#im not mad its giving me an excuse to be productive

[kindheartedgummybears]

Ok so um anyways guess who's cleaning like 5 Halloween mask they collect and love rn at 1:30 am because their cat peeded on them😍😍

Ummm does anyone have tips on how to clean them properly?? Most of them are plastic but 3 of them have LEDs in them and one of them is silicone I THINK and has hair/fur

[kings-highway]

haikyuu ship headcanons except i forgot to think of a theme so they're all unrelated

daisuga: absolutely they casually kissed sometime before confessing to each other. Either as a joke/gag between friends, a dare, or maybe for some kind of student film/stage production, their first (romantic) kiss is definitely not their first kiss. Its probably not even their second. I'd hesitate to say third.

iwaoi: Iwa uses Oikawa being "needy" as an excuse to hide his introvertism. Makki and Mattsun are trying to drag him over to play video games for the 3rd time that week so Iwa's just "ahh, can't, Oikawa's already mad I ditched him the last few nights. You know what he's like, he gets so whiny if I don't give him attention," and meanwhile Oikawa is waiting for him by the gate like "alright I'll walk you home so the lie holds up, but you're giving our friends a bad impression of me and I don't appreciate that."

tsukkiyama: yamaguchi decided he was going to marry tsukki very young and tsukki did not get a say in this. like I'm thinking 11 years old and yamaguchi is daydreaming like "yeah. im gonna make him my husband." concidentally this is also why he doesnt get jealous of girls confessing to tsukki because he has this incredible internal conviction that they'll be married one day. basically he spends the next decade of his life wooing him over and playing the longest game ever and it works. tsukki never realizes exactly how young he was put into yamaguchi's trap.

ushiten: tendou was absolutely downright plagued by sex dreams starring Ushijima in their second year and into their third year and this was incredibly alarming for him because he had never even had a crush on anyone before, nor a dream like that previously, and he hadn't even consciously realized he had any attraction towards him beforehand. well thats one way to figure out you have a crush. and that you're gay.

kagehina: wrong culture but I think these two would fucking nail the promposal thing in theory, but they'd be competing with each other to see who could prompose first and theyd be so caught up in avoiding the other person's so that they could be the one to do it that they'd never actually ask each other to prom and then theyd have to go together but technically alone because they never asked. like theyve been dating for 2 years they both knew theyd say yes, they simply did not let the other ask because they wanted to do it.

matsuhana: they would both deny it with their whole chest, but they actually look up to Oikawa and Iwa as a couple, and will often default to asking them for advice. Even when its really complicated stuff, they trust their judgement. Mattsun and Makki met in high school, so they've always been really jealous of the long, childhood best friend thing and want to be able to know each other that well.

[pookieismissing09]

ok guys i never post on here but heres my take on the sturniolo space camp situation if anyone gives a fuck

SORRY THIS IS SO LONG I DONT EXPECT ANYONE TO READ EVERYTHING NO ONE WILL PROB SEE THIS ANYWAY 💀 ill prob delete this icl its just a lil rant 🥰🥰

and if u disagree with me idc im just expressing my opinions 😭 read the whole thing so i can justify myself before u start attacking me

before i say anything im not just sticking up for nick just because im a fan of the triplets. like some people are only sticking up for him because they hate to admit that he would ever lie or do anything wrong- and they’re defending him with no reasoning other than “he would never 🥺” like stfu. what im saying is that i don’t know for sure whether the ‘bee better’ guy is telling the truth, for all i know he might be chatting utter shit. but if he is telling the truth, then im saying that i understand nick lied but its not necessarily a negative thing.

so like first of all i dont see the issue with nick not being the founder of the brand. like yes i understand its ‘morally wrong’ to lie and its misinformation but i think we will live… it doesnt make any difference to the products or the people who buy them. like ik people say that they only bought it to support nick and they wouldn’t have bought it if they knew it was just some random brand, but its not just some ‘random brand’- they are still supporting nick cos he gets payed for advocating it. by purchasing the products, theyre keeping the brand afloat which means nick will get payed for being the ‘face of the brand’ and doing a good job at advertising. or in simple terms, even if nick isnt the founder of the entire brand he is still a huge part of the company and is definetly getting a fat bag from all of this. like yall are acting like you wouldnt lie if a company said they would pay you to do so- bffr we would all do what nick did.

and the other main thing is everyone is complaining about the price all of a sudden. like if you are all protesting about how nick has nothing to do with the origin of the brand then surely he also wouldn’t be able to control the price? so according to everyone saying the lip balms are not his idea, don’t be mad at nick for the ridiculous pricing if he apparently ‘had nothing to do with it in the first place‘. and aside from that, the pricing literally had nothing to do with the fact that he lied about being the founder- it would probably cost the same either way so why are people only getting worked up about the pricing now that he is being ‘exposed’? like honestly people are just looking for excuses to say he’s a bad person like what 😭

and ik this doesnt have anything to do with spacecamp, but in general these days everyone is saying how the triplets don’t put any effort into their content anymore and only do it for the money. i think you are forgetting that youtube is their full time paying job. doing youtube as a hobby and doing it as a career are completely different- and most people find that when they pursue their hobbies as a career choice they start to enjoy it less since they feel under pressure to perform a certain way (and don’t come at me for saying that because im “babying” the triplets, piss off).

put it this way, people that have high paying jobs that sit in an office all day don’t do that type of work for their enjoyment- they only work in that environment because they want to receive a larger income instead of having an enjoyable job with a poor wage. this is exactly the same as the triplets’ situation, i doubt very much that they actually do youtube for their personal enjoyment. at the end of the day they have to pay the bills and youtube is their only job- its not always going to be fun like it used to be (both for them and for us watching).

and for all of you thinking ‘well they shouldnt be youtubers if they cant entertain people’ you have to understand that getting a different job takes time. like the whole process of finding a career, interviewing etc. and as well as that, they are probably terrified to even consider looking for another career because of their batshit crazy fans (including me 💀). like can we just cut them some slack and let them get on with their job 😭. and at the end of the day they cant just stop being youtubers, they will never be able to live their lives as regular people now that they have created their platform- i doubt they will ever do anything else bc of the fear of being recognised in public whilst they are doing a more “normal” job.

and for the love of god this is NOT me saying that the triplets are gonna quit youtube. like i said, its their full time job. im just giving my opinion on people saying they are only doing it for the money- and quite honestly they are, but is that really such a bad thing? like im sorry but they aren’t just posting for our entertainment, they need money one way or another.

also is anyone else excited for the stream later like i hope nick will say something about all this and not just stay quiet until it all blows over

i think thats all i was gonna say i cant remember but if theres more then i will say 😘😘😘 sorry i waffle alot

[sadie-bug345]

gang as sodas‼️‼️🫶🫶

i’m BAAAAACKKK i had a minor mental breakdown over stupid guys but it is okay because we are back in the game🫡 ANYWAYS LETS GO

ponyboy:

hard sprite fan

probably accepts sierra mist or starry WHATEVER ITS CALLED NOW

but he does so begrudgingly😐

also probably vibes w Hi-C or brisk tea or smth random like that

8/10 mcdonald’s sprite lover

johnny:

dr pepper for sure

that or some other cola

but he enjoys the sweet perfection that is dr pepper🤌

probably cracks one open like every three hours

the caffeine keeps my boy running

which is real cause who has the naturally occurring energy that allows him to stab socs and hide out in a church for a week🤷‍♂️

9/10 iconic

sodapop:

hot take but i feel like my guy either LOVES and CRAVES soda OR he is just like meh about it

like his name already is a lot

so some days when he’s more down he’s just like

”NO STEVE I DO NOT WANT A COKE AND STOP IT WITH THE JOKES”

🫶🫶

usually though he’ll lean into it and accept his love for soda and himself

6/10

darry:

probably doesn’t like the carbonation or ice in it or smth

like he’s got some weird excuse for not enjoying it (my dad asf)

but when he does give in and drink one, it’s like tab or something so random for no reason😭😭

maybe he’ll ask the waitress for some specialty soda he remembers as a kid and then has a lil fit whenever they’re just like “🧍‍♀️…what?”

5/10 for the nostalgia

dally:

chooses alcohol anytime

but if he CANT

HARD ROOT BEER ENJOYER

it’s so random but my guy will down glasses of root beer like it’s nothing

like I KNOW THAT FIZZ IS GOING UP YOUR NOSE PAL

he just thinks it’s the “toughest” soda ??

idek really why he does the things he does

8/10 cause i love me some root beer too

two-bit

pretends to get super mad whenever the waitress is like “we only carry pepsi products😔”

he’s like “😟…NO‼️”

probably a cream soda enjoyer

which is actually so real

like you kinda ate with that

typa guy to get every soda from the soda fountain and combine them all just for laughs

and then actually chugs it

6/10 bc why are you torturing your taste buds like that

steve:

grape soda enjoyer😭😭

im sorry i cannot with grape soda it tastes like medicine to me

HOWEVER

HE WILL STAND BY IT FOREVER

LIKE HE DEFENDS GRAPE SODA SO MUCH

also probably likes orange soda which is actually solid

he likes the fruit flavors more than anything which does hit but like not 24/7 my guy

5/10

THIS WAS FUN REQUEST PLS OK BYE BYE🫶🥰‼️

[delicateimage]

1. First of UNRELATED but FUCKKKKKK MY STIMACH HURTS SO MUHC KILL ME NOWWWWWW N E ways I so saw that after interacting with relatively normal people for the first time in a WHILE post covid (let’s be serious post middle school… like wow I was a loser emo.) and how people can actually LEARN from others instead of intense ridiculous ostracism for any minor differentiation, being online feels like this suffocating circus of charades to fit into any single community, entire ppl’s lives are online to compare to yourself and the comparison is just something that got so so heavy on me, to feel worthy in an internet landscape I had to jump through the hoops of regular teen identity dilemmas while also being out to adult standards of experience education and other standards I simply can’t or don’t give a fuck about achieving I could actually blab on about this forever so I’ll practice some discretion and zip it but thanks for the advice and experience!! Once I’m in physical college classes I hope I’m able to actually make irl friends for the silly reason of wanting to have fun. Human nature ig

2. INCOMIGNG BLABFEST OOPSIE but this made me think about how having a diary is truly the samsara (circle of life - also omg my dumbass had to Google it bc I forgot the name 😭) where in the moment the author can realize by embodying posterior perspectives while writing and in ongoing rumination about the finished product in order to cultivate a matured perspective on a topic, and how that rumination extends WELL WELL after the initial writing experience through memory recollection, and how this recollection is made unique through stimuli from one’s personal writing process, and even if memory fails you the archive of your writing from the inception of the ability to write and OMG THIS WAS SO PRETENTIOUS IM SORRY 😭 but like the ability to blab on about stupid drawn out shit and having the excuse of ITS MY DIARY don’t like don’t read teehee!! Is so fun and like idc everyone who is mad about that is so miserable and not as untouchably smart and superior as they think like how did you even become this ‘above’ us peasants, by WRITING. READING. Whatever. Also THANKS AGAIN YOURW WAY WAY TOO SWEET and also what accomplishments do you hope to achieve this year or in some eventuality?

3. This goes for all of Europe like Europe is so not real I can’t even imagine how tiny it is like it’s literally the size of FUCKING TEXAS and it’s supposed to be a ‘continent’….? Like what. How is it real that these geeks can go to France to turkey in the amount of time it takes to walk from dennys to your Honda civic in a Kentucky strip mall parking lot, like these people need to stop being as pompous about their public transport no matter how effective it is (it’s still really good and way better than the automobile market but let’s be serious ofc it’s easier to establish when your country takes five minutes by hopping on one foot to go from border control to border control)

4. Omg is there any sort of Union that could prompt lobbying for any type of repairs? Ofc it’s extremely doubtful it would get any sort of actual improvements bc MUH PROFITS but I hope the work environment there engenders some sort of small scale solutions by the workers like a really kind worker bringing in a fan…

5. UGH I WISHHHH canvas is too sophisticated NAURRR and also omg this school is making me feel SO stupid and inferior like I want so badly to be a scholarly and motivated student but I’m growing absolutely horribly and getting faced with failure from every direction I hate it so much

[juni-ravenhall]

@jorvikzelda

but heres the thing. youre making a wrong assumption about me and my opinions. as i think most ppl realise, i like sso and i want to get a job at sse if i could. im not biased against sse, or against astride. i see all of these studios (or single devs) as regular humans with flaws and positives. thats why ive never been an sso hater or any other game hater, neither a defender.

i criticise the games i love the most from the studios i like the most. i also criticise or praise games that i dont like from studios i dont like, or whatever constellation you want. i dont see any problem with giving fair criticism to any videogame or its studio. i do see a problem when its hypocritical aka only handed out to the ones that are "not your favourite" but defended if it is your favourite.

and to answer the question, yes, i do mostly excuse when game studios criticise each other, bc i dont actually see how thats a problem that i need to care about. the only issue here is if one company uses a position of power or criminal activity to shut down their competition, to illegally slander another company or their product with untruths, etc. at this rate, astride is not in a powerful position to hinder sso, and afaik, there hasnt been criminal slander or complete untruths to any important degree? (i could be wrong, but ive never seen or heard of it?)

if digimon says that pokemon sucks, and i love pokemon.... well... ok? i mean, i have a lot of criticism about my fav pokemon game, too. they may have valid points. on the other hand, maybe they dont, but it just doesnt seem like a big deal to me? this is stuff that happens with competition - "our toothpaste is the best compared to other brands" - there is a legal system in place for it. just giving fair criticism or voicing fair frustration with sso/sse (or any game) isnt a big deal to me regardless of whos doing it. if some devs said "we noticed pokemon did x thing badly so we wanted to do it differently and release a game that was better than that" id be like, yeah ok nice ig. i dont know how to explain that it just doesnt look like a big enough deal to be mad about if its not illegal untruths.

[forehead451]

what do you do when you can't keep up or maintain your relationships? like. in an ideal world, you would be 1000% to take them out to lunch and catch up and do something fun every week. but your reality is that you're lucky if you did anything productive for yourself after the rest and the maintenance of life and attending to family obligations and your closest relationships bc you have three friends in a group you can keep up with and even that is difficult but you prioritize them meaning once month you see them. your brain is everywhere and you spend so much of your day tethering it to the present and pulling your body out of a fight/flight/freeze response and you are legit improving but you still aren't making enough money to sustain yourself so really you're not prioritizing your material needs even if it comes with a lot of hurdles.

this is not the first time a friend has reached out to say that ive hurt them with my absence. i don't know what to do or say at this point and i don't want to give excuses or unload my burden and make them comfort me when im the one who let them down and i think about them often but the truth is i have a list of people like 50 who are all personally important to me who I can't keep up with and it feels shitty cause its like im calling them not special. but really atp i have to agree and say yes i abandoned you and you're right to be hurt and mad and sad and its not that i dont want to but i literally can't right now and im working towards being able to but you should absolutely forget me and give up on our relationship bc i cant promise you anything or keep up with you bc im not keeping up with myself. and youre not shitty for understanding my situation and still being mad. im just sorry and i love you and im doing everything i can but the benefit of that will not reach you or our relationship for a long, long time.

[forestryfae]

"can people please be quiet with teh doors" "yeah you can have attention tomorrow" FUCK OFF. DIE. I CAN SLAM THE DOOR AT FUCKING EIGHT PM IF I WANT TO, FUCK OFF WITH THE TALKING TO EVERYONE THROUGH SNAPCHAT CUS YOU HAVE A PROBELM WITH ONE PERSON AND THE SECOND CUNT. man i am SO glad he sSO much better and more mature than everyone else, he totally is so much better than me for not slamming doors and he has SUCH a good handle on his emotions that when hes mad or annoyed or cranky he doesnt just straight up insult people or get bitchy or bite at them or act like a complete cunt, he totally didnt completely stop talking to a friend just cus she didnt liek him romantically, he totally doesnts it in the livingroom being crankya nd sulky and bitchy all fucking day so its uncomfortable for everyone else to sit in there.

not that anyone has any issue with it when this third guy slams the front door and slams the chair when he moves it and all that shit without being fucking angry or upset, he does it just for fun. noone complains when he and this girl literally ran like fucign idiots up the stairs and made a huge fucking racket at nearly 11. the same guy who slams the doors for fun fucking played music at full volume WITH bass for months and noone complained cus hes "sensitive". i can hear someones fucking music right now and its not that looud but its still fucking annoying, and it usually lasts until WAY past 11

but if i get angry its "attention whore" and "dont slam doors" and i dont see ANYONE and if im still angry when they come to talk to me noone wants to be around me. fuck me, im not allowed to be angry ever and when i am and its fucking righteous and fair and welldeserved im still a bitch and i need to widen my tolerance window. FUCK that

and somehow im supposed to make friends and be a productive member of society and live on my own independently?? how the fuck am i suppose dto do that when im not allowed to do shit. i cant try to be social, i cant be sad or upset, i cant be happy or someone will do their best to ruin that, i cant be angry, i cant even be fucking hungry or tired, theres noever any excuse that is good enough and its all my fault because i dont take responsibility, and no matter what im always fucking annoying everyone. noone is ever on my team either cus it entierly depends on whether or not they agree or disagree with me, whether theyre annoyed at me or not, and whether its a neccessity that isnt fulfilled that im not worth enough to be allowed to have. everything is my fault, im not given any grace that is given to anyone else because i dont fucking deserve it, i am awarded nothing for being capable of doing things that are hard for me no matter what because i dont fucking deserve it for doing the bare minimum, i dont deserve to be helped and im not good enough to get help no matter what i do, im inherently THE worst person in the world and no matter how little i care about myself and how little i feel just to make other people comfortable its never going to be enough

youd think not hitting people or breaking stuff and only slamming doors even though youre fuckign furious and could scream and bite people was on some level actually a good thing. and yet here i am being told im an attention whore for slamming a door and hiding in my room and crying as quietly as i can so noone can fucking hear me. cus im not fucking allowed to be upset and removing myself from a situation that fucking infuriates me and makes me want to scream. ud think removing myslef so i dont scream at people cus people dont like that would be a good thing but no. thats also fucking bad. not that anyone fucking cares either, staff doesnt come check on me. staff doesnt care. my parents dont care. friends dont give a shit. noones gonna come comfort me or actually help with the underlying issue or the constant repeating pattern of bullshit. nah fuck that its my fault for being angry at bullshit to begin with. im an asshole for this, noone else is at blame for being shit at communication or treating me like shit, and i just need to stop having any emotions that annoy other people. god fuck off and eat shit. what the fuck.

[the1975attheirverybest]

I won't comment on this porn kink .Like you said, the target group in question has the right to decide how they feel about being objectified in a degrading manner ,which opens up a larger question of fetishization of ethnic minorities.

Apart from that, though, matty has said several times that his role in culture is to be a provocateur. The response of the fans speaks to the larger issue of political correctness and cancel culture that plagues our society and I'm personally against it because neither side learns a fucking lesson.Performative activism is pointless and even hypocritical because we are only criticising without trying to find a solution to the problem

cancellation is different from accountability.When we engage in political correctness, we take attention away from genuine instances of racism which should be called out, and instead of shutting down discourse, we need to promote diverse conversations so we can address the actual issue of racism

At the same time, though, matty should have just been gracious enough to admit that he was ignorant, and he should take this opportunity to understand why fans get upset when he engages in gross humour

Hopefully, he'll learn his lesson, and we'll learn ours; dont put celebrities on a pedestal because they're messy human beings like us, not perfect idols or activists of change

THIS! 10000% YES. Exactly my thoughts. Though I would also like to add that, at some point, if he's ever open to having a conversation about this in the future or whatever, I would hope that he'd think about his role as a provocative persona. Like, I think the reason most fans are upset, and the reason the larger public is upset are different.

I 100000% agree that cancel culture has gone beyond its initial intent and devolved into performative bullshit. And We CLEARLY need a better system. So, for people who are canceling him online every week, they can just stfu, lmao. BUT, I think when fans, or people who have taken the time to understand the situation in context are upset with him, we're saying "we get that you take being provocative as an important part of your role, but we don't think this gives you the right to say what you just said in this particular situation."

In other words, my GENUINE HOPE for Matty is that he sits down and thinks about the ethics of being a provocateur. When is it productive? when is it not? when is it okay to alienate a certain group of people if you're making a valid point about the limitations of our social mores, and when does it become an excuse for being an asshole. When should I listen to public criticism? what comments should I ignore because they basically prove me right about the stuff that im trying to criticize. You see what I mean? Like, when we get mad at him as fans, we're not mad cuz he wasn't performative and woke, we're mad cuz he crossed a line that he doesn't get to cross, even in his performance art. I hope that he gets that.

[fuck-customers]

hello, i was cashier for a neighborhood retail store. one night, a lady that i had an odd encounter with previously came to my register. i told her to give me one minute because my supervisor had been waiting for me to finish up with the customer before her so she could pick up money from the other register. i was about to walk away when she said “Nope. I have an Uber waiting outside I dont have time.” This annoyed me because I didn’t like her tone but I understood that she was in a hurry. No big deal. She tells me she needs to put money on her card. Okay. Simple. I ask her how much, she says she doesn’t know. She proceeds to take out a stack of ones and tells me to count it. In my head i’m thinking I should tell her that if she was in a rush she should have counted it beforehand, but I count it anyway so she can leave. The register prompts me to ask for ID, she gets annoyed. The amount exceeds the amount limit that im able to process as a cashier, im no longer authorized to continue the transaction without my supervisor’s clearance. I call my supervisor who is still at the other register but now on the phone with a customer. I tell the lady Im helping that she will have to wait. She then starts screaming at me about how its unnecessary because the amount she wants to load onto her card is below the limit and she’s done it before. The register doesn’t allow me access to continue so im right and she’s wrong. Unfortunately, I start losing my cool when someone raises their voice at me and she would not let up. My supervisor comes over and tells her off. She finishes the transaction and the lady gives me a half ass apology because she’s “stressed” and that’s her rent money. Again, I get it. But there’s no excuse to be taking it out on an employee so I just ignore her until she stops talking. I can’t describe how mad and embarrassed and upset I was. She tried to walk away with some merchandise without paying, and normally I’m the type of person to turn the cheek when it comes to seeing a customer stealing, but i was so pissed so I shouted for her to come back and pay. She says sorry she forgot about that… okay… sure. The product she’s buying requires ID and she starts yelling at us again. At this point i just decided to check out mentally, after she left my supervisor asked if I was okay. I said yea. The next morning I put in my two weeks.

[antiloreolympus]

10 Anti LO Asks

1. ok but thats also i think i dont get? because without the series or character names, what of any of the promo images or banner or anything else give away it's supposed to be a greek mythology story? they just look like people with weird anatomy who are colored like highlighters. at the very least some iconography should be on them, but there's not? like even percy jackson stuff makes sure to give him a trident and have water flowing around him.

2. rachel made three times where persephone could have made the choice to be with hades willingly and didnt do it each time. first time she was drugged and put into his car, where he phsyically handles her unconscious body and puts her in his bed (ew). second is her working for him, which was hera forcing it. third was her going to the underworld not because she wanted to, but because she was hiding from the law/apollo and he found her. where exactly is her agency in all of this?

3. LO seems like the fast food of webtoons. because there's no room to speculate or theorize, you just read an episode and move on, the bright colors distract that it's a rushed and lazy product over something with high quality and effort, the characters are flat and boring, and the plot has no substance. it's meant to be consumed in a rapid binge, because if not you realize what low-effort and what little you're actually getting from it when you slow down and actually think about it.

4. i mean rachel does have some logic to her fancasting, the problem is it seems the only people of color are either demonized for being hypersexual (aphrodite, eros until he's with psyche) or are literally r//pists who are out to harm her white-fa casted persephone (apollo), so yeah, there is logic there, it's just pointing to rachel being (hopefully unintentionally) racist

5. It pisses me so much that I work over time  (using references and looking at paintings and reading history for ideas for interesting character motifs) so that any of the ancient greek characters I draw look cool and authentically greek, and yet fucking Rachel Smythe, who can't even be bothered to do more than 5 seconds of research to learn that not all ancient greek outfits were shitty, minimalist off white and eggshell, gets to be revered as an artistic revolutionary. It pisses me off so. Fucking. Much. Not just for me, but for everyone else like me who absolutely ADORES greek mythology and wants to draw accurate portrayals of these characters! To whoever is reading this, stop. Stop rn and go read Sleep and His Brother Death (a comic on webtoons), go play Hades (the video game), go read The Song of Achilles (a book by Madeline Miller). Those are beautiful pieces of fiction about Greek mythology that deserve your attention more then Rachel and her shitty pink highlighter self inserts.

And a sidenote, I know that this is kinda like a modern AU for the gods. I am aware. Does not change that fact that anytime any character is drawn in ancient greek fashion it's always the SAME. SHITTY. CHITON. Maybe with a.cape or a scarf, but for the most part? It's just the same stupid, off white chiton.

6. oh, i thought you guys were joking persephone is now stuck with red eyes. is that seriously what look we're stuck with now? does rachel know it looks really ugly?

7. i feel like the lineart less style actually hurts LO in a way. way too often you can look at a panel and it becomes really murky where something starts and ends, and it looks even worse on a phone screen, because on an even smaller screen the images look even more compressed, making it even harder to tell stuff apart. this wouldnt be as bad if the comic took back up its more high contrast look from the begging, but now it's all one flat shade and im not sure why.

8. im really confused over the marketing of LO, tbh. like the ads are all hxp focused, but the series name implies its not about them, but focusing on the 12 olympians, but then the synopsis is general mythology and at the very end randomly mentions its about persephone? but then you read it and nots sure whether its a teen romance, a comedy, a serious drama, and can't stay straight with its messaging and timeline? and persephone is not there for a chunk of time. like whats actually going on?? 😭

9. Chapter 173 is like 50% filler. It gives more questions that answers, and not just from the reporters. Like the reporter stuff was mostly filler, and the Persphone and Hades stuff was like yeah we know dont need to drag this on.

My questions are WHAT ARE THE RED EYES? Is it when she’s mad? Horny? Sad? Happy? I feel like the red eyes just show up whenever RS wants to draw them

Flying? I feel like Persphone has always been flying like it wasn’t a bug moment at all. She flew home when Minthe and Hades kissed. But apperently Demeter didn’t know? I guess I don’t remember her flying in the mortal realm but her flying didn’t seem like a big moment, none of the other characters seemed surprised by it.

“Answer mine first!” When i got to that line I reread some of it just to find where the question was. That line normally matters when you’ve already asked the question not if you haven’t gotten there yet. Like of course Demeter is gonna be worried and ask a million questions.

I know the pomegranate pin is gonna be important but I felt the focus on it was a little too much, like an excuse not to cover more this chapter. Because honestly it felt like 5 minutes of the plot was covered in this chapter. 

10. So uh, whats up with Hades weird ass comments... Like "Persephone you look beautiful and if someone says otherwise they can go play on the highway" ???

Because Persephone looking good during a murder trial is clearly the most important thing here.

Also, Perse's response to the reporter who asked her about her friendship with Hades. I mean, on one hand Persephone is right, her "friendship" (or whatever it is they have going on) is nobodies business but her own - but at the same time, its kinda also the underworld denizens right to know in the sense that their future leadership could be affected so they might want to know whats going on if their getting a new co-ruler / Queen that they will be subjects of. They probably will want to know who Persephone is, should she and Hades get married because it's very likely that when (cause lets be real its a 'when' not 'if' they get married) they do get married that Persephone will inherit half the title.

So, eh?

[i-am-ironic]

The time that Dick dragged Marinette and Damian to the police because damian was nice to someone.

The title is a bit of an over simplification but it got the most votes and i think its funny. This probably isn't what you were expecting but damian wasn't expecting it ether so here we go!

Part 2

*********************

Damian was not having a good day. It had started out fine. He had gone to Wayne Enterprises to look over some paperwork and was planning on introducing his long time girlfriend to his family later that day. As he was headed back home he saw a flower shop, it had been a while since he had gotten marinette anything after work so he decided to stop and get her a bouquet.

He picked out a beautiful set of flowers, with lilys and some yellow flower he didn't know the name of.

But, as he was walking down the sidewalk toward his car a woman stopped him and said, "would you mind holding this for me? Just for a second?"

Now usually he would say no but marinette had been telling him he needed to be nicer to people so he said, "yes, just hurry."

He soon learned he should not have said that.

The woman handed him a bundle. Right before sprinting back to the flower shop and around the corner.

Damian's first though was 'well crap. This is a bundle of dr*gs isn't it?'

He carefully stated to unrap the bundle so he wouldn't disrupt what ever was in there. He didn't want any of it on him and he didn't want to touch any of it.

Well it wasn't dr*gs.

When he removed the blanket from the top of the bundle he found a face. The eyes were closed and the little pink mouth was open. Soft black hair was poking out from the edge of the blanket.

This was a baby.

He was just handed a baby on the sidewalk.

The baby was asleep.

He didn't know what to do. He couldn't process what just happened. So he did what any logical man would do. He walked to his car, and got in it. Then he realized he couldn't drive anywhere with the baby so he got out of the car and started walking back to his apartment.

He must have looked pretty strange walking down the street with flowers in one hand and a baby in the other. He was still wearing the suit from the office and he was a Wayne. As the youngest of the Wayne's and only blood son he was pretty recognizable by the public.

When he finally reached the apartment the first thing he said after walking in the door was, "Marinette I'm never going to be nice to anyone again."

"Why babe?" Marinette called from the kitchen where she was cooking something for dinner. "What's wrong? Oh you brought me flowers how kind!" She grabbed the flowers turning on her heal to go put them in some water.

"Mari, im sure what ever you are cooking will be great," he said, she knew that today was his day to cook but they would have to talk about her overworking herself later, "I need some help over here."

"Why? What happened........." she saw the baby but then put her head in her hand before saying, " Damian Wayne is that a baby?"

"It is and I don't know what to do, and we don't have milk or diapers, or clothes, or....... Marinette? Are you okay?"

"Just give me a minute, I wasn't expecting my boyfriend to come home with a baby today." She stood there for a second before shaking her head and looking back up at damian. "OK so we have a baby. I guess we should see if he or she needs to be changed before we go to the store."

"We don't have any diapers." Damien added helpfully.

Marinette took the baby and walked to the living room as she said, "okay so go to the kitchen and get a towel and while you are in there turn off the stove."

As damian looked for a towel he heard marinette yell from the other room, "its a girl!"

After the 'diaper' situation was taken care of the two of them just stared at each other and the baby between them. She had woken up. She had the biggest blue eyes ether of them had ever seen. She couldn't be more then a month or two old. But she wasn't crying. She just looked around.

"Okay, so," mari started, "how about you tell me how you acquired a baby girl, in the car to the store."

"Yeah, about that, um, you see I didn't have a car seat so I just kind of walked here from the flower shop."

"Of course you did. It's fine we can walk, ill hold the baby if you promise to carry all the stuff we buy."

"Deal." He could carry all the things they would need, plus it would give him a great excuse to show off.

"So.... are you going to tell me where you got this baby?"

"Well, pretty much i went to get you flowers and as I was leaving a lady asked me to hold something for her and I remembered how you told me to be nicer to people so I agreed and then she took off running and I saw the baby and brought her home."

"So a lady just handed you a baby and ran, dang. You are aware no one is going to believe you right?" Mari said still trying to process everything.

"Yes I'm aware. Anyway we can't keep calling her 'the baby' we have to give her a name."

"Any ideas?"

"Marry."

"Kate."

"Emma."

"We are not naming her emma. What about Adélie?"

"How about Martha?"

"After your grandmother? That would be a good middle name." She paused for a moment, "I know Gabrielle, Gabby for short."

"Gabrielle Martha Dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne, poor kid has such a long name." Damien laughed.

"We might not be able to keep her dames, then what?"

"First we are going to get clothes, diapers, clean blankets and some formula. Then we can go to the police and file a report for fear for the safety of a child. The fact that she was just handed to me on the street should be enough evidence, they should give us custody until everything goes through. In the mean time we can try to get approved to foster her and maybe even adopt."

"One step at a time."

By this point the two of them had reached the store. (Im imagining like a Walmart or Target type of store) They made a bee line for the baby section. Neither of them had any idea what to look for and they didn't want to call any more attention to themselves then they already had. After all this was Damian Wayne walking into a store with a girl no one knew, and a baby, who had a dish towel wrapped around her waist. Needless to say people were staring.

Marinette picked out three outfits, a pastel purple dress, a green onesie and a blue onesie. Then they got some bottles and pacifiers before heading over to the diaper section. Neither of them expected to see Dick Grayson-Wayne walk around the corner as they were trying to figure out how many diapers a baby really needed for a few days.

The shock on Dick's face was worth all the questions he was inevitably going to ask. First he looked at his brother, then marinette, then the baby products damian was holding, and finally the baby in marinette's arms. He closed his mouth that had been hanging open and nodded, walking over to the three of them.

"Im not going to ask about the dress," he said Indicating the baby clothes marinette had handed damian " or the girl, and frankly I'm too scared to ask about the baby, but are you still coming to dinner tonight?"

"We don't know yet." Obviously annoyed Damian looked between his brother and marinette, "we didn't expect to have a baby this morning, so the plan has changed."

"What do you mean you didn't expect to have a baby? If you're girlfriend is pregnant then you are going to have a baby! That's usually how that works. Honestly Damian!" Then he seemed to remember all the days of school Damian had missed because of Robin dutys, "oh no. Damian when you were in high school did you miss the class called-"

"Im going to stop you right there," Marinette finally cut in "um, you see this isn't, exactly,our baby."

"And to the police we go!" Dick said dragging them out of the store barely letting them pay for their stuff. When ever ether of them tried to speak he would shush them and say they should tell it to the judge.

Did he honestly think they had stolen a baby? Well, to be fair, that's pretty much what Bruce did to Jason soooo....... and he had just met marinette and didn't know what kind of person she was. But they were planning on going to the police after the store anyway so this actually worked out.

Once they arrived marinette went to the bathroom with Gabby to change her diaper and put on some of the clothes. Damian and Dick went to Commissioner Gordon so Damian could explain the situation.

Marinette walked in right as damian was finishing the story, " And Dick saw us in the picking out a bottle and he asked about the baby and when I told him she wasn't our he dragged us here."

"So what your telling me is that you want to keep the baby until and unless the parent or gardien comes forward?" Commissioner Gordon looked quite surprised, "Damien you are so young, you don't need a baby that isn't your responsibility, and what does your girlfriend think about all of this?"

"I agree with damian," the three men looked up at Marinette holding baby Gabrielle, they had been so caught up in their talk they hadn't noticed her walk in, "i know what foster care is like, one of my roommate was in the system and she barely mad it out alive, it's been years but she still has nightmares and calls me in the middle of the night. Ha," her laugh was humorless and cold, "we bonded over our trama. I wont let this sweet little girl go through that when I can stop it."

Dick had slight tears in his eyes he remembered life before Bruce adopted him. There weren't many good memories. "I think they should keep her. If anything goes wrong they have the whole family to help, and no one should have to wonder where they are going to sleep that night."

"If you all are that determined then i'll start the paperwork. But," he said stopping the smile that had started to form on the new parents faces, "you will both have to agree to give her up if we end up finding her legal gardien, before you officially adopt her. After you adopt her she is yours and no one can take her back."

Marinette and Damian hugged making sure not to squish Gabrielle. They went back to the store, while Dick told the rest of the family Damian and his girlfriend would be a little bit late, and they had a surprise for everyone.

Damian walked in front of marinette as they entered the house.

Alfred the butler was there to great them, "good evening Master Damian and you must be miss mar-" the shock on Alfred's face was evident as he stared at Damian's tiny girlfriend holding a baby's car seat. "Is-is that?"

"Alfred could you please tell my family to gather in the living room we will be up in my room until then so they won't see the 'surprise'." He put emphasis on the word 'surprise' gesturing at the car seat.

Alfred nodded and smiled mischievously. Damian lead marinette to his room were they left all the baby stuff. When you have a baby you have to travel with a ridiculous amount of stuff.

When Alfred came back to get them he started at the baby girl, "what is her name?" He asked softly so he wouldn't wake her.

"Gabrielle Martha dupan-chang al Ghul Wayne." Damian answered just as softly.

"How old is she?"

"We aren't sure, we when to the doctor earlier today after we finished at the store and he said she was about two months old."

Alfred looked quite confused but knew they would explain once they got to the living room with the rest of the family.

Damian walked in first to block marinette and the baby from his family's view. The room was packed, there was Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Stephanie, and Barbara, not to mention Selina Kyle Alfred and Duke. When they had said the WHOLE family wanted to meet Damien's girlfriend they ment the whole family. When Damien sat down and they saw Marinette and Gabrielle, and i am not exaggerating when I say, all hell broke lose.

In the chaos it was hard to hear what specific people were saying but someone said, "i knew it wasn't like you to want us to meet your girlfriend now it all makes sense!" And "Well Bruce, at least he knows about his kid." There was also lots of swearing probably by Jason. Tim chugged an entire pot of coffee. Only Bruce was silent. He started at the them and waited for the room to quiet down.

"Damien, would you like to explain yourself?"

"Well this is all marinette's fault if you think about it."

Marinette looked offended as she responded "it is not my fault! You were the one who took a random baby home!"

"YOU KIDDNAPED A BABY!!!" Jason cut in.

"I mean its kinda the opposite of kidnapping if you think about it."

"I did not kidnap Gabrielle, she was handed to me on the street and I didn't know what to do so I took her home."

"Oh my God!" At this point everyone was confused. "What do you mean she was handed to you on the street?"

"Well i was walking out of the flower shop and a lady came up to me and asked if I would hold something for her and I said yes, so she gave me something and took off running. I looked down and there was a baby. I took her home and then marinette and I went to the store to get her some stuff. That was when we saw Dick. When he found out Gabrielle wasn't our baby he took us to the police i explained everything to them and we are going to keep her until her guardians can be found. If they don't find anyone we are going to keep her."

"What a story." Tim said. "Well that clears that up let's eat."

They continued talking late into the night about all the things that would have to change. But all things considered it went pretty well.

When the little family got home marinette went through the blankets Gabrielle had been wrapped in and found a letter.

"Dear Mr. Wayne,

This is my daughter, I don't have the money to take care of her, please give her a good life I don't know what will happen if she is put in the foster care system and I don't want to think about it. If you decide to keep her I will sign over all parental rights to you, I just ask that you give her the life that I couldn't, and that you let me see her on holidays. My name is Amanda Jones you can find me if you want to or just let me be. tell her I love her but I couldn't keep her. I love her so much."

She would have to give this to the police in the morning. But for now she had to get some sleep before Gabrielle woke up.

***************

This took forever to write but here it is i hope everyone likes it and thank you to everyone who voted on the name for this. I'm not entirely happy with how it turned out but its not bad, and I don't think it's going to get any better.

(Part 2)

@wannajointhecrabcult

@corabeth11

@i-wanna-be-a-ninja

@animegirlweeb

@spyofthenightcourt

[sortagaysortahigh]

Now now now im all for gatekeeping important elements (and honestly most elements) of black culture and ethnic cultures in general however comma why the fucking fuck are people mad when white ppl use got2be glued hair gel/spray. The entire reason that white folk and other non black people of color dont take us as in black people seriously when we talk about important elements of our culture not being up for fuckin debate or not being for white people is because of shit like this. And this aint even the only example i can think of, but as of late it’s been very heavy on my noggin and im seeing more of it on social media-esp tiktok.

Now some ppl probably reading this and thinking “lex youre a fuckin sell out stfu” but in all reality I have a valid point from a sociological standpoint. Let me set the scene for yall, doing shit like saying got2be hair gel is only for black people when it was originally made and marketed towards the punk subculture (which was predominantly white) and has only genuinely picked up traction in the black/natural hair community in the past few years gives white people yet another excuse for trying to make sense of their cultural appropriation through the wearing of box braids, bantu knots, etc. Because to them in their skewed ignorant perspective we’ve “taken” things from their culture just to “gatekeep them” which makes it justifiable in the same sense that they can try to justify the falsehood that is reverse racism. When white owned brands/brands that were created and marketed towards predominantly white communities are being used by more and more bipoc there is NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT, but don’t force a narrative that these products and brands were made for black people and are solely for black people so white folk shouldnt be using them whatsoever because that enforces their false sense of what cultural appropriation (and in turn racism) truly is.

Now we can draw the line when white people use them to lay their nonexistent edges, or to take important elements from our culture that are looked down upon when we do it but praised when they do-like wearing braids, locs, bantu knots, colorful wigs, and protective styles. Im not mad at susie for using got2be or any other gel to slick down her hair bc its humid as fuck in the summer and she has a 9-5 in food service and cant afford to have her hair shedding into my fucking sandwich, ima be mad at susie when she gets braids and starts laying her nonexistent baby hairs which end up looking like whole ass adolescent hairs stuck to her forehead bc its “trendy” and “chic” for white people but “ratchet” or “ghetto”for black people.

Every product has a history behind it, every product and brand has someone who came up w the idea and went about formulating it into a business and marketing it towards specific communities. Take the time to understand the product that youre using and the brand it falls under and also understand that people in general can shop from black owned, brown owned, asian owned, native owned etc businesses without culturally appropriating the customs, traditions, practices, and overall elements of that culture. Call cultural appropriation what it is but dont go out of your way to try and justify or validate a false claim which can in turn benefit the oppressor.

[taylorswiftdiscographyrate]

#140-131

140. Starlight (5.688) Highest score was 8; Lowest score was 0 (@inweedsferociously) 

Taylor’s Kennedy fanfiction unfortunately doesn’t cut it for a lot of people. At a stretch, this song might be considered a precursor to The Last Great American Dynasty with its focus on historical storytelling. But where TLGAD has a strong thematic link to the rest of the album it belongs to (we’ll go more into that when we get to her!), Starlight is definitely an outlier in Red, and perhaps that contributes to the not-so-positive feelings towards it.

Highlighted comments: @inweedsferociously: “This song has always sounded super tacky to me and reminds me so much of the melodic composition of another song that already exists - hence the zero” @yourivysgrows: “She's cute but forgettable??” 

138. Untouchable & The Man (5.700) Untouchable: Highest score was 8; Lowest score was 3 The Man: Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 1

We have our first tie! Untouchable is the only cover that I included in the rate, and for good reason - Taylor transforms this song so much from the original that she was even granted a writing credit for it! Taylor truly made this song her own.

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “I dont think I can describe the disappointment I had when I learned this song was a cover”  @yourivysgrows: “I had no clue this was a cover but it's beautiful”

As for The Man, there’s a lot I could say about The Man, but I won’t because I’m not trying to start fights here (well, I am, but only the fun kind of fights, not the serious kind of fights). It is a delight to hear Taylor drop her very first instance of “bitch” in a song though! And irregardless of what you think of the music video, the makeup work in it deserves all the accolades.

Highlighted comments: @treacherousdemo: “the bridge is the saving grace of this one.. does not excuse the production though” (once again, we have something to blame Joel Little for) @corneliaavenue: “the lyrics are great, the production is god awful” (see above!)  @liabilitys: “i overhyped it when it first comes out. its a good song as long as we dont view it as a feminist anthem.” 

137. I’m Only Me When I’m With You (5.763) Highest score was 7.5; Lowest score was 3

It’s time for me to be mad again! If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from doing this, it’s how much you all play Debut and Fearless dust. This is a bop! It’s fun and happy and deserves better than you lot!

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “The personally made video 🥺” (yes! Here is the link for the uninitiated)

136. How You Get the Girl (5.772) Highest score was 8.5; Lowest score was 2

The best thing to come out of this song was the tour performance, to be honest. For a long time the love for this song in the fandom felt overblown because of it, but it seems like the hype has mostly died down to a regular level.

Highlighted comments: @yourivysgrows: “A manual that most men don't use sadly 😭”

135. epiphany (5.788) Highest score was 9.5; Lowest score was 1

Sigh... I suppose this was to be expected. epiphany has always kind of been the unloved child of the otherwise very-much-loved folklore parent album. I think this is a beautiful song that discusses death in a very nuanced and timely manner, but I can respect why this song isn’t for everyone.

Highlighted comments: @corneliaavenue: “as an online med school student, there is a lot that med school isn't covering right now” @yourivysgrows: “Had no right to make me cry”

134. Beautiful Ghosts (5.919) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 0 (@itspeterlosingwendy)

This song’s biggest sin is that it reminds us that the Cats movie exists, and that Taylor willingly chose to be a part of it. And it’s very transparent Oscar bait (and transparent Oscar bait that didn’t even work, at that!). Be grateful that I didn’t force you all to listen to and rate Macavity.

Highlighted comments: @itspeterlosingwendy: “look.... it's just...... not good. i'll go a round with anyone who gives this higher than a 4″ (there’s plenty of you out there who did, who wants to volunteer for a 1v1 with maddie?)  @treacherousdemo: “if it weren't for "chonces" and being associated with cats this could've been like a 9 rip”  @liabilitys: “this fandom ignores this song sm but lyrically its such a good song!” (unfortunately i think that’s a consequence of us just ignoring the entirety of Cats lol) 

133. It’s Nice to Have a Friend (5.931) Highest score was 10; Lowest score was 0 (@tobesolonely)

In an album of bops and bangers, It’s Nice to Have a Friend stands out for its understatedness and non-traditional structure. It fits perfectly as the penultimate song on the album - after the rollercoaster that is the Lover tracklist, it’s a calm interlude before the final act of Daylight. In my mind, INTHAF is essential to the album, but alas, many of you are tasteless and here we are.

Highlighted comments: @tobesolonely: “this song literally just sounds incomplete and the disdain i have for it is unreal.” @yourivysgrows: “I like how different it is”

132. Teardrops on My Guitar (5.934) Highest score was 9; Lowest score was 1

Another example of Taylor holding nothing back and straight up naming this guy she had a crush on (and who already had a girlfriend!). The story about Drew eventually showing up at Taylor’s house after this song released, only for Taylor to be like “not interested anymore sorry!” is honestly hilarious. Poor Drew.

Highlighted comments: @itspeterlosingwendy: “it's just.... not it” @everfolk: “this song is such a banger and it STILL holds up today like the talent?? even on her debut album” @yourivysgrows: “Probably my favorite off of debut”

131. Everything Has Changed (ft. Ed Sheeran) (5.956) Highest score was 8.5; Lowest score was 1

The fandom’s hatred of Ed Sheeran rears its ugly head again, as this song places a lot lower than I believe it otherwise would. It’s funny to think of how positively people viewed Ed back in the Red era, when “Sweeran” was well-liked. As someone who neither likes nor dislikes Ed Sheeran, I do wonder if he and Taylor are still friends, and if not, how the rerecording of this one is gonna go.

Highlighted comments: @everfolk: [after giving the song a 1] “please im begging”  @yourivysgrows: “My favorite Ed x Taylor”

[flamediel]

Hey beautiful! I got a question. Regarding Zabdiel and him saying something he wasn't suppose to say in that interview. I'm slightly confused. See, I'm black, and I thought that black people brought Puerto Ricans into our culture a long time ago, kinda giving them rights. Growing up, in New York, I've heard Puerto Ricans say it all the time around us and nobody be offended. Artists like Fat Joe says it all the time in his songs, and I remember J Lo saying it on some of her RnB records. Maybe it's because they were engrossed in our culture? I mean, he definitely should not of said it in an interview, but can he not say it period? Please understand I am not condoning his actions, just asking to be educated, because apparently my upbringing has told me otherwise. Anyways, stay awesome!

Ok jokes, THIS is the last ask im answering tonight. Sorry it took me so long, I wanted to make sure I was wording everything right.

I've spoken to @jane-ray about this a lot, and since she's puerto rican I'm going to defer to her regarding her country's history. From my understanding of our conversations, PRs history and culture is very strongly influenced by blackness and black culture. Therefore, many Puerto Ricans have grown up surrounded by and immersed in aspects of black culture, which I think is what youre referring to here. I think this is a really good point. Puerto Ricans celebrate black holidays, take part in black traditions, and the lines of 'ours' vs 'theirs' is much more blurred than it is with, say, nonblack Americans.

A similar example of this is adele, who grew up in a very ethnic part of London and wore bantu buns to carnaval. While, from an outside perspective, it looked like cultural appropriation, afro-caribbean Brits quickly stood up for her. Given the context of the event and the place she grew up in, she was appreciating the culture and taking part of it respectfully. In my view, the same applies to puerto ricans.

HOWEVER. this does not equal us "giving them rights." The culture was shared on the basis of mutual experience. PR culture has a lot of black influence, yes; the country has become a melting pot of different traditions and has formed its own culture out of it. That doesn't mean that all puerto ricans are now black. Non black puerto ricans cannot participate in closed practices from other black communities, for example. They dont have 'rights' to pur heritage. They've become a part of it in some aspects, sure, but thats it. They don't have a black pass. And the n word? The n word is not a product of black culture. It is a product of white culture that we have reclaimed. It is a slur that was used to traumatise and oppress the black community for decades, and regardless of how much cultural sharing happens nonblack people CANNOT say it, because it is simply not part of the culture being shared. At the end of the day, its use by nonblack people is oppressive, regardless of their heritage. Being from PR doesn't excuse anyone from saying the word

Also, jlo has gone under fire for her usage, as have other latine artists. Just because some people think its ok to use a slur doesn't mean it is. And even if you, as a black person, dont have a problem with it, the reality is this word has a history of oppression for our community, and it is inherently racist for any nonblack person to utter it. Considering antiblackness in the latine community is INCREDIBLY prominent, someone being puerto rican is not an excuse to use it.

So, for me, it doesn't matter if someone is engrossed in the culture, or grew up in a black community or is from PR. that can give you a pass for other things, and is part of the reason I wasn't AS mad at zabdiel wearing the durag. It very well could have been a normal part of his upbringing. The n word is not something that black people have opened to others. If it is not a slur that was used against you and your people, no matter how immersed in the culture you are, you simply cannot reclaim the slur. All you are doing is claiming it and in doing so harming the people it was used against. If youre a nonblack poc and you can't cut it out of your vocabulary for the sake of black people's comfort, then you're just as malicious as our oppressors

[kingjasnah]

actually. actually let’s talk about diversity in fantasy let’s give that a go. im mad and im gonna be that way for a while

don’t want to read all this? fair. tldr: fantasy writers who rely not only on the medieval europe model but also hide behind historical accuracy in 2020 (fuck it, from ‘95 onwards) are lazy and unimaginative and should be held accountable no matter how many white 20 year old dudes jerk off to whatever power fantasy is embedded in the plot. so lets chat about that lads. (slightly) drunk rant under the cut

now prelim shit: we know fantasy is used both as escapism and as a way to deal with various traumas via magical metaphor. staples of the genre. even if jk rowling busted out the laziest and at times offensive metaphor for ww2 and racism ive ever seen, she still adhered to time and true tropes. whatever.

so why have we, in this post game of thrones era, become insanely obsessed with realism? i can hear sixty 20-something year old men crying at me rn like oh ohh oh its based off the war of roses oh wahh all medieval fantasy fiction is based off england and the crusades anyway so women should get raped and people of color should be demonized its not racism its xenophobia and also gay people dont exist and disabled people are systematically killed off and if we stretch the magic fixes mental illness thing a LITTLE further we have straight up eugenics.

we all know where the england but myth thing came from. now the thing about tolkien is that while i will always absolutely love lotr, looking at the LAZY state of fantasy? damn i kinda wish he hadn’t revolutionized the genre. the bitch was still racist. he still didnt give a shit abt women (eowyn was just a vehicle to show how much he fucking hated macbeth anyone holding jrrt up as a feminist icon for that needs to sit the fuck down and explain to me why i can count the woman speaking roles in lotr, a story with a name and fleshed out backstory for every minor character, on one hand but thats! another post). he had something to say abt class with sam i’ll give him that but he is still 100% NOT what we need to hold our standards to in 2020. 

i dont want to talk about old school fantasy, like 80s early 90s cause theres literally no point. its sexist, racist, ableist for sure, this we know. david eddings (not even that old school tbh) can rise from the grave and explain himself to me personally and i still wont forgive him for ehlana. 

so let’s talk historical accuracy. quick question. who the FUCK gives a shit? WHO is this elusive got fan who’s out here like blehh actually??? this method of iron production is TOTALLY anachronistic of the time. ummm these vegetables in this fictional world were NOT native to english soil so how are they here? cause i know this is the classic argument but ive never actually met someone who cared about the lack of dysentery as much as they care abt the women getting raped on screen/page. 

god forbid you have to worldbuild for a second god forbid you can’t rely on the idea of fantasy readers already have in their head god forbid you have an original idea god forbid you spend more than two seconds thinking about ur setting (oh i should mention i dont....really blame GoT for its setting cause of how long ago it was og written but trust me i sure as hell blame grrm for writing a 13 yr old giving ‘consent’ to sex with a grown man within the first couple of chapters) 

If we accept the basic premise of fantasy as escapism, and i AM drunk so i will NOT be finding fuckin. quotes and shit for this but come on tolkien said it himself and as much as i’ll drag him he crafted the simplest and most powerful fantasy metaphors on the board rn. But if we know its escapism. If we know. then who is it escapism for? certainly not for me, the gay brown woman who busted through all of GoT in 10th grade. 

modern fantasy lit used as an excuse for that white male power fantasy is literally disgusting. calling historical accuracy is so fucking dumb ESPECIALLY cause we, as ppl in the 21st  century, KNOW women have been consistently written out of the story. poc ppl, gay and trans ppl, anyone with a god forbid disability has been WRITTEN out of history as we know it, INCLUDING the fucking war of the roses so HOW can we hold up testimony we know is flawed to support our FICTIONAL. STORY. just to??? support the white power fantasy?? literally noah fence but if you are a white guy who felt really empowered by every time jim butcher described a woman tell me: how do you think that’ll hold up in classic HisToRiCaL fantasy. you think thats a fucking noble pursuit? or are you grima wormtongue out here. 

(side note: jim butcher stop writing challenge i dont need to know abt every woman on page’s nipples. anyone who hides behind subgenre like that? ‘ohhh its a noir story thats why hes sexualizing everyone’ shut the fuck up an author isnt possessed by a fuckin muse and compelled to bust out 500k they have agency and they have choice and they MADE the choice to reserve said will for none of their female characters)

which brings me to point 2: target audience and BOY is the alcohol hitting me rn but WHO is this for? this isnt the fucking 80s we know poc and other marginalized folk read fantasy FOR the escapism. on god ive had a cosmere focused blog for nearly three years and. im just gonna say it im interacted with A LOT of yall and ive managed to talk to VERY few white straight ppl as compared to everyone else. 

like....who deserves to see the metaphor on homophobia or racism. joanne rowling? the bitch who literally tried to sell us happy slaves and the disgusting aids metaphor and the worst case of antisemitic stereotypes i ever saw in an nyt bestseller? yall think that was for US? or was it for the white guilt crowd. 

literally white people can find any book about them that they can relate to. but hmmm maybe theres a reason gay women care so much about stormlight archive’s jasnah kholin, a brown woman who’s heavily coded as wlw. or kaladin, the FIRST fantasy protag ive ever seen with clinical depression. hmm i wonder why a bunch of millennials are vibing all of a sudden. im not saying sanderson is perfect--but its the best ive seen from a white author tbh

maybe theres a reason a lot of poc vibe with a literary way to express trauma, and maybe thats why i specifically get so pissed when its not done well. theres a REASON books about outcasts pushing through and claiming their own lives are popular with people who arent white and straight and able bodied. Junot Diaz had a point. maybe lets STOP catering to those assholes who think theyre joseph campbell’s wet dream personified. ive lost respect SO many authors who are objectively talented. pat rothfuss can write so beautifully that ive cried to bits of name of the wind but literally i will never pick that series up again (not just because of the felurian. women in general tbh. mostly the felurian ngl) cause 1) i personally KNEW men whod jerk off to that shit and 2) there was no need for it there was no plot reason for ANY of that shit 

so like obviously thers an issue with authors of color specifically not getting recognized for fantasy and genre work but on god??????? im still mostly mad at the legions of white authors churning out the same medieval england chosen one books year after fucking year. have an original thought maybe. also im sorry that you as an author lack the basic empathy needed to examine the way that women? or any group of people that youre explicitly writing about see the world and would specifically see YOUR made up world. 

yes your fantasy should be diverse, but more than that it should be kind. if you as a writer cant respect groups of people who deserve it....what the hell are you doing in a genre that traditionally is about finding ways to express injustice through metaphor? tolkien’s hero was sam. fantasy was NEVER about the privileged. yall know who you are so stop acting so fucking entitled. peace out.