easily get another girl. Of course he will choose money over you. He will risk losing it all if you snitch on him again. You are not worth it.

………

It has been almost five months since Ransom boycotted you. It was nice. You would be given calls by your grandfather for family dinners and events. Harlan would not invite Ransom if he wanted you to come. 

As for Ransom. It was hell. He didn't say anything to anyone. He missed you. When you first came from that war zone country, he was attracted by your bizarre beauty. 

But, he kept his distance from you. He hated your dad, Walt. And assumed you would be a bitch like Meg. 

To your surprise, he loved your manners and personality. A genuine good person. Too bad Harlan noticed. Ransom became jealous and assumed you were trying to replace him.

Trying to be the favorite grandchild. 

So, Random bullied you and said sexist insults. You avoided him. Then it snapped at him when he didn't see you for a long time. He threatened to Photoshop your face to porn videos and publish them on his only fans site. You gave yourself to him.

He was so happy he was with his dream girl. 

Now, he regrets it. He misses you. What good is wealth if you're lonely? Ransom decided he will win you back into his arms. 

In my old Tumblr account I was forced to delete it before making this new blog. I got harassed by making ransom Drysdale x cousin reader stories

Funny how step parents x reader

And step siblings x reader stories are lit.

I don't care anymore. I will republish them all again 

Your dad is Walt Thrombey and your Mom lives in Afghanistan. You're just a citizen. Don't change your race. You used to live there.

[mostsanegirlever]

Hi :) 

I’m writing this as a direct response to whatever the hell went on yesterday. Before I directly offer my counterpoints I just wanna make some things clear:

1. English is not my first language and I don’t use any proper translation app for revision. I use a lot of adverbs because that’s how I express myself in my mother language. The punctuation also goes with how I use it in Portuguese.

2. I’m not offended on Chan's behalf, I’m just extremely passionate about debating (both online and irl), especially when I think others are objectively wrong.

3. I’m not only pro boycotting this single, but I also pray every night that it never sees the light of day.

I’ve been against this collab and voiced my distaste as soon as I was made aware of its existence. At first it wasn’t because of Charlie Puth’s “opinions” on the Genocide being conducted against Palestinians in their occupied mother land (I actually had no idea where he stood since I have him blocked everywhere for being annoying, ugly and untalented), but getting to know that he’s an actual Zionist was the final straw for me, and I won’t be listening to it at all. That’s where I personally stand and I’m not known for changing my mind.

As soon as the news dropped, I took this feature for what it is: a chart gambling move by Republic Records (Stray Kids’ American distributor and promoter). Releasing a soulless English single featuring a C-list American “artist” is basically a trend in K-pop nowadays, since it places the group in the charts fast enough before the actual comeback, has viral TikTok potential and extends by 2 the promotional period.

I never actually expected JYPE to follow suit with SKZ, as much as they have given other groups the tired and bland English pre-release. As I said, it was a no for me from the start because I don’t like nor do I listen to something that’s so shamelessly a marketing strategy made for an easy cash grab.

I expressed my opinion that it was a sell-out move that would taint SKZ’ original and cohesive discography. 

As soon as the credits were posted, my first thought was that it was never SKZ’ song to begin with. In my opinion, it was very clear by the credits positioning that the song was made by Charlie and the other dude (who isn’t even like just a random Zionist but a full Israeli that has undoubtedly served the IOF) and the featuring was orchestrated in a reunion with people who see music as business and artists are decided by they capacity of making profit by charting. 

Once again, I personally refuse to consume this type of slop, especially when it comes from people who openly align themselves with a genocidal ethno-state.

I’m aware that my decision to not listen to this song won’t have any impact on the decisions both companies will make for SKZ in the future, since the music industry isn’t known to take morals into consideration when it comes to easy profit.

I also keep my opinion that media consuming (or non-consuming) isn’t activism, and there’s a fine line between reasoning on why you chose to boycott and empty virtue signaling. The latter always comes with a huge deal of self-righteousness, which we’ve seen plenty of since yesterday.

My expectation was that everyone who agreed to boycott directed their indignation towards RR and JYPE, since it was obviously an administrative decision and this has no artistic value. MUCH TO MY SURPRISE! (not really, this always happens) Chan has been in the front-line for getting all the lashes.

No mention of the other members of 3RACHA, who were also “in the room with racists” and have the exact same amount of credits and creative liberty, no mention of RR who obviously was the one orchestrating the promotional single (as they did with that TXT song with Jonas Brothers, Usher feat. Jungkook and the list goes on).

Lots of people questioned this when they saw that tweet, with no concrete response by OP or the ones who backed her up on why he was solely being condemned and blamed for the collaboration.

After a while, many came to justify that directing the anger towards Chan is valid since he is “the leader”, “the oldest” and “the spokesperson” of the group. For me personally, it’s hard to understand why a group made out of fully adult cisgender able-bodied males would need a spokesperson when they’re perfectly capable of speaking up for themselves on instances like this, but it’s interesting to see him suddenly become the only one who can speak for the group considering many people were shading him for being the one who always gives the speeches earlier this week.

Although the main claim is that he has more power because of his position as leader, I don’t think anyone actually believes that. The blame falls strictly onto Chan every single time because he made the biggest mistake an artist can make: treat his fans as equal.

He established an open line of communication as he presented his own authentic self, showing his flaws and often putting himself down and accepting the blame as means of maybe alleviating the inhumane amount of hatred he’s been submitted to since he dared to share his passion with the most demonic industry with the biggest amount of brain-dead fan-girls.

This made Chris the main character of arguably the most intense parasocial relationship I’ve seen in years of fandom hopping.

The post that started the blame shift towards Chan referred to him by his full name (weird, but punctual since many seem to believe they know him personally) and goes on to say “I know that you’re reading these quotes” or something like that.

See what I mean? That struggling to fulfill obligations as an idol and cutting himself open to give the fandom unrestricted access to him for years only made them believe that that’s all he does? That he’s #oomf and they can just say anything and it’s part of his job to acknowledge it? That any problem is for him to solve individuality and every praise is meant to be shared?

This entire idea that Bang Chan is somehow different, more important and more impactful than his coworkers isn’t because of the leader title, it’s because of the close relatability due to his openness.

Chan deals with the producer role much as he did with his relationship with the fans: he’s always made it clear that 3RACHA has the same amount of power when it comes to the creative direction of the band. Changbin and Jisung always acted alike, never letting it seem that Chan is the one who calls the shots or takes on “the leader” role inside the producing unit.

This message has never seemed to reach the fandom for some reason and when it comes to highlight something negative it falls strictly on Chan to acknowledge it. His coworkers who are on the exact same level and have the exact same power are never expected to stand up for anything.

Many argue that it’s because Chan is a native speaker but it’s actually, again, because people have a parasocial relationship with him specifically, to a level the other producers never allowed.

That’s exactly the reason you can see here:

if you're like, okay yeah screw all those other people, but why are you blaming chan? niru @/the_kpopalypse on twitter wrote it very well:

"I think Chan is one part of a large team that made this happen. That being said, as a leader, as someone who has generally made it a point to communicate his views on anything that goes on in fandom or the world, and the one who has emphasized the social justice angle of skz's brand since day one...[he] is a grown man who can and should hear the truth."

The expectation doesn’t come from actually believing he’s the leader or the spokesperson, it comes from taking his openness and treating fans as equals, as exposing himself in a genuine way and continuing to attend to expectations in order to keep the crowd pleased and now it all falls on his shoulders, even though not for a minute has he claimed to have more creative freedom or power than any other member in the producer line.

The whole “because he is the leader” means nothing but “because I have higher expectations when it comes to him, because the close relatability made me think I have an open channel of communication and I can demand he attend to my expectations, because I know him on a personal level and he frustrated me”.

I don’t blame anyone for growing such a deep rooted parasocial relationship with him, Chan is indeed a charismatic leader, it’s the hypocrisy that I can’t stand. It’s clearly not his move to go on with this collaboration, and if you decide to critic him in hopes that he’ll see it somehow (as if he has nothing to do but sit around reading your demands and taking notes but once again this belief comes from this parasocial relationship where you guys are convinced he’s the one who’s always there and he’ll be a hero and make everything alright again), then Han Jisung and Seo Changbin, the other men who are credited the same amount, are just as capable of standing up for this.

The parasocial relationship this entire fandom has with Chan (that can be both for love and admiration or hatred and jealousy btw) comes with this huge amount of expectations for him but also for the infantilization of the other members.

Chan is the dad, the one who’s capable and dependable and calls the shots and the other 7 fully adult cis able-bodied millionaire males are just...there. They have no opinions, they have no responsibilities, they have no say.

They’re all 23+ in age and Chan being the oldest is hardly an excuse as to why he’s being pointed as the sole member who needs to take a stance since Minho is no more than a year younger than him.

These are grown men who have been legal voters for years already, and have been raised and socialized in a culturally conservative country. Chan being brave enough to talk about his own political and social views (not the group’s, since the text I’m replying to seemed put him in “skz” when it came to praising) should be a breath of fresh air but instead it only gave him more responsibility when it comes to “educating” the other members, somehow.

I am of the opinion that these expectations only fall on him because you think you know him on a personal level, whereas the others kept the fans at a safe distance from the beginning.

Singling someone out for being “the oldest'' doesn't fly. He speaks for himself only, not for everyone. If it’s about taking a stance, I need all of them to come forward individually and use their social status for what they believe. They aren’t alienated from the world and they have the same amount of free time Chan has, signed the same contracts and are just as grown and capable.

What happened yesterday with name dropping Chan exclusively was no more than people who cultivated a deep rooted parasocial relationship with him  (easily noticeable since skz_8283 and the people backing her up are all +18 RPF writers) and seem to think that media consuming and tweeting is activism.

The doubling down on still pointing him out as the sole precursor instead of actually demonstrating their distaste towards the people who decided that this chart gamble would be real, or even at the very least expecting the same amount of responsibility from the other members was even more upsetting.

The anger towards this project is completely justified, but as long as you keep Chan in the middle of your rage it will also be completely misplaced. Chan doesn’t have a choice in this, redirect your demands towards the people who actually call the shots: Republic Records and JYPE/DIV1.

[wenellyb]

To the Sam Wilson fandom. I have a serious question to ask.

How are y'all excited for a film that you are planning to boycott ? It just seems fake to me.

And to the random ppl who is telling everyone to boycott this film, Marvel and Disney are the biggest supporters of Israel and shouldn't you guys be boycotting EVERYTHING from these companies ? But let's boycott the film with the Black leading man.

DareDevil has an Zionist on their cast and no one is saying boycott that show.

Ppl are hyped for Deadpool and Wolverine, Thunderbolts, Agatha All Along and anything Disney related BUT, LET'S BOYCOTT THE FILM WITH A BLACK LEADING MAN.

Let's be real for a second. Marvel has shown a lack of respect and enthusiasm for this film since day one. If this film does not do well in the box office then the media will blame Mackie/Sam instead of calling out Marvel and Disney. If the film does poorly then I can see Marvel no longer using Sam!Cap and he will not be in any Avengers movies.

Marvel went on for three years showing they could care less about Sam. No name drops or cameos in nothing after TFATWS is just wild and now they are trying to play catch-up and try to promote him in media and possibly other projects.

And can we stop with the Mackie vs Stan/ Cap 4 vs Thunderbolts mess. Its beyond frustrating.

There are a handfull of blogs on here that seem genuine when it comes to boycotting the film. It's just everyone else being fake as hell.

Cap 4 is not the issue. The real issue is Kevin approving this mess and adding that character in the film knowing the backlash and secretly turning Sam's movie into a damn Hulk movie.

Nobody would be boycotting this film if Steve was still Cap and Bucky was in it. Ppl need to be honest for once.

Sorry about the long ass rant. Just had so much to get out.

Hi Anon!!!

Rants are always welcome on my blog, don't worry.

I don't read the comics but I've seen enough posts about Sabra's character to know that it's a character that shouldn't be in an MCU movie.

This is all Marvel/ Disney's fault, because they had the chance to listen and remove Sabra's character. The callouts started even before the movie started filming and even after that, there were reshoots so they could have done something.

Why did they listen about the title, but not about the character change? It's because they don't want to or they don't care.

If you ask me, they did it on purpose so they can have an excuse not to have Black leads anymore.

They did it with Phastos' character too, I feel. Set up a movie for failure so they don't have to try anymore... so they can say diversity doesn't work. Unpopular opinion, I also think they tried to do it with both Black Panther movies but it didn't work, people were just too excited.

But it's understandable why people boycotting the movie... This is 100% all on that company. Be sure that most people boycotting the Cap 4 movie are also boycotting anything Disney/MCU related.

As you said, there are some people who were waiting for an excuse not to watch the movie, but they were never seeing it in the 1st place. Some of the call for beoycott had very weird undertones and were hypocritical at best, and really racist at worst. But not the majority.

P.S: I went through the tags and saw that they changed her background and that the character was now Russian? Is that true or are those rumors?

[vngelicc]

I'm guessing you saw that Namjoon is working with Scooter Braun on his new song for American promo. That's disappointing. Another song to boycott. I don't know if Scooter will have his hand in the album promo yet.

What I don't understand is how Hybe/BTS members decide who has to work with SB on their songs/albums. Like Hobi didn't work with SB on his album, although it was filled with other Zionists. Tae didn't work with SB on Friends, and Jimin didn't work with SB on Closer than This. So I don't understand why SB is on some members works and not others. Also, I'm pretty sure now that Namjoon is working with SB, that SB will definitely have a huge hand in BTS' comeback for American promo. They're going to want to get on American radio and SB is their ticket. So I think SB will be around BTS for quite some time. What I want to see is if the boycotting Army actually stand their ground and not buy tickets to their comeback concert, or if they get so excited to see BTS live and in person after military service that they suddenly go "boycott? what boycott?"

honestly saving myself damn near 800$ is worth it to me so going to a concert isn’t something I’m interested nor sad about nor desperate about bc sure they are fun but that’s just life not everything is fair sometimes and yea i will be a little bummed out but tbh i can always look back on YouTube videos or find clips of their performances you know? now, for the scooter issue, YES I WAS SO UPSET ABOUT IT, i was like mad as hell too but oh well more to pirate 🏴‍☠️ but truthfully im hoping that Namjoon doesn’t have him on the tracks bc we all know Joonie is a producer himself so i doubt he would personally invite more producers I feel like they just are there to help out and the company was the one who put them to the job in the bg and Namjoon doesn’t really personally know who is working on it, do i make sense? like I’m tryna say that maybe he knew there were other producers but didn’t know exactly who and probably didn’t bother with them but like IDKKK it’s really hard to say in this situation bc we don’t know what happened you know ?

[omamervt]

You know this is probably far from an original observation but it seems kinda telling that we have this laundry list of things to boycott that would actually help Palestine and people insist on including things that aren't anywhere on it. McDonald's was EVENTUALLY recognized as an organic target, but Disney is still merely a pressure target, and Starbucks isn't on the list at all. And yet most of y'all will happily treat people like monsters for having a Disney+ subscription or not changing coffee shops.

I don't know, it just seems like the three companies/services y'all focused on are ones that had more visible indicators than the things you were actually asked to boycott. Makes me wonder if you care about doing the right thing as much as you care about moral grandstanding.

I feel the need to remind everyone real quick that boycotting is not a moral stance, it's a strategic one. It's pointless to try and get EVERYONE to boycott EVERYWHERE, which is what would really have to happen because literally every major business in the US is pro-Israel. No, we're focused on the ones who are directly involved in Israel's invasion of Palestine. Boycotts need to be targeted to be effective.

That's why Disney's the pressure target and not Paramount, despite Paramount being annoyingly vocal about their support for Israel. That's why ALL the companies listed are in the categories they're in. I know it's not as sexy to boycott HP or Puma as it is Starbucks but it's far more important. And by the way, HP/Puma are the ones BDS is pushing hardest for consumers! (that probably means you!).

And yes, before y'all say anything, I know Disney being a pressure target means that canceling your Disney+ subscription is technically participating. But streaming services are expensive as hell to maintain, and it's possible Disney's already losing money on it even if you do nothing. You know what would be even MORE participating in pressuring them? If y'all flooded their social media hashtags for upcoming movies with Free Palestine posts. And if you REALLY want to hurt them financially? Don't go see their movies in theaters. Yeah, even the ones you're REALLY excited about. Yeah, even the ones they didn't directly make but contributed to in some way. Like, idk, Spider-Verse 3, if it ever comes out. Don't get me wrong, cancel Disney+ but cancel it for the right reason: price gouging, a thing every single one of those services is guilty of right now.

PS. You can check to see what companies BDS REALLY wants you to focus on by going to this page! They're still updating it!

[virtual-scallop]

Thoughts on Nintendo and Going Forward

Y'know what? I know I'm a nobody, tiny streamer... but I gotta say, I'm definitely just... full on boycotting Nintendo now.

For a while, I just left things at "oh, I'll opt for used games!"... but as I see more and more things happening, I realize I just need to detach further.

From the mid 2000's, up 'til like, a short while after 2017, I've considered myself a Nintendo fan. My favorite clump of game studios. And when the Switch hit it big in 2017, I was excited to see my favorite studios gain mainstream appeal again! ...I see now that this was a mistake, lmao.

Like, Nintendo's always been a company, and done messed up things over the years... but with the unfortunate absence of certain figureheads like the late Satoru Iwata... and the fact that Nintendo doesn't have to try as hard from their wealthy position...

Nintendo isn't a company now. Nintendo is a COMPANY™. Soul has left the building.

Ever since 2018, I've been seeing the garbage more and more...

They overprice the things they release. Examples include: - Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze's Switch Port - Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack

They release things before they're done and stable. Examples include: - Link's Awakening Switch Remake - Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl - Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Not to mention cases of games that are incomplete and then ship out less than desirable updates to these games as if they're piling extra content on top out of the goodness of their heart. Examples include: - Mario Tennis Aces - Honestly their sports games in general - Animal Crossing New Horizons

They've put less quality control into their hardware: - This has manifested in things like Joy Con drift... - ...and rather than fix it, they sweep it under the rug in court

Or what about legacy content and piracy? - They fail to offer substantial means of playing their older library - They swing down excessively hard on the alternative, piracy - They've ruined lives over this to send a message - When they do offer legacy content, it's poor (N64 Online) - They exploit Fear Of Missing Out with vaulted products (3D All Stars)

It's as if Nintendo is on a dedicated warpath to be as anti-consumer as they can be.

But of course, the simple answer is that they're a greedy company utilizing whatever tactics they deem necessary to get as much money as possible.

And y'know what? I'm sick of it. I don't have to put up with it anymore.

I don't care if they defined my childhood and taste in games. There are talented developers over there, but the ones calling the shots are so reprehensible. Are they the worst company out there? No, but they're definitely marching up the anti-consumer building.

They truly are the Disney of video games, in the worst way possible.

As a streamer, I'm done streaming their games. It no longer sits right to. This accounts for future games like Tears of the Kingdom and Splatoon 3 DLC... and ones in my backlog like Hyrule Warriors and Mario and Rabbids Kingdom Battle.

There's plenty of other games out there. Nintendo's not the only kid on the playground.

Nintendo games are not worth the garbage they put fans and developers through. I'll always have a fondness for the stuff by their talented devs, but the company going forward is no longer exciting. It's draining.

And honestly? I'm unfortunately not even optimistic in their ability to change for the better anytime soon. Even if they released a Switch 2, and it were to somehow bomb and put them at a disadvantage like with the Wii U... it probably won't humble them. With Iwata no longer there, I doubt the ones in charge would cut their pay. They would likely sooner cut pay and lay off tons of employees.

Is this purely hypothetical? Yes. However it still worries me.

So I'm done. Good bye. Peace. Good luck in hell, Nintendo.

[vanquishedvaliant]

So there’s this trend I’m seeing on social media about people boycotting / encouraging people not to buy the upcoming Mass Effect remasters.

The reasonings being somewhat varied, some valid, others not, but mostly centering around one thing in specific; cut content relating to same sex relationships that didn’t make it into the games.

Now, I understand not being interested in the product being offered; I’m probably not going to buy it myself for a lack of specific features like multiplayer and... just not needing the buy the game for my fifth or sixth time. It’s completely valid to think the remasters are just not doing enough for you to justify a purchase, or that their faith in the company doing it properly in their current state isn’t there. I get that.

But the mood that’s come up lately isn’t just disinterest; it’s downright outrage. Violent, ideologically charged opposition to even the concept of the remasters because of a perceived failure to meet their extremely specific and often high standards and notions of progressiveness.

Now it’s not exactly news that Bioware has had a rocky relationship with inclusivity over the years, with queer characters flitting in and out of recognition and prominence, appropriation of queer archetypes, and less than stellar execution of what characters they do include. I’ve had my complaints with these myself from time to time, though it’s still always struck me historically as a generally positive, if clumsy attempt at progress that I appreciated despite the flaws; remember that the original Mass Effect 1 came out in 2007, and was the focus of a major media scandal about even including romantic relationships at all in the game, nevermind same sex ones. That’s 14 years ago! The most recent game in the series is 9 years old!

We can talk about the social standards of the times and the progress we’ve made, and we can also talk about the merits of restoring and improving media as it was, or recreating it to more closely reflect the values of today and which or both of them is a worthwhile pursuit, but I don’t think that’s what’s being sincerely argued here.

What we see instead is some protestation that failure to make the exacting changes that they see fit according to their personal ideology is some kind of radically regressive statement, as if it’s a conscious, malicious decision and not either one made in good faith or not at all. This movement has collectively decided that the remaster needs to contain exactly the changes that fit their fleeting whims or the entire thing’s at best a wash and a wasted effort, and in some cases a ‘homophobic’ statement of hatred, or cynically callous laziness. 

Let’s remember; the focus of this argument is the presence of available simulated dating options in a 14 year old game. The arguments posits that some of these alternative options are ones that were cut from the release of the games, notably the first one, and have some or numerous assets that exist in various forms within the game files that with some work can be accessed in the game with user-made modifications. Some of this is true; though much of it is exaggerated or misconstrued in terms of its scope or viability.

Many of these people just assume that this cut content that someone else has restored in a mod somewhere is just some sort of simple toggle done in moments without effort, ignoring the work those modders did on their own time and money to introduce those features. 

Even if we just hand wave any standards of quality or continuity or polish and integration these mods have, you have to consider the dozens to hundreds of volunteer man hours of labor these fans put into many of those mods to make them viable that a company paying it’s employees a fair wage and time to do without overworking has to budget. Which I should mind to you is something also incredibly topically relevant in game dev these days. Adding new content costs money. Restoring old content, still costs money.

Even then, the viability of many of those original assets is at question in itself; the 'ingredients’ used to create the content are not equivalent to the ‘cooked’ content found in the game files, so some of them are difficult to work with or lacking in features or quality. Hell, we know for a fact that half of the god damn development data for ME1 is just fucking gone, which is why the DLC isn’t making an appearance in the remaster at all; it just doesn’t exist anymore and would need to be remade from utter scratch.

Now there’s a dozen reasons undertakings like these would or wouldn’t make their list of priorities for remaster given the other work they are doing re; texture and model uprezzing, gameplay updates, etc. It’s not exactly strange for them to recreate the game largely as it was with a more limited scope of changes. Perhaps the decision was made to preserve some parts of the game largely as it was; with mostly minor cosmetic changes to things like Miranda’s camera angles; things that don’t have much overhead or ripple effect. Perhaps restoring the content was considered, but didn’t make the cut- maybe for the same reasons it didn’t make it into the game in 2007. Maybe for different ones.

Only the people involved know.

Now, would I like to see some of that content restored and improved? Sure! I think it’d have been a great thing if they’d promoted the series as having new or restored content; if they’d promised us such things. But they haven’t, and while it’s one thing to praise taking an initiative like that if they had, I think it’s completely unreasonable to be outraged that they didn’t.

We can celebrate that kind of outstanding and excellent steps forward in inclusivity, but we have to understand that while someone not being ahead of the curve may not be exciting or even disappointing; it is not in itself an act of directed aggression. And treating it like one is a waste of time and energy that we can direct to protesting actual aggression, or celebrating those outstanding steps.

But here’s the major thing that kills me; all those mods they love and praise aren’t going anywhere.

The remaster will come out and unless Bioware is so completely tone deaf and media blind from the past year they pull a WC3, the old versions of the game will all still be available. All those user made mods they cite in these arguments about “how easy” it is to add content to the game will still be there, ready to play as they always were. Some of them might even work or be easily made to work with the new versions!

All of that will still be there! And we’ll have access to a new version of the trilogy that is far more accessible to new players who haven’t yet been exposed to so much of the games content that they are desperate for more of it.

Just look at Mass Effect 1; that game has not aged well, and it was kind of a sloppy mess even when it came out! How many new players can we get to enjoy all the good things the series has to offer with an easily accessed, more enjoyable package to play through the entire series without issue? I’ve done numerous replays of the trilogy through the years, and Mass Effect 1 is always a huge stumbling block. It’s just a pain in the ass, straight out. Don’t you want at least the option to fix that?

And if not, you don’t have to buy it and no harm is done to you! Enjoy your existing version with your mods and familiar features and flaws.

And if you truly, genuinely care so passionately about Bioware improving their record of inclusivity; look instead to the new game that’s coming out and look forward to that instead. Every game in the franchise has been better than the last at this; ME1 cut the same sex relationships, but ME2 had some. ME3 had even more, and then Andromeda had yet even further than that after patching!

How many will the new game have?

Look forward to that and make it clear to bioware you’re looking for that in their games; just.... ease off this ridiculous vitriol in trying to get people to avoid the remaster because it’s not good enough for you. No one needs to have this bullying done to either the developers themselves or the players looking to buy the game for themselves or others. It’s simply not productive.

Especially with this franchise’s sordid history with excessive media outrage and entitlement that’s been absolutely exhausted.

Just... relax. And have some perspective.

[mariamermaid]

The witches wrath (2/3)

Tommy Shelby X fem witch reader

Summary: You meet Thomas when you were just a little girl travelling as a gypsy…

Words: 2.6k

Warnings: mentions of blood, death, violence

Halloween Masterlist

 “I love you, Y/N.” A sob escaped your lips again. “And I love you, Thomas Shelby and if you don´t come back, I´ll come and get you myself.”

Time was a funny thing, without time things were put out of perspective and eternal thinking turned to dust. As Tommy stepped back into his city, his home, he inhaled the scent deeply. Oh, how he missed the dirty ol´ city, but there was nothing he kept looking for more than you. The thought of being only minutes, hell only seconds away from you, send endorphins through his body and an exhilarating a thrill of anticipation. Things had changed, shops were closed, new ones opened, people died and people were born. It felt like ages since Tommy had wandered through the streets he knew so merely; he could tell them apart by the gravel on the ground. Finally, he turned the last corner and he braced for the sight of the small herb shop with the hand painted sign, but his smile just as the eagerness in his eyes, vanished. Your shop was gone.

Tommy furrowed his brows and with quick and hectic steps, he hurried to Shelby Company Limited. In the pit of his stomach, there was an unwell growling. On the way, he lit himself a cigarette and without knocking or ringing the bell, he entered through the backdoor. Arthur, who had gone to their home before, was sitting at the table in the kitchen. Polly, Ada and John gathered around and they all looked surprised and somehow anxious when Thomas practically stormed inside. “Where is she?”

“God fucking dammit!” Tommy let out another cursed as the horse just didn´t want it his way. He felt so out of place in his own home and even the animal in front of him, sensed his inner turmoil. When he managed to find his seat in the saddle, he pulled the reins closer. Polly, who had followed her nephew to the stables, sighed audible.

“Tommy, things changed and it wasn´t as easy as it might seem to you”, she explained with sadness in her voice. He was angry. Angry at her, angry at you and angry at him, but most importantly angry at war. If he hadn´t gone, things would be different, he knew it.

“She isn´t here, is she?” Tommy replied infuriated, starring down at Polly. Behind her eyes laid a dark filter, she knew what happened.

“She came back to see if you´d come home, but then she came less and less. She said she had a vision.” Tommy huffed, nonsense, it was all bullshit to him. But dear Thomas only looked at a fraction of the truth, intrigue and hatred grew its roots deeper than trees.

The horse was tall and strong as it made its way through the city and then over the roads. It was almost fifteen minutes later when he reached the junction Polly told him about. The road split, but right in front him he saw the faint hint of a trail into the woods. He was warned, that it wouldn´t be easy to find your cabin, to which you had moved about a year ago, but he was determined. While the horse continued to surge ahead, he started wondering what he was expecting. Would you fall into his arms, relieved to find him alive? Would you recognize him? Or would he recognize you? Nonsense, Tommy would always know you. At least that´s what he told himself…

It was almost another twenty minutes later, the horse had to slow down since the thicket seemed to be unbreakable and Tommy left the saddle to guide his companion. Your cabin laid on a small glade, even though it was a foggy day. A small river with ice cold water ran down the trail and a wooden table with tools was build outside. The horse became unsettled as Thomas noticed the two Doberman hounds as well. They didn’t have a leash and as he stepped closer, they quickly started growling and barking echoed through the forest. No light was on inside the cabin, but then he watched as you came running out of the woods, alarmed by the dogs. A long dark robe hiding your figure and face, a shotgun in your grip and you aimed it right at Tommy. Slowly you stepped closer, Thomas was frozen in place. He didn´t yield or hold up his hands, he just starred at you. You came closer, he realized you were limping with your left foot and when you were close enough to recognize him, he saw the face underneath the cape. A scar from your eyebrow down to your eye, skin pale and you had lost weight. You lowered the shotgun, starring thunderstruck at the dark-haired man in front of you.

“Tommy?” The dogs had lowered their howling and watched now as their owner seemed to know the unknown man. But Thomas had realized that they would listen perfectly at your command and he was truly scared. The woman in front of him wasn´t you, she had changed. Your voice was almost a whisper, so raspy, he wondered when the last time was, when you had talked.

Both of you just starred at each other, time passing; seconds and even minutes. You didn´t know how to move, your muscles didn´t react.

The was a longing to jump into his arms and there was pain holding you back. “What happened?” Tommy asked into the silence. The two Dobermans, who had settled next to you, looked back and forth, their ears pointed up. “Come in, I´ll make some tea.” You answered reluctant and made a head gesture for him to follow you. The Dobermans were first to enter the cabin, then you. Tommy tied the horse up, you didn´t even wait for him. He sensed you feared him, or at least his arrival.

As he entered the cabin, his eyes wandered around. It was completely built out of wood; he was sure you had built it yourself and a small fire was crackling. A string hung from one end to the other, herbs drying in the air. A bed, a small kitchen isle and a table, which you used more for writing then eating. Papers were spread across it, and a single shelve was filled with books. He recognized some of the symbols on the books from the gypsy, other were foreign to him. You avoided his glance, but you still felt it. You hastily put away the papers and the books on the table, by the handwriting Thomas knew they were written by yourself. You clearly didn´t want him to get a closer look. Placing the kettle from the fire on the table and taking two cups, you poured in steaming hot tea. As you finally sat down at the table as well, you pulled down the cape from your face. Your hair had gotten long, but it was beautifully braided and he eyed the scar, wondering how much luck you had, that you hadn´t become blind.

“It started out small, incidents I didn´t pay much attention to really.” It was your voice talking, yet Tommy knew nothing about the woman sitting at the table with him. But you knew that he wanted answers, it was his right.

“Comments and remarks about me and the shop.” You paused, your glance on the mug in front of you. “But it became quickly worse. About six months after you had left, they started boycotting the shop. Spreading word that I sold poison, painting the glass panel and driving away customers.” You swallowed, he felt how hard the story felt against your chest. But he didn´t push you. “One night, I had closed the shop early, knowing nobody would care at this point. I was attacked in a back alley. Luckily, John found me, anyway I would´ve bled to death.” A sharp pain in his stomach dropped as the words settled in Thomas, the image of you bleeding on the dirty ground in a dark alley with no one caring, anger grew like a bushfire in him. His jaw was tensed and his high cheekbones stiff. “I slept for an entire week, dreaming only of you, Thomas Shelby. Buried in a tunnel system with Arthur and your dad, with no air to breath. With no one searching for your body. I couldn´t stay afterwards.”

 He didn´t know what to say; Thomas Shelby was speechless. For a long time, the two of you had sit at the table, time passing like leaves falling in autumn. Tommy opened his mouth, but you immediately shook your head. You knew what he would imply. “I´m not coming back with you. This town doesn´t want me and I don´t want it either.”

“What about our promise?”

“It didn´t change now, did it?” You asked instead and started tidying up the kitchen. “You´re back, I still love you.” His eyes shot up to you, he was angry.

“How can you just say that? Like it meant nothing!” The silence and the quiet that had settled before was gone, you spun around filled with hatred. Hatred that really just hid the fear in you. “They tried to kill me, purposely! I almost died and for what?!”

You never, not once, had yelled at him and he flinched in response, too numb suddenly to answer with any words. “Do you know what happens when I move back? With you? They´ll do the same with you, Tommy! With your family! The company!” Tears had started forming in your eyes, you felt so angry you were already shaking. Your two dogs, Apollo and Cerberus, cocked their ears, clearly interested in how the situation was involving. After their initial calmness when Tommy had entered your house, they now started growling at him again. Tommy on the other hand knew, that you wouldn´t release them on him, but what if the dogs decided on their own? They were loyal to you, only to you and as of right now, he was a risk in their eyes.

Suddenly he realized how the room had become warmer, hotter to be honest. He glanced to the fire, then back to you; was your anger awakening the fire? It couldn´t be! The cups in the cupboard had started clattering and he knew, that it was your power moving them. After all these years knowing you, he forgot that you were born into a witch´s family of gypsies. He had forgotten that there were things no one could explain and a terrible thought crossed his mind; what if the people were right to feel threatened by you?

 He left after that.

He continued with life in Birmingham.

But there wasn´t a day, hour or even second, where he didn´t think about you.

It was two weeks after Tommy had come back, two weeks after your first encounter when he saw you again. The nights were truly the worst; either his sleep was filled with nightmares of being buried alive and screams from war, or he laid awoke with nothing but pictures of you wandering through his mind.

It was an early Sunday morning, half of Birmingham was trying to sleep off their hangover, the other one was enjoying the luxury of sleeping in before the work week was starting again. Like so often, Thomas was awakened by a nightmare, he starred at the clock; 5.37 a.m. He sighed annoyed and brushed away the sleep in his eyes while sitting up on the bed. The sun wasn´t out yet, but it wasn´t fully dark out either. He was just about to lit himself a cigarette, when he heard something from downstairs. Who else was awake? Or was it an intruder perhaps?

He threw an old shirt over his bare chest, and started slipping down the stairs, careful to not make any noise. He realized voices coming from the kitchen and for a second, he held in listening.

“Give him this tea, it helps with the sleep.”

“I don´t think he actually sleeps, or eats for any matter.”

The second voice was Polly´s. The first one yours.

The two of you looked up startled when Tommy entered the kitchen, eyes widened and mouth opened. You wore a dark coat, thick and with a big hood and a pair of pants. “There´s nothing in this house that Thomas won´t get wind of”, you sighed and threw the bag, which previously laid on the table, over your shoulder. Polly watched carefully, her eyes wandering back and forth between the two of you. The smallest hint of a smile was on her thin lips, she was a gypsy and she wasn´t dumb.

“I need to head out before the sun starts rising, there´s a full moon coming Polly. I feel it waxing.” Polly let out a chuckled while Tommy observed from the side. The conversation between the two of you was so smooth and he envied Polly for it. “You know the waxing moon brings healing and growth.” You patted Polly lightly on the shoulder. “I know.”

Then you left the kitchen with swift steps and Polly, who had her back turned to her nephew, rolled her eyes at Tommy. “Go after her if you want to talk to her and don´t stand around.”

 He stepped outside with slippers on his bare feet and caught sight of you vanishing behind a corner. “Y/n.” He called out your name just before finally reaching you again. You didn´t turn to him and continued making your way out of the city. “Tommy.”

“Why didn´t you tell me?” “Tell you what?”

“That you´d come and visit.” “And how should I tell you that?” He sighed and grabbed your wrist to stop you from walking. “You have your ways, ravens or something.” You huffed.

“Yeah I´ll send a raven, maybe a dragon just to make sure you´ll get the message.”

“I missed your remarks.” Taken back by his honesty you stepped a little back to bring distance between the two of you.

“I missed you”, he continued quietly. Carefully, as if he was afraid, he raised his hand to caress your cheek. “Have I told you, that you´re still as beautiful as ever?” You swallowed the lump in your throat and grabbed his hand. “Tommy don´t.”

“What?” It was his time to play dumb.

“This won´t change anything.” “I know.”

And then he leaned forward and kissed you and everything felt in place again. It felt like in the old times, where you were young and stupid and so dearly in love with him, nothing mattered but him. For a few seconds, the world was okay and it didn´t feel lonely and cold around your heart.

“I´m sorry it has to be like this, I truly am”, you explained whispering when his lips left yours. He nodded. “Make sure you´ll get safely home, Apollo and Cerberus will watch out for you.”

You chuckled. “How do you know their names?”

“You always loved the Greek mythology.” He smiled as well. “And their names are on their bowls in your kitchen.”

 It wasn´t a raven he received a few days later, it was a pigeon. Tommy sat in the office of the Shelby Company, late at night, calculating numbers, when the grey pigeon picked against the window. A smile immediately grew on his face, he took the letter from the pigeon and gave the bird some water.  

“Dear Tommy,

I saw a wild horse this morning at sunrise, it was beautiful.

How are the nightmares? Does the tea help?

Be careful, there is a blood moon coming. Things tend to shift then.”

The letter was simple signed with your initials. But it was enough for now, it sparked something that had been in Thomas since he met you; hope.

---------------------

tags: @octaviareina @theamuz

[plussizeappreciationfics]

Oh!! I saw you write for SJ now! Could I please get an "what if" situation with the members reacting to the reader wanting to break up after a repetitive argument? Thanks!!

Great idea, I'll do a few members and if you like it, I'll continue!!

Leetuk

Leetuk was heartbroken at the thought of you leaving him. The main arguments were about how he wasn’t willing to go public with your relationship in fear that he'd get boycotted too and forced into hiatus just like the group's inactive member, Sungmin.

Despite that the entertainment company had given him green light to now freely talk about your relationship, Leetuk was still afraid that it would ruin his career. You completely understood his fear as 90% of the Elfs (fanbase name) were very selfish when it came to the members finding romantic happiness.

But seeing your boyfriend be so ignorant towards your own feelings is what hurt you the most. When his point of view didn't change, you packed your bags and left him, cussing that "His constant need of control would end up ruining his career".

Those words hit him hard as he watched you storm out of your shared apartment. Leetuk then broke down for two whole days, couldn't bring himself to show up at dance practices and recording sessions and blocked out the endless messages and calls from his manager and band members.

It was on the third day of being apart from you that he realized that he can't ever have full control of his life and upcoming events. That he loves you so much that the fans will have to accept that he's found someone to love and can't try to control who he is to interact or be with and not.

The leader ended up showing up at your friend's house where you were staying while trying to figure out how to find your next place to live. The second your eyes locked after opening the door, he engulfed you in a tight hug and pressed his soft lips against yours. Your heart painfully clenched in your chest when you felt his warm tears slowly roll down your cheeks. Leetuk immediately started asking you for forgiveness while gazing intensely into your eyes, promising that he'd get the help he needs to get rid of his controlling habits and go let the world know that he was happy to have someone as special as you by his side.

You forgave him with another deep kiss that healed both of your broken hearts.

Heechul

Heechul's non-funny jokes only encouraged you more to put on your shoes faster and then get the hell out of his apartment. "Oh come on, you can't be serious!" He yelled after you once you stood up and quickly searched for your keys, the tears not daring to cascade down your cheeks as he didn’t deserve to see you cry over him.

"I am but don't worry, since you don't want to commit to me even though I know you do, I won't waste my time anymore", is all you said before storming out once you had found your keys. Heechul was in shock for a few minutes, his brain slowly catching up on the fact that you just had left him. Words couldn’t describe the pain he felt exploding in his chest. He was so heartbroken and stubbornly refused to accept this was all his fault: the who of you had been dating for five years and you were ready to become his wife. Heechul felt the same way but remembered that a fortune teller once had told him that he'd end up getting divorced should he ever decide to get married.

Those words haunted him since the day he met you and although he wanted nothing more than to drop to his knee and ask you to marry him, his fear held him back to the point where he didn't even wanted to share a home with you.

You never begged him to put a ring on your finger, just asked him to act like a committed boyfriend. That was all, but that one request already seemed like too much for him. So here the two of you were now, separated and miserable.

Heechul could barely leave his bed after you left. Everything he did reminded him of you. He wasn't one to just sit down and cry but that's exactly what he did for several days. His stubbornness simmered down and he was able to sort out his feelings: acknowledge the fact that he couldn't let a random person control his fears. That he couldn't foresee the future and that it was his job to put all his effort into your relationship in order for it to succeed.

Heechul was able to locate you after you had blocked his number and made sure to not let the other members or shared friends find out that you were staying at a random hotel to get yourself together. When he appeared at your door, tears rushing down his face while he held a beautiful engagement ring in his right, you couldn't even talk while you fell into each other’s arms.

"Please marry me, (Y/N)" the singer whispered whole tightening his arms around your thick waist. The soft sobs leaving your lips were echoing through the room, it took you several minutes to calm down before you whispered "I will marry you".

Yesung

"Then go be with her!" is what you screamed before slamming the door. Yesung tried to run after you but it was too late, the door closed and he was left alone in his house. His loud pants echoed through the living, he felt like throwing up. You were gone.

The singer didn't even notice his best friend welcoming herself in his home a few minutes later. Standing in front of him and telling him about how she had bumped into you and had told her that "she had won" and could have the singer to herself. That alone had motivated her to confess that she wanted him. That he could do with her body whatever he sexually craved as she had felt comfortable enough to show him that she had wanted him for a long time now.

Yesung was shook, all the accusations about his best friend were true: she indeed had tried to get closer to him in order to seduce him but your arguments and feelings had fallen onto deaf ears. He had always told you that you were imagining things as the two of them always had been close. It was so painful to have your own boyfriend not believe you while the evidence was literally shoved in his face. You had always trusted your gut and now had finally reached your breaking point.

"Get out..." is all Yesung hissed in anger and beytayal. His lack of food consumption had made him lightheaded and the last thing he wanted was so lash out on his now ex-best friend. When she tried to use her tears to guilt trip him into being with her, he opened the front door and told her to not bother contacting him ever again.

The singer then had to lie down for a few hours as the physical response to the heartbreak and betrayal had overwhelmed him. He dreamt of you, wish to be with you again and ended up waking up while whispering your name.

He then left you long voice mails where he apologized for being an ignorant fool and explaining how you always had been right about his ex best friend. What he didn’t know was that you were listening to every single voice-mail and concluded that he was worthy of one more chance.

So hours passed before you stood in his living room again, feeling tired from all the crying but hopefully to days ahead as Yesung held you close and promised to do better as your boyfriend.

Emmanuelle💋❤

[ashiiixoxo]

| Match made in Heaven | Lucifer x Demigod! reader

summary- for the sake of your own safety you were send to Devildom, where Lord Diavolo would take you under his wing, being well aware of the abilities you possessed. you, being okay with going to Devildom, never expected to meet former angels. neither did you expect to fall in love down there.

masterlist

warning: self-harm

part 9 - lose control

“I'll help, its not like I can go outside after what happened in front of the store today.” you shrugged and tied an apron around your waist. “should we order takeaway then?” Leviathan suggested. 

while helping mammon in the kitchen the other brothers ordered dinner. “why’d Lucifer even take ya shopping? this wouldn't have happened if he didn't take ya” mammon complained. his D.D.D started vibrating, making him stop wiping the floor. “what's this?” he huffed. 

“unknown? that's probably some witch.” he shrugged and declined the call. after a minute, the same number called him again. and again he declined the call. his phone buzzed again, notifying mammon that he got a text message. 

hello Mammon,  the news has been going around that there is a new human living with you and your brothers. since this is bad for our company, we have decided to remove you from our model list for the time being. yours sincerely, Team Majolish

mammon groaned making you look up at him from the floor. “what's wrong?” you asked quietly. before mammon could speak, multiple screams echoed through the house. both of you ran out of the kitchen. “wasn't that Asmodeus and Leviathan?” you questioned. mammon didn't answer and dragged you along with him to the bedrooms.

first was Asmodeus, some of the brothers were already standing there, staring at Asmodeus’ phone. once the lustful demon laid eyes on you, his demon form triggered. “what’s wrong?” mammon asked. satan, who was restraining Asmodeus, answered. “his Devilgram account got deleted.” Satan spoke. “does this have to do with, Mc?” Mammon asked. Asmodeus groaned. “yes! because of the damn human, I have been banned from using Devilgram!” you bit your lip. 

“im sorry...” you apologised. “well sorry is not going to get me back on Devilgram!” you looked at the floor. so it is indeed very bad that you are here. “where’s the human!” you heard Leviathan shout. “Beel, Let me go! im going to kill that disgusting Normie!” your eyes widened. 

when Leviathan came in sight, Mammon dragged out of there and brought you to your room. “stay here.” he ordered and left again. you heard all the shouting until Lucifer came home. he ordered his brothers to join him in the living room and find a solution.

he explained to them that none of this is your fault and no one knew this would happen. Mammon couldn't work as model anymore, Leviathan’s followers boycotted his live streams because of you, Satan was banned from public libraries, Asmodeus is banned from using Devilgram, Beelzebub wasn't allowed in at Hell’s kitchen and Belphegor.. luckily he wasn't affected by you staying here but seeing Beelzebub in distress made him angry of course. 

you heard it all, their complaining, their threats, everything. and at this moment, you wished that the demon had killed you yesterday afternoon. you wished that the witch who chased after you, had stabbed you and taken your blood. you finally felt a form of safety, and within 24 hours that was taken away from you again.

you felt the piercing pain in your heart. you looked for the nearest sharp object to scratch your arm. the self destructive thoughts started swirling your mind as you kept scratching your wrist with your pen. you hadn't realised that the red marks on your wrist started bleeding. you took a moment to look at the crimson flowing from your wrist and saw some of the smaller scratches heal immediately again.

you heard footsteps coming up to your room, you wiped your eyes and covered your arm. before you knew it you were pinned against the floor. you let out a scream as you hit the floor. you cried out as the hands wrapped around your wrist tightened. “I can smell your blood so mind explaining why you’re bleeding.” that voice belonged to Lucifer, mammon behind him tried pulling him off as both of them were in their demon forms.

your eyes were brimming with tears. “please, get off me.” you  gasped. “oi get off!” this time mammon tried pulling him off by the collar of his shirt. Lucifers grip was firm and his eyes were glowing. not long after that the other brothers had surrounded the two of you. every single one of them in their demon form.

your wrist was burning from his grip, he simply lifted the sleeve of your bleeding wrist. his eyes wandered over your wrist and a sadistic smile spread across his lips. “such an alluring smell.” he spoke while mammon kept trying to pull him off you. 

“get off her, now.” Lucifer’s eyes widened and he immediately got back on his feet. you didn't realise you were holding your breath until he got off and you started gasping for air. 

<previous - next>

taglist-  @salty-hearts @izzieg3987 @inlustris-arts @cheesey-fox @gaming1205 @kashasenpai@giulia2372 @loboflo 

[mostlysignssomeportents]

How the Attack Surface audiobook can reform Audible

There's an EXCELLENT piece up on Fast Company by Steven Melendez about my Kickstarter campaign to pre-sell audibooks of my next novel, as a way to demonstrate the viability of publishing audio without caving to Audible/Amazon's mandatory DRM policy. https://www.fastcompany.com/90549199/why-this-author-is-taking-a-stand-against-amazons-audiobook-monopoly Melendez does great work laying out the case for refusing DRM, and the risks to publishers and writers in allowing Amazon to lock their works to its platform (it's a felony to remove DRM or provide the tools to do so, even if you own the copyright to the DRM-locked work!). Reading his piece, it strikes me that I could do a better job for laying out my theory of change here - how preordering the audiobook could actually lead to a fairer world where power shifts away from Amazon (owners of Audible) to the creators of audiobooks. Obviously most authors couldn't do what I'm doing. I've been publishing books since 2000, more than 20 of 'em, with several NYT bestsellers. This particular book is the sequel to two MASSIVE bestsellers with huge, dedicated followings. Publishing lives and dies on this kind of book. One of the major reason that publishers publish "midlist" books and first novels is in the hopes that they'll "break out" and become perennial bestsellers that subsidize the next round of risky bets on midlist and first books. So while this isn't a typical kind of book, it's an important one. So let's say this does really well in audio, selling, say, 10,000 copies. That works out really well for me, as I'm the publisher for this one, because I keep 95% of that (Kickstarter gets 5%).

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/attack-surface-audiobook-for-the-third-little-brother-book

By contrast, if my publisher sold this with Audible, they'd get 70% (Amazon takes 30%), and then I'd get 25% of that (17.5% of the gross). That means I earn 542% of what my take would be with a publisher/Audible on these sales. So my profit on 10,000 self-published, Kickstarted audiobooks is roughly equivalent to 54,200 commercial books sold through Audible. I had to pay to produce the audiobook and put in a hard month's work on promoting the KS, but that still a great upside. So that's one way things could change. Frontlist writers could demand to retain their audio rights in publisher negotiations and do what I did. It's hard work, and only a minority of writers are situated to do it, but it would make sense for some of 'em. And that would definitely make a dent in Amazon's business: they're a hit-driven biz, too. If a big chunk of major books were "Audible exclusive" (that is, sold everywhere EXCEPT Audible), they'd feel the pinch, first in lost revenues and then in lost subscribers. After all, once the presale campaign is over, this book will be for sale everywhere EXCEPT Audible: libro.fm, downpour.com, even Google Play. All of those stores have stock and plans that are basically identical to Audible. And if they amass sizeable collections of exclusive-of-Audible bestsellers, there will be good reasons for customers to defect to them from Audible. But what about the publishers? Well, maybe they won't release their frontlist authors' audiobook rights - but if they can make MUCH more money by working WITH authors to presell their audiobooks, AND weaken Amazon's stranglehold over their business...why wouldn't they? In this scenario, authors and publishers do (better-than-retail) revenue shares for a crowdfunded, DRM-free presale campaign, again diverting the bestselling titles from Amazon/Audible, once again driving support for retail alternatives to Amazon. One advantage I haven't mentioned yet: shifting away from Audible is GREAT news for libraries, since neither Audible originals, nor Kindle originals, are available AT ALL for library purchase. Imagine a publisher BOYCOTTING LIBRARIES! And here's the theory-of-change part: realistically, not selling through Amazon means that a lot of readers and listeners won't encounter your work - even if you make more money overall, this is not ideal. My end-game is for Amazon to make good on the promise it made in 2008 when it bought Audible: to drop its DRM (or at least make it optional!). That way, readers who buy their audiobooks from Amazon can change retailers without abandoning their expensive audiobooks. That alone won't end Amazon's dominance (we'll need meaningful antitrust enforcement for that), but without that step, competition doesn't have a hope in hell. We MUST end the situation where every dollar spent on our books at Audible is a dollar our readers will have to throw away to switch to a rival. We can do that, and we don't need every writer to be in a position to refuse Audible to make it happen. We just need to starve them of the books from their most popular authors - and happily, those authors stand the best chance of making MORE money by doing crowdfunders for pre-sales. If bestsellers like me do this, we'll make more money AND we'll make the world better for ALL authors. And one more bonus: I'm using the crowdfunder to presell ebooks (and sell ebooks for the previous two volumes - 4,000 ebooks in five days (and counting). I'm the retailer for these ebooks, so I get 30% off the top, send the remaining 70% to my publisher, and they send me 25% of that back as a royalty: that means I get 47.5% of the gross on these. And they're ebooks that are sold without enriching Amazon. That's my fiendish plan - my plan to be the pebble that starts the avalanche that moves the mountain. You can help! A $15 pre-order for the audiobook (list price $25!) will help to change the world: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doctorow/attack-surface-audiobook-for-the-third-little-brother-book I look forward to selling the first-ever DRM-free Audible book. (thank you for attending my TED Talk!)

[strangedreamings]

Gingerrose prompt: Modern AU, it's Christmas and Hux is "bah humbugging" the season while Rose is full of holiday spirit, and he doesn't get into the spirit of the season until someone else brings out the mistletoe and Hux and Rose get caught under it.

Mistletoe Is All It Took (AO3)

“One more,” Rose said, grinning, just before she placed another shopping bag in Armitage’s hand. He already had his arms wrapped around the bulkiest bag while two more dangled from each hand.

“It’s becoming all too clear why you dragged me out here,” he muttered. Still, he dutifully followed her out of the latest store and over to her SUV.

She unlocked the trunk then grinned at him as she opened it. “I needed someone with long arms and enough stamina to survive an all-day shopping trip.”

Armitage raised an eyebrow as she took the first bags from him. “And what do you know of my stamina?”

Rose blushed and prayed he’d only think it was from the cold. “You work out all the time, I assume it takes a lot to tire you out.” She busied herself with properly stowing the various bags to avoid meeting his eyes.

The two of them had been best friends for years and had even started an engineering company together but lately, Rose found herself wanting more from him. It’s like I turned around one day and there he was, hot as hell and I had only just noticed. Not to mention he’s marshmallow sweet under that brittle exterior. And he’s one of the few people I can truly depend on no matter what.

“My stamina may hold out, but my patience is another matter,” he muttered darkly.

“I heard that,” Rose said, grinning at him as she finally closed the trunk and locked it again. “Okay, next store.”

Armitage groaned quietly but still followed her back into the shopping mall.

*

She treated him to a late lunch once her shopping was done. Armitage was never fond of chain restaurants, especially ones full of kitschy décor, but his growling stomach won out over his taste. Seated across from Rose in a booth as far from the front doors and the cold outside as they could get, he was struck once again by how truly gorgeous his best friend was.

I’d ask her out in a heartbeat if I thought there was even a chance she’d say yes. But no, I’m her friend, nothing more. I should be thanking my lucky stars that she even considers me a friend. No one else does. Her friends tolerate me at most.

After they gave the waitress their orders and she gave them their drinks, Rose smiled at him. “Did you get an invite to Finn and Poe’s wedding?”

Armitage rolled his eyes. “Yes, but I have to wonder at the wisdom of a destination wedding in Orlando.”

“They want everyone to have fun at Universal Studios, not to mention they’re still boycotting Disney. I think it’ll be a blast.”

“Are you going to bring a date?” he blurted, the words sneaking past his filter like some resistance fighter getting past a guard.

It was Rose’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “The wedding’s not for three months, but I seriously doubt it. I’ve had no luck with guys lately. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t know if the problem is them or me.”

“It’s them,” he insisted, earning him a grateful smile, then more unfiltered words came out. “You’re perfect.”

She let out an unladylike snort. “Hardly.”

“You are.”

“If I’m so perfect, then how come I haven’t had a serious relationship in over a year?”

“Men are idiots.”

Rose burst into giggles at his perfectly straight face. “Present company excepted?”

No, I’m the biggest idiot of them all. Thankfully, he didn’t blurt that out. “I suppose.”

She grinned. “Well, women are idiots too – you haven’t had a serious relationship for longer than I have.” Their food arrived and Rose started on her fries when the waitress left again. “You’re a definite catch, Armie – intelligent, sophisticated, driven, not to mention really hot, especially since you grew the beard.”

He self-consciously reached up to touch his short beard. “You think so, do you?”

“Yep. Rey said that if she hadn’t met Ben, she definitely would’ve tried her luck with you.”

That was certainly news to him, but nothing could surprise him more than Rose thinking he was hot. “Yes, well, she would have been disappointed.”

“Not your type?” Rose guessed, grinning.

Of course not – she’s not you. “Something like that,” he muttered.

“Right. Eat, Armie – cold French fries are nasty.”

He rolled his eyes then dutifully started on his food.

They were headed back to their part of town when Rose said carefully, her eyes on the road, “I may have told Rey and Ben we’d stop by their Christmas party.”

Armitage groaned quietly. “That’s tonight, isn’t it?”

“Yep.”

The last thing he wanted was to be at a party where he only knew a handful of people. “I’m not in the Christmas spirit.”

“Are you ever?” she asked, relaxing. “You’re the Grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge rolled into one. Your secretary tried to decorate for Christmas and you wouldn’t even let her hang mistletoe.”

“I’m trying to save the company from a sexual harassment suit.”

She smiled a bit. “It’s only harassment if the other person is offended.”

“You’re saying I should be like you – strings of lights on the walls and a tree in the corner?”

Rose giggled. “I think our customers would think you’d been replaced by a pod person.” She stopped at a red light then gave him her most charming grin. “Please, Armie? It’ll only be a couple of hours then I’ll take you home.”

I never could resist her. He sighed heavily. “Very well.”

“Yay!”

*

Rose led the way up the steps to the Solos’ house, a newly-purchased bottle of wine in one hand. Armitage was right behind her, and she prayed he wasn’t going to be the specter at this feast. I gotta get him into a good mood somehow.

A beaming Rey let them in. She and Ben had only been married a month but Rose had to admit that marriage looked good on her best friend.

They were just passing through the kitchen when Rey said, “Stop!”

Rose stopped dead, Armitage so close behind her that she could feel his warmth seeping into her and she had to suppress a shiver. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Rey said, grinning delightedly. “Look up.”

She dutifully looked up and couldn’t help the groan that escaped her when she saw they were standing beneath the mistletoe. Oh God, anything but that…

Armitage scowled. “Do you really expect me to kiss Rose just because you hung a plastic facsimile of a tree parasite from the ceiling?”

“It’s a year of bad luck if you don’t,” Rey said, grinning.

“I don’t give a damn about bad luck,” he muttered.

“Not for you – for Rose.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”

“The superstition only says girls who refuse to kiss under the mistletoe will have a year of bad luck, it doesn’t say anything will happen to the boys.” Rey smirked. “But I think not getting a kiss from Rose is bad enough, don’t you?”

Rose threw up her hands in annoyance. “Just forget it, both of you. Armie obviously doesn’t want to kiss me-”

Her next words were cut off by Armitage pulling her to him and kissing her like they were alone instead of surrounded by her friends. Someone, probably Poe, started whistling and she swore she heard Finn mutter, “Finally!” but all of that faded to background noise as Armitage kissed her. It was full of passion and promise and Rose did her level best to catch up.

I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but damn, I approve.

When breathing became a necessity, he ended the kiss but then moved his very talented mouth to her ear, murmuring, “I’ve wanted to do that for far too long. What do you say to us leaving now?”

Rose grinned, almost giddy with happiness. “We just got here,” she murmured back.

“Don’t care.” He raised his head to look at the others, who were all grinning like idiots at the little show they’d put on. “If you’ll excuse us, my partner and I have some negotiations to attend to.”

“That’s one way of putting it,” Poe said, smirking.

“Have fun,” Rey said, grinning.

Not waiting for any other responses, Armitage took her hand and led her out of the house and back to the car. Rose couldn’t help thinking that Christmas had come early.

And nothing can beat this gift.

[thenightling]

So there are Lucifer fans who want to boycott Sandman preemptively!?

My first reaction was: “Oh, God!  They’re starting this crap again!?”  

I was hearing this back when Fox dropped Lucifer.   It made me leave a bunch of Save Lucifer groups on Facebook.

There were rumors back then that the reason Fox was dropping Lucifer was because they were doing Sandman. Granted this was over a year before anyone actually decided to do Sandman.  But back then there were Lucifer fans on Facebook going “If they adapt Sandman, I’m boycotting it!”  So they were looking for excuses to blame Sandman even then.

There were even people saying things like “People who read comics aren’t like the people who watch TV.”  And “I don’t care about the comic strip.” (Yes, there were people calling it a “strip” not realizing strip means a short comic in the form of a strip of panels in a newspaper, usually telling a brief joke…) and even “I’m glad they changed Death into Azrael.  Goths are mean bitches and Azrael sweet!”   (If you know anything at all about Death you’d realize how ironic this is.  Death is an extremely friendly character.  Goth fashion does not mean you are “mean.” That one really pissed me off.)

Anyway, I’m rambling. To get back on track, guys, don’t blame Sandman.  Sandman is what GAVE us the version of Lucifer that quit ruling Hell, gave us Mazikeen, gave us Lux, gave us Lucifer playing the Piano, and even large chuncks of Lucifer’s TV show dialogue came from Sandman.   At least two conversations Lucifer has in the show are direct dialogue from Sandman.

For example this conversation here with Linda was originally had in the comics with Morpheus (the Lord of Dreams) as Lucifer was shutting down Hell. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2or2T62T1I

Issue 23 of Sandman (storyline Season of Mists part 2) And recreated in Lucifer’s solo comics via flashback.

Here Lucifer talks with Amenadiel about the masochistic soul. Yet again this is word for word a scene of Lucifer talking to Morpheus, The Lord of Dreams. Both Linda and Amenadiel have served as stand-ins for Morpheus in the show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-py6PE9mO1A

Also from issue 23 of Sandman (Storyline: Season of mists part 2)

Sandman isn’t making you LOSE Lucifer, it’s what gave you the version of Lucifer you love to begin with.   They have been trying to get an adaptation of Sandman made since 1996 but you didn’t see angry Sandman fans upset that Lucifer got a TV show first, a TV show that strategically stepped around Morpheus AKA Dream of The Endless AKA The Sandman because, at the time, Fox didn’t want him.  

Netflix saved Lucifer.  Netflix gave Lucifer two extra seasons after Fox had ended it.  And, in my opinion, Netflix fixed a lot of mistakes from season 3 of Lucifer and put the show back on track.  We should be grateful for what Netflix gave us.  

I say this as someone who read Sandman in June of 2017.  Lucifer was my gateway drug and the final push I needed to finally read Sandman.  And I loved it dearly.

Sandman did not kill Lucifer.  Netflix had decided to end Lucifer with season 5 before they were even offered Sandman (if you pay attention to the timeline of events).  Had they not bought Sandman, this would NOT have saved Lucifer a second time.  The decision that season 5 would be the last for Lucifer was decided immediately after season 4 concluded.    Actually it may have been decided even before then.  The producers of Lucifer said Netflix season 4 and 5 are the two halves of what they planned to be season 4 for Fox, just broken into two parts.   So they always meant for this to be the conclusion, whether on Netflix or on Fox.   Netflix gave them the chance to give it the ending the show deserved.

Fantasy TV shows usually only have a three year life expectancy.  CW was the first network to break that rule with Buffy The Vampire Slayer, and later Supernatural surpassed all expectations.  And game of thrones ran for nearly a decade.  But in general most fantasy TV shows are considered successful if they get as far as the third season.   Lucifer surpassed that.  As a TV show Lucifer had a good, long life.

Netflix decided to conclude Lucifer months before they were even offered Sandman. The deal for Sandman wasn’t even official until June 30th / July 1st.

A character in Swamp Thing (The DC Streaming service series) is also a pivotal character in Sandman.

That character of Matthew Cable becomes Morpheus’ raven. (He chooses to spend his afterlife in the service of the dream lord).  But you don’t see Swamp Thing fans blaming Sandman for Swamp Thing only getting one season.   No.  Instead we kind of view it as a compensation because Swamp Thing (though short lived) had been so good.  We just hope Sandman will be just as good.

Sandman didn’t go around murdering Lucifer or Swamp Thing (at least Swamp Thing fans have some sense in this regard!).  Sandman (comics) gave us this version of Lucifer.  And for that we should be grateful.  

Now if you want to read the story that introduces that version of Lucifer, it’s issue 4 of Sandman “A Hope in Hell” (available in the graphic novel Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes.)  

If you want to read the storyline where Lucifer quits ruling Hell and we get introduced to Mazikeen it’s the storyline (available in graphic novel form) Sandman: Season of Mists.    

If you want to read the storyline where Lucifer owns Lux and plays Piano that’s in the graphic novel Sandman: The Kindly Ones.   But I highly recommend giving Sandman a chance, reading all of Sandman, and not skipping anything. I know I didn’t regret it.  Instead I fell in love.

The order Sandman should be read in is:

1. The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes 2. The Sandman: The Doll’s House 3. The Sandman: Dream Country 4. The Sandman: Season of Mists 5. The Sandman: A Game of You 6. The Sandman: Fables and Reflections 7. The Sandman: Brief Lives 8. The Sandman: The Worlds’ End 9. The Sandman: The Kindly Ones 10. The Sandman: The Wake The Sandman: Dream Hunters The Sandman: Endless Nights The Sandman: Overture (a very beautiful prequel)

Sandman is not your enemy.  It did not kill Lucifer.  There are actors on Lucifer (I won’t name names) who have indicated they want to go on to other projects.  Do not blame Sandman for Lucifer ending, instead be grateful Sandman gave us Lucifer to begin with.   And boycotting Sandman will not suddenly make them reconsider Lucifer for a second time.  It will just make you possibly miss out on something amazing.  

Tom Ellis and company would NOT be proud of this behavior as they were proud of the Save Lucifer campaign.  Instead, I can imagine Tom reminding you, that irrationally hating something before it even starts, and without even giving it a chance is precisely what One Million Moms did to Lucifer.   Don’t let yourself become that.   Give Sandman a chance, you may find out you love it.

Update:  Yet again, no.   Sandman did not cause Lucifer to get cancelled.  I don’t know how many times you have to be told this. 

https://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/1222168160566013953

[krawalito]

This post is not spoiler free. Its tagged but I don’t really give a shit anymore. I was spoiled and I am actually happy about it. my thoughts on Tros.

My fellow reylos. So here is my last post before I’ll come back tomorrow. I have another 6 hrs before I see the movie. But before I do I need to release some of my thoughts.

 I think I will find some scenes in this movie i am going to enjoy. I am not going to hate all of it. In general I am a very positive person so I think it wont kill me.

BUT here comes the big BUT. What the hell is wrong with American scripts/movies/shows? (this has nothing to do with American people but with the American film industry. Don’t get me wrong). What is this subvert expectations? What is this bittersweet shit NO ONE really wants to see? Did they not learn from their mistakes? I used to say you cannot compare SW with GOT but I was wrong. The premise yes is different, but the outcome of storytelling is still the same.

I loved GOT with all my heart. It was cruel at most times but still I had some hope that in the end everything will come to conclusion and it will not leave me totally frustrated. I didn’t expect an HEA at all but something better than the last season. I was about buying merch, I was about buying all the seasons, but I ended up buying NOTHING. This show literally doesn’t exist for me anymore. I erased it completely bc they screwed it up. Let’s face it they did. And I was not the only one boycotting everything post season 8. HBO lost revenue. Every company selling merch lost revenue. They did. And still we see the same storytelling style yet again.

What’s wrong with happy endings? Why do all of these big Hollywood companies think we want this cruelty? I don’t. and from what I read, listen and see the majority of people don’t. especially women. I am so sick that they use us, tease us but in the end, they don’t give us what we deserve. I am sick of it. The point of diving into fantasy is to forget about the world around you. The world alone is tough enough and I don’t want to be haunted by that when I watch fiction. That’s the whole point of fiction.

SW is about HOPE, always was, always should have been. JJ obviously missed the point. HE DID!

NO ONE wanted Rey to end up where she started. NO ONE. NO ONE wanted the most popular character to die like this. if you kill him then c’mon bring him at least back as a force ghost, bc that leaves a door open and it gives people hope. What the hell is wrong with JJ? Reys ending is the most ridiculous end of all times. And don’t get me started with Leia. Leia never had any luck in her entire life. And this is how it all ends for her? Not reuniting with her son? nope with whatever rey is to her. I have no words for that. this is bad storytelling. Period. There is nothing to debate about. It leaves me without any emotion.

I loved the idea of rey being nobody (if the leaks are true and she is a palpatine). That would have been the most beautiful message to all the young girls (and boys) out there that no matter where you come from you can become whomever you want to, and you can end up being strong and loved. But nope. She falls in love, she never finds her belonging bc ben is gone and ends up where she started with a fucking droid, on a dead planet. What message is that? Girl whatever you do in your life you end up unhappy and alone and some dudes who are not related to you say goodbye in a sunset. Praise the lord.

Ben Solo dies. For love. Which is a grand gesture right there and it makes his redemption arc for the GA plausible. BUT not for SW fans. And the fanbase is huge. He was the last skywalker. He was a victim. He was abused. He was the hero after all. And they fucking kill him. If you kill him JJ, make him a fucking force ghost so he can be with his family. What message do they deliver here? That no matter what you do, no matter what happens in your life.. if you are a victim and you do something bad you have to sacrifice yourself in order to get redemption. WTF how am I supposed to tell my kids that the story is just plain dumb? I am (I posted that on my blog) a teenager of abuse and I could see so much of myself in Ben Solo. Its breaking my heart.

And what about the rest? NOT important. Finn? Who? Rose? Who? Poe? Who?

So, what is the conclusion of this story? That the Dark side always wins. Palpatine wins again. That’s it that the story. Anything that came before the Sequels is pointless now. Sorry to say that but it is actually. And the only reason is because they leave us without any hope. That’s the key to SW.

 And please don’t tell me its fiction, calm down its not real. Yes, that is true, and my life goes on and I will survive it but its 42 years (for me a bit less) of a story that accompanied families and friends. Fiction has an impact on you whether you like it or not. I read books which I still think about because they touched me so deeply. Same applies to movies. MEDIA in general is important and has a huge impact on any of us. It influences young children and teenagers quite a lot actually.

So what do I learn from that disappointment? A lot. I will, and I am very serious about it, never invest so much energy on something that I do not know the end of ever again. I will not invest my money on anything SW unless its fan made. I want to know upfront if my expectations are met or not. I am 39, I grew up with Happy endings. I am not prepared for this new era of evil storytellers and I don’t want to ever get used to it.

 I want us Anti or not anti, reysky or reyfinn, reypoe, stormpilot (whatever the shipnames are.. I lost track lol) to express our feelings and let them know that we are not happy with it bc if we don’t nothing is ever going to change. We have a voice and we should use it. Use twitter, use insta, use FB, use change.org to start a petition if you feel the need to. Don’t be afraid we all feel it too.

 Last but not least… we Reylos were right all along. Reylo is canon. And that’s the tea. The last one until the movie comes out on dvd and I can see your beautiful gifs. This fandom brought so many talented people together like I have never seen before. Never forget without us there is no them. So use this power.

 Before I forget. Rian Johnson is a genius. The TLJ is a beautiful movie.

 This is my pre-watch Tros Post and I will make another afterwards but after all the spoilers now I am pretty much convinced that its all true. It won’t change my opinion on the story telling, that remains a shit show but it might change my view on the details.

[ferretfreedomfighters]

⁣JUSTICE FOR SITKA - A Marshall Ferret Story

❌⁣ ❌⁣ Marshall Ferrets is the leading ferret mill in North America. They supply most of the pet stores in the USA with ferrets and pet stores across all of North America with ferret supplies. Marshall Ferrets is first and foremost a ferret mill. Ferret mills force female ferrets to breed out of season by injecting them with hormones, take their babies away from them when they are far too young, and over breed their females in order to meet the supply and demand needs put forth by their customers. Along with this, Marshall Ferret’s products are absolutely awful for ferrets: their malt paste and treats contains harmful sugars and carcinogens, their ferret kibble is essentially McDonalds for ferrets, and their toys are easily destroyed which creates choking and blockage hazards.

But, capitalism persists. This company rakes in millions of dollars every year, and they won’t stop until the money stops coming in. Please consider boycotting Marshalls and not purchasing any ferrets from pet stores, or buying any products that come from this terrible and unethical company. ❌⁣ ❌⁣

Here is Sitka’s story:

“This story is not easy for me to tell, I will.

For Sitka.

I bought Sitka from Petco on March 2nd, 2019. I knew nothing of Marshall Farms and their unethical and inhumane handling and breeding of ferrets. All I knew was that I had spent two years dreaming of owning a ferret and was finally ready to bring one into my heart and home. As soon as I saw Sitka, I knew he was the one. But looking back now, Sitka was way too young to have been in that display case, open for just anyone to purchase. He should have still been with his mother and siblings for at least four more weeks. Sadly, this is the case for all ferrets sold by Marshall Farms. While they claim the kits leave their farm at 8-9 weeks of age, I, along with many others, believe this is not the case and that most of the kits are ripped away from their mothers earlier than claimed.

Once I got Sitka home, I immediately noticed that he was scratching vigorously at his hears. During his first vet visit, the veterinarian confirmed that he had an ear mite infestation and an infection in one of his ears. Again this is the case for many ferrets purchased from Marshall Farms due to the poor and unhygienic living spaces. 

Although I wasn’t the perfect ferret owner while I had Sitka, I feel like I could do a lot right now. I never fed any of the pastes, supplements, or treats made by Marshalls. I switched him to a much better kibble than Marshall’s and used a water bowl instead of a bottle. I only used oatmeal to bathe him and gave him 24/7 free roam in my room. Sitka and I were inseparable. Wherever I was, he was. There were even more mornings that I woke up and found him sleeping in the bed with my pillow.

It saddens me knowing that Sitka never had another ferret to play with and while I know humans can never replace ferret companionship, I made sure that Sitka was stimulated every day and had hours of playtime with me. And trust me, we played hard.

Flash forward 6 months lager, we had just moved into a new apartment, and I started to notice that Sitka was sleeping longer and longer. At first, I thought it was because he was stressed from the move, but then I noticed that his hind legs began to wobble and move with difficulty. I scheduled a vet appointment and took him as soon as I could the vet found that he was running a high fever and was dehydrated. She gave him some fluids subcutaneously and prescribed me with Metronidazole which is an antibiotic used to treat many infections.

I gave Sitka the Metronidozole every 12 hours for a week, but I saw no improvement. Instead, Sitka’s condition got even worse. he was extremely lethargic and his hind legs had given out almost completely. The only time he would move was to go potty, but he would only make it a couple of inches before he’d give up and relieve himself where he was. During this entire week, I was also syringe feeding and watering him since he would not eat or drink on his own. I took him to the vet again. He had lost some weight despite my efforts to keep him fed. His fever was still present, and now his head tilted to one side permanently. This time we had blood work, x-rays, and an IV done. While palpating his stomach, the vet also felt a mass in his midsection. Since there were no overnight veterinary hospitals in my city, I had to take Sitka home with me. Every hour or two for days, I would inject fluids into Sitka’s IV. I was exhausted and drained from the worry of losing him and lack of sleep. I prayed that any call I would get from the vet would tell me that it was something I could fix. But, this was not the case. The vet called and told me that the x-rays showed that his spleen, liver, and kidneys were enlarged. The blood work also showed that his organs were beginning to fail. I held Sitka close and told him over and over again how much I loved him. I didn’t want him to be alone for a second.

The following day I took Sitka back to the vet. while in the exam room, the vet explained to me what she believe was his diagnosis. Ferret Systematic Coronavirus. FRSC is simple to the dry form of Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP), and like FIP, there is no cure. A more common coronavirus seen in ferrets is ferret enteric coronavirus which causes epizootic catarrhal enteritis (ECE), but more and more cases of FRSC have been reported from the United States. Like ECE, FRSC is extremely contagious and transferred from fecal matter. The only way to prevent FRSC is by avoiding exposure from ferrets that are infected, and to keep cages clean and disinfected.

To be sure this was what Sitka had, we did an ultrasound. I can’t remember exactly what the vet saw, but it did confirm our fears. She further explained to me what the results of the blood work meant, but I was not in the right mind to listen or learn. All I was thinking about was that I was about to make the hardest decision in my life. There was a choice to potentially treat his symptoms, the vet explained that it was clear he had suffered from central nervous system damage since he had hind limb paralysis and had a head tilt. I made the decision to end his suffering and humanly euthanize him. I stayed there with him and thanked him for being my companion for the short time I had him, and told him over and over again how much he was loved and how he’d be missed. The vet announced that he no longer had a heartbeat and I held and kissed him for the last time.

After talking with my vet and one of the animal science professors, we have concluded that Sitka must have been infected by his mother. Like FIP, his virus must have started off asymptomatic and then later mutated and infected and spread throughout his body. Marshall Farms does not keep clean and disinfect cages. They do not test their ferrets for diseases like these and they do not care how genetically healthy their breeder ferrets are. They only care about producing cute and exotic colored kits no matter the issues that come along with them. I wouldn’t wish any ferret owner to experience what I did, but knowing that Marshall Farms will continue to mass-produce and inbred ferrets in unclean conditions, it is bound to happen again. Sitka was only 8 months old when he left me. He and all the others like him deserve justice. Please boycott Marshall Farms and all their products.”

Sitka is not the first, and certainly wont be the last, Marshall ferret to leave his owners much too young. Unhealthy breeding practices are the tip of the iceberg when it comes to problems with Marshall Ferrets. Do your part to stop the breeding of ferrets at ferret hell (aka MF). Do not buy ferrets from pet stores. Do not purchase any Marshall products (this includes toys, cage accessories, food, treats, and shampoos). We have the power to make a difference for ferrets across North America.

If you have a story about a mill bred ferret that you would like to share, please send it to our submit box so we can use it to help educate.