#literally everyone's interpretation is valid

[eistro-phobia]

(sits down, cracks knuckles)

I think this defeats the purpose of saying you're not referring to anyone in particular

Gonna try to keep my tone cordial, though forgive me if i sound pointed at times—I don't take kindly to being flat out told that most of the fandom (which effectively includes me) doesn't understand the source material

@adlersoldspice covered a lot of points (thank you <33) but i have shit to say

Number one, I don't get what you're tryna convey when you say MCU-ification. don't know what COD you've been playing all this time, but it has been MCU-fied since fucking forever. The only exception I can think to that is the rebooted Modern Warfare game, and even that has a couple stretches in the story. This is even more evident in BO6. I really don't get what point you're tryna make with that word; it just doesn't even apply.

Number two, most of the content created by the fandom, whom you say misunderstands canon so much, are BLANKS left by canon which we take to filling in. And yes, these interpretations are valid, extreme or not.

But since you "don't give an f about interpretation", lets stick with the facts, like you want to:

The whole group and i mean WHOLE would know who Bell is and what their purpose is. Like Do we realise how high the stakes are in this mission? its not fun and games? They all HAD to know who they are working with for the mission to be successful or at least have a lot higher chance of being successful.

Hudson fucking hid all of operation greenlight from the entire team. Something arguably more high stakes than Bell. So yes, it is absolutely possible that the whole group may not know.

If Sims knew why Woods, Lazar and Mason wouldn’t know? It wouldn’t make sense.

Lazar does know. If Bell is picked to be former KGB, then theres a dialogue option where Lazar refers to their time back in the Lubyanka building before reeling back and saying that he shouldn't be asking Bell questions like that.

Mason and Woods however, show zero indication that they knew. Hudson would have a very valid reason not to tell them, in fact. Most of it involving avoiding a second punch in the face. Of course Mason and Woods would very likely get mad; they're the most morally decent characters out of that team, highlighted by the fact that they're pissed off about greenlight being a thing in the first place. And it goes without saying how personal a method like this is to them.

Another way we see this is the difference in the dialogues everyone has with Bell. When we look back in the story, there's some point where each character foreshadowed the truth about Bell by saying something to them that turns out to be a lie. Quick runthrough:

Park, in her response to Bell asking if they've met before.

Lazar, and the aforementioned dialogue.

Sims, when Bell brings up Vietnam to him.

Hudson, when Bell asks why he doesn't trust them.

The only exception to this rule is Woods and Mason. Nothing they say is a lie to Bell, they don't even have the hesitancy around them that the others have, joking around with them like they're a normal crew member. So yes, it does make sense if they didn't know.

Sure Mason was put through brainwash, sure he could feel a bit bad because someone went through what he did but that doesn’t mean he would love bell or feel so SO bad for them.

Mason's biography states him a victim of menticide. He lost years of his life to his brainwashing, he was made to execute his own president, he lost the last chance to say goodbye to his mother: both in her last moments and her funeral, he lost his relationship with his father (he gets quite literally disowned), strained his relationship with his sister, lived a lie for 7 years and spent decades recovering from it. It has driven him to the point of suicide, and he had still not recovered from it till the targets implanted in his mind were executed. So yeah. Human empathy, which Mason is shown to be capable of, would absolutely account for a world where he's disgusted by what happens to Bell and does feel sorry for them. And yes, naturally, there's a universe where those feelings develop.

Because let’s not forget, Just because bell was brainwashed doesn’t mean all their deeds magically disappeared! They had to climb the organization ladder for years to end up being the SECOND IN COMMAND! They didn’t wake up one day and decided they will Become Perseus’s right hand and puff they automatically did.

Bell is a character you create. Their history before Trabzon is completely unknown. All that's known is that they're second in command, and that Perseus thinks highly of them. How that happens is literally up to everyone's interpretation. And I can hold your hand and tell you right now, most if not all the people making OCs of Bell know that they're not innocent (this is COD, nobody's innocent). I can tell you that people that spent hours curating their characters are not oblivious idiots that don't know what a terror organization means. How guilty/innocent they make Bell is their choice and their interpretations, all of which are valid.

And sure as hell It makes no sense to come up with things like Adler being a scientist who was the only person working on bell,

Adler was the main man leading the project. He's the one that found Bell, then made and proposed the plan to the President and the cabinet. His memories was the one given to Bell. He is the only one that used the trigger phrase on Bell. He is the one that named Bell. Park was just a consultant in his endeavor. And the fact he has an extensive knowledge in psychedelics and MK-ULTRA (in BO6, the whole bit when he knows about and uses phenosorazine), coupled with the fact that Sims constantly calls him Doc and him being involved in the Advanced Research and Technologies division, points to some background he holds in science and research. It is not far fetched to call him the "scientist" in lieu of that.

Or that he is obsessed with the single mission out of hundreds he did, or whatever.

Both Adler and other members talk about how catching Perseus is absolutely personal for him. It's straight up a repeated line of how he's been obsessed with chasing this ghost for 30 years. (If you wanna get deep, in the Mobile comics, his last words before he dies is literally "I won, Perseus.") Yes, catching Perseus is his obsession, and by proxy, it's entirely possible brainwashing Bell becomes part of that too.

also a reminder PARK was taking a part in it too, like i’m so sick of people hating Adler but loving Park. Your girl is the same amount of guilty as he is and why are we forgetting that.

Park consistently shows concern over Bell. She decreases the dosage fed to Bell every night without Adler's knowledge, is the most empathetic towards them before and through the interrogation and fights with Adler to be careful and not overdo the dosage. She even tries to talk them out of betraying the team in the Duga ending, in contrast to everyone else. Adler, on the other hand, straight up says it doesn't matter if Bell dies, solely focused on getting the location of Perseus. And obviously, the one to kill Bell. It is ignorant to categorize these two as the same. And absolutely valid to like Park more than Adler for that.

Also changing his entire personality to match some twinkle dinkle femboy * (I appologise if that’s an actual word i thought i made it up, but from decency i’m not gonna cover that up and leave it so one one’s gonna tell me i am covering that up) , Emo Machoman, Submissive Malewife (sometimes femboy too), Actual crazy man that needs to be in a psychic ward, Bell lover or whatever the hell people can make him out,

Most if not all of the content you've described are all made in jest and joking. Mostly done to dunk on the guy for being an asshole.

Like I swear it’s not hard to use your eyes and actually see how a character is acting and based on that, how would they react in other situations not shown to you directly.

Brother you don't know who Adler is. Like straight up, you don't. You've seen him in missions and on the field. That's it. You don't know how he'd react in situations not shown to us directly. You don't know what he is like as a husband, a father, a partner, a friend or whatever else. The games have ZERO information about Adler's personal self. That's the point of Adler as a character, he is deceptive and not who you think he is. BO6 came in with a whiplash of Adler smiling and being caring for once; you think anyone saw that coming? The point is that he's a mystery, and nothing's saying that in his private life, he would react one way or the other. If people wanna make him a malewife, nothing's saying he isn't one.

First of all, Adler would have to be the sickest man on earth wanting to be in a relation with his own victim. Like what in Killing stalking is this.

How do you know he isn't? What says he isn't? How can you call this mischaracterization when there is no characterization here to misinterpret? This is a peek into Adler's psyche which the games have not given; anything and everything is valid. Even a sociopathic Adler, which he has canonically been reported to have tendencies of. He could be, he could not be; you and I don't know in the slightest, and it can lean either way.

Do you think Adler is stupid enough to let his feelings out that he doesn’t like bell (or just is neutral, for sure he doesn’t have huge love for them!) ruin the entire mission? Sorry but the interpretation “He was nice because he liked them” Is just dumb, Because we are forgetting they are grown ass people in the military?

Nothing says that Adler couldn't've also liked Bell while doing this. In fact, this is the driving force of most fics in this manner; Adler liking Bell despite not being supposed to, not letting it show. Even in both the possible endings of the game, Adler says Bell showed promise ("you're a goddamn hero" and "what a waste; you could've made something of yourself"). The point of Adler is that he keeps his true intentions hidden; and it's common knowledge by now that Adler is not a methodical and calculated person like Park, he lets his emotions take over sometimes. He has to keep up appearances with Bell, but it's not outlandish to think that it's not the only reason he was decent to them.

Okay but “Bell thought they knew Adler for years” And for how long did they thought that? again, A month.

Do you think Park and Adler implanted them with the latter's memories just to give them a fun backstory? The point of the brainwashing was to establish trust in Adler that would enable them to reveal intel about Perseus. They were made to believe that Adler was their closest friend (or more, depending on interpretation). It doesn't matter for how long; the process was done to make it feel like a lifetime's worth. Think back to Mason; the brainwashing took place over only a couple of months, but was enough to drive him on for years, making him fuse his self with Reznov. The time frame doesn't matter; the point of the brainwashing is to make Bell attached to Adler, which they did.

And coming to the end of the game, Is it seriously not obvious why Bell dies? Like yes they pull Bell out of the rubble because they can’t risk Bell running away, their literal US walking war crime? Of course they have to Kill Bell because bell is a proof of their dirty secret and inhumane treatment? Bell HAD to go there is literally no other option in any reality because If they don’t US is literally in a threat rn. No it wasn’t a quick decision Adler made, no he didn’t do that just because I am more than sure that was the exact plan from the beginning.

Bell's death and the Solovetsky ending is widely regarded as one of the most disappointing COD endings, even of games in general. It's widely regarded as the "bad" ending, even. Even when you go outside this "suffocating" fandom into the dudebro world of COD players, everyone hates this ending and collectively agrees it's a victim of rushed writing.

Why? Because it makes no sense to kill Bell when Perseus has still not been subdued and the threat is still very real; especially when Bell made a choice of their own accord to help them (that Adler too acknowledges). They don't kill Bell and carry on with their lives, they continue this exact mission; stopping Perseus. Bell wouldve been invaluable in this endeavor, with their skill as well as knowledge of Perseus' inner workings. If it was after Perseus as a threat had been eliminated entirely, it would then make sense to kill Bell then, not when they're still needed.

And Adler could've still kept Bell alive then too; he kept Stitch in custody, why wouldn't he keep Bell, a far more asset and compliant asset, in his hands? The fandom took advantage of this oversight to write most of their AUs. And yes, that's what the point of AUs are: Alternate Universes.

Everything stated above, except the last bit, is factual information derived from the games. TL;DR, none of your complaints are "far fetched" like you believe they are.

But more importantly, notice how I say words like "if", "might", "can", "valid", "possible", etc? That's how you present an opinion.

Everything I added after the facts are POSSIBILITIES, OPINIONS and INTERPRETATIONS, that fill in the blanks presented by the story. Every single last one of them VALID.

I'm not dismissing your theories, I'm debunking what you say you think is factually true—what you think the rest of the fandom is too dumb to see. If you think what others do with their interpretation doesn't go with yours, if you think what you said makes more sense to you, congratulations. But this is just that; this is just your interpretation that AdBell or MasonBell or just Adler or just Bell or whatever doesn't seem right in your eyes. It's not fact. It's not the holy grail of truth. These possibilities are not ruled out just cause you think they're ridiculous; they still have basis and believe it or not, other people have working braincells and have thought about all this.

And if a holy grail of truth is indeed what you meant to put out, you are off by fucking miles.

I don't know what you thought writing this, but this is not constructive criticism; this isn't even criticism. It barely qualifies as an opinion, even. You're speaking like you're stating facts. You're not being quirky by adding sarcastic quips, you're being a jerk.

I'm not even being subjective when I say that your tone is awful; your post is literally shitting on 90% of the fandom.

If you wanna talk about how people tarnish the characters and disrespect their writing, good. That's a real problem prevalent in tumblr, especially in COD. Being absolutely ignorant of the sensitive matters present in the stories told happens a lot, and it's absolutely right to speak up about that.

But chief, you did not do that. You came here, acting all superior like we're all beneath you for not fully understanding the lore like you think you did. And you top it all off with the most disrespectful comments; I don't care if you're being sarcastic, that's even more careless. It's a slap in the face to every creator in this space.

You don't like the way that people represent these characters. You don't like how a lot of them lean into writing characters OOC and whimsical, less realistic. And for the longest time, neither did I. I personally didn't always like how sugarcoated things were in general, and wanted to see more of the gritty stuff.

So you know what I did? I did it myself.

Instead of telling others how to make their content, I made the content I wanted to see. That's what you do; you don't tell others to change when there's nothing wrong with what they're doing.

If you want more of your "realistic" content, make it yourself. It doesn't have to be amazing for you to feel fulfilled. Or if you don't wanna, send requests to writers here and support the content you wanna see. Interact with rp accounts, put your thoughts out on theories and analyses, literally nobody is stopping you.

Or you just post and talk about how you want more of the content you want, instead of "debunking" what you don't like.

I’m saying there are multiple, you guys act like Everyone have to micharacterise and that’s the only way to enjoy a fandom

No, the majority just likes what it likes; it's you that's acting like other's content must align with your views. But these characters are not yours. Your guess about who these characters are is no greater than anyone else's. You didn't write them.

Word of the day: AU or Alternate Universe. That is where most if not all of our OCs or ships exist. It's in the name.

It's valid to make a yandere Adler or a Hudson that's secretly been in love with Bell the whole time or a Woods and Mason fighting over Adler or a 20k+ worded smut between Sims and Lazar. As long as they call it their AU or account for the story with an explanation. Which almost everyone here does. Surprise, we are capable of cognitive thought and deeper than surface level analysis.

And if you still don't like that, just don't interact.

HOT TAKE

90% (That is not a literal calculation, no im not the whole 10%) of this fandom refuses to see it for what it actually is and instead mcu-fiy it into found family sunshine and rainbows.

At least I will be talking about Adler, Bell, And their ship because that’s the most popular thing here on Tumblr

Exit: I’m gonna highlight the things that I noticed majority didn’t read and add explanations.

Another edit so don’t be surprised it changed

If my wording of “you” In this post is mean to you, then i’m sorry but that’s just the way I write, It doesn’t mean it’s pinpointed at you, whoever you are, it just means i’m speaking to a group. I’m not gonna rewrite the whole post because then it wouldn’t make sense just to make it sound, i don’t know, scientific, If I talk about an oc or adler and you too have an oc or your own version of adler and know you can differentiate your version from canon then, again, it’s f i n e

(disclaimer i know it’s FANFICTION it’s for FUN and yadayadayada But At some point there’s a boarder between fanfiction/ fun and straight up micharacterisation and changing literally everything, again, Mcu-fiying.)

(Explanation- I’m not saying that’s the only way of enjoying a fandom. I’m saying there are multiple, you guys act like Everyone have to micharacterise and that’s the only way to enjoy a fandom, or like I said the only way to enjoy a fandom is the opposite, I POINTED my opinion that you don’t have to agree with)

BELL

(and their involment as they are actually in the whole post)

Whatever some may like it or not, Bell has canon, Bell was Perseus second in command, And however you want to think they did nothing wrong or whatever, It’s straight up not true to THE CANON.

The whole group

and i mean WHOLE would know who Bell is and what their purpose is. Like Do we realise how high the stakes are in this mission? its not fun and games? They all HAD to know who they are working with for the mission to be successful or at least have a lot higher chance of being successful. If Sims knew why Woods, Lazar and Mason wouldn’t know? It wouldn’t make sense. No mason would not kidnap Bell to live with them in a hut in alaska or whatever I saw people say, Sure Mason was put through brainwash, sure he could feel a bit bad because someone went through what he did but that doesn’t mean he would love bell or feel so SO bad for them. Because let’s not forget, Just because bell was brainwashed doesn’t mean all their deeds magically disappeared! They had to climb the organisation ladder for years to end up being the SECOND IN COMMAND! They didn’t wake up one day and decided they will Become Perseus’s right hand and puff they automatically did. And if your oc did than it makes zero sense sorry

(No I’m not saying every oc that doesn’t stick to canon is bad, If you admit your oc has nothing to do with canon that’s why they automatically became second in command or aren’t even second in command but someone different then it’s fine it’s not about you)

ADLER

Most biggest problem here is Adler’s mischaracterising, And no I don’t give a f about “interpretation” because i think some people don’t understand what interpretation means atp, with interpretation you work with what you have and add things based on what is given to you. You don’t come up with a whole different meaning for something that a base of is shown to you. And sure as hell It makes no sense to come up with things like Adler being a scientist who was the only person working on bell, Or that he is obsessed with the single mission out of hundreds he did, or whatever.

Yes this one is very harsh but after that interpretation part I literally point about stuff that are canon to the game so

If i need to remind, Adler has no collage degree he canonically enlisted the army at 18 years old, And NO he did not brainwash Bell himself like.

A group of scientists had to brainwash him. Adler was only doing what he was told to do, also a reminder PARK was taking a part in it too, like i’m so sick of people hating Adler but loving Park. Your girl is the same amount of guilty as he is and why are we forgetting that.

Also changing his entire personality to match some twinkle dinkle femboy * (I appologise if that’s an actual word i thought i made it up, but from decency i’m not gonna cover that up and leave it so one one’s gonna tell me i am covering that up) , Emo Machoman, Submissive Malewife (sometimes femboy too), Actual crazy man that needs to be in a psychic ward, Bell lover or whatever the hell people can make him out,

examples are clear exaggerations are are not meant to be taken 100% deadass

Come on. Do you Actually like the character or you just like your imaginary version of him?

And if you can admit that you left nothing from his actual personality and your adler is just a copy of a Cold war Character Named the same than I have no problem with you, because at least you’re honest,

but if you think that femboy is adler then. no. Sorry.

Like From what i saw it’s Mostly going with him from one extreme to another, Like I swear it’s not hard to use your eyes and actually see how a character is acting and based on that, how would they react in other situations not shown to you directly.

Explenation- No it’s NOT about art i never even thought about any art in this post, Again I talked about it as being a GOOD option to ALSO choose when being in a fandom For so long.

ADBELL

Coming to his relation with Bell it’s the same,

Again, I don’t care if you can admit Your Adbell has nothing to do with actual game and is only for your own personal enjoyment,

But if you think they are the same characters in the game? Did we play the same game, Like i’m tired of acting like this is the only fandom in which It’s okay to just straight up play the game with eyes closed and earplugs in. First of all, Adler would have to be the sickest man on earth wanting to be in a relation with his own victim. Like what in Killing stalking is this.

(Like just because it’s fiction it doesn’t mean we cannot use our synapses and brain cells to see how things would work in real life, Just because it’s fiction doesn’t mean it’s only purpose is to alter it beyond recognition, some people actually like seeing fiction as how it would be if it was real life without extremes)

see the word ONLY. here? That means that besides altering there are different ways to enjoy fiction THATS what i meant, not that the only holy way is to stick to the canon, but that sticking to the canon is also available.

So now from THE GAME not interpretation but what is shown. Adler and Bell starts actually talking from february 23th to march 15. Not even a month. i’m not counting The month of brainwashing because, why would I? During that time, Of course, They are gonna be quite nice to bell, Of course Adler is gonna encourage Bell that they are doing good, WHAT ELSE WAS HE SUPPOSED TO DO. again, THEY ARE AT THE BRICK OF WORLD WAR. Do you think Adler is stupid enough to let his feelings out that he doesn’t like bell (or just is neutral, for sure he doesn’t have huge love for them!) ruin the entire mission? Sorry but the interpretation “He was nice because he liked them” Is just dumb, Because we are forgetting they are grown ass people in the military? In military you work together, there is no place for “I don’t like him/her” No matter what you feel for anyone, You work together or you die. So of course no one is gonna risk to show anything negative towards bell, They aren’t even quite stable enough that’s why most of them tip toe around bell at first because they are scared that something’s gonna switch in their brain and the entire mission is gonna go to waste.

Explanation- I don’t know if anyone have seen this as an attack but that’s just the most logical way of explaining what is happening in the game so I don’t know what you can have a problem here if you do write a COMMENT

Okay but “Bell thought they knew Adler for years” ( I’m not quoting anyone this is a made up argument by me against what i am saying) And for how long did they thought that? again, A month. And during that month they only had missions to take apart in, so not much to spend time in itself, and i’m quite sure they were still closely watched during any interactions to make sure the mission is still gonna work.

Now the ending, Sure Bell helped them, No matter what the explanation to it would be. Maybe They felt guilty or something maybe after all that brainwash they realised nuking the world isn’t the best idea and they don’t want that anymore, But they still were a horrible person. And coming to the end of the game, Is it seriously not obvious why Bell dies? Like yes they pull Bell out of the rubble because they can’t risk Bell running away, their literal US walking war crime? Of course they have to Kill Bell because bell is a proof of their dirty secret and inhumane treatment? Bell HAD to go there is literally no other option in any reality because If they don’t US is literally in a threat rn. No it wasn’t a quick decision Adler made, no he didn’t do that just because I am more than sure that was the exact plan from the beginning.

So yeah, I’m sorry, But That ship in any possible way is just wrong, No i’m not saying “Grrr dark ships are forbidden” A dark ship is okay as long as we aren’t changing characters literal personalities so this ship can exist in the first place. again. You Can have a toxic ship if you aren’t changing the CHARACTERS AND THEIR CIRCUMSTANCES.

explenation- This is my personal opinion, if you don’t agree, and want to write about it, Write to me why you don’t and not make a post without mentioning me thanks

And this is only about them, I could go on about Adler himself even more, Or the whole Dadler bullshit, Or even The shadow company itself but it’s not about black ops in that case. Feel free to comment

[theo-grayson]

i love how with the ava sticks, gender is completely up for interpretation. you think yellow is a girl? awesome. you think yellow is a boy? sick. you think yellow is neither? both? anything else you can think of? hell yes. theyre sticks. they are literally stick figures and you can call them whatever you want. its so awesome

[vacz]

I present to you my idea of a alternative bad ending for Wirt...

THE HUNTER

Instead of Beast!Wirt is Woodsman!wirt

After accepting the deal with the Beast, Wirt became the new lantern barer in hopes to keep Greg alive. He took the job to cut down the ellewoods and make them oil to feed the lantern so Greg's soul would never turn off, exactly what the woodsman used to do with his daughter. But as different from the woodsman, Wirt does know where the ellewoods truly came from, so the Beast has decided to take advantage of it and included him a little bit more into his chase for new victims. Now having Wirt helping the Beast to guide lost souls to the wrong path, it has become so much easier for the Beast to trap new souls

Wirt's role was this for a time: Becoming the new woodsman and finding lost kids to give them wrong directions or ideas. Despise how much he refused in the beginning, soon the Beast made him understand that this was the price for his mistakes, unless he wanted to Greg pay the price instead...

Until one night, Wirt had to confront a travel soul. A boy like him, wanting to save his little brother from the cruel breaches of the tree growing on his helpless body, and finally leave the woods with him, like Wirt himself once did. However, the Beast pressured and demanded him to take action himself, but unlike the old woodsman, Wirt did cut the boy down.

And since that incident, Wirt now has a new task to commit every time a new soul enters into the unknown.

He could barely sleep at night before, now he can't sleep at all. Wirt has stopped taking care of himself, at least he washes his hair and clothes once in a time but time itself seems so uselessly long for him until the point that things don't seem to matter anymore, nothing matters for Wirt, not even himself and his feelings... except keeping the lantern lit

The Beast knows better than anyone that Wirt's mind has become so weak until the point that he can't even survive by himself. He had succeeded in destroying this boy whole identity, only leaving a white paper to work on, so now he tries mold Wirt according his own twisted needs. Ironically, thanks to the Beast's influence, Wirt remembers the reason why he has to keep going with this but also he slowly starts to see people in a similar way that the beast's twisted perception does; trees to feed the lantern, not ready to burn yet but they must be prepared.

It's not surprising how much he has given up to the Beast. But unlike him, Wirt doesn't like to "play" or manipulate their victims, because he doesn't want to know them at all. Wirt already knows how these people will end, and he doesn't want to feel worse than he feels now, so he mostly tries to make his interactions shorter or cut them down directly, the quicker the easier it is for him to adopt this 'human dissociation' mentally

Of course, when he chooses violence, people tend to run rather than do what he plead, so he has to chase after them. Running after someone is exhausting for Wirt because he isn't that athletic in that aspect, and it's frustrating when he can't reach them. There are times when they manage to escape and some others that they don't

Wirt hates running after them, because it makes the situation more torturous and he gets exhausted. But if they don't start running, he is the one who tells them to do so. He doesn't understand very well why he does this but he likes to think that is a way to give them a chance to escape so he doesn't have to be the one to end with them, after all Wirt wants to believe that he is not evil

And yet, at the same time Wirt finds some kind of satisfaction on it... He is scared of what he is becoming.

Of course, he has this little duality inside his brain. The Beast has done a good job to keep Wirt in his role but still that doesn't make Wirt's guilt disappear at all

At least, his guilt has been manifested into a voice, represented by the rock fact. Even if the rock fact was meant for Greg to make silly but un-true facts, Wirt's interpretation of his own rock facts are the cruelest truths he refuses to believe. The rock fact represents that honest and logical part of him that is still there, under the tone of the self hate Wirt has grown on himself.

Of course, when he is around people for a longer period than he feels he should, Wirt stops trying to act normal and let himself to act a little... dramatic, in hopes to scare them or "prepare" himself mentally to go and chase them down with the axe

For this, he likes to use the rock fact. He always keeps it in his hair and uses it to try to re-create a rock fact like the ones Greg used to make, but instead of charming or adorable he looks insane, and he already knows that. Of course, he tries to re-create them seriously when he is alone but still fails miserably

Wirt does this in a poor intent to feel in touch with Greg, even tho they usually talk a lot with each other

Jason Funderberker has been gone for a long time by now, so the Beast is the only company Wirt has left, but most of the time he is alone.

He doesn't devout that his brother is there anymore, after all, Now Wirt can hear Greg's voice coming out of the lantern so what would be a better proof than that?. Greg is the only person left who seems to not hate him or is scared of him, the little ray of sunshine in his poor cruel life. If you tell him otherwise, Wirt won't want to believe you, even if deep down somehow, someway no matter how delusional he may be... He knows is true

Of course, I wouldn't recommend saying this because after having a nervous breakdown he will absolutely go after you with all pure rage.

Now here are some questions and its explanations:

Where does this idea come from?

Where does the name "The Hunter' come from?

What's Wirt and The Beast's relationship?

Wirt, The Woodsman, The Hunter and The Beast

Where does this idea come from?

It's no surprise that it comes from the idea of a bad ending for Wirt, one that is more fitting with the logic of the series. Because let's be real;

If he accepted the deal he wouldn't turn into the new beast because The Beast's motivation was to survive, he doesn't seem to want a replacement or transpass the role to anyone. In that case he would have already done it with The Woodsman.

The unknown was completely fine with the Beast gone so is not that he is THAT important for the forest to need a replacement.

Also, remember this little scene? it's from chapter 1: The Old Grist Mill. When Wirt and Greg just entered the unknown and suddenly heard the Woodsman cutting wood, before talking to him, Wirt said:

"Do you think it's some kind of deranged lunatic with an axe waiting out there in the darkness for innocent victims?"

So I thought; What if in the bad ending... He became that deranged lunatic?

Where does the name "The Hunter" come from"?

In the concept:

Since there are times when Wirt's victims escape, those who survived spread the word of a maniac who is wandering around the woods, looking for new victims, and once he finds them he will chase them until he can cut them down to the bone with his axe

They named him "The Hunter"

Wirt knows about his new reputation, since the travelers call him that once he reveals his real intentions, but he isn't really aware of all the rumors and stories people of the unknown had made about him, he knows that he will not like them but at the same time he is very curious about it. Some of them are true and others are just exaggerating. But at this point, Wirt Hunter had accepted that now he is one of the particular characters of the unknown.

In technical explanation:

In Over The Garden Wall we saw that most of the characters are named by "the what" for example: The Beast and The woodsman, they had no name by their own outside of their archetype. So I thought that in Wirt's case he would have a name like that, losing his own as a representation of how he has lost his own original identity. Wirt is no longer "the worthy one" anymore because he is more lost than the woodsman ever was, and there is no chance to bring him back, so he became "The Hunter" for the unique faction that makes himself distinguish from The Woodsman: The killing

The woodsman is just a man who lives in the woods and cuts trees, it just happens that the Beast used one to keep the lantern on. However.... The Hunter is someone that hunts, the whole point of a hunter is that he chases living beings and strap them, mostly for need. That is something The Beast himself does in his own way, which makes Wirt and The Beast more similar and unionite than the previous dynamic with The Woodsman, or even I dare say they are just alike; The Creature and The Man who hunts for surviving

Also, more into Bad End Friend's territory; Every evil alternate version has their own unique name, for example the icon trio, Bipper and Ice Finn (Also officially named "The Snowman") but then we have just "Beast Wirt" and until now NOBODY has come up with an actual name that fits him. I remember that someone already suggested the name "The Hunter" for Beast Wirt but it didn't make much sense (At least to me). However, in a woodsman context I think it could work better.

What's Wirt and Beast's relationship?

In Wirt's perspective

Basically a case of Stockholm Syndrome: At first he felt more like a prisoner, The Beast was a figure who he should follow if he wants to keep Greg alive, he is more than Wirt and his power overcomes his young self. However as the time passed, Wirt realized that the Beast can also be very merciful and at the same time rightfully ruthless as his monstrous nature allows him, as he has 'shown' him acts of trust. For Wirt, The Beast is a dark but fair being, not as evil as everyone told. The Beast acts similarly like a father would do towards Wirt, but without that human openly caring love. He is strict and cold, but is for Wirt and Greg's own good

In Beast's perspective:

Wirt is nothing but an interesting experiment. The Beast has been manipulating every little detail of Wirt's surroundings, so he decides to obey him by own choice, which worked out way better than expected. He has seen Wirt changing to fit into his needs, becoming more useful and useful than last time. Anytime the Beast has thought he reached the limit, Wirt proves him wrong and finds a way to pass it and go on anyway. His determination is so fascinating to the Beast that he continues to see how far he could go

Their dynamic:

Naive teen being manipulated by his father figure to be useful for his plans or desires (but even more mess up)

Examples of this kind of dynamic are Rapunzel and Mother Gothel from Tangled (2010) or Hunter and Belos from The Owl House (2020)

Wirt has been alone for so long to the point that he holds tightly to anything that could give him a minimum sign of love, and The Beast knows that more than anyone

He has taken advantage of this, so by convincing Wirt to isolate himself and showing barely love, Hunter would listen and obey him without any doubt. It doesn't matter if The Beast is the main responsible for his situation, things have been twisted so much to that point that Wirt fully believes that this is all his fault. He must do the right thing at any cost, after all, he would do anything for the ones he loves right Gregory?

Wirt, The Woodsman, The Hunter and The Beast

These are the four identities Wirt adopts in the time on the unknown, like states of his sanity slowly decaying

Wirt

The anxious teen we all know and love, the guy he has been during his journey until the point where he faced the Beast face to face

The Woodsman

Wirt post-deal

At first:

He doubts that Greg may be in the lantern, and now he regrets his decision. However he doesn't know what to do now because the guilt for Greg will not leave him in peace, and so Wirt feels like he doesn't deserve to go home, he can't go back, no without Greg. So he still lives in the forest, feeding the lantern and hearing the Beast's words, however The Beast insists that Greg is indeed in the lantern, but Wirt isn't sure whether to believe him or not

Even if Wirt knows he needs the ellewood, like the woodsman, he tries to help and warns about the Beast to those who came into the unknown

The Beast warned him about helping people, but he didn't listen to him until one night. There was an incident where he almost lost Greg's light forever for the lack of ellewood. Since then, Wirt finally cooperates with the Beast

At last:

Wirt knows what he must do. He misguides those who pass through the way in forms to get enough ellewood for Greg, always making sure to keep himself distance and not get too close with them. However there are times where he can't NOT sympathize with the travelers and so he offers his genuine help

The Beast wasn't comfortable knowing that Wirt still kept helping people.

The Hunter

Wirt post-murder

At first:

After his first kill, Wirt felt so guilty that he stopped taking care of his health (He stopped eating, bathing, and stuff) and encaged himself inside the house with all the bottles of oil, fearing that he would hurt someone again

At this time Wirt started to hear the voices of Greg, the rock and the crying of the lost souls, and talk to them until he ran out of oil

When he finally went outside, his body was too weak to even walk and he fell on the grass unconsciously. At that moment the Beast thought Wirt died and so he was about to take off the lantern, but the boy's hands wouldn't stop grabbing it with all the fury. The Beast kept trying until suddenly Wirt woke up and said to him that as long as his brother needs him he would be still here. For his stupid unbreakable determination, the beast didn't see any other option but to take care of the kid

As he recovered, The Beast started to convince him of the idea of taking people as nothing but ellewoods he needs. Wirt didn't like it at first, but the Beast's kind act and the poor health state he put himself into finally made him accept the new task.

At last (actual state):

Most of the time he is alone, searching around the forest for more ellewood to feed Greg with, day and night. He doesn't fully sleep, he takes naps in the afternoon so he can be wake up all night as he wants. To eat he hunts animals, fish, rabbits and some other birds or frogs, whatever living being he finds. To entertain himself he recites poetry and sings songs that the Beast has taught him, all loud like someone would listen to him. At home he writes his poems and composes his own music, mostly for clarinet.

At times the voices are louder and other times they are quiet. If it's Greg then it would be a nice time, if it's the rock fact it's a guarantee he would be at least pissed off, and if it is the distant crying of the lost souls then paranoid it is.

When someone crosses his way, it depends on how things are going to see how things will end. When he just indicates the direction you'll better leave as soon as you can, because the longer you stay and talk to him Wirt will act weirder in hopes for you to leave him alone, otherwise, if you cross the line with your words, he probably will run out of patience and starts to prepare the axe

But it also depends on how likeable he finds you. He could not care and warned you before he attacks you as usual, he could hate you so much to the point that he attacks you with no warning, he could like you and give you five seconds of advantage, and if he likes you a little bit more he would become obsessed with you and will maintain you inside his house so the Beast will not know about your existence as long you don't go outside

The Beast

The Beast (According to the Woodsman's words) is the death of all hope. How low would you have to go so you lost your whole humanity to become the living embodiment of one of the darkness concepts in human kind?

If Wirt ever became the Beast, he should have been falling in grace until the lowest point a person could go. So in my idea of The Hunter, I like to imagine that the differences between The Beast and Wirt would slowly fade away until they are one in the same

Inside The Hunter, Wirt has not only become lost in life but he has also lost his identity, his spirit, his desires and his home. The one thing left to lose is his humanity... His soul

The only thing that separates him from The Beast, is him holding on to the last piece of humanity he has left; Greg

Day after day his sanity is drifting away, but it's because of Greg's existence that he is connected with his humanity, because his actions are meant for Greg's surviving, not his

If Wirt descends to absolute madness and forgets completely about Greg but also openly enjoys his cruelest actions, to the Unknown's eyes, he would no longer be worthy of humanity, and as a punishment he would be cursed to be the successor of the Beast

And becoming worse.

Like I have been having this idea in my mind for a while now and I wanted to share it. I hope you liked my idea and the drawings I made because it really took me a lot of time trying to finish this post because you know... Christmas and happy new year (ah yes, what a happy post to show in these lovely times, yeah!)

SO WHAT YOU THINK?

[billiuspendragon]

Honestly getting really frustrated by this "only I understand these characters/this story and everyone else is wrong" attitude I keep seeing recently. Like I'm sorry but multiple interpretations can and should co-exist!

I know authors do usually have an intent while writing, but that doesn't mean everyone who interprets it differently is wrong and stupid. When you share your writing publicly it's with the understanding that people are going to respond to it in all sorts of different ways, and that's what engaging with art is all about! If you don't like that then you can read a fucking news article or something (excuse my French). Fiction isn't real, and it means something different to everybody. If you can't handle seeing opinions about things that are different than yours then what's the point of being in a fandom in the first place? Why not just lock yourself in a darkened room and talk to yourself all day?

[lionblaze03-2]

Hate that I can prettymuch never move to any better country than America (Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc) because they all hate people with autism and if you even have it they don’t let you in. Because they need all the disabled slots for the people born there, why would they take EXTRA ‘useless’ people, duhhh LIKE IM NOT USELESS I’m really good at organizing I’m not a massive burden to take on just because I cry sometimes my benefits and burdens kind of even out PLEASE guys. I don’t want to be stuck here during project 2025 onward

[dxxtruction]

///

[goddessofwisdom18]

this is another rant and i think it'll sound a little nonsensical bc i can't come up with examples of what i'm talking about but another criticism i see from antis that i think is dumb is the shit that's holding certain characters to modern leftist standards. why doesn't rh*s do this why doesn't f*yre do that IDK maybe because you're reading a series by a hardcore liberal who's never thought about collective action or praxis in her life and who wrote this entire series as an individual power fantasy. the solution to this is not to let this reflect on characters who are symptoms of her beliefs (especially when u don't let it reflect on *other* characters despite them canonically having the same beliefs) but to either criticize sarah herself or read actual books with leftist themes LOL

[danzafila]

relatedly, someone recently said to me how sweet they found Petra's "I'm the will of the Empire"' line bc it shows how strong her friendship with El actually is and I bit my tongue bc CF fans really don't take kindly to you pointing out anything bad about the Empire, but holy misread batman. how was that your takeaway from that line!!!!!!!

[shrimp1y]

"wrio isn't a cop hes a king"

Can someone with brains please please PLEASE talk about the disgusting portrayal of cops, crime, court proceedings, justice system and prison incarceration in genshin impact's fontaine update because I cannot SIT HERE and see people completely destroy their brain cells just so they could play a mediocre game and make some fictional men fuck in their mind

I'm deadass surprised there isn't more people talking about it??? I'm honestly so ??? It's literally presenting prison labour as a good thing. Wriothesley, the prison administrator, got rich off of making his inmates build police robots for the state AND HE'S PRAISED FOR IT. AND THEY'RE PAID IN COUPONS THAT CAN ONLY BE USED IN JAIL. HE WAS REWARDED FOR IT WITH HIS DUKE STATUS.

The fact that the fucking MC's mascot was like "oh the prisoners get one free meal a day? you're making life too good down here what if no one wants to leave :(" what in the bullshit. What in the. There's also a fighting ring in the prison, by the way, and you can bet on it with your coupons you just can't bet on both fighters.

The. This is a scene people think is hot. "But that's a bad guy!" THAT'S HOW THE NARRATIVE IS WRITTEN. THEY ARE ALWAYS THE BAD GUY IN FICTION. THAT'S HOW COPAGANDA WORKS, they make you think people in power can just beat the shit outta anyone and of course the person deserves it because they are clearly always the bad guys! And the people in power are always right! This is sarcasm btw.

Neuvillette and the magic judgement machine are literally seen as undeniable justice ordained by magic and NO ONE KNOWS HOW IT WORKS. NEUVILLETTE HIMSELF HAS NO CLUE WHAT HE'S DOING HE'S ACTIVELY FIGURING SHIT OUT AS WE SPEAK. And yet it's what sends people to The Worst Most Dangerous Super Scary Prison Ever Where There's No Laws [but 1 meal a day's great /s].

"But he feels bad!" Genshin has repeatedly chosen to highlight the pains and troubles of the oppressors [Eula] [Ei/Shogun] and there's literally never any repercussions for them aside from when they portray The Haterz clearly as villains or they turn it around and say "Well it was a misunderstanding all along! No one's to blame here!"

I'm not smart enough to go into details I'm just saying. This. needs to be talked about. I'm not telling you to stop the game bc Hyperfixations not really smth that can be controlled or whatever I get It I Got Back into the game when the first trailer dropped I drew neuvillette fanart and then everything just went downhill since then and I'm like why the fuck did I expect anything better than racist, pro cop dogshit from Mihoyo It needs to be talked about ESPECIALLY by people who still cares about it to critically. assess what the fuck you are absorbing because this shit isn't okay. This is literally paw patrol for weebs they just didn't call anyone a "cop"

PLEASE. TALK ABOUT IT.

[kkoffin]

i read thru the whole 88 page judgment from the new UK supreme court decision and i need yall to understand how ABSURD it is that trans people are upset about this at all. long post but important bits highlighted in red bc i know everyone on this app has attention span issues

(context: (stick with me here)

1) the act sets out “it is discriminatory to exclude anyone on the basis of their sex.” and then a list of exceptions, so the single sex spaces/services allowed will be referred to as “exceptions” 2) the judge is looking at the whole act, and based on the language and context, deciding whether or not EVERY mention of “woman”, “man” or “sex” within the act was intended by parliament to include people with a gender recognition certificate or not. 3) we either can or cannot include people with a GRC. this is a discussion largely regarding single-sex services, it either includes TIMs with GRC and rejects TIFS with GRC or vice versa. that’s the most important factor and why it’s most absurd that trans people are upset about this.)

the main part that really stands out, one of the exceptions the judge relied on was regarding (paraphrased) “it would not make sense for a person of the opposite sex to need this service”. this refers to mainly medical treatments for sexed biology. not only does it not make sense for a TIM to need a service such as cervical cancer screening, but if we say this does include people with a recognized “female” gender, IT EXCLUDES TIFs. WHO ACTUALLY NEED THIS SERVICE.

Remember, we cannot make an exception for this specific kind of single-sex service - the word “sex” works just the same across the whole act. a judge cannot make amendments to the act, only interpret it, and it must be interpreted in context.

Even for a trans activist judge this would be a tricky spot to be in. it’s choosing between the “validity” of one trans-identified sex and the literal access to actually necessary healthcare for the other. this was made to protect those people and literally maintain their access to health services. Again, if we said this act was including people with a GRC, trans identified females would be excluded from countless necessary health facilities for women, vice versa.

alongside the gender recognition act, a grc still makes a trans identified person their desired gender for “all [other] purposes”, and the exceptions in the equality act are limited. mainly only government/healthcare services, maybe gyms (maybe), groups of under 25, higher education and communal accommodation. plus minus some.

it does not directly include bathrooms, (though they could be argued) but most certainly it does not mean “trans women are no longer women”. trans women are still literally “legally” women. all that’s really changed is an ability to recognise a difference between a “legal” female and a “biological” female, at this point only limited to within one act. that same act lists trans people as a protected group who MAY be discriminated against on the basis of their trans identity. trans women are legally women in literally every way besides within this one act. one exception to the rule "trans women are women".

this post is already super long but i might reblog it with some more things in the judgment that stood out to me later. also this was all written in one sitting so i might edit, forgive any typos or inaccuracies. i’m not registered and especially not in the UK so don’t take this as gospel or use as legal advice

[frownyalfred]

Hi. I'm not a canon purist and enjoy some fanon content very much, but I do think people in the fandom should at least familiarize themselves with the canon content and source material. It's easier to break the "rules" so to speak and experiment with canon when you know what that actually is. I've noticed a lot of fans that are only familiar with fanon criticise content that doesn't line up with what they believe to be canon but isn't. The Red Hood for example. I've seen writers who portray him as the violent criminal he is in much of the canon be completely decimated by Jason fans who only know fanon and the retconned version of Red Hood and completely deny canon even exists and refuse to even glance at the comics. Transformative works are important and playing in the sandbox is for everyone but fandom literally cannot exist without canon. Canon is important and people can do whatever they want with it but they should respect it enough to at least look at it.

Hi anon, I'm going to hold your hand as I say this, and I will say it as gently as I can: This is still a form of canon purism.

We can absolutely agree that readers shouldn't berate or abuse writers for how they choose to portray characters in fic, whether that's a more canon-faithful characterization or a popular fanon version. If readers don't like how a character is portrayed, we should encourage them to hit the back button instead.

I want to draw your attention to some of the words you used in your ask above: "should" "respect" "decimated" etc. Those are some strong words to describe how you think people need to behave, in order to exist in fandom. Of course, there is no fandom without canon source material -- I'm not denying that. But with such a wide and varied canon, the DC fandom has examples of the Red Hood you mention above, AND the "retconned" version you also reference. Both are canon, as in actually, officially, canon. WFA is canon, and that Red Hood looks very different from the Red Hood you describe.

Now, I think your issue is that you enjoy a certain version of canon, and you're frustrated that the fandom doesn't also, as trends ebb and flow, enjoy that canon as much as you do. Again, I want to acknowledge that just because a certain version is popular, it doesn't give folks the right to berate authors for writing a different version. But again, I don't think that's what we're really talking about here. From your ask's tone, I think you're suggesting that people should, in order to participate in fandom, read that older canon, that different version, or as you say, "glance at it" before enjoying or writing the fanon version.

Guess what? They actually, really, really, don't have to. It sounds like you have some issues with judging your fellow fandom members who don't read what you do or reference certain canon. But the magic of this fandom is, you can enter it at any point. We're a big pool, and if someone's entry point is the Lego Batman movie and that's it, that's still valid.

Fandom stems from canon, yes, but I almost never hear people talk about movies, or web comics, or other media when they talk about "required reading." It's always a comic. I really wish people would reflect on that before suggesting it as the one true path to being a fan.

The other thing I don't see asks like these reference ever is the reality that sometimes a fandom outstrips its canon material, and that that's an eventuality in some spaces. Fanon interpretations become popular, and people write about those specific characterizations or scenarios. They ebb and flow, like I mentioned, and some are more canon-faithful than others. Some completely reject canon, and again -- it's still fandom. It doesn't make it better or worse than a more canon-faithful fic. It's just different.

I had a couple asks about this topic a few weeks ago, and I'm assuming you haven't read those or you likely wouldn't have sent me this ask. But in them, I discuss how sometimes we need to suck it up and be unhappy that canon-faithful fics aren't as popular in a fandom at a specific time, and stop punishing fellow fans for writing and enjoying those fics. And we really need to stop shitting on them publicly on Tumblr.

Because often, what you're really saying is that you wish more people would write more canon-faithful fics, and stop writing ones about fanon topics you don't enjoy or think are accurate. And to that, I again say, there is nothing you can or should do to change that behavior from others. If you want to read it, write it, enjoy it, etc, do it yourself. Build the comic-faithful community here, write fics and promote challenges, create a discord channel and discuss your "required reading" there.

We are all writing and reading fanfiction at the end of the day. It is a great equalizer in many ways. My silly Lego Batman fic is just as valid as a canon-faithful rewrite of a certain Batman issue. One is not better than the other, or more deserving of respect. You will never get me to admit otherwise on this blog.

tl;dr: people should absolutely not berate authors who choose to write canon-faithful characterizations. however, there are layers of judgement and disdain many DC comics canon-faithful authors/readers have for their fellow fans that I think we need to examine critically in order to coexist respectfully.

[sha-brytols]

veilguard discourse in general is very frustrating because. ok. so there's this thing i was taught in debate class (please don't laugh) right. it's a sort of Offensive version of the motte-and-bailey strategy (tactic where you make a controversial argument that's easy to refute, and then when refuted switch to the Same argument but phrased in a more innocuous and reasonable way, in an attempt to make it seems like your opponent is just unreasonable) that goes like this:

your "opponent" makes a case for their argument. your goal is to discredit as much of their argument as possible. so what you do is you take the broadest and vaguest possible interpretation of their stance, and represent it in a way that makes it seem completely unreasonable, even if this is an exaggeration or misrepresentation of their actual stance. you use this not to change the minds of the people who disagree with you, but to create a false impression of your "opponent's" beliefs to third parties listening to the debate. this is used in politics a lot, and that's because it's Effective. the most difficult and frustrating truth of human discussion is that literally anything anyone says at all can be interpreted to mean absolutely anything. i can say "i think cats are cute" and you can twist my words as "i fucking love cats more than anything" and then you can go on to make a case for why i'm a crazy cat lady. and it's effective because when you're arguing in the realm of intangible things like opinions, feelings and beliefs, you can't really Prove your case. like i can't Prove that i don't like cats more than anything. there's no data i can provide for you, no physical record of me saying "My Official Stance On Animals Is That Cats Are Just Okay". you have to go based on what i tell you, and how i present my case. and that is incredibly vulnerable to manipulation.

and i say this because this happens a LOOOOT in online discussion. you know that meme that's like "you can say i like pancake and somebody will say so you hate waffles?" that is the essence of this strategy.

if i want to defend my reasoning for disliking veilguard, i can say something like "i gave this game as much of a chance as i could, i 100% completed it and got everything it had to offer and i just didn't find it enjoyable. i even replayed the whole thing again in hope that the experience of replaying the story would lend me a better appreciation for it, and it actually made me dislike it even more" which is the honest truth. and what i will get in response is:

"so you basically spent over 100 hours of your life playing a game you didn't even like"

"maybe you were just burned out? have you considered that?"

and so on. but what if i said the OPPOSITE? what if i said i tried it out and it got to a point where it was so unbearable that i couldn't even continue to play the game at all? well:

"so you hate a game you didn't even try to finish? that makes no sense. how do you even know if you'd like it if you hadn't finished it?"

"did you really give it a chance? or were you just looking to dislike it?"

and so on. there's no winning because any response you give can be twisted into a point of argument, and that's the entire purpose. the purpose is not to have a discussion, the purpose is to Discredit you. because the essence of this insaaaane drama is that no one actually wants to discuss their opinions, they just want a big circle of Stupid Dumb Idiot Babies to rally against to validate their beliefs. and that's not just one side. that's everyone. that's the only reason a matter of critique and opinion is being spun into discourse. people get to make these broad sweeping generalizations of their "opponent's" opinions and then they get to say whatever they want about those people, without ever actually addressing the substance of their opinions and beliefs. because what they are really after is a reason to believe that the people who don't like the thing they love (or like tbe thing they hate!) are just a bunch of stupid assholes, and their tastes are superior.

no one LIKES hearing that the thing they like is bad. it creates this inherent urge to justify why you like it because there's this implication that you have poor taste, or you're just uncritical and dumb. so people take it personally, and then the discussion turns away from the substance of the critique, and into a debate about the people doing the critique instead. and i hate it and i think we should all just shut up and make out or play pillars of eternity idfk.

[princessaffirms]

✨ DISCLAIMER: science, subjectivity & shifting

　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖

i acknowledge that not everyone reading my “science of shifting/law of assumption” posts comes from a scientific background — or even wants to dive deep into technical explanations of the topics discussed. that’s totally okay. the content here is intentionally simplified to make core ideas more accessible, while still staying true to the scientific literature and experimental evidence cited at the end of each post.

if you’re curious to explore further, i always encourage you to read the original papers yourself — the sources are there for a reason! 🫶 my posts blend scientific findings with spiritual and metaphysical interpretation, bridging quantum physics, neuroscience, and manifestation/shifting philosophy in a way that reflects how i’ve personally experienced and understood their connection.

additionally, this isn’t a replacement for formal science — it’s an interpretive lens, a lived perspective on how consciousness interacts with reality. i write to offer clarity and reassurance, but remember: you don’t need “proof” in the traditional sense (like experiments or data charts) to believe in shifting or to experience your own power.

you ARE the proof. your subjective experience of reality is the experiment.

furthermore, science, as powerful and essential as it is, has natural limits. it cannot fully access or measure the metaphysical, spiritual, or energetic realms (whatever name resonates with you), because they transcend the physical 3D. science can only measure the projection — not the source.

it cannot yet describe the quantum field in its full multidimensionality, and it absolutely cannot quantify your unique, lived experience of reality.

that’s why concepts like shifting and law of assumption are, in a way, eternally undebunkable in the traditional scientific sense. they exist in a space that science, as a way of knowing, can’t directly access, and that’s okay.

so if you’re here looking for conventional evidence to “prove” shifting or manifestation in a materialist, lab-confirmed sense — you won’t find it. and that’s not a flaw. that’s the nature of reality itself.

science and spirituality are not opposites. they are two sides of the same coin. two perspectives trying to describe the same infinitely complex field of potential we call reality.

you’re allowed to trust your experience of that, even when it defies measurement.

　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖

and finally — if concepts like shifting or the law of assumption don’t resonate with you, that’s okay! as i always emphasize: reality is subjective. you get to shape yours, just as i shape mine.

if this content doesn’t align with your beliefs, that’s totally valid! but it might also mean this page simply isn’t for you, and that’s okay too. i lovingly ask that you refrain from negative interactions or debate just for the sake of conflict.

i’m always open to clarifying or expanding on what i’ve written, sharing how i personally interpret the scientific + spiritual correlations i’ve come across. but i’m not here to entertain dismissiveness, arguments, or “gotcha!” energy from people who aren’t open to this perspective in the first place.

this is not a peer-reviewed scientific journal — it’s literally a blog about the law of assumption, reality shifting, and manifestation. if that’s not for you, that’s totally okay. that’s your reality — not mine.

i do my best to protect my peace and the energetic tone of this online space. this blog is about love, light, empowerment, and possibility — not convincing skeptics or debating people who’ve already decided they don’t believe in it.

so if you’re here with curiosity, openness, or the desire to expand your understanding of self + reality, you’re always welcome. if not, that’s okay too.

love and light either way! <3

　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.ੈ✧̣̇˳·˖

🤍 p.s. i had a brief version of this disclaimer on my “science of shifting” series directory for a while, but thought i’d make a full post to go more in depth! i hope this brings more clarity and grounding! shifting/law of assumption is a personal, spiritual journey — so lovingly, your limiting beliefs or skepticism? not my business to entertain 🥹

[cuephrase]

as someone who loves comics, hell as someone who got into this fandom because of comics, the comics-reading fandom commentary i keep running into that seems set on villainizing non-comics reading and fanon-enjoying members of fandom by complaining about the fic that gets published is seriously exhausting at best and deeply frustrating at its worst.

and let me preface this by saying, if you actually want to try and analyze perceived trends in good faith, by all means, do your fandom meta, so long as you are not treating other people like problems that require solutions. the solution starts with you. focus on changing your mindset from that of entitlement to appreciation. you are not owed quality fic- whatever that looks like to you. a fic not being to your preference doesn’t make it any less a labor of love, a creation that someone spent their free time putting together and sharing.

also i do scroll/block. i am not being “forced” to engage with this rhetoric. still, the prevalence disheartens me because this attitude runs in direct contradiction to what my understanding of fandom/ao3 is.

is fandom not the space to have fun with our blorbos? to share headcanons and art and analysis and connect with those who share our love and vision? do you forget that the A in AO3 stands for Archive? that the T in OTW stands for Transformative? why is it so offensive for someone to write and post a fic, to an archive, that is OOC to you that you have to complain about it in a public tumblr post? why does seeing someone enjoy and/or create something you dislike warrant you going to the town square and bitching? what gives you the authority to tell someone whether or not they deserve to exist in the fandom? are we not all guests?

just because we’re all in one fandom doesn’t mean you are the target audience for every creation. especially in big fandoms, where the breadth of interpretations is vast. like. you do know that even if every person who posted a batman fic read the comics, you still wouldn’t like every fic? something not being canon to you, while perfectly valid, doesn’t change the fact that it is or was canon and therefore may very well be canon to someone else. and vice versa! not to mention that someone can read the exact same comics and reach an entirely different conclusion. they can love the same character and see them totally differently.

y’all stroll up to a sprawling potluck, see some dishes you dislike, and start crashing out like. pause for a second. damn. you don’t have to eat any of that!! i don’t really care if you have a hard time finding fic you like, because, what? you think that makes you special? do you want a medal or consolation prize for doing what literally everyone who uses ao3 has to do to find fic they like if they’re picky? should i marvel at your commitment to only consuming that which has the finest of characterization, the most artful prose, the deepest, most esoteric insights? give me a break. what a first world problem.

“but they’re not even really fans of-” shut up. just shut up. keep that stuff in dms or the appropriate discord servers. private places where someone can’t accidentally stumble across them and get hurt. people come to fandom for so many reasons, why risk ruining something that is bringing someone comfort and community just because you dislike seeing blorbo written that way?

yes, it is up to individuals to curate the experience they have in fandom. it is their prerogative to block/scroll/not click on that fic that is clearly tagged with something they dislike. but it is not up to you to try and curate the Fandom itself. do you see the difference? you can make your own discord server and decide the rules, you can make your own archive and decide the TOS, you can and should make your space a space you enjoy being in. but the Fandom as a whole? that’s not yours.

like tagging is a very important part of good etiquette on ao3 imo, but the discourse over what fic can/should be has gotten so out of hand that my friend, who loves superboy and reads his comics, worries about what fandom tag to use for their fics that aren't canon compliant. hell, i tag all my fics that do not directly deal with a comics canon incident as "Batman - All Media Types" and not "[Character] Comics", even though i've read tons of comics and they are solely what i base my characterization off of because i'm paranoid about someone coming into my comments and giving me grief about it not being canon accurate enough, or being the inspiration of a vaguepost. what a sad environment that has been built. why should there be any stress over whether a transformative work belongs under the applicable fandom tags? what a bastardization of fandom etiquette to push for people to only tag with X fandom if they've "earned" it, if the fic is something that a Real fan would want to read. dgmw, i'm grateful that the Batman - AMT tag still exists, i think it's an extremely useful catchall, but the way that people weaponize the fandom tags is just so disappointing. and also? honestly? a little chronically online. because it presumes that ao3 authors will also be present on other fandom spaces to know the "rules", which is absurd. someone should not need to be involved on tumblr, or any other site, to know how to tag on ao3. following the rules as outlined on ao3 itself should be sufficient.

“well i enjoy venting-” yes, okay, i’m sorry that you lack the empathy to understand why your actions are discourteous. and like, to be crystal clear, i am strictly opposing vent posts/vagueblogging that calls out/complains about fic specificially. stuff like “i’m so sick of seeing people write X fic” or “saw this fic, why would anyone write a fic like this?” it’s not a legitimate question. it’s not a legitimate question, because the answer is simple even if you dislike it. they wrote it because they wanted to. that’s the only reason anyone needs to write a fic. and guess what, the great thing is that there’s an equally simple answer for why someone may not want to read a fic- because they don’t want to!

not that it matters, but i’m not saying this because i just love every single part of fanon and every fic is right up my alley- no. not only am i incredibly picky, but my tastes have shifted over time. past me adored some fics that i would scroll right past now- and those fics aren’t bad, i can re-read the ones i remembered to bookmark and see why i liked them. and i read fics now that past me would/did scroll past. i just don’t think my personal enjoyment of a fic should have any bearing on whether or not that fic should be allowed to exist- unless ofc, it’s my own fic. and even then, i, personally, orphan stuff, i don’t delete akdhfkdhf.

we are all guests. we are all playing with IP we don’t own. we do a disservice to ourselves and others when we forget that.

[izzyhandsonthosetiddies]

Here's my take on this. I agree. 10000% But the reason i agree is not entirely related to anything OP said. (Its just by chance i do agree with what they said.) I agree because QUIT LOOKING TO ACTORS AND WRITERS FOR CONFIRMATION OR VALIDATION OF YOUR HEADCANON. Fucking hell i hate this aspect of social media so much. Headcanon is headcanon for a reason. It's meant to be fun. It's not depicted on screen. Just because an actor says something, does not mean that its true to the story. I dont care. Sure, they spent the time learning and becoming the character, but you know what they didn't do? Write the story. I personally dont know what remarks OP is even talking about Con and Rhys are saying, and i love them both, theyre great at what they do, but they dont decide what happened in the show. Death of the author exists for a reason. Once a story is released, what the author or writer or creator says no longer matters. Because art is up to interpretation...and there can be some very wild interpretations that dont even graze the broadside of a barn when they take a shot at it...but it's still their interpretation. The creators and actors dont get to decide for you what the show is about, if you like what they say, fine. Just know it is very unlikely that it is true to the text and is just once again, someone's interpretation. I get it, it can be fun ig to hear the people who played the character support your fun ideas about the character, but at the end of the day, its still a headcanon. Im sorry i couldn't word this a bit more eloquently, but i just...please dont take everything someone who worked on a project says at face value. Art is subjective.

The Erasing of Ed’s Personhood (again).

Some interpretations of Stede and Izzy during the Rhys and Con Q&A at SFROP didn’t sit well with me.

There’s sexual frisson between Stede and Izzy in the candle scene

What canon shows: That Stede flatters Izzy into mentoring him in a similar way Ed uses flattery in 104 when telling Izzy he could be the Captain of the Revenge. It’s knowing your audience and what motivates them. But this isn’t flirting on Stede’s part. It’s emotionally intelligent leadership.

This alleged sexual frisson takes place immediately after Stede has found Ed, the love of his life, whom he has been desperately trying to find for months. For whom he has willingly given everything up. Stede cannot see another man for Ed. Stede’s whole love and sexual awakening is built around Ed. He’s Ed-emotional, Ed-sexual.

And we’re meant to believe the moment Stede is out of Ed’s presence - Ed, who has massive trust issues - that there’s a mutual homoerotic moment between Stede and Izzy, because Izzy has his shirt off and Stede says some dubiously flattering things? It’s reductive towards Ed and mocking of his character. It’s actually an incredibly cruel interpretation. It isn’t the show. It. just. isn’t. the. show.

Izzy is a good mentor to Stede

What canon shows: Stede ‘being the captain’ by asking Izzy to mentor him. Stede is putting into practice ‘keep your friends close and enemies closer’ by trying to give Izzy a role. The devil makes work for idle Izzy Hands, so keep him busy. But punching someone in the stomach, yelling at them, and telling them they have such a total lack of skills you don’t know how they’re still alive… when they rescued your sorry ass two nights previous!…does not a mentor make. And Stede doesn’t learn anything useful really. I mean at least he learned something that saved his life with Ed even if it was through flirting. The fact Stede also seems to enjoy some of Izzy’s approval doesn’t make Izzy a good mentor either. It makes Stede someone who is still wrestling with his identity, and reconciling differing aspects of his masculinity. Stede’s parental trauma causes him to attach too much significance to it.

That Stede and Izzy caused Ed’s decline and have equal responsibility for fixing the man they both love (this one boiled my piss).

What canon shows: Ed is devastated by Stede not turning up at the dock. Ed then processes some of this in a reasonably healthy way — curling up under blankets, eating marmalade, writing doggerel, talking to a friend, crying, showing pain publicly, exploring shared feelings, making a plan to feel better through art (singing), and tidying up his room. Ed is attempting to put into practice Stede’s philosophy: beauty, aestheticism, art as therapy, open emotions, talking it through.

We can’t know what would’ve happened next because the narrative doesn’t bend that way, but without Izzy’s intervention, what Ed doesn’t do is fall into the Kraken spiral. Ed is pretty much forced to a shuddering emotional halt, mid-catharsis - that in itself causes further trauma. Many therapists will tell you that stopping emotional work suddenly can be worse than never beginning at all. On top of that suppression, Ed now fears harm might be done to him should he appear weak. To say Stede and Izzy are equally responsible for Ed’s Kraken spiral is just not true.

Second, Ed isn’t an object to be fixed. Ed isn’t something to be moulded or unfolded. Ed isn’t the exotic plaything of two white men. Ed isn’t a toy or cipher or prize to be won between a bourgeois hero and some proletariat antagonist. Ed really just needs to be left the fuck alone so he can develop some self-actualisation. Let him try his innkeeper dream and fail. Let him see the world doesn’t end when he does. I truly believe Stede is the only individual who can give Ed the room and psychological safety to explore a range of human emotion and identities, as well as providing that soft place to fall when Ed inevitably needs it. And it isn’t even that Ed needs to fix himself. He just needs to be allowed to breathe and be and exist in all his human messiness, judgment-free, fear-free.

That Stede’s crying as Izzy dies shows how much he has grown to care about Izzy, that there is mutual respect, and Stede is left devastated.

What canon shows: That Stede CRIES! He cries all of the time. And I have championed this over and over. He cries in 13/18 episodes. He makes it safe for others to cry. Crying is Stede’s superpower. It helps him process emotions healthily. Stede, I believe, is crying when Izzy dies for the following reasons:

Because he’s Stede

Because he’s the Captain and he didn’t get everyone out alive (doesn’t matter the great Israel Hands can’t check a pocket for weapons).

Because Ed is devastated, and Stede loves Ed

Because Stede isn’t a colossal prick. He says ‘poor bugger’ towards Chauncey moments after escaping execution. Stede’s an empath. Stede understands the pity of it all. Stede can see the intrinsic value in most people, even Izzy. That doesn’t tell me anything about Izzy, but everything about Stede. And it doesn’t make Izzy special to Stede. It makes humans special to Stede.

Why these misinterpretations upset me so much is what it does to the validity of Ed’s characterisation. The idea there’s a sexual ‘knowing’ behind Ed’s back between the two white guys which they choose not to act upon because they decide to work together to objectify and ‘fix Ed’ instead. The idea that Izzy is a better mentor and influence than Ed. The objectification of Ed as a thing to be fixed then won. The appropriation of Ed’s emotional confusion over Izzy’s death being overlaid onto Stede also. Because Ed can’t have his own unique character arc in anything it seems. I just want Ed’s characterisation and personhood to stop being erased.

I’m still sleep-deprived so I hope this makes sense. It’s taken me a while to process.

[illuminetic]

Some thoughts about Mel King, Kingdon, autism, and sexuality under the cut.

So I can't help but get a little peeved by this because it's personal for me — as an autistic woman who loves sex yet often gets infantilized by people who know me in real life because I'm supposedly so 'cute' and 'pure' — but GOD. I cannot stand when I see comments from people about Mel King being so 'sibling coded' with Langdon. And the thing is, I understand not everyone will ship them, and that's not a problem at all. I have a life outside of the internet so I don't really care in that deep a way lol. And I don't even entirely blame people who say they're like siblings, because Patrick Ball DID said he felt that way about Taylor and that was how he kind of conceptualized the Mel/Langdon relationship to begin with. But at the same time, I just feel like a lot of the 'omg they're so siblings!' chat is based in the belief that Mel can't be sexually desirable to a man who is traditionally handsome in the way Frank Langdon is. Or people are uncomfortable imagining Mel might have sexual desires or a sexual life at all, with Langdon involved or otherwise.

And then also there's this fine line too of some people saying they head-canon Mel as asexual and/or aromantic — and it's like. I'm not necessarily pissed at that or think it's a problem, because we all want representation and project our own traits onto characters to better understand ourselves or draw comfort. And again — I've heard that apparently Taylor Deardon said that's a valid interpretation of the character. And it is! But it's also like. Oh. So we're completely de-sexualizing the autistic girl. Cool. That makes sense — she's a little socially awkward and nerdy so of course she's not interested in sex! And even if she was interested in all that icky stuff her handsome coworker would never be into sex with her omg that would be so weird they're so siblings coded!!

Idk. This is nuanced — because again, if you're asexual I would never want to say it's wrong to conceive of Mel that way. We're all just playing barbies in our heads with our blorbos, I get it. I'm literally projecting my own sexuality onto Mel because I relate to her, so I guess I've actually just entirely talked myself out of being angry at all lol. So to any and all asexuals who headcanon Mel that way, keep doing you.

It's just a personal annoyance for me more than anything to see comments that imply Mel is a non-sexual being, as someone who sees myself in her a lot and also happens to really like sex. I feel like, because of the social cues I miss sometimes, and the way I am at work and in my personal life with friends and stuff — I am constantly fighting against the belief that I'm somehow 'innocent' or 'naive' when it's like. bud. I've literally had the kinkiest sex. I go to a sex club fairly regularly where I have sex with and/or in front of strangers. In fact, I'd argue part of the reason I like sex so much — and particularly kinky sex — is BECAUSE of the autism. I've noticed, from my time being in the community, that the kink world is filled with people on the spectrum lol. Makes sense — kink is all about rules and structure, controlled and safe (yet intense!) physical sensation. All things that attracted me to the lifestyle because I'm autistic, and the straightforwardness and clarity of communication about sex in the kink community felt like such a god-damned relief to me after struggling to have a sex-life out there in the neurotypical world.

Anyway. Long story short I'm just saying it's absolutely Frank who is the vanilla one in the Kingdon relationship. He's been married for years to someone I assume was probably his college girlfriend. 'Kinky' for him is breaking out the fuzzy hand-cuffs for anniversary sex or something, maybe some light spanking thrown in idk.

To end — I need someone to write a fic where the Pitt-crew plays never-have-I-ever during a night out, and Mel gets shit-faced and has to put down all her fingers before anyone else because there's so little she hasn't done. People keep throwing out more and more outrageous things, eyes going saucer-wide, and Mel's ears are burning but also she just keeps putting fingers down, throwing back shots, and raising a scornful eyebrow at anyone who dares to doubt her or make some comment like 'but Mel you don't seem like that type at all!!'

And Frank is. Sitting there quietly vibrating. Horny as hell. Having some thoughts and feelings about the fact that he knows Mel owns a strap now.