#my yapping

[eilarae]

Stardew Valley Discourse: A Summary

shane: i have depression

person: aww poor sweetie im so sorry ily im always here for u

shane: *exhibits symptoms of depression*

the same person: ew there's no excuse for that

[imaginesangie]

I love this level of cognitive dissonance. Like yeah dude I’m sure you’re enjoying your old man yaoi with a serious age gap and clear abuse in a God honoring way ZADR lovers are actually degenerate FREAKS.

Like imagine thinking you’re not like the rest of the freaks cus you’re a morally acceptable freak. Be so fr right now holy shit

[lennon666]

Both John and Paul are actually very emotional, and yet both of them are very bad at conveying their emotions. Paul will just pretends that everything is fine and keeps denying his feelings. Meanwhile John doesn’t convey his emotions in normal verbal manner, and will get very violent when people (read: Paul) failed to interpret his emotions.

But then since these two are such a good songwriter, they could only convey their emotions truthfully in their songs. Moral lessons that i got after years of analyzing mclennon is to not take what they said as the absolute truth. Paul will say that he’s fine about the whole John situation and yet he’s crying his heart out on his songs. John will say that he hates Paul, Paul is nothing, and yet he still yearns for him in his songs.

The absolute truth is literally there for us to hear, in their songs.

[crow-eyed]

Two of a Kind (Part 1/2)

I've re-read Batman 410 and 411 recently and I was struck by the parallels it was drawing between Harvey and Jason.

This is the first issue Jason is in the field as Robin. Its also where Bruce rebuffs people calling Jay a child twice when he's questioned on bringing another child into his fight.

This is an often talked about panel (as it should be) but what people don't often talk about is how Two Face's backstory was just retold in this issue.

This is Bruce's retelling to Jason and it focuses on how his story is tragic, how he and Bruce used to be friends, and how Harvey is not motivated by greed but by madness. The parallels between Bruce and Harvey of course but Jason is the new element here.

Its stressed how young Harvey was (it's literally mentioned twice on the same page)

Bruce says that perhaps things could have improved for Harvey but his emotional scars led him to become fixated on his coin. His madness comes from these 'deeper' scars, which he projects onto the coin, and then uses to guide his life and actions.

Immediately after this retelling its revealed that Bruce is hiding a connection between Harvey and Jason. That Jason's Dad Willis Todd had worked for Harvey and after 'crossing' him in some way was killed by him.

Harvey is simultaneously the cautionary tale, a very real source of loss and pain for Jason, and a representative of the wrong side of the law in Bruce's crusade.

Keeping this a secret is the 'protecting' Alfred is calling Bruce out on. Bruce's response is to claim that if it wasn't for him Jason would eventually be in the same conflict anyway- just on the wrong side (Harvey's side).

Bruce is so certain that Jason was headed down the wrong path already. He even specifies that Jason's pre existing skills must be channelled with Bruce's teachings for him to go down the right path.

Jason was a homeless 12 year old stealing tires for survival. The implication that the thing that will keep him on the right path is Bruce's lessons is insane and incredibly classist. He needed resources and stability not to be patronizingly taught that stealing is wrong and crime is dangerous.

Overall the setup here reads to me as a tragedy of low expectations. He see's Jason as barely off the 'wrong path' so he hides this information from him to keep the metaphorical coin in the air. He sees this information as a challenge to Jason staying on the right path and he's already decided its a challenge Jason would fail.

[anatomically-accurate-heart]

happy pride month guys! Points I wanted to make!!!

#1 Terfs ain’t good, they try to separate a community that needs to be strong together

#2 bi people deserve love you guys. It doesn’t matter if they’re “straight passing” THAT DONT MATTER

#3 ARO, ACE, ASPEC PEOPLE ARE VALID! AND ICONIC!!!! Respect to the homies!

#4 pride should be accessible to disabled peeps who want to go!!!!

#5 this is just something that annoys me ig, but there are queer men. They ain’t evil! Also there’s a mlm flag. Use it instead of the pride one for merch pllssssss

#6 lesbians. That’s the point.

#7 trans people are cool! Gender or no gender, you’re neat and cool!

#8 EVERYONE IS VALID HERE YALL. RESPECT YALLS FELLOW QUEER PEOPLE!

[highlordofkrypton]

ACOTAR FANDOM ANALYSIS

…because apparently I miss academics?

PART 1 - CONTEXT & FACTORS TO CONSIDER

This was originally supposed to be an addition to @praetorqueenreyna’s post, but it started to get long and I didn’t wanna clutter your post. If you haven’t seen her essay on ACOTAR fandom culture, please do check it out because she made amazing and very valid points that I’m just gonna ramble on top of.

OKAY, APPARENTLY, THIS IS GONNA HAVE MULTIPLE PARTS. AFTER I WROTE THIS I REALIZE THERE’S SO MUCH.

I do want to disclaim that this isn’t targeted to any one part of the fandom, merely observations from someone who is relatively new to the ACOTAR fandom (around April-ish). I’m also way too lazy to get sources and stuff. I’m also missing a lot of fandom history.

ABOUT FANDOM CULTURE

At its core, fandom culture is niche. It’s strange, it’s not cool in a popular way, it’s geeky, it’s awkward, it’s community-oriented and a place detached from the mainstream. Hobbies, interests and discussions that you couldn’t really have these conversations with anyone in your day to day because they needed to engage with the piece of media and even then, they needed to care about it enough to create, deconstruct, reconstruct, and contribute to the fandom.

Fandom comes with a sense of belonging. It’s about liking the media, yes, but it’s about liking the media enough that you want to immerse yourself in it. You want more than just the book, the show, the song, etc.

With fandom, especially on Tumblr, there are subcultures within fandom, based on a character, a ship, a spinoff, etc. Fans can find (or create) a community to connect with on specific parts of a media, and that’s a beautiful thing. While fandom is not perfect, and it has its dark, embarrassing, painful moments, over the years it’s developed its own unspoken rules. Most of the ‘subcultures’ stay among them, and even with drama, the overlap isn’t as constant as ACOTAR. Usually, it comes in waves, and evens out eventually.

Most importantly, fandom is a place where you can just be yourself. You can shake off the weight of the outside world, and just do your thing! There are so many politics at play and rules in your day-to-day life, why not get a little weird? Fandom is a place where you find your other weirdos, and the judgmental people are usually a minority.  It can also be really small and you know everyone in the fandom—shoutout to my other 4 Orm Marius homies!!

POST-PANDEMIC CONTEXT AND THIRD PLACES

When the pandemic hit, in places that were locked down, habits needed to change and there was nowhere to go. You couldn’t really escape, so online was the best place. You had people returning to old hobbies, such as crafts, gaming, reading, etc. You also had people searching for new things to partake in. Either boredom, coping with the new way of the world or just finding people to talk to, those are valid reasons.

I’d like to introduce the notion of third places. Third place is considered to be a place that is not home, work or school. It is a place where you can get out of your routine and decompress. Libraries, coffee shops, going to the bar, or anywhere else where you can just step away from the grind and the routine. These are social spots that help alleviate the weight of your daily pressures. For some, their third place was strictly an in-person event.

With the arrival of the pandemic, these third places became inaccessible and even after lockdown was lifted, some of these places were irrevocably changed—either they closed permanently or the hours changed in such a way that they were not accessible. For example, I used to spend a lot of time in my favourite bookstore because it would open at 8AM and close at 10PM. After the pandemic, it opens at 10AM and closes at 5PM. For someone who works, I can no longer use this as my ‘third place’.

For many fandom members, their third place was online. They already know the rules of etiquette from observing, and joining out of their own curiosity. Time spent in fandom teaches you the unspoken tenets of interaction. ‘Don’t like, don’t read,’ is one example. Additionally, being part of a small fandom, but loving something so much that you want to connect with someone, anyone, teaches you to be a lot more respectful of the space you’re entering. You may not like everyone all the time, but ultimately, your enjoyment of your fandom should precede everything else.

Joining a fandom on your own, or with a small group, is completely different from joining en masse. Now, you have many people seeking a place to ‘connect’ coming in with their preconceived notions learned from other places. Maybe a different subculture that isn’t fandom. Maybe an assumption of how fandom should be. 

BOOKTOK VS. FANDOM - CLIQUES VS. COMMUNITIES

I’ve heard the argument that the ‘popular kids’ joining fandom is ruining fandom. I’ve been thinking about this for a while now, trying to look at the demographics of BookTok and the patterns of behaviour that are associated with BookTok vs. fandom. I’m on BookTok, but I look for smaller communities, but I see all the drama, all the time.

Here are a few of my assessments:

All social media platforms allow you to cater your page and feed to what YOU want, but not all social media is community based. It is geared for content to consume, and feeds the algorithm to keep you on the platform, so that companies can pay the platform for advertising.

Most other social media encourage you to use parts if not your entire identity (photos, video, name, etc.) and I believe that creates a direct correlation to a person’s sense of validation when receiving likes, comments, engagement. Tumblr, on the other hand, rarely focuses on the identity of the person behind the screen, but rather you build your identity through what you share, the posts you make or reblog. It has shifted to be more similar to other social media (for moniessssss) but it wasn’t like this years ago. Over a decade ago, Tumblr used to be the only place where I could get fandom stuff and Deviantart.

Other social media platforms emphasize that you are the product. With the success of influencers, many people try to replicate the same success by using themselves, their talent and most importantly, their opinions on social media. BookTok is essentially an online book club, which means that it’s mostly sharing thoughts, and less about creation.

Content on social media, put out by influencers is created not with the intention for interaction, but rather, reach. People aren't used to the pushback and continuous discourse that happens on Tumblr where many people can chime in at once.

The desire to belong compounded with the impact of influencers on social media naturally sets people into two categories: creators and consumers. Content creators who have achieved success are placed on the same pedestal our modern society places celebrities on. Due to their following, some people might believe their opinions are more valid because there is a large number of people following them. Some people might be influenced by the ‘majority’ they see following an influencer, which is part of the course. That’s why they’re called influencers.

As a former marketing specialist, I’d like to assert that there are so many more factors in play than a valid take. Aesthetics are a big part of it, and charisma. Both of which fall under the same attributes as the ‘popular’ kids in school. As someone with a lot of charisma in person, I know for a fact that if you package something prettily enough, you can get away with anything.

The problem is: fandom doesn’t work like that.

Fandom is a place where unpopular opinions and niche things thrive. It’s the place where no one cares if you’re cool, and the pretty things come in forms of art (crafts, visual art, writing, etc.). It’s also a place for discourse for those who enjoy that, digging deeper into themes and what not.

The problem is: you have a subculture that is largely an echo chamber and largely one-sided 'community' entering a space with an established dynamic with a lot of back and forth. Sometimes, the rule in fandom is that the rules don’t apply. 

I believe that this isn’t the root of the toxicity, but elements to consider when speaking of the ACOTAR fandom which, like Reyna said, feels like an amplification of the worst elements of fandom.

It's super late here, so I'll come back to actually start saying something LMAO CAUSE THIS FEELS LIKE A WHOLE LOT OF NOTHING.

[lonelychicago]

i am so sick and tired of straight girls being like "oh! good luck by chappell roan is totally about leaving that toxic BOY that doesn't treat u right" NOT ITS NOT ?!?!?!?! like by all means, ofc u can listen and love the song and its so cool that queer music is so mainstream now but like?!?!??!?! DONT FUCKING ERASE THE MEANING??????

[theholyprocrastinator]

The similarity of the sprites— (Except that Fuyuhiko did to himself I think, and Teruko literally got murdered and almost died)

Edit: Bro, i just sleep for one night, ONE NIGHT ONLY AND I ALREADY GET 20 NOTES

[iianian69]

hi gang!!! if u cant tell i like blu scout lots

now is the perfect time to talk about my scout headcanons! YIPPEY!!! (im sorry for the incoming yapfest everyone)

i personally see blu scouts name as jack (and red scout is obviously still jeremy). (sometimes i just call him blu, though)

blu scout is the kinda guy to smoke a cigarette and listen to reds yapping for hours. hes a bit less chatty than me. - although i ship scout with multiple people for funsies, i do see red and blu scout secretly being friends. they occasionally sneak off to hang out w eachother and shit. pals!!! - i also hc blu scout uses a different set of weapons than red, red just uses the default ingame weapons but blu scout uses some different ones althoughhhh i havent thought abt what he uses as his default loadout.

to me blu team is just like the evil doppelgangers to red team. they are completely unrelated to eachother they just happen to look like eachother and fulfill the same roles, and in some ways they are similar in terms of personality but blu is a lot more chill than red. he isnt as much of a bonk addict

for simplicity, i mostly just refer to red scout as the scout, and blu scout as just blu. occasionally i'll be classy and refer to them as jeremy and jack but its not like jack is blu's canonical name so. i dont think anyone would know who i was talking about LMAO

also, red scout named his scattergun and bat. the bat is tommy and the gun is jonesy. (guess where he got the names from!)

[localcreeture]

WAIT I JUST REALISED ???

IF THE MAIN CAST HAS THEIR CONSCIOUSNESSES UPLOADED INTO THE DIGITAL CIRCUS, THEN WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO THEIR PHYSICAL REAL-WORLD BODIES????

[anythinggoesbutme]

12 am thoughts with me 🥰

some things i really wish that were is the tbosas movies was coriolanus singing the panem anthem at not only arachne’s funeral but at the rings twins funeral.

i also really wish we got the scenes with clemensia and her snake scales after getting bit, because i felt like after she got bit in dr gauls office in the movie than they never talked about her again.

i mean i can go on and ON about things from the thg series in general that i wish were in the movies because even though some of the things weren’t major parts of the book, i still would’ve liked to see it adapted onto the screens. i really just need a movie that’s based on a book to be just like the original ‘product’.

one thing i will say before i shut up it why did they not put peeta’s metal leg in the movie 😭.

[eilarae]

expect this will be met with a chorus of "it's not that serious" but uh. something about calling a kid who died alone and terrified in a hostile, unfamiliar environment a bitch doesn't really sit right with me.

[soizoukoi]

Currently watching the Drag Race (🇫🇷) finale tonight and I think it's too bad that Drag Race Suomi isn't a thing. No idea if there's a drag scene in Finland, but Käärijä as a guest would be fire 🔥✨

[lennon666]

It’s so annoying when people on tiktok keep insisting that Hey Jude is for jules lol

[crow-eyed]

Two of a Kind (Part 2/2)

Part one is here. Predictably at the very end of Batman 410 Jason immediately finds out that Harvey killed his dad.

In Batman 411 we get to see how Jason reacts, there are some important things to note. He does not confront Bruce or let anyone know that he knows but he also doesn't seem to hide that he is upset.

He self isolates, staying in bed all day, speaks very little, and only getting up when Bruce passive aggressively mentions patrol and that Two Face is still active.

While this change could be in reaction to the mention of Harvey, Bruce is purposefully trying to needle Jason into action here. Over all he's notably withdrawn and comes across as not particularly eager to go back out as Robin.

In the field he seems back to normal until he is specifically left to watch over a knocked out Harvey.

This is the first time Jason looked even a little aggressive towards Harvey and Bruce misses it entirely. I don't think Jason wants to be here and I don't think he trusts Bruce. Yet Bruce tells him to watch Harvey then runs after Harvey's goons and moments later Jason attacks Harvey.

This is the exact thing that Bruce feared that Jason would do but Jason's reaction here seems primarily motivated by the situation Bruce put him in. Bruce expected a violent 'wrong' reaction from Jason and in doing so removed any chance for Jason to deal with his emotions in a non violent manner.

Jason knew Bruce lied to him so- he couldn't tell Bruce he was upset, he couldn't say if he even wanted to go on patrol, or that he might not want to see the man who killed his dad! Let alone be left alone with him the day after he found out!

Jason lashed out at Harvey, choked him, and shakily threatened to kill him. He was also easily thrown off by Harvey and punched hard enough to knock him down before Bruce could get back to him.

Harvey then escapes and the conversation between Jason and Bruce is put on hold till they are back in the cave. Here things get interesting.

The street kid routine Bruce mentions here is exactly that- a routine, a mask. It's a facade Jason's been forced back to because he feels like can't rely on Bruce because Bruce broke his trust.

When Bruce mentions trust his facade breaks- Jason makes it very clear he DOESN'T TRUST BRUCE and is likely feeling ashamed and embarrassed that he ever did. The anger and tough kid act is because of Bruce's actions, he is clearly shown to be devastated by Bruce keeping this from him.

Jason's initial reaction to Harvey killing his dad is not anger, he's devastated and shaken. This is the reaction of a devastated kid lashing out at the man who he's supposed to be able to trust lying to him about something important emotionally and directly relevant to his safety.

That is where the anger seems to come from. Bruce knew Harvey killed Willis and yet had no hesitation in bringing Jason to a fight with him and this is something Jason realizes!

Jason does not get how this was to 'protect him' because it wasn't about his physical safety or even his emotional safety. If it was Bruce would have tried to prevent Jason from interacting (even unknowingly) with the man who killed his father. Not passive aggressively getting a visibly unenthusiastic Jason out of bed and into his costume to fight him.

This was about protecting Jason from the coin toss, delaying things until Bruce felt confident he would react in the 'right way'. Bruce had no room in his mind for the normal reaction of a kid to something like this- only his personal binary of 'wrong' (and criminal) or 'right' (like him).

Bruce talks about his 'right way' here and it's clearly just Bruce's way. He takes his pain and desire for vengeance and uses it as fuel for his vigilantism. He's clearly NOT against bringing this stuff to a fight, he doesn't even seem to consider other ways of dealing with it that don't involve violence.

Bruce is sympathetic here but still the language! Saying Jason carried 'uncontrollable rage' into 'battle,' directly saying Jason lost but indirectly stating that Two Face beat him. (using the passive voice only for one of them)

Bruce recognizes that he handled this poorly but isn't questioning his core premise. He sees this as a failure of execution not of concept.

He's not just projecting his way of dealing with loss and pain onto Jason he's now actively coaching him into it. He hesitated to do it but he does it anyway because he sees Jason (a 12 year old) as dangerous to himself and to others without it.

I think he knows this way isn't appropriate for a child on some level (he calls it hard even for an adult)- but he just can't see beyond it. He doesn't see Jason here, to him Jason will be either Robin or a future criminal.

[anatomically-accurate-heart]

when the music makes you nod ur head or tap your feet >>>