#is this discourse. idk what other ppl consider it

[prospitsdream]

idk if yhis is an unpopular opinion or not but i hate when people tag “attractive dionysus” in a percy jackson fic cuz ik what they really mean is twinky dionysus… nothings actually wrong with twinknysus (considering that was one of many portrayals of him irl) but why are we implying fat guys are unattractive </3 . you almost always see it more w fics more sympathetic/with a positive light on him too, as if the only way we can see a character in a good way is if they’re conventionally hot :(

[spicyicymeloncat]

Yknow what no. I’ll say it louder. Sometimes we should understand that we hate a ship because it’s weird in our specific interpretation of characters.

But if someone ships it and has a different interpretation of the characters, then whether that’s morally okay on how accurate or inaccurate their interpretation is.

If characters are clear cut canonically related/have an age gap, then I don’t think you can just say “well this is an au where they aren’t”.

If the characters are not technically this but its implied in the story and makes so much more sense if they are, then I think the crime committed is how the author completely mischaracterises the characters in order to force a romance.

And you can hate weird interpretations of characters for the sake of shipping but call it as it is. It’s not doing anyone favours for confusing the act of “promoting abusive dynamics in a positive light” and “writing characters out of character” and “writing characters different to popular fan interpretation”.

And don’t tag this post as pro ship or anti or whatever in the idea that this is to support either, because I really don’t like those labels. Imo I think those labels only serve to simplify a situation that needs a lot more nuance to understand. And it feels icky to say that something as serious as various abusive dynamics is actually complicated, but in fandoms where characters ages are weird or ages at different rates or where sometimes there’s a official spin off of the og content where they kept the characters but made them all the same age and completely overhauled their dynamics; the maths gets a little more complicated. There are some icky people out there but that doesn’t mean you can just blindly go into things without properly thinking about it first.

[kiefbowl]

you know, it's okay that different women have different goals within feminism. like, we're diverse and have different skills, resources, and life experiences. a group of politically minded mothers organizing for a oh idk a free baby formula bill or something and then a group of financially able child free women creating a self-sufficient co-opt are, like, both cool. literally no reason to ask one group to drop everything for the other cause like what help would they be. sometimes I think a lot of people like that they can go on social media and puff a lot of hot air using highly divisive terms like "prioritize" and what not bc it makes them feel smart but it's just caterwauling sometimes. why is it necessary for everyone to be in complete lock step for a movement to be considered successful? and just bc I know ppl like bad faith reads they love them they eat them up yum yum yum slurp slorp slop I am NOT saying women can't criticize any women or that "everything is feminism" or w/e. I'm just saying that feminist goals can be diverse, and I just don't understand the impulse of needing unifying discourse over every single issue. lest we miss out on things like art archivists bc it isn't "as important," when some people are really really good and in a great position to be very successful feminist art archivists. extrapolate any other feminist issue close to your heart et cetera

[reason-with-the-underdog]

alhaitham seems simple but has a lot going on deeper (aka alhaitham loves media literacy)

ok all the alhaitham discourse makes me think about how there's a mismatch between alhaitham's perception and his actual self

that difference leads to:

- his moe gap

- the way that he's seen as mean/uncaring

- ppl thinking he doesnt have a personality or temper

- his humor & wit going unnoticed

i feel like i go back and forth on how complicated alhaitham is, but it all comes down to the way that he's an unreliable narrator

(he obfuscates the truth by not including details or by distracting with non-answers, so there's just a lot we don't know for certain)

like when his "something to share" voiceline is "oh i like to go to the bar after work to relax"

and he teases traveller like "if u want to know what i think, u can just read what's on the message boards lol"

when we all know he's just playing devil's advocate with kaveh on those message boards like BRUH this is on purpose

i keep harping on how his "food i dislike" voiceline gives a weird reason for why he dislikes soup because it really shows how you cannot take him seriously at all! despite his serious demeanor and tone!

taking him at 100% face value is just asking to be made a fool of bc he was being sarcastic rip lol

but that makes him a much harder character to understand! bc you have to question everything he says about himself.

like the "feeble scholar" line was literally just a joke and he's like "lol if ya wanna waste ur time getting hung up on it go ahead"

he isn't actually serious!!

and interestingly, he also doesn't care if he's understood by other people

so he won't really bother correcting incorrect assumptions about him

and he won't stop making weird sarcastic jokes that sound serious at first bc lol he thinks he's funny so why would he stop

but its not that he /can't/ be serious. so now you have to judge every line for "ok but is this a joke or real"

and even if it is genuine, next you have to consider "what's left out" because alhaitham will not be bothered to explain himself in detail. no, figure it out yourself

and sure that level of critical thinking and meta-analysis is good to apply to characters in media, but to understand alhaitham you actually have to go that deep

you can't just be lazy about it and go with a surface-level understanding

and he does this on purpose lbr

alhaitham likes reading books bc he loves picking apart the author's perspective & figuring out biases/assumptions & placing his own takes up against the author's

so of course he would delight in forcing a reader/player/fan to have to dig deeply into how he thinks & compare to themself

sorry that's called critical thinking and if you aren't capable of that then why the heck should he stoop down to your level so he can be understood?

idk so its very fitting that he is the way he is

he is interested in learning more about himself tho, hence him wanting to use kaveh as a "mirror" for self-reflection... haitham is a scholar of his own self too!

(u can argue that thru this lens he's able to intellectualise/"explain" his emotions and distance himself from them)

but yeah alhaitham purposefully chooses to live freely as he wants and doesn't care about being understood easily by other ppl

bc like all the best books, isn't it more rewarding to have to ponder over the details & wrack your brain over what's being said

bookworm to the core fr

[lais-a-ramos]

guys, we know that mari has some "dumb jock" moments, but, that doesn't mean that she couldn't find a smart lie to tell the others about coach ben

it's clear she did that on purpose

especially considering that line she said in her story about the death of her little cousin:

"maybe there are two versions of reality. most of the time, the-the other one, the bad one, is-is...just hiding, or-or waiting, but it's all real"

mari is very aware of the power of the things we choose to believe, and also the power of the discourses we use to justify what we do

that line of hers is very show thesis in that aspect

(it might also be very much a foreshadowing of paranormal stuff going on, but that's for another post)

the point is, someone who is that aware wouldn't be "dumb" to not create a good lie to try to save ben

it's just that, when faced with the choice between helping ben and saving herself, she picked saving herself

not the most moral choice, i know

but it's a very understandable one

mari not only is outnumbered, but also with an injured knee

she would have literally no chance against the other girls if she tried to openly help coach ben

otherwise, she could end up receiving the "shauna beating lottie to a pulp" treatment from a bunch of extremely angry girls looking for a scapegoat to all their repressed anger

so, she made the choice to stay quiet

still, the next episode is called "12 angry girls and a drunk travis", which seems a direct reference to the movie "12 angry men", which has as its plot summary the story of 12 ppl selected to form a popular jury and decide the fate of a teenager charges with murder (ps.: i haven't watched it yet, but it's on my watchlist)

so, maybe mari can end up trying to subtly manipulate the others to try to not be too hard on ben idk

the point is, nope, it wasn't just mari being dumb, it was clearly an act of self-preservation, and it's why this show is so interesting, bc it makes us question what we would do when facing this type of life-or-death moral dilemmas

[zombiecowboy65]

Can I be real I don't care about Kevin. I'm kind of interested in the queens game because it will likely tie up some loose ends about the Moriyamas that we won't be able to fit in the broken cage (because hopefully wall to wall jerejean 🤞) and it will probably have implications for Jean and Neil as well as Kevin but like I genuinely don't care about getting Kevin pov 😭. I'm gonna bsffr i only care about Jeremy and Jean. I do care about Andrew and Neil but like their story is pretty much done and I'm happy with the original trilogy for them but in terms of new books I only care about jerejean 🥴 but I feel like that's an illegal opinion to have in this fandom. I am esp apprehensive for the prequel bc I feel like it could just be torture porn and I REALLY don't care about Riko. And any Jean content in that book will just be heartbreaking it's bad enough hearing about it in past tense I don't want to REVISIT it. I feel like I'm one of the only people who isn't celebrating 😭 like Kevin pov interests me for his true perspective on jean, Jeremy, andrew, and Neil as individuals and to find out what his sexuality really is but that's it 😭 had to express this to another jerejean soldier sorry I feel u may be one of the few who understand

Me if liking jerejean more than andreil was illegal.

Also I fear I do understand u 100%. & sorry I’m late to this ask 😔 I was trying to avoid it getting caught up in the kerej*an discourse I accidentally riled up lol.

There was a time where I begged for a jerejean series and a Kevin prequel but I specifically wanted it to start with him leaving the nest. Like I wanted the year of him coaching the foxes more than anything. And I still kinda do, BUT I do not want this nest prequel. I feel like THAT is an illegal opinion to have. But fr I don’t give a shit about how Kevin felt awful having to watch Jean get tortured. And do I understand that Kevin was abused too? Yes. Was it anywhere NEAR Jean’s level. No. And I’m not saying this to make this a competition, but we know they spent time together as perfect court, and Jean says Kevin used to stay with him when it was really bad, so I assume at the very least we will get continuous descriptions of Jean/Jean’s injuries. And honestly . I simply do not care for gratuitous descriptions of violence—sexual or otherwise. I never have and I never will.

To me, and I’ll happily be proven otherwise, that is what the nest prequel will be. But who knows, maybe Nora will skip around it and just show the aftermath where the worst is done. Especially because I don’t know why we seem to keep building up Jean’s abuse when we feel it was not bad enough 🧍. ( 2 me, Jean’s “I didn’t ask” completely goes against “I did ask for it” considering he refutes several other claims in his narration and never really shies away from the absolute truth even when it’s awful?? Idk. Just my two cents there. ) . And I fear we will just build and build on Jean considering the circumstances.

I do think the queen’s game could be interesting, especially considering it will most likely round out the moriyamas, but…idk I am not as taken with andreil as most of this fandom, and wherever Kevin is, those two follow. Also & maybe this is me being bitter but the Kevin prequels could’ve been announced later on 😭. Dropping them with jerejean was bound to have ppl talk about them more than jerejean, especially bc so many ppl dislike jerejean because they’re not edgy enough💀

But I do find Kevin interesting as a character. So ill tune in to see but… no one will ever get me in the trenches like jerejean i fear lol

[joejhang]

my input into the thea discourse in the aftg fandom

tw: rape, SA, abuse, violence

spoilers ahead !!! full disclosure: these are my opinions and no one is obligated to agree w me but if u don't i'm literally begging u pls explain urself properly in replies or just don't engage. it's rlly not that deep i just can't w mfs who just say shit like "ur wrong" without giving it any real thought and acting mature and explaining their opinion. if ur a hardcore thea hater/lover honestly just do the smart thing and don't even read on. thanks pooks !!!

gotta preface this by saying: i am not a thea hater. she's done a lot of things wrong that i'll go into but i don't have a strong hatred or even dislike for her. that being said i'm fully aware that if there's anything that will get the aftg fandom riled up it's thea muldani or the extra content. one of those.

first off, i'm well aware that thea is very much a victim of the nest, as much as jean or kevin. and also we don't even fully know how deeply thea was entrenched in the shit that went down in the nest, all we know is that she probably didn't abuse kevin or jean the way others did, considering how she interacts w them in tsc. one of the main criticisms i see of thea is how she "handled" the whole situation w riko and kevin and finding out all of riko's abuse. ppl didn't like her "no harm no foul" attitude re: kevin's broken hand. i get this, considering it wasn't rlly "no harm no foul" given the lasting trauma left on kevin from the incident, and also how long he spent recovering. that shit leaves a long-term impact on ppl and riko still remains kevin's abuser, and thea was wrong for considering it to be "no harm no foul" bc there was harm done. that being said, i think ppl need to be aware that the nest was very much a cult, as neil so aptly puts it. and tbh i have had very little experiences w these sort of environments but i do know that the nest's mentality likely had a long-term impact on thea asw. no matter how deep the abuse went w the other ravens, they were all still subject to the deep-rooted competition and fear that everyone experiences in the nest. idk the full extent of it, but it's pretty safe to assume that thea (given how good of a player she is) is pretty deep in all the cult mentality. this isn't an easy thing to just grow out of, and a lot of the brainwashing that went on in the nest probably stuck w thea and contributed to her responses to finding out exactly what happened to jean and kevin in the nest.

one of the things i most dislike abt thea is the whole conversation between her and jean in tsc. i appreciate that she cares about jean and sort of took him under her wing, but i feel like what rlly stuck w me abt it all was the whole "tell me you weren't up to your old tricks again" line. obv this pissed a lot of ppl off in the fandom too, so i'm just gonna say my piece briefly; thea referring to the older ravens repeatedly raping jean on riko's orders as jean's "tricks" is fucked up. she probably didn't know that jean wasn't consenting and she didn't know riko ordered it, but she did know that jean was a child at the time and can't legally give consent, and she did know that it wasn't like he fucked his way up to the top cos he's had his number from the beginning. she was an adult at the time, and should've done more to protect jean. still, it's obvious why she didn't, cos again, she was also a victim of the nest, and was definitely not in the best position to help jean. that being said, her line does imply that it was jean's choice/fault for messing around and the wording is just pretty fucked, so i'm not gonna completely absolve her of any responsibility in this convo just cos she was also a victim.

another thing i see when ppl r responding to thea criticism is referring to the criticism as victim blaming. tbf, a good amount of it probably is, but i think there are still a lot of things to criticise about her, and just dismissing it as "blaming the victim" is a disservice to the ppl trying to make a valid point. stating that the way thea responded to finding out abt riko's abuse towards jean and kevin was wrong and careless isn't victim blaming. victim blaming is, as the term suggests, blaming the victim of a situation for the situation they're in. listen. thea is not a victim of riko's abuse, at least not in the same way jean and kevin are. thea was a victim of the nest, yes, but it's pretty clear that what jean and kevin experienced was out of her hands, and not on the same level (esp jean. idk what rlly went down between kevin and riko before the hand breaking incident). at the end of the day, i think the way thea dealt w the issue of riko and his treatment of kevin and jean was thoughtless, and pretty dismissive. but it also bears remembering that there wasn't much for her to do by the time she found out. riko died shortly afterwards, kevin took his place as the best striker on the court and jean was sent to the trojans to heal and recuperate. her response could've been more...sensitive (i don't think that's the right word but we'll go with it) but still, y'all will complain, but what was she supposed to do? nora already stated that she was angry at riko, but riko died soon after and other than her anger, there was nothing else for thea to do in her response.

lastly, another argument levelled at thea is re her relationship w kevin. i actually am not sure abt their age gap (i think kevin was 15 and thea was 18 when they first met???) but i do know that their relationship didn't start properly until kevin was an adult and a player for the ravens. i really don't see the problem with this, considering three years (as far as i know, it is three years) isn't a HUGE gap in maturity and by the time they were together they were both very much consenting adults. as far as we know, thea didn't make any moves on kevin when he was a minor, and (if i'm correct) kevin being 18 and thea being 21 when they first properly started getting together isn't anything problematic. they're in similar stages of life, in a very close environment that's toxic, yes, but that they're both familiar with, and it's clear that the feelings they have for each other aren't the same as the violent, repressed sexual feelings held by some of the other ravens. they do genuinely care about each other on some emotional level, much as the fandom may want to deny it, and i don't really think there was anything wrong with their relationship re: consent and the age gap.

anyway, that's really all i have to say except that i do think thea is a complicated and honestly pretty realistic character, given the horrific circumstances she experienced in the nest. i think the fandom is well within their rights to criticise her actions but it bears remembering that she is just a human being and is never going to be perfect, and i think the way she acts is very real and true to her personality and circumstances and she makes a lot of mistakes, but that's just the human condition. it's also insane how much hate thea receives when she's honestly pretty on par with most of the other aftg characters on the moral "scale", if that even exists here. it's pretty baffling how much hate thea receives when she doesn't act all that differently to andrew, neil and kevin. it erases a lot of her complexity and does a disservice to her character (which, if you think about it, we don't know all that much about) to just label her as a purely "good" or "bad" character. aftg is not meant to be portraying conventionally "good" people, and i just think all the thea discourse is really interesting to put under a microscope and dissect.

thanks for reading and i will say it again: if u don't agree with me, that's fine, feel free to explain ur opinions and ur side of things. if ur just gonna be bitching and moaning abt how wrong i am or how much u hate/love thea, take it elsewhere. just don't engage. how easy is that??? just keep scrolling.

[legallybrunettedotcom]

idk if you've already talked about brat but i'd love to know your opinion on the album (if you've listened to it)

hi, jade! i have listened to it, quite a lot now. i have a lot of conflicting, incoherent thoughts. so when it dropped, i thought well, that was okay. fun pop, dance music. then i go online, i open youtube and suddenly see there's a bunch of videos, essays, reviews etc. about the album all with the title or thumbnail saying "revolutionary", "changed the music" etc etc. and i'm like am i going insane? does this album deserve this much attention and discourse? it's quite difficult to escape the album if you're online a lot, so some of those songs just nestled inside my ear. decided to give it a few more listens and it definitely grew on me. like maybe i do want to be going crazy to this in a club. it's obvious sophie's spirit is still somewhat present here, two of them collaborating on vroom vroom ep did change the pop music and we've seen this shift towards something more experimental and avant garde in pop. i think charli's always been a bit too mainstream for indie, and too indie for the mainstream. brat is unique, but also still very much charli. i think what she did expertly is crack the marketing strategy. we know music alone isn't enough anymore, you need a whole "aesthetic", you need to build your own world and lore. y2k, party girl persona but make it vulnerable. the specific shade of green on the cover is now associated with this album and everything that comes with it. "oh, green eye-shadow, that's so brat of you." how long that reference will last, we're yet to see. we're still very much in the whirlwind of brat summer after all. using lowercase as song/album titles has been quite popular for a few years now and ig it's this attempt at casualness, yk carefully curated carelessness, but it also reminds me of those lyric videos i used to watch when i was 12. when the remix with lorde dropped, ngl, i did tear up a bit, but i also can't help but be a bit cynical, like this too is marketing. the music video for 360, i didn't enjoy the song that much, 365 is better but also i understand you can't have one without the other, but the music video specifically sums up the entirety of brat imo. the criticisms i've seen of it are all on point, like "myopic, self-referential for ppl who live in 4 neighbourhoods in nyc/la, reminder that you're not on the list" all of that is correct, but on the other hand, it's pastiche, you have these internet famous women congregating in an ugly restaurant deciding who will be the next it girl and choosing a random waitress, a reminder that everyone can be a hottie, the it girl, the cool girl whatever. ok, that's cute, but like... i'm still not on the list. it's difficult for me to believe you aren't enjoying your fame and pedestal status, but i think she's also aware how easily you can be replaced as soon as the public gets bored. i also felt a bit insane when people started analyzing the lyrics, like specifically the song apple and being flabbergasted that it's about family and familial trauma, because the apple has been such a widely used metaphor for family since the 19th century. it felt like she was receiving the taylor swift treatment, which is funny considering that one song, yk acting like this has never been done before. of course it hits if you don't read and you don't listen to a lot of different music. in general my problem with a lot of discussions surrounding musical artists nowadays is how a lot of people seemingly have no understanding that music wasn't invented a mere 10 years ago. i'm ranting, and i'm saying a whole lotta nothing, but all in all, i do ultimately enjoy the album, like it's obviously fun and silly, and sexy and i love dancing to it. it will probably end up on my favourite albums of 2024 list, but i just don't see it as revolutionary. i could say "oh that's mother" and "those that get it, get it and those that don't, don't", but i feel like that kills any meaningful conversation and the art of criticism, which is not something i'm good at, but it's not just about "consuming" art, we have to discuss it too.

[selfshipgushing]

hi .. I read through your pinned and I have a question..

you said in there you won't post anything that may be causing discourse or harm or something. what do you consider that to be? no other blogs have that in their pinned I think and I have seen some blogs posting things that I don't know I think I would want to be posted so Iam wondering thank you sorry if this is annoying

hi nonnie i skip queue to answer this !!! for context, this is the bit of my pinned they're referring to ! me thinkies.

when i say, "i wont post anything that will cause discourse" that means. pretty much just that. i don't want there to be any arguing or anything on this account because this is a gushing account LOL like if you come in my inbox wanting to debate something I'm not gonna post it go make like uh. i dunno . selfship debates blog or something LOL.

as for anything that i think could cause harm, i wont post any sort of callouts or people being mean to anyone in particular to admitting to anything like . harmful and bad. I've had some really really gross anons in the past sending me stuff to flat out break my no nsfw rule so like, stuff like that !!! if i think it can cause significant distress for anyone to see, it wont be posted !!!!

i want to keep this account as nice and as safe as possible for ppl to just . idk send gushes. or read them . anything that i think shouldn't get posted doesn't get posted. simple as that. i don't block ppll unless they're being like heinous which uhggafhhaga has happened. ppl forgot that I'm a real person and not just a confession account run by a robot !!!!!

okay that is all bye bye now. also i post this one in the tags bc not everyone sees the things i post that arent gushes cus . ya know . they get drowned. so in case anyone wanted to know !!! even tho there's not much explanation its just . i don't post nothin i think i shouldn't . okayy actually bye bye no w!

[rosesradio]

this is kinda random idk but u might find it funny. as my involvement in the pjo fandom, i have curated my experience away from the "main" fandom- the puriteens, book purists, those against multishipping, antishippers, ect, following ppl who are ok with ideas that are out there, and yk, not "moral" (<-very important phrasing later). When one of my friends was like, oh i'm into pjo too! i was very excited to talk to them. HOWEVER. i was quickly reminded how my experience is very different 😭. they ask me what my favorite ship is. i say valgrace. they give me a questioning look. it's fine, whatever, not everyone is gonna like my ships. i ask them. they say, percabeth and solangelo. i say, oh cool! me personally i like to ship nico w other ppl. they look at me. "what...other people." so now, im feeling a little unsure. i say i like percico. almost immediately, a look of disgust forms. "how?!? how could u like that? that's so disgusting... percy is so much older, ew!" now, i'm kinda affronted. i say i usually interact when they are aged up, and i really like the dynamic. however, they still say it's "disgusting" and "morally bad" (<- this is the phrasing). i question how it can be morally bad. they say that bc of how nico is infatuated w percy earlier in the books, it's inappropriate. atp, im so confused, and frankly, done w the convo. i don't even want to MENTION lukabeth. anyway, it was just a shock for me to see how some people in the fandom think. so, ig thank u for ur fics and posts! i always love seeing them. srry for the long ask!

“what other people” is diabolical 😭 as if nico’s not the metaphorical blunt being puff puff passed around the shipping circle of Percy, jason, leo, piper—hell, i even reblogged art of him and luke once. one important key to a (alloromantic) character being meow meow is that they’re so shippable.

honestly i get kinda burnt out on the discourse and scorn, the “no wait if i change this dynamic would it be okay? would i get into heaven? ����” (not saying that’s what you’re doing, this is commentary on fandom as a whole). the only reason people should alter things in their creative works is for their own convenience and comfort, no one else’s. in some of my works, i alter things for my comfort (example: aged up lukercy smut where percy is 19 & luke is 26—the age gap is still in play but it’s legal within the context and world of the fic), sometimes i don’t alter things if i’m writing darkfic (example: basically the entirety of spoils of war). neither one is “illegal”/“morally wrong”, they’re both equally fiction.

i get so lost in the depths of the “problematic” things that i write sometimes, a lot of the times i forget that there are layers above me in which people consider the most mundane things blasphemous—it kinda surprises me, though i tend to look the other way and ignore it.

Tbh i don’t even see anything wrong with that percico dynamic, even from a potential darkfic angle. There are ways to make the ship dark, but that’s not it—it’s actually very normal to have a crush on an older person when you’re younger (as long this isn’t an irl, they return the feelings, “you’re mature for your age” situation if ykwim), get over the crush, and then when you’re both older you drift back to each other, and it’s sort of like a rebirth. percico isn’t even my favorite ship, though i do enjoy that dynamic.

idk, my advice would be not to take what your friend says to heart. If this is an irl friend, keep them close and try to be chill and avoid arguments, even if you know that your take on fiction is actually correct and normal, lol. chances are from what you’ve sent you guys are young, maybe high school, which is when i was deep in my anti beliefs. chances also are, at some point, your friend is gonna take interest in something outside of the mass-pre-approved “appropriate” ships and topics (tbh i wouldn’t be in this fandom anymore if i was limited to 1-2 “allowed” ships, much less “allowed” content (yk all their smut is only in missionary after marriage 🧍), i would have lost my mind lmao). at that point, they might start coming around to broader horizons, who knows.

thanks for stopping by & talking with me though !! 💌

[chenyuvale]

Least favorite ships + why? Idk I like to see what people think😼

(Genshin ships btw lololol)

genshintwt hates me for this

basically every popular mlm ship ,,,

the most popular mlm ship i enjoy is cytham and compared to like. The tall man x tall man ones its not that popular!! agony!

more specifics here so be warned: if i mention a fave ship of yours here, its not a personal attack and im not gonna hold it against you for shipping differently than i do. that being said heres my take on my least fave ships

ok lets talk abt kavetham.. i think they're exes. i enjoy them as a duo but not as a romantic pair; they literally fight in every scene they're in so im convinced kaveh had a crush and they tried dating for a week or even just 5 days so not even a week and kaveh got so frustrated that he broke it off but is salty abt it and haitham only agreed bc "why not, if it works it works and if it doesnt it doesnt" he had no expectations whereas kaveh had every expectation but haitham didn't live up to that so now kavehs just constantly annoyed and angry w haitham bc he doesn't know hoe to move on

i dont like zhongchi or neuvithesley very much simply because i dont. see it. its another case of they dont really like each other? and i think its hypocritical of certain fans to go against ships like zhongxiao bc "they're father/son" when. zhongchi is so much more (by their own standards) problematic than zhongxiao.. like stay? in your lane? and neuvithesley feels to me like ppl just want an excuse to have sigewinne as thier child when. sigewinne is more like wrios mom or grandma considering her actual age ejfhehfhd hes the youngest of the three and fanon loves to ignore it! i wont tolerate that :)

i have a Very hot take on kae/luc that both the antis and the pros dont like; they're not brothers but they aren't lovers either.. i also think they're exes

mostly because thats the vibe i got when i first saw thier interactions in game, it felt similar to asra/julian from the arcana and bc i was into the arcana right before getting into genshin asrian was on my mind, i started looking into them as one does and encountered the Discourse; knowing the cn stereotype though and that it is used to hide gay relationships in cn media; i further took that as proof that they're exes (and Both are bitter about it i enjoy the dynamic a lot. and genuinely they cant live w/o each other) im not going to attack ragbros believers tho, neither am i going to attack the shippers i like the content regardless bc both sides can agree that they cant live w/o each other and it torments the both of them

i could go more in depth bc they mean a lot to me but alas i shall hold off for now

other than that theres some ships i just dont fully understand? like yantao, ittogorou, thomato and eulamber, i get the premise behind eulamber but i cant help but think amber deserves better 😔 yantao i dont? get it and i dont know that i want to at this point it's just confused me bc as soon as yanfei was released ppl jumped on the yantao trainwagon and im confused where it came from? im also a bit more of a yanfei/kuki person myself but before that i didn't have any real yanfei ship; ittogorou feels like ppl just want itto with any guy they want and it bugs me, thomato is toxic. point blank; ayato is constantly bullying thoma and thoma is not the type of guy to fight back but like irs very. family bullying and not romantic partner bullying. and ayato knows how to bully a romantic partner hes very sadistic. but thoma is vanilla as fuck he doesn't want to be bullied so give ayato to diluc who Is a masochist and will accept ayatos bullying :D in that news i also like kaeya x thoma

those are all the ones that come to mind and again if i mention a ship you like dont take it personally!! at all!! its just my view on things and im not gonna shame you for having different takes. i love others interpretations so much im incredibly open minded, id be such a hypocrite if i wasnt

[roseworth]

I read through your Dick Grayson asks and I would like to thank you for putting all the issues I've (also) had with his character into words. I feel like Jason fans (that have read his comics) are far more critical of his actions and will call him out on it. Meanwhile I haven't seen anyone be critical of Dick before, even when his writing activity hurts other characters (like him being the main leader in Absolute Power even tho it was at the expense of both Diana (a woman) and Mr Terrific (a poc), among others)

im going to disagree just a little bit bc i have beloved mutuals that Are actually critical of dick. not in the same way jason fans are critical of him because we hate on that man every day out of love. but my dearly beloved gay ppl in my phone will sometimes be critical when he deserves it

but youre absolutely right that just talking about people who read the comics (bc wfa/fanon fans are a whole different can of worms), jason fans are a lot more likely to be critical of jason. i think thats at least partially because every few months theres death penalty discourse about jason todd so a lot of fans feel the need to emphasize that they like the character because of his fictional actions and they dont actually support the death penalty. and since dick hasnt done anything that warrants that kind of thing theres less of a need to add disclaimers before talking about him

i do think that most dick fans dont feel the need to be critical of his writing, which kinda ties into what i was saying before about how hes treated by a lot of his fans as an unknown side character. whenever something happens to dick the general consensus about it seems to be "omg hes finally getting the appreciation he deserves 🤩" as if he hasnt been appreciated by dc and by fans for like 80 years. and it especially annoyed me during absolute power bc its not necessarily Wrong for dick to be the one to lead everyone but on the other hand the story kinda treated it like he was the only one who could do it?? i feel like diana was the obvious choice but she wasnt even considered. you make a good point about mr terrific too, i feel like hes a less obvious choice just bc part of the reason nightwing was chosen was because everyone on the team had a connection to him but a lot fewer people know mr terrific, but again i think the fact that he was kinda holding shit down during ap means he could've been the leader (idk a lot about mr terrific but it does kind of annoy me that they keep using him in stories to be the guy that gives everyone information on the multiverse then he doesnt get to do anything but maybe thats just me). anyways all that to say it makes sense to me why dick could be leader but it just bothers me that there were other choices but the story acted like dick was the only one who could possibly do it

and i think its not Super often that characters are completely ooc for the sake of elevating dick, but it definitely happens. i think it happens super often with damian where the writers will ignore his development and write him to be a mean little kid just so dick can say "remember to be nice damian ☺️" and very few people talk about it just because the people going "awww hes so big brother coded <3" are louder. and dick becomes the center of every team book hes on no matter what, which to be fair is usually because hes the leader so he gets most of the focus. but it seems like every single team book that dick is on becomes Nightwing & Friends where dick gets the storylines and everyone else gets the scraps and most team books are usually. yk. about everyone.

anyways thats my dick rant for the day like and subscribe for more

[f4ggydog]

Idk if “maybe the yj twt minors shouldn't involve themselves in clearly adult conversations” is really the take considering the 17yo who started the whole thing just said that it made them uncomfortable and they got people roleplaying child predators in their ngl link. Yeah they’re being stupid but it’s also stupid to ignore the really gross behavior coming from some grown adults here…

Any adults who quote tweeted simply said "yes" or that they wouldn't mind this happening or asking why someone would be bothered by this when the show has so much other dark shit going on. the 17 yr old didn't just say they were uncomfortable. the 17 yr old started also making claims that u were fucked up irl if u wanted that in the show.

frankly this isn't even a conversation topic to be had with minors because they shouldn't even be getting involved with this discourse. ppl are just exhausted with the moral grandstanding because that's what this always leads to. And I'm sorry but honestly minors shouldn't even really be consuming this show. I wish this show was 18+ so that we wouldn't get ppl making bold takes getting surprised that the show about cannibalism is messes up.

i checked the minor's ngls that were posted and the one that was like "17 is my favorite age" was disgusting and that person can kill themselves. I hadn't seen that one at first and I apologize. my point still stands though that I don't really think minors or ppl under 18 should consume this show because the takes they have can be deeply annoying.

[softantlers]

please keep giving bottom lottie thoughts because i LOVE them you are converting me truly

here I go, here I go, here I go again 🎵 girls, what's my weakness--?

(overintellectualized bottom discourse!)

[jumpscare warning: i literally quoted some of my own smut at you dskafjdsfjkd]

i think i have a very particular definition of bottoming that maybe departs from what it's like... assumed to be? outside of gay cis dude discourse, topping/bottoming as concepts get more interesting when you're talking about ppl of basically any other gender/sexuality (but i think it's actually p cool it becomes more abstract).

cuz like see for me, i'm a switch that leans toward topping. and in that space, i view bottoming as acts of vulnerability/surrender/giving and topping as acts of initiation/giving (also)/taking. it's way more blurry and nuanced than that, but it's sort of what i run with when i consider characters, smut, etc.

so thoughts on lottie as a bottom:

giving head! people tend to consider eating someone out as, i guess, top behavior, but ohhhh-ho-ho! one hill i'll die on with lottienat is that they're so married to the idea of making each other feel good & that clearly includes eating each other tf out. but there's a marked difference, i feel, in how they go about it. even positionally, i see nat being more on top, more wolfish, more taking, and i see lottie being very interested in being taken.

on the other hand, i think lottie is totally interested in "servicing" nat but i see that positionally being more bottom? nat standing or sitting somewhere, and lottie's on her knees. she's not taking, she's giving (not to be weird but it's like-- this is head?? somehow, this is head!! idk, it's just in their dynamic for me. and nat is never really giving lottie head but the reverse is true.) when it's for nat, she's got her fingers in lottie's hair, keeping her there and inviting her in. when it's for lottie, nat's spreading her and taking. there's just a difference.

experience/experimentation- yeah i think something that gets lost in the sauce on smut with them, especially first times in the wilderness, is that i would assume lottie doesn't have as much sexual experience? it's generally not explored whereas we're told that nat has been with people. i think it falls in line with her character to be more curious and to let someone else lead, especially with something like this. her position in the wilderness is sort of this active participant that manages to remain passive, if that makes any sense at all, and i see that manifesting sexually. like yeah, this is mad scientist lottie matthews. she'd be interested in observing and learning her partner, and if her partner was more sexually experienced, it just rings true to me that she'd let them lead.

i guess just some more fun horny things lmao:

i've said it before but i think lottie find some of the more ridiculous things about sex amusing and i think it plays into how comfortable she is bottoming? (way more comfortable than nat at first) like if they have a tumble that's so rough, she's got twigs and shit all over her, like i think lottie would find it funny. i write this a lot in my fics lmao dkjsfjfkdfjk:

Clinging to Nat's nape, Lottie turned her face to the side to offer up more of herself. She fought back a delirious laugh when twigs scraped her cheek. 

Lottie moved out of her kneeling position, a little amused when she noticed the sharp twigs and tiny rocks sticking to her pants.

in line with this, i also think she's just... very resolved against embarrassment? and i think the willingness to be so bare makes her a very attractive bottom to nat??? (axed some of the more graphic parts of this lmfaooo)

There was… something invigorating about being between Lottie’s legs like this. Something charged in the power, vulnerability, and service of it that Nat hadn’t known was a possibility for her. But it was natural to whisper, “No, [...] you’re going to look at me.” And with that, she returned to Lottie [...] Lottie’s mouth fell open, but she seemed energized, almost fascinated, by Nat’s command. She maintained determined eye contact, like it was a fucking dare.

i already spoke about this, but i just feel like acknowledging that nat needs the control, the autonomy, the etc etc of topping is something that drives lottie sexually.

The girls stared at each other, faces red and chests flush. Swallowing, Lottie lifted her chin to better eye Natalie. “You can take what you need,” she whispered. Her voice shook a little as her body began to warm. “It’s better than drinking. I don’t mind.” [...] “Please,” she found herself saying. When Natalie’s eyes opened, Lottie held her gaze before gently rocking her hips. Above her, Natalie stilled, letting loose a breath at the friction. Her jaw was working as she peered down at Lottie, considering her. “I want you to take what you need, Nat.”

idk man, she's a very compelling bottom to me because there's a lot bound up in that role that complements both her character and its surrender themes but also the dynamics that make lottienat so interesting (the circling, the protecting, the giving, the missteps, etc)

[junibgoode]

ok I've been thinking about ridoncuous race lately(blame the noco nemma discourse. pls get a hobby @ those ppl 😭😭) and im just thinking about what I'd change. not going into what I'd do for all of td bc atp I'd probably need to just rewrite the show(as tempting as that is I have like. a life i like living) bit rr there's just 2 major things.

firstly Noah's overall writing. hear me out, he was good especially in the one liners department but some things were just. like him being low-key a dick to Owen sometimes. he does have the casual mean-ness to him(samesies) with friends there were moments that were. like what. also nemma. if I could be as radical as possible and push my Sapphic agenda I'd have lesbian emma with a whole arc about it bc it would've been so good. the whole "I mess up every relationship I have with a guy by dating one's I know are shitty or just messing stuff up myself to find and excuse to end them" and "omg I've just been gay the whole time" would've been so good on her character. did my queen dirty. and with that I'd make nowen canon bc out of the Noah ships it's probs the best(not my favorite per say but just the best chemistry and canon wise).

but playing by network rules I'd just give them better chemistry. from memory(idk its been a while) I think they just have them sarcastic banter and then. Noah was all mushy. and emma was into the pathetic boyfailure of it all. which yk pathetic boyfailure is what he is(tho I tend to read him as gay. disaster bisexual works too). but Noah has the whole sarcastic banter with other charactets. like they could've given us more to work with is my point instead of rushing in with nemma to plug up the nowen and lesbian emma allegations(shout-out to the anon on total drama takes with that submission, you're my personal hero).

also I'd make the police cadets not police. as far as police goes they're not bad themselves considering MacArthur doesn't even believe in the institution herself and sanders just wants to do good but is ultimately misguided. but man like could've made them P.I.s trying to prove themselves after getting kicked off the force(I do hc they eventually leave).

thank u for coming to my Ted talk yes my autism diagnosis appointment will be soon

[raytorosaurus]

bit of a weird ask but I saw a twitter post saying they were 'devastated' over what frank said in an interview about performing/writing in ls dunes compared to some other bands (theyre assuming that the 'other bands' means mcr because they cant think of the 20+ other bands that hes been in) and after reading it a second time it doesn't even seem that negative?? it just talks about different processes and his excitement for dunes, but I still feel down anyway now because of that reaction, and it really makes me doubt that part of the fandom's faith in the band and its members im kinda close to quitting the fandom because of this and idk how the tumblr/twitter gang here survives it y'all are troopers, im unsure how to avoid that kind of doomposting

sorry i totally forgot to answer this the other day, i hope you see this!

but yeah, i see the same thing and it is. pretty irritating haha. it speaks to the unrealistic traits and behaviours fandom has applied to these ppl over the years/decades - which are harmless enough on the surface, but left unchecked you end up with doomposting or disproportionate levels of discourse when one of them doesn't behave the way their textpostified personalities would have you believe hahaha. if frank isn't anything but reverential towards mcr then he must hate it. if gerard puts time and work into his artistic and career pursuits that aren't related to mcr he must be giving up on the band like he supposedly did in 2012. if ray, who hasn't done a single interview since 2016, isn't on stage showing frank public affection or admiring him on twitter, he must be bossy and arrogantly taking all the glory for mcr's guitar parts and musicality. if mikey does anything it's gotta have something to do with gerard or mcr because obvs he doesn't exist outside the band etc etc. again none of these things are like. problematic or bad**, just kind of. annoying to engage with as an adult in the space i go to enjoy myself hahaha.

but this specific discussion abt frank implicitly dissing mcr also cropped up after that podcast frank did with travis, where he discussed writing music with ls dunes vs every other band/project he's been involved in. which, let's remember, is a fucking lot. how many albums has frank made or been part of? too many to easily count. only about four or five of those were with my chemical romance. ls dunes is only set apart from the rest because they're currently active after mcr's huge reunion, and they're a supergroup so they're getting a lot of press attention. people have never batted an eye in the past when frank has discussed how great it is to be working with this or that musician on this or that album - it's just the timing of ls dunes and our own high hopes for new mcr music that make people take this one in particular so personally.

on top of that... we've always known mcr has a fraught and stressful writing process??? that is like. a major part of the lore? we're all compelled by the insane amount of unlikely success mcr achieved in their careers, and by the fact that they were always controversial. we reblog quotes about gerard saying mcr's purpose was always to be against something, to undermine expectations, to infiltrate, contaminate etc. i thought this was something we were all drawn to about mcr? so i'll never understand the shock and disappointment when frank makes the simple statement that writing with ls dunes is easier, less stressful, and more lighthearted than writing with mcr. like...duh it is? mcr have always been open about how much they put into writing albums - and also about how they're proud of what they created, and that they consider each other cherished family.

the most annoying part for me is when people take quotes about frank working with travis and twist them into some kind of dig at/criticism of ray. i can only assume these people aren't used to working with others in a creative capacity, especially long term, because i just totally can't understand where it comes from lol. as someone who's read/watched every guitar-related mcr interview i've ever been able to get my hands on: ray and frank have literally never been anything other than fully complimentary of, respectful to, and affectionate with one another. ray was far from the first guitarist frank ever worked with and leagues from the only one. also, creative partnerships are extremely complex and every one is completely unique, with it's own strengths and difficulties. if ray and frank didn't love playing with each other they wouldn't have done it for years and years. that doesn't mean frank can't vocally love playing with other guitarists??? these things are not contradictory and appreciating aspects of one creative partnership is not equivalent to bad-mouthing a different one? like that is just not how it works skdkdjd

anyway i think a lot of it comes down to the fact that, for us, we see these people as parts of my chemical romance. naturally, because that's the reason we know they exist! but all of these people live rich and full and complex lives like any other person. the only parts of those lives that we generally see much of are the my chemical romance parts. we look for mcr in everything they say, which is understandable but unrealistic. all we need to do it keep that in mind imo

**(tho ppl's tendency to pit ray and frank against each other for some reason, which used to be a way common but is unfortunately a sentiment i'm starting to see crop up again in some places, definitely can get. suspicious and uncomfortable. especially considering that frank is the fan favourite so these pointless comparisons tend to err in his favour, and in either direction they tend to be very shallow and uninformed anyway. but that's a separate conversation)

wow i literally did not intend to turn this into a giant essay im so sorry. kudos if you made it this far lol. and i feel you anon, it's discouraging and puts a bad taste in my mouth when i come to this fandom for fun and fulfillment. i wish i had better advice because im feeling a little similar but just try to remind yourself that other people's opinions are just that. i find it helps if you can curate your own dash/feed or make friends in more discussion-friendly spaces like dms or gcs or discord servers. or even a priv twitter account with a few like-minded mutuals where you can vent ur shared frustrations over things without making it a whole big deal HAHAHA. the less time you spend scrolling thru ppl's public posts and the more time you spend diving into interviews, podcasts, videos, the web archive etc to detach yourself a little from group fandom-think the better you'll probably feel about mcr tbh! also long as you have friends or close mutuals that's all that matters imo <3