#so because i don't have it i am automatically lesser for something i have absolutely zero control of

[ozzgin]

Do you have any advice for those who want to post their stories and ideas on here but are just starting out

Not sure if I'm the best person to offer advice on these matters, as I feel my presence here has been mostly accidental. That being said, I am capable of introspection and I've been here long enough to notice patterns, so I can gladly share my own observations with you! Feel free to draw your own conclusions. Everyone else is invited to offer corrections or additions. :)

Guide under the cut because it's another long ramble divided in 3 parts.

What to post

The million-dollar question. Do you want to share original stories, or fanfiction? Various genres, or reader centered romances? You have the choice to try your luck and dive in with your own thing or scour the market to build a following first.

I've seen trending original stories from accounts who'd just started out, but don't use that as a reference for the quality of your own work. If you're not gaining traction, it doesn't automatically mean it's bad. There are hundreds of variables involved: the time, the context, the people. It takes one big blog to discover your story and share it, and you've taken your first step into recognition. The main issue is, there's no guarantee when or if it's going to happen.

Your other choice is to introduce yourself with fanfiction. Consider it a way of saying “let me show you my writing skills through something of your interest”. If you've been wanting to write fanfiction from the beginning, great! Now comes the next question: what is your goal? If you want more recognition, you'll want to consider the fandoms. Is there something you're into that's currently also trending on Tumblr? Writing for Hazbin Hotel, for example, will most likely get you more notes than writing for some 90s manga very few people know about. At the end of the day, you shouldn't feel pressured to write for what's "selling", but you can always find a compromise that works for you. Once you gain more followers, you can always sprinkle in more variety. Having more people who appreciate your work will give you a little boost when venturing into other areas.

I'll give you my personal case: I decided to share my Baki story right at the time a new season was out. It just so happened that many other people were interested in said character. "I only watched two episodes and immediately searched for fics", or "I saw an edit and now I'm here". So, there were people actively keeping tab on recent works for more content, and one of the relevant blogs in the fandom shared my content as well. That got the ball rolling. I've always been a multi-fandom blog, and thus with more visitors came more diverse requests. "Wait a minute, I came for X, but I see you like Y, too!"

TL;DR: If you're interested in original work or lesser known fandoms but want recognition, try to expand into trending and popular fandoms to gain visibility.

How to post

Is there a specific template you must adhere to? Absolutely not. However, I've noticed many common elements from people sharing their stories. There are authors who will dive right into the story, no title, no descriptions, but they already have followers who know what to expect. If you're just starting out, you might want to offer a helping hand to people who don't know you yet. Have a concise, clear title. Make it obvious from the beginning what your story is about. You can include trigger warnings or content previews. Maybe a little synopsis or two-three sentences to summarize everything. I've seen some blogs mention that their shorter stories get more interaction (1-2k words), so this might be something to consider. If you would prefer going for longer works, perhaps it's wise to give everyone a heads-up and include the word count at the beginning. If you want to encourage people to check out your other works, you can include a link to your masterlist at the top of the post.

Regardless of appearances, once your content is written, it needs to be tagged. Which brings us to the next topic:

This truly isn't meant to call anyone out, just something I noticed. Many people don't know how to use the hashtag feature.

Let me give you a fabricated example: you just published your best fanfiction so far. The magnum opus of your work. Time passes, and you barely get any notes. You tagged the post with #fanfic (because it's fanfiction, right?), #writers of tumblr (to notify other writers of your presence), and #series name. It's not bad by any means, but these are extremely generic hashtags. If your only anchor for the post is, say, #Harry Potter, it will be immediately drowned by the massive influx of various content under this tag: memes, fanart, discussions, screenshots. Everything meets here. If your story is a reader insert, your target is not only the overall fandom, but specifically the people looking for this type of story. Which characters are featured? Is it more of a fluffy romance, or downright smut? Is your original character a monster? If so, what kind? You have to help people find your content. If you're not sure what tags to include, use other blogs as reference. Find stories similar to yours and check the top posts. What other tags did the author use? Is there a common pattern among these popular stories?

TD;DR: Make your posts clear and obvious within the first few lines. Overly general or overly specific tags are not bad, but they shouldn't be your only identifying features. Make it very easy for people to navigate your blog (masterlists, consistent hashtag system, etc)

When to post

At one point I asked myself, out of curiosity, why some of my own posts are more popular than others despite the same amount of effort. Is there a difference depending on when you release your content? The answer is yes! There's an article discussing the best times to post on social media in order to maximize engagement. Of course, there's many variables involved, and these time intervals are not a guarantee. When are your followers most active? When do you notice a peak in notifications? Have a look at this neat desktop feature. It gives you all the answers you need. If your engagement is the highest at a given hour, it might be worth a shot to post your content then. You can also schedule your posts to match the patterns.

Let's say you posted something, and you suspect it hasn't reached all of your followers. Maybe it was a slow day, and it got less engagement than usual. I've seen people who reblog their own content the next day or even regularly, so you can opt for that if you're worried you missed out.

Additionally, Tumblr seems to reward activity. You may post as often or as little as you'd like, as long as you maintain a certain regularity. If you search for top posts/blogs of all time, you'll notice it's not actually an all-time chart, but only the content with recent engagement. A post with a million notes that hasn't been touched in 5 years won't show up. Same for blogs. The recommendations you see are of accounts who frequently post under the given hashtag. This is something to keep in mind as well.

Lastly, if you're willing/are extroverted enough, you can always try to network and build a group of mutuals. Reblog, leave comments, reach out to people within the fandom or who do the same thing. When a post is fresh, it may be temporarily bumped to the top of the search if it receives a burst of engagement. So, it definitely helps to have a bunch of friends who give you a little boost.

Yeah. This is what I have. It's not a matter-of-fact textbook, just what I personally witnessed or my own inferences. The most important detail is to give yourself time, and of course to have fun! I wish you the best of luck, and don’t forget that your ideas are worthy regardless of the outcome.

[girlscience]

i like to say that i am over everything i was taught as a child and other times i realize i have been having periodic breakdowns about sexual dimorphism since i was 10 and whatever caused that is very much still alive and well in the recesses of my mind

[akookminsupporter]

Hey there, I know it's been a while since that topic came up. But I want to add a thing to the "who of the members is closest to who" debate and why it legitimately might have bugged some Vminies.

For me personally it strikes that irritating nerve of people around you constantly going on and on about how romantic relationships are the most important connection you will ever form in life blabla and friendships are somehow lesser and fleeting.

(Any fellow aces around who feel my suffering, lol?)

Just think about it: why are terms like "Are you just friends or are you something more?" even a thing?? Why are friendships seen as lesser? Why are romantic feelings or sexual attraction automatically assumed to elevate the relationship into something "more" ?

For most people at least one or two friends will stick with you and go through all kinds of shit with you for the biggest part of your life as opposed to romantic connections that often come and go (until you supposedly find "the one") and we usually start making later in life. Yet somehow there is this idea that romantic relationships are inherently more fullfilling and valuable, that is perpetuated everywhere.

So I think there is a valid reasons why if somebody says Vmin - who have literally refered to each other as the ultimate soulmates, have been through thick and thin and really worked hard to communicate better with each other and work through their issues - aren't as close, while believing that Jikook are closest to each other while or maybe even because they are a couple might hit a nerve with some people. Because it goes back to this idea of romantic 'relationships are inherently closer than platonic relationships'.

Also the reasoning of "they don't spend much time out of work with each other so that must mean they are not as close as Jikook who do" doesn't really hold much water for me, because that resonates with the close friendships I have. Even before 2020 hit us (lol), me and my friends would barely have time to see each other in person for 1-2 times per year after we graduated from high school and all got into different universities; even our text messages take course over the span of months sometimes until we find the time to respond. But they are to this day still the people I hold dearest to my heart and have the most tender and honest conversations with.

I guess what I'm trying to say is: There is nothing really wrong with speculating about the nature of the member's relationships with each other; it's only human to be curious about interpersonal relationships and as public figures they do kind of open themselves up to that kind of scrutiny.

But I have to say that just for me personally the particular "who is closest to who" debate kind of leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, no matter how I spin it, because 'closeness' is so hard to quantify. Sure we can observe their on-camera interactions and maybe what little we find out about what they're up to in their free time and extrapolate from there, but in the end we have to remember that, despite all that they share with us, we don't know everything.

I don't know about that lunch Yoongi might have invited JK to because he needed a pick-me-up for a day, I don't know about that 3 am conversation Jimin might have had with Jin and Yoongi one night and I don't know about that thing Tae might have bought because it reminded him of Namjoon.

I do believe that Jikook are a couple, I absolutely believe they are close, but that doesn't necessarily mean their relationships to the other members are less so. It's just a different kind of closeness. Maybe it differs in the way they express their affection to each other or maybe in the amount of time they are content spending with each other.

To quote a very wise young man called Jeon Jeongguk: "There are many different types of Love." 🥰

And I hope more people would try to see and understand that instead of pitting one unique relationship against another, no matter if romantic or platonic.

I'm sorry this turned out all rambly and I don't really know if I got my point across😅. This was also really not meant to be a personal attack on you, so I hope it doesn't come off that way😳. I think there is absolutely nothing wrong about how you handled the situation back then, I just guess it got me thinking about this.

I will just end this here with my favourite quote about friendship:

"Good friends are like stars you don't always see them but you know they are always there."

Hi anon, how are you? I remember closing this topic on my blog but your post is interesting and I'd like to say a few things about it if you don't mind.

I want to start by saying that this is my opinion, based on what I believe, how I see things, my experiences etc., complete subjectivity. As I did in my answer to the original question that I imagine inspired this ask. In that ask, anon asked who I thought were the members that Jimin was closest to, anon didn't ask who was the closest member to Jimin, and I didn't give them an absolute and objective answer, anon asked my opinion and I gave it to them. And my answer is just as valid as yours and angry vminner's, even though in the end they ended up insulting me and JiKook.

I don't think a friendship is more or less important than a romantic relationship, they are just different relationships. They fulfil you in different ways, they have different roles in your life. And they mean different things to you.

One thing they do have in common is that they are both unpredictable. A friendship can last a lifetime or it can end after you leave school, the same can happen with a romantic relationship. And this is because both relationships are made up of human beings and we are the most complex, complicated and unpredictable beings in the world.

The weight or importance that interpersonal relationships have in your life will depend on many factors, mainly on who you are, what your experiences are, your values, your beliefs, your expectations and needs, as well as those of the people with whom you form a bond, regardless of the type of relationship.

I think that if you give the question "Are you just friends or are you something more?" a negative connotation, it will sound bad or offensive, like an insult to a friendship, or maybe the use of the word "more" is wrong, maybe we should change it to the word "different".

A romantic relationship would mean different because it would imply a different affective connection, a different physical and intimate connection etc. Maybe. What you have with your best friend you may not have with your romantic partner, but what you have with your romantic partner you will not have with your friend. It's not that your friendship is less, it's that your romantic relationship is different. Maybe the problem is that we see both relationships in the same category when they are not, they shouldn't be.

Now, maybe it doesn't happen in all cases. Maybe your friend knows you better than your partner, or you appreciate and value your friend more, I don't know, it's a totally subjective and special issue. Every relationship is different. Every head is a different world.

I also take into account that aces exist, and in those cases things are also different. I think this confirms what I just said, each relationship is different and unique.

The explanations I gave for why I think Jimin is closer to the members I chose are based on what I have seen, what I believe, what I feel and I don't think that's wrong. If you don't think the same as me, fine! But I don't think my opinion is invalid either.

You brought up the "they don't seem to spend much of their free time together" argument and I remember saying that I think Jimin is closer to Jungkook not just for that reason. Furthermore, I don't recall mentioning that I think Jimin is closer to Jungkook because of the possible romantic relationship I think exists between the two. Because Jimin and Jungkook are also friends.

And no, there is nothing wrong with speculating the nature of the members' relationship with each other, the problem that formed as a result of my response is that it was not to the liking of several people who think differently than me, which is totally acceptable but who were unable to accept my response.

If we stop putting romantic and friendship relationships in the same category, it would be a lot easier. Your partner can be the closest person to you for different reasons and your best friend can be a very close person to you for totally different reasons. I don't think they are mutually exclusive.

To conclude, i think I should clarify once again that I never invalidate anyone who thinks that Jimin is closer to Tae, I never dismissed the special relationship that Jimin and Tae have, I have celebrated that relationship here, I have said more than once how much I love Vmin. I have even said that I hope one day I will have a relationship similar to theirs.

I will never invalidate those who think that Jimin is closer to Tae, I will always respect their opinions but I don't think it's too much to ask that those people have the same courtesy towards me, and respect mine.

I didn’t start this blog to impose my opinion, I don't expect anyone to take what I say as the absolute and objective truth about whatever it is we are talking about. I have always been clear that everything I say is my opinion, it is subjective and I can very easily be wrong.

Almost always when talking about personal relationships, whether yours or someone else's, there will be room for different interpretations, different points of view. This is due to a number of reasons. Your opinion is not more or less than mine, it is simply YOUR opinion. There will be cases where your opinion will be invalid, mine too, because they simply are. An example of this was an anon I once received who said that Jimin and Jungkook couldn't be a couple because Jimin wants to have children and if he is in a LGBT+ relationship he couldn't have them. That "opinion" is invalid. It is wrong. It is offensive. But if for you Tae is the closest member to Jimin, it's acceptable, it's respectable. It's your opinion which I'm sure is based on a lot of things too. Just like mine is.

[pinksapphicprincess]

Are you a gold star lesbian?

I'm going to respond to this under the assumption that maybe you are young or just haven't heard the explanation of why that term is harmful ( which is ok! Never too late to learn:) ) so I'm going to do my best to explain it. Apologies in advance if I don't explain things well, I'll try my best.

A refresher for those who might not know--gold start lesbian is a term to describe lesbians who have never done anything sexual or romantic with a man. It's an incredibly harmful term, because in using the term, it invalidates lesbians who didn't realize they were gay until after they've done something with a man. That delayed realization is not their fault. Putting it as their fault is giving homophobia a free pass because homophobia is the real reason many of us take so long to figure our identities out. It's society's fault. Not the person's.

Once they realize they are lesbians, that identity is just as valid as it is to lesbians who realized without doing anything with a man beforehand. They are not lesser than or below lesbians who haven't been involved with a man. Treating them as such alienates them from their own community, which is the one place where they're supposed feel the safest and most accepted.

Honestly, I'd say gold star lesbian is TERF ideology. It's got that weird hatred of men as if to say men are inherently evil, which is absolutely not true and only contributes to how toxic our society tries to raise men to be. I personally think it also completely invalidates trans people with the automatic assumption that penis=male and vagina=female. When in actuality genitalia doesn't have anything to do with gender or sexual orientation. That's solely up to how someone identifies. I am not trans though, so if I'm wrong I'm completely open to explanations why from trans people.

Gold star lesbian is a very slippery slope into several layers of harmful because of how it makes so many generalizations. So as a blanket answer to your question: I've never done anything with a man, but that doesn't make me a gold star lesbian, because gold star lesbians don't exist.

[gettin-a-lil-hanse]

You Found Me - Chapter 3

Read it on AO3

Pairing: No pairing (but SeongJoong is involved)

Genre: Slight Fluff, Angst 

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 2k+

Summary: Wooyoung opens up about his past.

Tags: Kitty Hybrid! Wooyoung, Found Hybrid, Abandonment, Caring For a Kitten

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of abuse, mentions of death, mentions of scars (not related to self-harm), unhealthy coping mechanisms, alcoholism, mentions of homophobia, mentions of prostitution, mentions of sex trafficking (?)

A/N: This chapter will be much heavier than the last two, and I want you all to please read the trigger warnings, and please read with caution. Take care, take time if you need to. 

The trip to the vet went as smoothly as any normal vet appointment is expected to go. (Vet? Doctor? Hongjoong really wasn’t sure what to call it.) Wooyoung was not very fond of the intimidating-looking doctors and acted accordingly. Honestly, Hongjoong was a bit surprised, seeing as the hybrid had taken a liking to the couple fairly quickly, but he pushed that thought to the back of his mind.

Hongjoong stayed by Wooyoung’s side throughout the duration of the visit, providing him with the necessary level of comfort needed to get through the appointment. In the end, the vet deemed him healthy aside from slight malnourishment and some bruising. The vet also told the couple that hybrids coming in with scars like his were a pretty common occurrence as of late and that it was a clear sign of abuse, but Wooyoung tuned out of the conversation at that point.

From there, the three of them took a drive to the mall. Hongjoong insisted that they build the hybrid a brand new wardrobe consisted of the highest fashion, though Wooyoung tried to convince him that comfortable clothes are all that he needed. Seonghwa could only laugh, knowing deep down that he too was excited to finally get to dress someone that would (probably) cooperate and let him. Hongjoong’s and Seonghwa’s styles clashed quite a bit, so it was rare that they got to dress each other up. 

Wooyoung quickly found out that he hated the mall. There were too many stores, too many displays, too many people. Everything was too much. The stores had bright, colorful signs, many of them flashing which was extremely distracting. Honestly, how was someone supposed to get through their shopping with everything like this? But that wasn’t even the worst thing. No, the worst thing was the staring. It seemed like, from the moment the three of them walked through the automatic glass doors, all eyes were on them. Wooyoung couldn’t tell if the eyes were on him or the couple, since they were so unabashedly affectionate with each other. Even Wooyoung knew that this side of town was known for being full of stuck-up, high-class rich people. As a matter of fact, all of the stores in the mall, as far as he could tell, were high-end and expensive-looking.

“Hey, Hongjoong? I thought that we were just getting clothes for me to wear around the apartment?”

“Sweetheart, we’re buying you clothes. It doesn’t really matter where you wear them.” 

Hongjoong chuckled and pulled the hybrid into his side, making for a very awkward walking position which only drew more attention to them. Wooyoung leaned in close to whisper into his ear, eyebrows furrowing and creating crease lines on his forehead,

“People are staring…”

“People always stare.”

“It doesn’t bother you?”

“More like I’ve learned not to care. Those people don’t deserve my energy, let alone my emotions. It’s not easy, of course, but it’s better this way.”

Hongjoong turned to face the hybrid still tucked under his arm and for a moment—though it felt as if they moved in slow motion—Wooyoung forgot how to breathe. Wooyoung swore that Hongjoong poured glitter in his eyes. How else would they sparkle so much?

“Don’t let unworthy people take up your time and energy.”

 “You know,” Seonghwa started, snapping Wooyoung out of the trance he didn’t realize that he was in, “Hongjoong taught me a lot. It’s cheesy, but he really did make me a better person, and he still does to this day.”

Hongjoong let out a soft laugh, loosening his grip on the hybrid’s shoulder to move his hand to his back. 

“I have that effect on people, apparently.”

------

The shopping trip came and went without too much fuss—seeing as the hybrid wanted no more attention on him than there was already—and the boys filed into the apartment with armfuls of bags. Hongjoong, ever the chatterbox, kept the mood up and kept the conversation going. Hongjoong loved his days off and was in a very good mood. Now that they had an addition to the household—temporary as it may be—he cherished his time at home even more. So when he got a call from work saying that he needed to come in for an emergency meeting, he was visibly upset. The only bright side, he figured, was that Seonghwa and Wooyoung would be forced to spend some alone time together. He hoped that they would be a little less awkward by the time he got back home.

Seonghwa and Wooyoung sat in the guest room that they spent the afternoon cleaning and removing tags from, folding, or hanging up Wooyoung’s new clothes. There was a thick silence between them until Seonghwa decided that now was as good a time as any to try to get to know him. 

“So, tell me about yourself.”

Wooyoung’s ears flicked as he looked up, a bit caught off-guard by the blunt statement.

“Well… what do you wanna know?”

Seonghwa shrugged with a slight smile playing on his lips, eyes cast down on the shirt he was so neatly folding.

“I mean, the more we know about you, the better.”

Wooyoung finished wrapping a jacket around the hanger and stood with a soft sigh, hanging the item up in the closet.

“Where do I even begin… As you probably already know, hybrids are created in labs by scientists and then sold to various facilities. From those facilities, we’re sold to buyers and I was sold to a nice young woman. She was my owner, but she hated addressing the relationship as such. She really cared for me and when she fell sick, I did the same for her. It got to the point where I spent every waking minute caring for her, but I didn’t think anything of it because she started to get better. So when she passed I was absolutely devastated.”

Seonghwa saw the shift in his face, grabbing his hand gently and pulling him to sit before he got too lost in his memory and broke down on the floor. To his surprise, the tears gathered but never fell, so he stayed quiet, allowing Wooyoung to continue.

“After she passed, I, along with her other possessions, was auctioned off to the highest bidder. The bidder that I was auctioned off to was an assistant for a man who ran a “hybrid home” which, news flash, was nothing like a home. It would be more accurate to call it a hybrid whore house.”

Seonghwa’s jaw clenched, taking in a breath through his nose. He shouldn’t be so angry since Wooyoung was alive and well now, he thought, but something akin to rage began to bubble up in the pit of his stomach. 

“To say that my life there was miserable is an understatement. We barely got an opportunity to look after our hygiene, they kept our schedules packed with clients, and when we weren’t busy with either of those things, we were probably being scolded for something. Nothing was ever good enough for The Master. Someone was always doing something wrong in his eyes and he made sure that we paid for it. That’s how I got to be so… beat up. I don’t know if you saw them, but I know for a fact that Hongjoong saw them when he bathed me…”

Wooyoung toyed with the hem of his shirt before lifting it up, revealing the fading bruises and various-sized scars lining his back and torso. Seonghwa’s eyes racked his body, tears of anger welling up in his eyes at the sight. But, again, he kept his feelings down.

“I… We have something to put on those scars that will help them heal. That is if you would like…”

His voice was unsteady and Wooyoung chanced a glance over at him. He could see him holding back, could see it in his eyes. 

"You don't have to feel bad for me. I'm okay, see?"

"It's... It's not that, I just... I just wanna protect you at all costs even more now." Seonghwa let out a wet laugh, taking a deep breath to keep tears back. "You know, Hongjoong really is a healer of sorts. He saved me too. Although my conditions were nowhere near as bad as yours..."

Wooyoung's tail flickered in interest.

"Saved you how?"

"He saved me from myself. Before we started dating — no, before we met — I was in a bad place. My family, god I haven't spoken to him in years... They never accepted me for being bisexual, so they kicked me out of the house. I stayed with my girlfriend at the time while I tried to find my way." 

Seonghwa stood, walking to his bedside drawer to grab ointment to coat his bruises. 

"Why do you just have that by your bed—"

"Don't worry about that. Anyway, I was staying with my girlfriend and she wasn't... the best, you know? She made me feel lesser than I am, she treated me like shit, to say the least. I loved her nonetheless and took it all. I couldn't get myself to leave her, but it became unbearable to be at home. So I started hanging out elsewhere."

Seonghwa helped Wooyoung remove his shirt while he talked and began carefully tending to each individual bruise. 

"Bars became my favorite place to hang out. I would stay out late drinking to the point where I almost lost control. It just overall wasn't a good time in my life. I wasn't happy; every day, simply existing felt more and more like a chore. That is probably the lowest I have ever felt in my life and I didn't think that there would be any coming up from there. I was drowning in bad thoughts."

Wooyoung could feel the emotion bubbling up in Seonghwa, could feel the pain.

"Hongjoong literally came like a light in my life and helped me get out of that dark place. I started to see him at the bar more often." Seonghwa smiled fondly to himself, hands moving gently over his skin. "He would come just to check up on me and talk to me. He kept me company, made sure I drank some water, made sure I got home okay. Then we started to hang out outside of my dark hours in the bar, and it got to the point where I didn't even need the bar anymore. Or alcohol anymore—not as much, anyway.

“Hongjoong was the one who helped me gain the courage to break up with my girlfriend. He helped pick up the broken pieces and he's kept me together ever since. So yes, he saved me. I appreciate him much more than I could ever say but don't tell him that. His ego is big enough as it is."

"Do you think you were meant to meet him?"

"Of course I do. If someone is up there watching over me, they definitely sent him to me."

Wooyoung nodded, thinking to himself for a moment.

"Hongjoong adores hybrids, you know? For the longest time, he's said that he wanted to adopt one, but I think that he is absolutely enamored by you. If you stay with us, you'll be taken care of, treated well. If not, he's gonna do everything in his power to get you somewhere where he knows that you'll be safe. He has a good heart, and I think he was meant to find you too."

"It's just... After all I've been through, it's a lot to think about, you know? I don't know if I can put myself in a position to trust someone like that again."

Seonghwa hummed and nodded in understanding, pulling away once he was finished to look up at him. 

“I know it’s hard to trust anyone after so many people treated you wrong and let you down. I’m sorry that you had those experiences, but I believe that you will be able to open your heart again. Some day. You’re strong, you’ve already come so far.”

Seonghwa ended with a kind smile and moved to pass back the shirt he was wearing before pausing. 

“Ah, would you like to put on your new pajamas? They’re much softer than these old things.” 

Wooyoung thought for a moment before shaking his head and taking the shirt back from Seonghwa gently.

“I’ll… put those on later. After my shower? Before bed? I’m comfy in these now…”

Seonghwa didn’t push it and just smiled. 

[blanket-fish]

@bukatra I'd be happy to!

Infinity war. It may be the lesser of two evils, but it's still an evil. Of course, many things come to mind when you think of the movie. Crying, Thanos, the absolute bullshit that was Vision and Wanda's deaths...

I mean, I guess technically Vision died twice. So that the russos could have it both ways, I suppose. Commitment issues tend to come alongside idiocy, and they have piles of both.

At any rate.

Now there are arguments to be made in favour of how it all went down. "But no one really cared about wandavision after civil war anyway!" False... and didn't the russos direct that movie too? It feels like there are definitely people at fault for that.

"It had to happen!" No?!? I don't know how you watch infinity war, regardless of the garbage it is, and come out thinking "Wow, every plot point was necessary!"

Or "Wow, every Russo was necessary!" I wonder how many it would take to change a lightbulb...

Just?? Vision's death was... pointless. We know Shuri could have saved him. But of course -

The Russos can't write movies so they settle for shock value instead. Like the fucking morons they are.

No, maybe that's harsh. Not all of their writing is shock value, right? They had winter soldier, where Bucky was revealed to have lived, and it was revealed Hydra was inside shield and one of the key scenes is Nick fury dramatically revealing his other eye!

And not only that, they have civil war! Where wanda shockingly hurls a bomb at a building! Where for shock purposes, the Avengers split up! And spiderman is revealed! And the shocking reveal at the end where steve and tony shockingly fight !

You get the idea. If I ask someone their favourite not-for-shock-value moment from one of these movies, they'd likely struggle. I'm thinking now and... Sam Wilson is all I got and that's much more Anthony Mackie's acting than any virtue of the russos.

(Here's a game, if I were to hit a Russo's head with a brick and get them to write a movie, do you think anyone would notice the difference?)

I mean, the thing is, if the russos didn't have fish scales for brains, they could have done interesting things. Could vision have been dusted? Hell if we know! He's dead!

But they are, unfortunately, actual buffoons with the brain of a 3 year old writing a story about their stuffed animals. Fine for them, but they should never be allowed to mess with other people's stories.

Which is the issue really. Both wanda and vision are from age of Ultron, a film they didn't direct. We all know about ragnorok going down the drain. They lack any capacity to accept other's ideas and oh lordy lord is that a bad trait to be working on the mcu with.

And thus Wanda and Vision. Bukatra said their actions were meaningless? By god they are right and not only were they meaningless in universe, they were meaningless as actions in a movie too.

Oh sure, it was heartbreaking to watch Wanda have to take Vision's life (...). But it was already heartbreaking for her to be in the position where she might have too. All it really added was a way to show Thanos's power and... they already did that. Many times over. Too many really.

Wanda kills vision... he's resurrected seconds later and it meant. Nothing. I don't expect Wanda to have thought of the time stone, but someone should have. Rocket, maybe. The Guardians were talking about thanos be for ether split so it follows that if not Thor, he would have known something.

And that's ignoring Bruce. Who knew about the stones thanks to Doctor Strange. Even assuming he didn't fill the others in, he would have realised destroying the stone doesn't automatically mean safety. He aint silly. He aint a Russo. And he probably did fill the others in. Am I expected to belive Natasha hinged her bets on Thanos being stupid? No!

Honestly this was stupid all round and I don't know how the russos got away with it... Oh wait, yes I do. They knew they were shit so they refused to let the actors know the plot.

But what happened happened, and... it's still bad. Vision is dead and Wanda is dusted. There's no real fallout to this. Neither of them are mentioned in endgame up until Wanda is revived. It just feels like another stone Thanos stole. And some viewers felt that "Why didn't they turn vision off? He's just a robot!" You wouldn't say that about Data from Star Trek you heathens

Deep breath... calm... I'm good. For my next trick... We think of the movie without the actions of these two.

Wanda doesn't kill vision. Movie continues as it did regardless.

Vision doesn't tell Wanda to kill him. See above.

Wanda doesn't step into the fight. More people die but other than that not much changes.

Vision lives! Through Shuri presumably. Thanos maybe gets the stone, maybe he doesn't, it's irrelevant to my point because this came about by neither Wanda nor Vision really.

I'm struggling here. They really didn't do a whole lot. Ya know that sexy lamp test? Can we apply that here?

I don't want to diminish these characters. I love them! But they were not treated well.

The thing is, maybe the Russos were going for 'doomed love' or some shit. You know what hurts more? One of them living. Wanda, maybe, would have been a great addition to that conference. Or Vision, if he lived and Wanda was dusted. But I guess we have that now Wanda has returned. I fear for her character's future if the Russos are anywhere near it.

As I end this, I think of one thing. Vision and Wanda's treatment was very reminiscent of Gamora's death - Unnecessary, badly handled, directed by people incapable of handling anyone bar their image of captain america, and, oh yeah,

ABSOLUTE CRAP

Amazingly violent literary rage jskapaxfs I love that

[janiedean]

I understand and take your points about racism in Europe being different and the word "race" sounding like something straight from a nazi textbook, what I don't understand is your angry reaction to the fact that modern racism comes from Europe. Instead of taking the point that racial thoughts that have influenced the US come from there, you derail the point and act like it's not even legitimate to point that out. 1/

2/ I'm not a fan of this "white people are responsible for every problem in the world" or "all Europeans are racist shit lords" but I also don't like this "we don't need to acknowledge this because we already know it" attitude about the origins of racial thinking. I've talked to many European privately and their reaction is usually that of shock when they realize the extent to which the ideas of some of their enlightenment thinkers have helped destroyed the lives of countless people here. Now one of the few bloggers I know who is critical of these issues is thinking of quitting Tumblr, hell I'm also thinking of quitting Tumblr. It just seems nobody listens to anyone and everybody screams.

... guys, I mean it honestly and I swear I’m not trying to make fun of you or being an asshole, but... can someone explain me when and were I had an angry reaction to people saying racism comes from Europe? When? I don’t know what you’re reading, the one angry reaction I had that started this shitstorm was to having asks in the inbox using **race** as a discriminant when talking about italian or european asks, I asked if you could please refrain from using that specific word in asks because it creeps me the hell out and because I can’t even use it as a discriminant in current modern discourse on the topic and instead of ‘ah okay point taken’ I get ‘but in the English language/in some places it’s used’, at which I admittedly got fed up because like, okay, I get it, but I don’t want it on my blog if I can avoid it because it creeps me out.

I never denied racial theory as we know it comes from Europe, I never said that we didn’t have responsibility and I just - I never did anything you said I did? Okay, I didn’t mention it, but since here it’s shared cultural background that everyone more or less studied and since the premise is ‘we dropped it after WWII after seeing where that thinking brought us ie TO A FUCKING GENOCIDE’, it’s... implied in the entire discourse that I acknowledge it was a thing. No one thinks we didn’t invent it. That’s why we don’t use it anymore. Honestly, where the hell did I deny it? I mean, I always thought it was implied and then I got someone asking me why I denied it (???) because I didn’t mention it (??) but if for me it’s a given that doesn’t need to be explained then I don’t do it, also because the question didn’t ask to bring it up specifically. If someone asked me ‘what’s your opinion of racial theory having originated in Europe’ I’d have had a wholly different reply, but if the question is ‘why are you so against the use of the word’... like, I honestly can’t read your mind and guess that you also want to talk about racial theory having originated in Europe. Idk if it was brought up on someone else’s blog but... like... it’s as if we’re talking about current race relations in the US discussing just current times and you tell me ‘BUT YOU DIDN’T MENTION THAT SLAVERY EXISTED AND THAT’S WHY AFRICAN-AMERICANS ARE AFRICAN-AMERICANS’ and like no shit sherlock we all know it was a thing, do you need to bring it up every time you have that discussion or it’s an implied shared knowledge? Yeah, that.

Also, never mind that if you look at scientific racism you’ll find out that racial theory was a thing way before the enlightenment (btw the greeks thought that everyone who didn’t speak greek was a ***barbarian***, from a word that means ***stuttering***, and was automatically a lesser person than them I mean we’re not talking about stuff that was invented in the 18th century) but anyway, idk who you’re talking to on here and not everyone knows that shit in depth (but then again do most Americans know about the shit their government does that destroys the lives of people outside the US and of the shit their government has done in the centuries? Spoilers: nah, I mean it’s not just us...) but like, three things:

eight people on ten on this website are americans and like it or not the discourse is monopolized

according to american discriminatory categories, if you don’t talk about race you’re a racist. except that here using that word outside of dog breeds or human races singles you as a racist. people say it, most replies are ‘omg you’re so racist you keep on ignoring the problem’, so basically according to a bunch of americans on here in order to not be racist I should do a thing that in my worldview and in my culture background makes me a racist. you see the problem? 

add to it that a lot of people, surprise surprise, are not on tumblr to have discourse and if they get called racist when they’re trying not to be they won’t have the patience to actually look into it or try to understand both sides, because they can’t care enough for it, and honestly I can’t even blame them because it’s fucking exhausting to explain it all the time and get ignored nine times on ten

anyway I absolutely agree that some of us could use more critical thinking when it comes to racial theory and studying it more in-depth, but you also need to fucking ask them because a lot of us will take it for granted same as you take for granted that slavery happened or the trail of tears happened and you can’t expect us to read your mind over the internet.

personally I’d like all of tumblr to chill, drop politics for six months, purge itself and come back to it with a clear head and less screaming but I know it’s as likely as trump suddenly deciding socialism is the way to a better future.

and anyway I’m not saying it’s not legitimate to point out european intellectuals helped shape scientific racism, I’m saying that if you ask me about topic A and you don’t specify you also want me to talk about topic A1 which is tied to A but I’m taking for granted then I won’t know about that, and if you mean what I said about it making no sense in current times context... listen, thing is: since WWII was over no one has used the word race to discuss discrimination. We dropped it. It’s done for. It’s a slur like the n-word over on your side of the pond. Any discrimination that has happened since then has not had the scientific racism background behind it (save for maybe irish vs british because english language speakers kept the american meaning of it as a thing they were taught had legitimacy, and anyway the irish as another race thing has been dropped now thankfully). I can’t honestly reply to you if you ask me about ‘race relations in Europe’ or ‘but does the Italian xenophobic party think that EE people aren’t white’, because those are US american terms that here make no fucking sense and the fact that european thinkers helped shape scientific racism is an entire other topic/question/hot potato entirely. At most we can say that since we saw what came out of scientific racism we did away with it, but... that’s acknowledging it was a thing, which is what you’re saying we’re not doing, and I honestly don’t get what it is y’all are fishing for here or what you understood of the entire discourse. but like can you stop putting words in my mouth, because that wasn’t what I was even talking about.

and I mean, sorry if I sound like an asshole now, but this entire mess has happened because I asked people to not use that term when asking me questions that aren’t tied to US racism because it makes me uncomfortable on a molecular level and I get nazi laws flashbacks every time I see it attached to black or jewish *shudders* and then you all started... idk, assuming I was denying it was a thing in Europe before WWII or whatever. Like, you realize the reaching it takes to get there? I mean, I already am not here for politics in theory but I don’t mind discussing them, is it too much if I ask you to please refrain from using the one term that makes me really fucking uncomfortable to even write down (I cringed every time race left my keyboard ff I’m cringing now) without dragging me into drama and accusing me of shit I wasn’t even thinking about in the slightest?