#so i've been wanting to make a post compiling evidence for it for like. fucking forever

[moved2codacheetah]

Tell me your opinions on the stuff. Any stuff.

Grins. Smiles, even

I'm using you as an excuse to infodump my theory about the Island because I've had no in to do that, and my theory is pure opinion. Anyways:

THE ISLAND IS STUCK IN THE FUCKING FUTURE

(SCARE CHORD)

Hi so you might ask me. What the fuck do you mean by that. Well. Let's start with what we know about the Island, the King, and Wish Craft. (long ass post under cut. sorry)

The Island was redacted from the perception of outside world, via Wish Craft.

Wish Craft has the power to enable Time Craft. We see this primarily through Siffrin's timeloops, but also through the King's powers.

One of the King's powers is to show the saviors a "vision of the future."

...And this same attack is deflected back at the King by Mirabelle in ACT 5, in which the King is able to see the Island before being frozen in time.

...So. The King's "vision of the future." We're never told explicitly what this vision is. All we know is that it's apparently powerful enough to wipe the party in one hit, hearing it from a distance hurts your head, and that whatever Siffrin (and Loop) saw, they don't seem to actually be able to describe it. Even the King himself doesn't know what his vision entails.

We don't know whether the party all sees the same thing when struck by the vision, and Adrienne's answer to the question about it in the Reddit AMA is. vague? It's not a "no," and the specific wording makes me think the answer might be yes. But that's me reading into it.

Now. What do we know about the Island's redaction? The Island was affected by the wish recently, as in "like a decade ago" recently. We know that nobody in Vaugarde or the rest of the world is capable of thinking about the Island, anything closely tied to the Island's culture, or people on the Island for very long. When they do recall these things, they slip right out of reach. Particularly, the consequence for trying to think about the Island (or, more specifically, break the wish that forces the Island out of perception) is significant pain, localized in the head.

And that said pain is enough to become lethal, if pressed hard enough.

From here forward I'm running with the assumption that the King's "vision of the future" is not personalized to any individual, and is unchanging throughout the course of the whole story. Now. Remember the end of ACT 5, where the King gets hit with the deflected "vision of the future", and instead of dying, he recalls the Island and gets frozen in time? Very odd, yeah? Why wouldn't the King just die like everyone else does? He even does take 9999 damage when trying to say its name, like Siffrin does, and like the party does when they're hit by the attack.

Well. We know that he has a "true wish" that the ability to freeze Vaugarde in time grants. I don't think it's at all a stretch to guess that the King's "true wish" is to be able to remember the Island. My personal guess is that the King (and Siffrin) brought this "true wish" into effect via the "SAY ITS NAME" sequence- he even tries three times, a significant number in wishing.

The King (and Siffrin's) wish breaks, because it can't be fulfilled in this moment without breaking the wish to prevent the Island from being thought about. However. Consider the conditions at the end of ACT 5- the King sees the vision of the future reflected back to him, and what he sees is the Island. He remembers the Island, fulfilling his own wish, and is frozen in time. I consider this a compromise between his wish and the one binding the Island- the King gets to remember the Island, but nobody alive is able to think about it, because he's frozen in time; it's like the Universe is correcting itself (I WILL GET BACK TO THIS). The wish of all of Vaugarde to defeat the King is fulfilled, since he is no longer a threat, and Siffrin's wish wraps itself up soon after.

MY POINT BEING. The King's attack is a vision of the future. This "future" is of the Island, in some uncorrupted state. The saviors see it when he attacks them, and he sees it when it is deflected back to him.

The logical next question is "okay, so the Island exists in the future, but how do you know time shenanigans are even related to the Island?"

Recall a very odd series of interactions throughout the game, in which you try to interact with a piece of equipment that you already own.

The game rewinds slightly, before the item disappears, as the Universe corrects itself.

This is awfully similar to two particular events: looping back without seeing the death screen, and talking to the Daydreaming One about her sister. The latter is more interesting to me for the purposes of this theory.

In both instances, something is misaligned within the Universe (an item existing in two places, someone remembering something they're not supposed to) and it is corrected through some sort of rewind. Also compare the dialogue above to when you try to give Mirabelle the Stylish Bow when you already own it.

The world glitches, but Siffrin defuses the situation before the Universe has to intervene. Omitted from the screenshot is the fact that Mirabelle's portraits switch to happy from "catastrophically anxious" with no transition after Siffrin shows her where the bow is. Important to note is that when Mirabelle tries to recall receiving the bow, her head hurts, much like how trying to break the Island wish causes a headache.

The Universe leads you away from perception, and you can only follow.

My theory that I keep circling around is that through Wish Craft, the Island has been displaced temporally. The denizens of the Island, as well as the Island itself, still exist, but they are in the future. The Island is still loaded into the world, like how equipment is before you try to interact with it, and the Island cannot leave this quantum state, because it never actually went anywhere. The magnitude of the redaction event is so severe with the Island, because it is so much larger as an entity than a sword or a bow. There are of course things I don't really have pieced together, like why somebody would wish the Island into the future, how far into the future it is, or why equipment behaves this way. But it's the only Island theory I've seen that I have some level of confidence in, so I might as well lay out my cards for it.

[foxbuck]

BuckTommy or Buddie (Endgame Spec)

Pt. 1- BuckTommy

I've seen a lot of theories about why BT/Buddie would go cannon, but I haven't seen anyone compile all of them yet. This is my best attempt at a semi-comprehensive guide to the theories that I think hold some weight! I didn't get all of them of course, so if I missed an important one please please put it in the notes. For the most part I'm using other users' ideas and then building on them, so all users and the post I referenced are linked next to their theory (go check them all out!!!).

For the sake of ease I'll be referring to all the pieces as "___ theory." Also I don't know what the fuck the writers are doing in that damn room so don't take any of this too seriously. It seems to be a general consensus that they're making some peculiar decisions recently so who knows what the hell is gonna happen next episode/season.

sahtinekryz post BuckTommy is Chekov's Gun

"A narrative principle emphasizing that every element in a story be necessary, while irrelevant elements should be removed. For example, if a gun features in a story, there must be a reason for it, such as being fired at some later point." (Wikipedia)

The Checkov's Gun theory claims that Tommy's repeated appearances must have a narrative purpose. Tommy has been consistently reappearing/mentioned in s8. His story hasn't closed yet because the gun hasn't gone off yet. Something major is going to happen with him, and a very likely explanation is that he will get back together with Buck.

Personally I started with this one because it has a lot of weight imo. Sahtinekryz mentioned this in their post, but the showrunners probably spent a significant amount of money to have Tommy and his expensive-ass helicopter stunt in 8x15. He is reoccurring in these episodes for a reason. I'm not going too into depth with it because a lot of the other theories build off of it, but definitely keep Chekov's Gun in mind while reading the other theories.

-

Main Character Tommy

vanpalmersgf post Tommy Character Independence

This theory states that Tommy is being set up to be more important in the show because they are giving him scenes where he is a) present and b) acting independently from Buck (maybe ((hopefully)) implying that the runners are trying to give him his own arc??)

The best evidence for this is Tommy's appearances in the 8x16 flashback saving Bobby and in the funeral procession. In both instances, Tommy was involved because he is a character that the show sees as important--he wasn't just there to interact with Buck. The showrunners want the viewers to like Tommy.

Building off this idea, giving Tommy's character more independence in the show and establishing his relation to the 118 in his own way (in contrast to his only connection being through Buck) allows for him to later be recognized as an important part of the 118 family, which is damn near exactly what distantreverbs brings up in their post about Tommy's 7x04 wish. distantreverbspost 7x04 Wish

“I was super jealous… All of you. The 118. How it’s become like a family over there. I mean, how you all… were willing to put everything on the line for one another. I wanted to be a part of that.”

I really do like how well these two theories fit together. Tommy outright said last season that he wants/wanted to be a part of a family like the 118. Tommy's character getting this independence feels like he could be set up for his own mini-arc, and as op said, "Tommy’s entire narrative is clearly being built around fighting through his demons and getting the loyalty and love he so desperately craves as his reward."

As I mentioned already, giving Tommy's character more independence from Buck in turn tightens his individual connection to the 118 as a whole. Having a closer connection to the 118 leads up to his 7x04 wish being granted, and, being reintroduced to the 118 through Buck, the reasonable follow up would be for him to reestablish his connection with Buck.

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distantreverbs, niraves, Chug Ugly (yt) Invisible/Red String Theory

I think this is a relatively popular theory but I can only really find a few posts and a video so I linked those.

"String theory is a theoretical framework in which the point-like particles of particle physics are replaced by one-dimensional objects called strings."

Just kidding. I can't find a definition for this one though, idk where y'all get this shit from. Anyway.

Invisible/Red String Theory basically states that soulmates are connected throughout time and space with an 'invisible string.' I'm not exactly sure how to explain this, but I think that giving some examples of how this applies helps.

1. Tommy leaving the 118 opened the space that let Buck join. (This one feels the most tangible, almost like Tommy is literally pulling Buck along behind him.)

Abby connection (including in s1 where Abby's parents thought Buck was Tommy.)

The bubbling scene (where Buck and Tommy are thinking about each other at the same time.)

As niraves mentions, previously these were all accidental. However, the 'Abby reveal' makes it seem like Minear is solidifying them and making them now seem intentional in-universe. The showrunners are actively giving this theory substance (and Minear reposted the yt video so ..!) Points for Bucktommy.

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Parallels

I'm not giving these a lot of weight because they can happen on accident a lot of the time I think, but I figured I'd mention a few recent ones since it was already mentioned that some accidental things are being made to be seen as noteworthy now. I also only found a few so.

sahtinekryz post Madney/Bathena parallel in 8x15

In 8x15 Maddie and Athena both listened/watched as their s/o was laying down in immense pain, paralleling Tommy watching Buck collapsing on the camera at the end of the ep. In all instances, there was a barrier between the pair (glass, distance [only audio or visual]). Iirc Tommy's scene was actually decided on film day that they should show him watching Buck. Take from that what you will.

bucktommysource Try Again

[Buck in 5x18] "Is that really love? Right, shouldn't it be when you're at your worst, they're at their worst, you have every reason to give up and you still decide you want to try again"

[Buck in 8x11] "You want to try again?"

ambernotember I should go.

[Maddie talking to Chimney] "I should go."

[Tommy talking to Buck] "I should go"

firehose118 BuckTommy at Madney wedding

Buck and Tommy having a major scene Maddie and Chimney's hospital wedding implies a parallel between their love and the love that Maddie and Chimney have. Narratively, if this parallel holds, it makes no sense to not have Buck and Tommy reconcile/be endgame

That's all for now! Feels really short so I know I missed a lot, but I wanted to get this out now so I'll have to come back or make a continuation post.

I'm planning on making a part 2 with Buddie theories so if y'all had a theory you want me to add then definitely comment/put it in the tags; it would help me make a bit of a longer post than this one (and save me a lot of research time lmao) <3. Same with if you have anything you think I should add to a BuckTommy cont. post.

Setting aside long-term spec, I really don't think that we've seen the last of the Buck/Tommy relationship. All of Tommy's minor reappearances hint at him doing something, and that is really undeniable. These theories are all of course about a BuckTommy romantic relationship, but even if we don't get that, all signs point to them making up at least platonically.

Also please no shipping discourse in the notes, these are all just theories written in good fun, not meant to say one ship is better than the other <3

[radfemdaki]

thoughts about melanie martinez as an ex fan of hers.

i feel sick for supporting an (alleged) rapist.

but if a guy who states 'She never said no' to an alleged victim, the general public would regard him as a rapist. because men in power deny rape and sexual assault allegations all the time.

even though statistically men commit a vast majority of sexual assault, rape and abuse crimes as a radfem , i feel inclined to speak up for female victims who have been assaulted by other women.

anyways.

i was in 8th grade when i listened to my first melanie martinez song. back then i didn't care too much about women's rights (as many pre teens do...) I just wanted music to listen to while i imagined my original characters in animated music videos depicting their childhood. her album crybaby helped me visualize (a rather crappy) storyboard that followed the lyrics to songs such as 'dollhouse' or 'playdate' . a friend recommended that i listen to her more , so i did . i listened to her albums k-12 and crybaby.

my friends and i would share melanie martinez songs with one another as a way to explain our trauma from our family lives, school, homework, life in general and i would make vent playlists using her songs . i had two original characters who were based off of the songs playdate and high school sweethearts respectively. i've had numerous friends look me straight in the eye and scoff: "you look like you would listen to melanie martinez'

and they were right. i did.

i loved martinez's work. codeword: loved i took great comfort in all her songs. i played it while i was learning to drive. i used it as background noise while drawing. i would stay up late listening to her songs, getting sucked into the rabbit hole of music that her albums were. i had fanfiction with titles of lyrics. i had 2 releases and 36 songs in my liked playlist

i told my mother about her while we were spending time together. i obviously didn't expect her to enjoy martinez's music because of our different tastes, but i hoped she would at least be open to listening me talk about her. and then she reveals to me that melanie martinez raped her best friend, timothy heller.

being a martinez fan, i immediately rejected the statement that martinez assaulted heller. i argued that nothing was ever proven in court and timothy was lying for attention and had accused other singers of assault- like billie ellish.

i continued to hold onto a neutral opinion on the allegations . i really didn't want to believe the artist i connected with so deeply could hurt someone that bad. melanie is famous so obviously people are going to want to tear her down and try to take the spotlight from her!

that was until i actually started to listen to timothy. i was recommended a video on youtube and decided to listen. timothy is very intelligent and eloquently spoken and she debunked lies about her, spoke about how coming out affected the jobs she had, where she hid, the harassment that she faced, and how difficult it was for her to compile evidence and remember. ...And then compared to shallow 'non apology' melanie posted with the exact words: "she never said no" i felt slowly inclined to believe timothy. she has my full support and i stopped listening to her.

it seemed like melanie never recieved backlash. she just changed her crybaby persona to the weird bug thing she has going on now and moved on.

unfortunately only timothy and melanie know the truth about their relationship. i can't put in my own two cents

i feel disgusted. betrayed that i didn't believe earlier. that i loved this woman and held onto her songs since it comforted me. now when i listen i just get an ick . her singing feels so condescending and i feel like she 's mocking and looking down on me. and yes , it 's me being nitpicky but i never enjoyed how often she used the curse 'fuck' in her songs . it 's very childish , but i 'm allowed to criticize a rapist .

[beesmygod]

today is webcomics day. i am bea and i make "A Ghost Story" - part 1: pre-gaming

webcomic day is a yearly celebration of the art form concocted by the screentones podcast team as a way for people to see how the sausage gets made. my webcomic "a ghost story" has been running for over 10 years, and yet i still don't think i can say i am good at making a webcomic. regardless, the comic is getting made because otherwise i become very, very sick in the head. today i would like to share with you the process of making a page of "A Ghost Story" from start to finish. either this demystifies the process or will make you think im so cool and strong for doing this 2x a week. instead of reblogging this one post until it gets very long, i will be posting individual updates that i will then compile and post on my personal website. block the tags now if you HATE comics and want them to EXPLODE.

if you have any questions, even things like "what the fuck are you even talking about" feel free to ask. i want to feel confident in what i make again and i think sometimes interrogation from an outside source is really

---

that said, let's get started. wait just kidding i want a cup of coffee first, hold on.

ok now im ready. i have a big glass of water. i have coffee. i have a headset for the parts of work that don't involve typing words. i can't type words and listen to some streamer babble in my ear at the same time, so it has to be instrumental music or nothing. i just took my meds so they should kick in after about 30 mins. i woke up late today, which is weird and annoying. but maybe i can work late instead.

first off, i need to know where i'm going beyond this one page. if i dont know where im going with something, then i usually create something that sucks that i have to deal with later. hold on my internet died, i have to reset the router. ok, anyway.

what's rattling around in my brain is that not only do i have to deal with maxine's current predicament, i am also dealing with multiple plot elements i need to wrap back around to from the previous chapter. luckily, im about to put maxine down for a nap, which means i can get back to those other elements:

i need to finish the exposition from the three ankou characters for this story arc establishing their motivations as the oppositional force in the story. the "villain" is not these three specifically, but their boss. they need to have a loose understanding of what's going on in order to communicate this to the audience. god this started turning into a huge ass paragraph so i'll just keep it short there.

we've jumped back to before jack's horrible day from the first chapter of this storyline so we have to make our way back toward that and then lapping it, which means wrapping up his various open threads like:

feeding victoria and learning something new about her

finding out alice is a very exceptional employee who is getting many awards

watching valdo call lily while interrupting her during something personal to ask her for help with maxine's situation.

jack meeting with valdo and lily the day after they first met so jack can just tell them straight up that lily has 4 sisters she doesnt know about.

help that girl with her poltergeist problem. remember that. i've had jokes for this rattling in my head for like 4 years. im going insane.

and also the fucking tilberi!!! that has a point its going somewhere!!! there's a larger menace here!!!

other things to set up the climax of this storyline. sexual tensions, hints at larger emotional problems not immediately evident to the reader

lots of moving parts. and i feel like im moving in slow motion to get to them. i can see them all weaving together in my head, its the process of putting that onto paper that's proving difficult.

ok that took an hour starting and stopping. -_- let me write the next part as i keep brainstorming on how to approach this page. taking a "rubber duck" approach to this might help. heres an image from the last page i worked on (i have a 5 page buffer rn so the site does not match the finished pages) to get us semi-situated.

also because images will help people understand what skill level we're working with here. i need to be able to communicate an idea to the audience; if the art also looks good on top of that, then that's just an added bonus. but the ability to communicate my ideas is sometimes hampered by my lack of artistic skill or comics language ineptitude. like those speech bubbles kind of fucking suck but at a certain point you have to just hit print on what you're working on in order to keep your already glacial pace.

webcomics is a tightrope act where you're also spinning 4 plates at once. the trick is to keep the audience from realizing how many actually fall or how wobbly they all are. the act sucks but technically its not a failure.

[idontwanttospoiltheparty]

Re: your post about JohnandPaul. If you do wish to share them, I'd love to know your headcanons about John and Paul's feelings for each other. ( I do get your discomfort about sharing though and yeah, I also miss the long discussions and metas from back when Get Back came out. It feels like, except you and some others, most of my favorite blogs have moved on from the fandom)

I've been sitting on this ask for several days now.

First of all I hear you, re:blogs moving on. It's understandable, but it's also sad when my brain does not want to give this stuff up any time soon lol.

In my post I talked about having specific headcanons about their feelings for each other, but the truth is, it's more like I imagine hundreds of very specific somewhat plausible scenarios, while not actually fully buying into any of them.

I always struggle with how sure people are of some definite timeline of McLennon because I just don't see how it's in any way clear: the most compelling evidence that at least John had Those Feelings™ for Paul is stuff he said after the fact (compiled with the stronger case for John being attracted to men in general) – so, if I choose to interpret his words in that way, I'm still not very close to knowing when he developed this attraction. Let alone concluding anything substantial about Paul's feelings.

(And no, I really don't find the two of them saying the other looked good when they met particularly compelling. Appearance plays a huge role in first impressions, regardless of attraction.)

So I guess, it's more that I have open questions I return to again and again, for which I try to construct hypothetical answers that make sense to me. Aside from that bigger timeline question, here's a few more specific ones:

From what I've gathered researching the topic, listening to psychonauts speak about their trips, the acid mindset very much romanticizes all forms of human connection (among other things). I think that's probably what was going on during those "I know."–"I know." sessions John and Paul had on LSD. With that in mind, how might that have mixed in with John trying to understand how he felt about Paul? Could it have confused him? Opened him up to the idea? "Appeased" him for a while? (and again, the answer here would depend on the timeline of feelings in the end)

I still lean towards "Paul is not meaningfully attracted to men" (or at least "Paul valued other aspects of his relationship with John much more than physical attraction") – with that in mind I do kind of ask myself what Paul thought his relationship with John was exactly. Like, I don't pretend it was a standard, run-of-the-mill friendship, so I wonder a lot what his end-goal was, how he saw both of them continuing into later stages of life. The way he talks about the breakup, equating John choosing Yoko with John leaving Paul, speaks to something somewhat true about most couples that marry – but why did he not anticipate that before? What was different? Also, for $20 don't copout with "hurr hurr cause Cyn didn't matter"

Paul's various takes on The John Question continue to puzzle me. On the one hand, it sort of seems to me like Paul would have had enough context clues at the time to get that John was attracted to men, because some of our evidence for it is evidence he would have had access to – he also indicated at least once that John was in fact kind of openly bicurious??? (note: that rant keeps me up at night. Could write a whole thesis on it and also it's so fucking funny) On the other, Paul is pretty insistent that the rumours are Not True and he's not actually the only person to shoot them down like that. (May Pang, Julia Baird, Tony Bramwell, Hunter Davies off the top of my head) It shouldn't be a stretch of the imagination that a man born in the 1940s might have trouble rearranging the image he's made of his dead best friend so drastically (or in a way that might feel drastic to him). So what is it? Is Paul obfuscating the question to protect John's reputation/because he thinks the curiosity is in poor taste or does he genuinely not buy into it? I'm not actually sure whether he's weighed in on this since Yoko's "John Was BI!!!!" reveal. Has this stance developed over the years? And if I assume Paul does know about John's sexuality: does he in fact think John had feelings for him? I do think this is a thing he would never talk about if he did so it feels like there would be no way of knowing either way. But it also makes me wonder about the barriers he might have set up in his head to avoid that very question – because the truth is that if John had Those Feelings™ for Paul and Paul never knew, that's sort of the second-worst case scenario from Paul's perspective, right after John having never liked him in the first place.

AND THEN THERE'S JOHN. Because just because Paul may not have picked up on it, doesn't mean John wasn't putting anything down. But he could also very much have been sending mixed signals from his own end, right? And again, acid mindset + mid 60s Free Love shit: in that culture, how much could John making advances be perhaps taken as Flowery Friendship? Did he justify it to himself that way? Or was John actually violently shoving all of that down? Was he truly capable of that?

It really never ends – I'm not certain of ANYTHING, but give me a proposal (ie. "In My Life is about Paul") and I'll talk myself into circles exploring the ins and outs of that hypothetical.

[lacanianism]

you’ve probably already made one but would love to see a “young thug is a woman” evidence compilation

oh man. so i actually haven't.

let's start with this: i was on lastfm looking at young thug photos and came across this. which Instantly made me very suspicious about his gender identity. sorry i have a transdar and i'm a genius

so i decided to do some research. first thing that comes up is this:

now, i already knew the jeffery album had a shoot in a dress because the cover is him in a dress (which he later, when homophobiad, said was NOT a dress. it was.)

turns out young thug used to wear exclusively women's clothing:

he wore women's clothes from age 12, and was very gender nonconforming throughout his earlier career (he says 90% of his wardrobe is women's clothes)

however, he stopped basically entirely post-2016. he speaks on it again in this interview. he says that his son went to his babymama asking if he could wear nail polish, she said "no, why do you want to wear nail polish?" son says: "because my daddy does it." (devastating) subsequently his babymama threatens to not let him see his son anymore unless he changes his style, she says he's being a bad influence and making his son less of a man.

thug values his position as a father and it's a huge part of his identity, he's got six kids. when asked in an interview if he could name all his kid's bdays in 6 seconds, he laughs and says "no. i could do it in four."

the thing is, part of it is his presence. like, womanhood i think is something someone can embody regardless of stature/form/whatever, like, he just IS a woman, look at him. he feels most comfortable in women's clothes, with long hair and a septum piercing. and this CLEARLY is not an instance of crossdressing for sexual benefit.

in this article it's revealed that he calls his gang member friends "babe" and "lover,"

the simple fact is also that he just...looks girly. he always has. and dressing like a girl just accentuates it. he's also incredibly beautiful but that's just an aside.

considering the onslaught of homophobic rhetoric thug received WHEN he was wearing dresses/blouses/etc, the fact that he butched it up (lmao) is completely unsurprising to me:

above he says something that might seem mildly homophobic, but he's just worried about the blowback lil nas x was facing when he came out, because he KNEW how difficult it was to be ridiculed for your sexuality. he does say "if you think i'm gay, you've already misjudged" but we already know he's 1. a woman and 2. closeted.

okay, next step is a video:

"you heard i was gay??" <- the least convincing "i'm not gay" i've ever heard

and because we're having fun here: my young thug butch-femme scale

there's many bars that are suspect as fuck. he also once said when he was in prison all he did was do drugs and fuck? but it's only men, so.

^ this one is just funny but also.... freudian slips exist..

he did an ad for calvin klein womenswear:

Watch this and tell me it's not some girl's instagram story:

girly outfits...

VERY girly video featuring a hair flip (omfg)

(this whole post does not even go into a fraction of his gay activities btw, that would be a whole other post)

what i'd like to say to conclude is this:

he will never come out.

he values being a father so much, it's a huge part of his identity

people close to him throughout his whole life have been homophobic towards his wearing girl clothes

he's only gone farther into the closet as he's aged.

im actually 100% sure there's more to this that i'm forgetting at present.

anyway to me young thug is a single mother.

[krokaxe]

do you have any advise on stopping copying? its happened to me too but i dont want to lock my accounts or delete my work

Assuming you mean other people copying your work? Don't delete anything. Leave a distinct timeline of your work around.

If you want to stop material from being immediately accessible, you can make posts private (at least on Tumblr). It's what I do to keep my work around— so I can access it Immediately if plagiarism continues after its been hidden— across the board. That way I can make posts public and reblog for visibility if the need arises; it keeps the original dates there for reference.

This is going to be long so I'll put the rest under the cut.

I have a lot of posts set to private and fics archived to prevent my material from being ripped off that way. However, if you have DMs/conversations with people where you discuss the work that they're copying, make a record of it. Screenshot and do a video screen grab. You might have to do a long scroll if it's on the likes of Tumblr or Discord, but it's better to have a cohesive reel of the conversation for the sake of transparency.

Now, unfortunately people who copy other people's work don't often take kindly to being called out. It depends on the severity. The only reason I haven't named people directly is because I'd rather simply present the compiled Evidence to those who point it out to me.

However, if it continues— or travels further into the audacity zone— I will simply make an accessible list with compiled evidence. I strongly suggest you make 'case files' for yourself in much the same way.

In the era of call out posts being made to wage attacks over arguments, stick to the facts. As much as it is a personal matter, I'd suggest keeping any personal commentary out of it. It's easier to digest as X + Y = Z.

The thing about plagiarism is to remember a lot of people are desperate for internet clout. Like, deranged levels of equating numbers/attention to success. We all want attention for our work— hence we post anywhere at all— but the apparent need to be First and The Person Who Does The Thing is pretty blatant amidst those who would rather rip off others than put in the work.

Being good at anything requires effort— a willingness to put time and energy into learning. People who copy don't do that. They want rewards and validation; they're not doing what they do for creative integrity.

Block evasion is something you will likely be facing, given these sorts don't be like to be told no. Unfortunately there's not much we can do about that— it's not like people who steal directly from others will give a fuck about set boundaries.

So, in short:

Compile evidence: your work vs the copied work. Links, screenshots, video grabs etc. A timeline is your best bet for relaying plagiarism. If you need help compiling easy to understand comparisons, you'll have to DM me off anon. I won't be doing that publicly because it would only be used for avoidance purposes lmao.

Block the offending parties across the board. Including from any sideblogs and the like.

Don't delete your work! You can hide posts/archive most things now. You may need it to reference back to.

Don't stop creating. People will Always do this one way or another; don't drop what you love to do just because there's people who are so entitled as to try and take advantage, yk?

As I've said before, people who plagiarise aren't doing what they do because they want to join in. It's an entitlement issue— they want what they perceive to be a Reward without bothering to work for it. There's no joy in that.

I truly have no time for people who plagiarise lmao. Just remember that it says a lot about them as people.

@krokaxe self tag for rb purposes

[charcubed]

I really liked your "Dean is Bisexual" post and also your Chuck Meta. I think you're pretty cool. Do you think you'll ever compile a post about how spn is queercoding, and not baiting? No worries if not or anything I just like your thoughts and that topic really gets me fired up lol

(Anon's referencing this Dean post [I assume] and of course this meta monstrosity)

Thank you so much!! :') I can't tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you read my stuff and took the time to send these kind words! <3 Honored to know you like my thoughts!

Re: that topic firing you up, oh boy do I relate lmaaaooo. The existence of the word "queerbaiting" pisses me off as a general rule and I want it abolished, and it extra pisses me off when it's used in SPN context.

I've written about how subtext and queercoding are inherent methods of canonicity in this article about Black Sails (no spoilers for the show), and I quote the evergreen passages when they're relevant–probably insufferably. But I've been thinking recently I need to pull those paragraphs and adapt them to a separate post or Tweet thread to get more eyes and brains thinking about the subject at large, because devaluing subtext/queercoding and perpetuating these bullshit discussions has become so pervasive.

Generally speaking though, I think chapter 2 of part 7 of the Chuck Won meta–aka the Destiel manifesto section lmfao–is the most directly I've talked about it in a context specifically and solely tailored to SPN's situation. I'm sure you read it... but I get what you mean in terms of maybe there being a need for a standalone post about it. Hm.

I think part of the reason I've only gone past the tip of that iceberg (so far) when already within that wider meta context is that the censorship argument and evidence feels paramount, y'know? The baseline problem at the end of the day is people saying subtext and queercoding aren't "good enough" and calling it bait, right? And that's both a fundamental misunderstanding of the purpose of those tools and a complete unawareness or disregard for their necessity. So by and large, people have been so conditioned to ascribe malice to writers–and to the SPN writers specifically–that censorship doesn't even occur to them as the real "big bad," if you will. "We're in 2022, why can't you just make it gay," etc. is the rallying cry with no acknowledgement of that fact that sometimes creators can't.

And like, forget about all of the many bitter strangers who don't know shit about fuck and are just parroting pervasive myths about SPN they see online; I wish they were reachable but most probably just aren't, though that doesn't stop me from trying to get to them lol. But there are people in this fandom who loudly say all over God's green Internet that SPN is queerbaiting, and for some bizarre reason they get very personally offended if they see anyone saying otherwise and angrily shade people accordingly. (Like me.) I've got a couple of short threads on Twitter where I posted about "queerbaiting" as a term here and here, and those posts were directly inspired by that sort of discourse.

So it's this weird situation where not only are the mocking strangers throwing the word "queerbaiting" around but also so are the SPN fans, simply because they need an easy way to label or summarize their anger and hurt. And then those fans feel ~their emotions are being invalidated~ when they're told "SPN isn't queerbaiting" as they disparage or call into question the remarkable narrative we were given. In the name of not wanting to feel "invalidated" themselves, they invalidate the story. They've bought into the lie that its queer content is not "good enough" to count or to defend as staunch truth because of years of baggage from conflicting outside messages (which I am sympathetic to, don't get me wrong).

All of it is bonkers bananas. We need more unfuckable stubborn bastard energy in this house, in my opinion. Construct an argument! Trust your eyes and your brain! Know your shit and know it's correct until/unless someone can present better evidence from the text itself! Andrew Dabb himself could look me in the eye and say Dean isn't bisexual and I'd call bullshit and unfurl a scroll of my evidence! Fuck it!

And ultimately sometimes I just want to hold up Cas' love confession and wave it in front of people's eyes like "THE SHIP IS LITERALLY CANON AND YOU'RE STILL CALLING IT 'BAIT'? HELLO??? THE ANGEL SAID A VERY GAY I LOVE YOU. I THINK THAT COUNTS SIGNIFICANTLY. IF YOU'RE A FAN IGNORING THIS THEN THE ERASURE IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE"

CASTIEL DIDN'T DIE FOR THIS. Unironically he literally died so that this debate could be put to rest as much as possible!

But anyway. ANYWAY.

Sorry, this TOTALLY got away from me because this topic drives me insane ajkfndsjdfnkajnf

Buuuuuutttttt I'm gonna ruminate on your question! Will I compile a post? Should I compile a post? Hell, maybe the solution is for me to pull chunks of that meta chapter and just tweak it to be standalone on social media. I dunno.

We'll see! If I get any louder about this, it'll potentially be made into a new ground zero of fandom fuckery... but when's that ever stopped me before, right? Half the time my motto ends up being "someone's gotta say it and it might as well be me."

Whew okay apologies for how deranged this is and thank you again!!!! <333

[wigglesforsquiggles]

Mini Essay about fans shipping content creators under the cut. It's a topic I've wanted to talk about for a while, and I finally wrote about it. Sorry for the rant, and feel free to skip past if you want :D

Some content creators are fine with being shipped, and that's understandable - if they're confident in who they are, find it funny or simply don't care, then i admire their decision and move on. However, when ccs put their foot down, ask for the shipping to stop there are always people who claim what they're doing isn't hurting anyone, that the cc's won't even see their discussions or creations, so "why should i stop doing it"

I have been shipped irl and no matter how well you know the person doing it, it can still be uncomfortable as fuck

My very close friends told me and my best friend that we should date because "you'd make such a good couple, your height difference is perfect!!". Both of us were closeted at the time, and it was both really weird and invasive - I spent hours worrying how they knew I was queer, what behaviours had hinted it to them, how many other people could tell, et ceterae. It also affected my friendship with my best friend, as we didn't want to hang out alone in case our friends used that as "shipping fodder", and was a very stressful experience in general

This was with a small group people I knew extremely well, and could talk directly to about the issue. I cannot imagine the stress of this for content creators. Instead of 10 or so people making teasing comments and prodding questions, it's a constant barrage of strangers asking for extremity invasive and personal information about your relationship with a friend, examining your every move and word that comes out of your mouth for evidence of their otp being real

If you're not queer, then you worry about being called homophobic or accused of queer-baiting. If you are queer, then your agency to come out when your comfortable has been removed - if you do decide to, then fans will use it as evidence of their ship being real, and fuel the flames of speculation more. Or, if coming out "ruins" the ship, they could fear intense backlash to coming out, and be accused of faking their identity.

Shipping can be a funny and enjoyable experience. looking back on it now, i can laugh at the experience w my friends, because we talked about not liking being almost forced into a relationship. i joke w them about it, but the others know that it's a topic we don't enjoy being brought up constantly. It's a similar thing with ccs; If they give permission and actively encourage fanfics and art of it, then go full force and use you're creativity.

However, creating clip compilations and replying to their unrelated posts about their relationship, when they've spoken against being shipped is a different matter, and needs to be treated seriously.

tldr: stop shipping people who don't want to be shipped. It's not funny or interesting, you're just being pricks who don't respect peoples' boundaries and lack the ability to view ccs as living breathing people

[anamericangirl]

Holy shit dude. While I'm glad this post bothered you so much that you couldn't let it go for over three months and came right for it when you remade, you're not doing yourself any favors by showing up to prove yet again that you're just an anti-semitic asshole that simps for terrorists because you have such a hate boner for Israel.

I'm literally laughing at you right now for thinking what you've done is compile "evidence" and are now "dropping it" on us because this is the sorriest attempt at a save face I've ever seen. One of the most pathetic Tumblr essays ever written.

"I said when this all started that “when the war crimes really get going, people like this will do actual backbends and somersaults to justify it”, something to that tune."

To quote you here: Irony you can taste, and it only gets worse! You have no self awareness dude. Hamas commits war crimes on the daily and has been for years and you're such a pathetic little kiss ass for them. You fucking did backbends and somersaults to justify them in the post I shared from you above. Hamas is lucky to have an idiot like you to depend on to make pathetic attempts to justify their unjustifiable violence and countless war crimes. You didn't condemn them at all and still haven't. And no, mentioning in passing that "rape and murder is bad" as you go off on Israel and how much you hate them and how much they deserved what happened doesn't count. That's just another pathetic little save face from you that anyone with a brain can see through.

No fucking way am I reading your entire shitload of nonsense, especially since right away you are just blatantly wrong and trying to make people think you didn't say something we can all very clearly see that you said.

"but nothing I said is untrue and it certainly doesn’t constitute as supporting or justifying rape and murder to say “Action A produced result B, which produced consequence C”. Nothing I said supports rape and murder at all - it’s actually my main point, that these things are bad regardless of who does them;"

Everything you said in untrue and unfortunately for you I'm not dumb enough to believe you when you say "all I said was A produced B and that led to consequences! My whole point was rape and murder and bad" because I can actually read and that's not even close to what you said.

Your whole idiotic rant in the first place was how Israel is bad because Palestinians civilians are being killed in this war. Your whole rant was Israel is bad for killing Palestinians. Your only mention of what Hamas did to the Israelis civilians was "but God forbid some Israelites find out the hard way they're not god's chosen people, god forbid there's consequences to the actions of the Israeli state and our funding of them."

And you said that shit right after you condemned the ideas that civilians deaths of Palestinians are collateral damage and casualties of war. So yeah can't say that about Palestinians but when Israeli citizens are targeted and raped and murdered that's just them "finding out the hard way they aren't god chosen people."

And you are also one of the stupidest people I've ever had the misfortune of interacting with. Anyone who actually thinks Israel is committing genocide is an idiot. If Israel wanted to commit genocide Palestine would have been gone on October 8th.

And this is another reason you're full of shit. You're all mad because you bought into propaganda that Israel is genociding Palestinians but you're too stupid to understand that the entire goal of Hamas and Palestine is wipe Israel off the face of the planet. It's not a secret. They've been trying to commit a genocide of the Israelis for years but you don't care about that because you're a disgusting anti-semite and those Jews deserve it, right? If genocide is what it takes for them to "find out the hard way they are god's chosen people" then so be it? They deserve whatever Hamas does. But don't they dare try to defend themselves and if any Palestinians die in this war that's just blood on Israel's hands and evidence of genocide. Who cares if they get raped and murdered? Defending themselves or doing anything in retaliation isn't acceptable.

But just so everyone knows you think rape and murder is bad regardless of who does it!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, that doesn't cancel out your bullshit. It's still really obvious what you really think.

If you actually cared about the death of Palestinians you'd be mad at Hamas for using them as human shields, which they admit to doing. Hamas is directly responsible for most of the Palestinian deaths but you're too far up their ass to care.

As for your little claim that Israel "knew" about the attack, I'm so glad you have an article from the New York Times to back that up. You a simp for the mainstream media too?

By the way, is this you?

I guess the MSM is only credible when they feed your anti-semitic hate boner.

But also even if they knew something was going to happen that doesn't mean they could stop it you dumbass.

As I said earlier I'm not reading the rest of your drivel because I don't give a fuck what you think about Israel. Hate them for all I care. The problem is for some reason you can't actually condemn Hamas for their actions that you claim you think are bad.

You can't condemn them for their rape and murder of innocent Israelis civilians in the largest mass killing of Jews since the holocaust.

You condemn Israel for what you're stupid enough to think is a genocide but you can't condemn Palestine for their desire and attempt to commit a Jewish genocide.

You pretend you care about alleged Israeli war crimes but you can't condemn the endless war crimes committed by Hamas.

Saying "I don't like Hamas and rape and murder is bad" is not a condemnation when you spew so much hate at Israel for doing things not even half as bad as what Hamas has done and say shit like "god forbid some Israelis find out the hard way they're not god's chosen people." If Palestinians die that's genocide but if Israeli's get raped and murdered that's just the consequences of their own actions.

You are a disgusting person. Like most Hamas simps. But you're worse than most because you actually think you're morally superior for falling for propaganda and hating Jews to the point where you foam at the mouth at the thought of them daring to defend themselves and not getting wiped off the face of the earth. Hamas is lucky to have an idiot like you to spread their lies and justify their war crimes and terrorists attacks that you *totally* don't support.

I will be blocking you again (even if you cry about it like you did last time as if you hadn't blocked me first) and I sincerely hope you lose another three months of sleep over it.

Anarchists got their panties in a twist the other day, including this dude, because I said they were justifying Hamas in their treatment of Israeli civilians because “government bad” and then they go and unironically say shit like this. And all the same anarchists who cried “we’re not saying that! 😭😭” are supporting this dumbass take.

Oh the Israel government is so bad for “attacking” Palestine so they deserve to be attacked by Hamas. Israel is trying to take out Palestine but Palestine is apparently not trying to do anything to big bad Israel.

“The Palestinians are facing extermination!!! But not Israel!! Palestine is innocent!! God forbid some Israelites find out the hard way they’re not God’s chosen people”

This degenerate is practically supporting the rape and murder of innocent people. That’s how “some Israelites” are “finding out the hard way.”

And he has the audacity to call conservatives morally bankrupt when he’s literally here justifying a terrorist attack.

I think if anarchy makes you support terrorist organizations in their endeavors you’re objectively the morally bankrupt one here.

[nonegenderleftpain]

I have never found any compelling historical bisexual lesbians. I have been genuinely trying to research and understand because I want to be accepting and open minded but my lesbianism is because I'm NOT attracted to men, and the experience of not being attracted to men is isolating! And I want a word to communicate that and I don't see any reason why bisexual can't be a whole and complete identity on its own! So please god share some research that I am NOT finding and change my mind because I am willing to listen! But the arguments are always just "you're exclusionary scum kys" and the source is always "bro trust me" and I'm sick of it!!

So I never like linking carrds or shit when people ask this question, but this page has a nice neat list of sources that have been compiled that are gonna save me some spoons I just don't have at the moment. I'll also try to find and re-pin my own post explaining why I personally identify the way I do, so check for that. Sources aside, your best source is always, always going to be talking to genderqueer lesbians in real life. Our voices are constantly silenced as sapphics - you know that, you are one. So listening to the stories of other people is a primary source. When bisexual lesbians tell you that this is what we are, that's a primary source that won't MAKE IT into the academic sources you're asking for. My sources are the 70yo transsexual crossdresser at the local club, telling me about his relationship with womanhood and his lesbian relationship with his fellow transsexuals that didn't know what the phrase "cis man" meant and didn't care to know. And butches like Bear Bergman, who have been educating on lesbian identities for decades and went on to happily marry cis men (please GD read hir book Butch Is A Noun and break down this mentality that isolation is what defines us rather than connection). There are other sources below.

https://bi-lesbian.carrd.co/#sources

I know what you mean about the experience being isolating! I do. My experience is also isolating. Being a transmasc lesbian, a subset of a subset, in an area where lesbianism of any sort is treated with violence is scary. We are not at odds here. We're siblings in this. As my old explanation shares (and I will pin it again), my gender identity is fucking complicated, as is my manhood, and my cis male partner I've been with for nine years, through transition from a pansexual little girl to a lesbian man, is not going to leave me. You wanna talk about isolating! But that isolation isn't what defines me. Someone else using lesbian as a term isn't taking it from you. Identity labels are descriptive, not prescriptive. I am a lesbian. I am also panromantic. I'm bisexual, and my fellow male butches deserve to be acknowledged and respected when I take them into my arms and into my bed. People are messy! People are confusing! People are not just pieces of compelling evidence used to approve or disprove our lived experiences. With all due respect, you do not get to decide if a lesbian is really a lesbian based on how compelling you find hir life story. Just as I don't get to decide you're not one.

Lesbian is a word that works just fine. Most everyone is going to know what you mean. If someone assumes that you love men, correct them. And if they assume it because someone else is living their authentic life, correct them viciously. Put the blame on the people trying to force you to be someone you're not, not on the people entitled men and cis lesbians tm are using as a scapegoat. I am sorry your experience has been isolating. You are not alone. Reach across that gap instead of withdrawing from other lesbians living their lives differently from yours, and clasp hands. That's how we build a less isolating community, that allows for more room to breathe and less people trying to decide if your isolation is *compelling* enough to belong.

[dooodle-bug]

Pov Doodle compiles all her rambles from discord about the vellumentals into a singular post (it's, evidently, looooonng-)

General

-AIGHT SO. I've been thinking about making human designs for em, but at the same time I already like their animal designs, so I decided to just make them shape shifting gods so I can do whatever I want.

-Then I thought to myself: hmm maybe these guys are deities that don't actually have a solid form and instead are just fucking Energy taking an organic physical form of whatever tf they want bc they're gods.

-Then that led to my big brain thought that: Mario didn't ACTUALLY kill fucking gods, rather he simply destroyed their physical form bc their spirits or whatever are Immortal. So, as thanks for releasing their physical origami asses from Olly, they gave him the Bibliofold before returning back to heaven or whatever as their spirit forms-

-They're just Spirits that can't die so fuck you mario you didn't actually kill them-

-In a way, he kinda SAVED them by putting them down and being forced to live in pain from being folded and fucked up-

-I don't think they're evil OR good, rather, neutral. Their job is to maintain order in the physical world using their elemental abilities. They would never "pick sides" as they just want to keep things in balance and do stuff like. Not end the world-

-They actually don't even WANT to pick sides, they just want everything in balance! In fact, the only time they would even pick a side would be when some serious threat happens that threatens EVERYONE aheem aheem Olly-

-I haven't completely decided on any exact measurements, but they're certainly gonna be titans! As big as they are in game! Although they might be a tad bit smaller than my legion-

-The vellumentals were basically here since the beginning of time and tasked with Creating the world. Idk if there's any other pm lore regarding godly figures but that's gonna be my hc until then. Anyways, when they did this, they Descended from the heavens(?) Wherever them paper gods live up in the clouds, having no form or anything, just being spirit energy shit. They later took a physical form to better fit with the stuff in the paper world, this being those Animals. While they DO have human forms, they rarely use them due to wanting to keep themselves as something. Otherworldly and inhuman. In a majestic, godly kinda way as to show their Dominance over this world and really define themselves to the paper folk.

-Oh yeah. As I mentioned, they RARELY are ever seen as humans, only animal forms bc fuck you that's why. -They were worshiped heavily in the old paper world, however such worshiping has died down due to the technological developments and people just Not caring as much. Also probably because they went into hiding in their respective locations. Why? Nobody knows. Perhaps because they were disgusted by their creations, but who knows... I sure don't

Hmm. I think that everything inorganic (buildings n shit) were made by the paper folk. Hell, I think the vellumentals straight up went to the paper folk and went "We're your gods. We made you this world to live in. Thank us." They're like greek gods. They went and saved everyone and immediately expected payment and gratitude (to which the paperfolk did, of course)-

-They're the physical forms of gods that are stuck with a bunch of ungrateful bastards </3

-Oh yeah! Once they Achieved Their Physical forms, they were stuck on that lil paper world until it was destroyed. A small price to pay in order to see your creations and world grow over the course of thousands of years. Alas, it was not meant to last.

-Their bodies, unlike themselves, are mortal and tethered to the earth although show no signs of age and can shift whenever they want-

-They were Especially Close with one particular toad! King Shroomses, known to be the Only paperfolk to ever adorn the power of the vellumentals! Why? Because they saw potential in him to do almost Godly things to help progess with the world-

-They, of course, have these elemental abilities of unimaginable power, however most of this power is for creation, not fighting. They RARELY fight unless amongst each other but that's a different story-. They simply wanted to create their little paper realm.

-But they are MORE than capable of fighting those pesky little paperfolk when need be (ex someone challenges their Authority or tries fucking everyone up.)

-ALSO. How did they create paperfolk? Who knows...their magic and the environment they created seemed to have done the trick of Creating Life-

-They're like greek gods in a way; aint nobody better than them and anyone who claims to be should be punished-

-Also I feel like if anyone even does ever pray or anything to them, chances are they're not gonna respond, not bc they hate them, but bc they just choose to not interfere with the world as to keep the Flow of it-

-Paperfolk probably only really pray n worship and stuff for the sake of showing Gratitude they get to live another day n all- It's a sense of a "I made you and protect you and make sure you live you should thank me"-

-OH YEAH ALSO. How did Olly manage to fold these seemingly overpowered gods? Well, he took them by surprise and used magic they had never fucking seen before. Origami was never their creation- it was man made therefore they never cared for it. Also they were weakened heavily from being in hiding for so long, never seeing a challenger in ages-

-Anyways, as force folded beings, Olly straight up drained them of their magic and weakened them even MORE. Olly then took that magic (in the form of the bibliofolds, which he just fucking ripped away from them) in order to harness this elemental power, something critical in refolding the world.

-They, of course, were in so much fucking pain and confusion from that, especially by being fucking stapled, which prevented them from unfolding-

-Unlike other beings, who when folded are brainwashed and forced to Olly's whims, these guys were GODS although weakened-, so they just went feral, caring for nobody anymore and just straight up killing anyone in their path on sight. Why? Bc it was basically Survival Mode for them. They never experienced anything so horrifying and unreal like this before. So they did the Animal thing of "It's Kill or Be Killed".

-Oh yeah also! They were just in Pain when Mario and Olivia came along, still seeing them as a threat. (Unrelated but bc their powers were stripped from them and went all berserk, of course the world fell out of balance but that doesn't matter rn-) SO, they were eventually Put Down, releasing their Actual Spirits by removing their bodies, now regaining their og godly strength and giving them the bibliofold n stuff that Olly took from them in order to help them stop Olly before departing back to the heavens to regenerate and recooperate. They'll regain their physical forms later.

-This bibliofold magic, of course, was speshul, Olivia could FEEL their spirits from reading it n stuff meaning they were basically on her side-

Also the reason why my legion are most likely gonna be bigger than my vellumentals is because they're not SUPPOSED to be. As in, my legion is not SUPPOSED to exist- NOBODY is supposed to be bigger than the gods themselves! And having these artificial monsters being absolute behemoths is just something so striking and distrubing...They were never supposed to exist! The world was never MADE for them!

-The Stationery Giants are beings that never even existed until now! They're like an invasive species in this paper world! In fact, they're almost like gods in a way. Almost as if they could challenge the vellumentals themselves with their power and size!

-Hmm. I think that, now individually in terms of dynamics, they're all sorta one big friend group? I mean I can see Ice bein the Big Boss of em-

Ice Vellumental

-Ice is gonna be the Big Boss of the crew and is essential a mob boss, but like. more godlike and majestic. Anyhow, I can see Ice being, coincidentally, all Cold n stoic from everyone else, rather distant and professional n shit

-They, despite being da boss, would rather be alone, finding joy in solitude and curling up in a ball

-They're also quite Strict and To the point. They are also pretty emotionally detached from others

-ALSO, despite being so cold n disconnected, they have a surprisingly high temper, easily angered and frustrated by the others, possibly due to their strict motif or their lack of emotional connection

-But I can imagine they'd be a bit of a sweetheart once you get to know em- Even if they're strict and professional, they really honestly just want what's best for everyone, even if they express it via tough love-

Fire Vellumental

-I see em as being almost the opposite, always jumping around like they're on fire (ha ha very funny.).

-They'd be incredibly energetic and hyper, always wanting to move around and set things ablaze. They also never stop flying. ever.

-They're also much more Playful and Funloving than Ice, particularly enjoying dancing

-I think Fire might be similar to HP in the sense that yes, they know their fire is dangerous n shit, but not the the horrifying extent that it really is. Like they really enjoy playing around with people by lighting shit on fire-

-Hmm I also feel like Fire would be kinda outgoing? Like they feel like someone who's really confident and has this sorta flare, y'know?

Water Vellumental

-Hmm for Water, I'd say they're pretty fucking Chill- Like, not like Ice is in the sense their cold, but like, they're very calm and relaxed. Going with the flow if you will- I imagine they're more on the quite side and tend to just follow along with the others

-Also they'd have an unbelievably high level of tolorance for others being annoying, actively trying to Understand em-

-They're like that chill ass mom friend who just follows along the gang no matter how stupid they are-

Earth Vellumental

-They'd be much more stubborn in a way, not necessarily selfish or anything, but more so someone who has REALLY strong opinions and self advocates a lot-

-They would act as the voice of reason for the gang in a way, often being the one to cast judgement and do the talking I feel like they'd be kinda nice too? Not like, super passive, but still nice in a visible way-

-Also you could say they're very. Down to Earth and grounded in reality, unlike the others at times-

-They're realistic and reasonable. Also a bit bossy at times, when trying to get their point across, but still-

-Essentially boiled down to:

Earth: Down to earth

Water: Goes with the flow

Fire: Fucking moving around like their fire

Ice: Cool n collected.

And uhh, that's all! Thank you for reading if you did, I appreciate it!

[itsclydebitches]

Is buying the new Harry Potter game supporting transphobes because I've been seeing a lot of that on twitter? Not playing it. Pirating is fine, but actually paying for it.

Hi, anon!

I’ve seen a lot of the same and had initially thought to post my thoughts on the issue… before I got a very angry ask condemning me for a post where I admitted that I thought the game looked great and was excited to play it. I can no longer link to that post because I deleted it: a late night, impulsive decision made in an effort to try and protect myself from further flaming. Thus, I considered ignoring this ask under the same justification… before realizing that it might not matter in the long run. The Harry Potter: Legacy trailer has been out for just a few days and already I have gotten that furious ask, been told off by a friend for mentioning the trailer, and was questioned (antagonistically) about why I had added a Harry Potter related book to my Goodreads list. They’re small and potentially coincidental anecdotes, but it feels as if any engagement with Harry Potter is slowly coming under scrutiny, not just the (supposed—more on that below) crime of purchasing the new game. Given that I will always engage with Harry Potter related media, if there’s any chance such subtle criticism will continue regardless of whether I make the “right” choice to boycott the game or not, I might as well explain my position. Especially for someone who asked politely! Thanks for that 💜. 

Which leads to the disclaimer: Any anon hate will be unceremoniously deleted. This is a complicated issue and I intend to write about it as such. I ask that any readers go into this post with good faith and a willingness to acknowledge that this situation isn’t as black and white as they may prefer it to be. If that’s not something you can emotionally handle—which is 100% fine. Some subjects we’re simply not inclined to debate—or if you’re just looking to get in a cheap shot, please hit the back button.

Right. Introduction done. Now here’s the tl;dr: saying things like “Buying this game is inherently selfish/transphobic” isn’t the hot take people want it to be. Is boycotting Legacy one (very small—we’ll get to that too) way of showing support for the trans community? Yes. Is buying the game proof that you’re a selfish transphobe?  No. This isn’t a bad SAT question. Legacy boycotters are to trans supporters as Legacy buyers are to  ___? The argument that someone is selfish for buying the game is basically that you are choosing a non-essential video game over the respect and lives of trans individuals, but the logic breaks down when we acknowledge that purchasing a game has no real life impact on a trans individual’s safety, support, etc.   

“But Clyde, you’re giving Rowling money. She is then using that money to support anti-trans organizations. Thus, you have actively put more harm into the world.” Have I? I’m not going to get into whether/how much/what kind of money Rowling is receiving from this project because the fact is we don’t know and we’ll likely never know. Suffice to say, she probably will get some portion of any $60/$70 purchase. The real question is whether those sales have any meaningful impact. Reputable information on Rowling’s net worth is hard to come by, but it seems to be somewhere between 600 million and 1 billion pounds. Or, to put it another way: a fuck ton. And money keeps rolling in from a franchise that is so, so much bigger than a single video game. It literally doesn’t matter how much money you might put in her pocket via Legacy because she’s already so goddamn rich she can do whatever she wants. If Rowling wants to give a million dollars to the heinous “charity” of her choice, she can. She will. You are not directly contributing to this horror because that money may as well already exist. Every person in the world could refuse to buy this game and she’d shrug, going about her disgusting life because it literally does not affect her in any meaningful way. You’re refusing to give the murderer a knife when they’re got direct access to a knife-making factory. Horrible as it is to hear, you can’t stop them from doing something horrific with that tool. 

For me, this is the straw argument of the Harry Potter world. Not straw as in strawman, but literally straws. Remember how everyone was talking about plastic straws, swore off them, and subsequently deemed anyone who still used one to be selfish people who didn’t care about the environment? It didn’t matter if you had a certified “good” reason for using one (disability) or a “selfish” reason (carrying straws everywhere on the off chance you wanted a drink is a pain in the ass)—you’re a horrible person who wants the planet to die. Same deal here. If you can swear off straws, great! Do what tiny bit of good you can. But if you can’t or even don’t want to give them up, the reality is that your “selfishness” doesn’t make a significant difference in the world. The amount of plastic corporations are pouring into the ocean makes your actions inconsequential. It’s not like voting where every small, individual act adds up to a significant total. This is your lack up against others’ staggering abundance. It’s not adding a few drops of water until you have a full bucket, it’s trying to un-flood the boat with a teaspoon while someone else is spraying it with the hose. Have you, on the most technical level, made a difference by moving that teaspoon of water out of the boat? Yes. Is it a difference that holds any meaning in regards to the desired outcome? Not really. Now apply all that to Rowling. She is so phenomenally wealthy—with additional wealth coming in every day—that your purchase of Legacy is a teaspoon of water in her ocean of funds. It’s inconsequential.

“But Clyde, buying this game would support her and supporting her sends the message that what she believes is okay.” Exact same argument as above. JKR’s fame is so astronomical that no video-game boycott could ever make a dent in it. For every 100 people who swear off her work there are another 1,000 who continue to engage with both her writing and the writing related to her world because she is that prominent. Harry Potter is one of the largest franchises of all time, second only to things like Pokémon and Star Wars. This isn’t some indie creator who you can ignore into silence. The reality is that Rowling is here to stay and we have to take far more substantial acts to counteract that influence. 

Even more importantly, buying the game is not evidence that you support her views and the black and white belief that it does is an easy distraction from those harder “How do we improve the lives of trans people?” questions. I started compiling a list of stories with problematic authors only to realize the number of incredibly popular texts with awful histories attached to them unnecessarily increased the length of an already long post. Everything from Game of Thrones to Dr. Seuss—if you love it, chances are one of the authors involved has a history of misogyny, racism, homophobia, etc. Which I don’t say as a way of excusing these authors, nor as a way to silence the justified and necessary call outs on their work. Rather, I bring this up to acknowledge that engaging with these stories cannot be concrete evidence for how you view the minority group in question. The reasons for consuming these stories are incalculable and at the end of the day no one needs a “correct” reason for that consumption (my teacher forced me to read the racist book, I only watched the homophobic TV show so I could call out how horrible it was, etc.) If fiction were an indicator of our real life beliefs we’d all be the most horrifying creatures imaginable. I may be severely uncomfortable with the queer baiting in Supernatural, but if a friend says they bought the DVD collection my response is not, “How dare you support those creators. You’re homophobic.” In the same way, someone purchasing Legacy should not generate the response, “How dare you support her. You’re transphobic.” There’s a miles’ worth of pitfalls in connecting the statements “You purchased a game based on the world created by a transphobic author” and “You yourself are transphobic.” 

So if buying Legacy does not add additional harm to the trans community from a financial perspective, and it doesn’t make a dent in Rowling’s platform, and playing a game is not evidence of your feelings towards the group the author hates… what are we left with? “But Clyde, it’s the principal of the thing. I don’t want to support a TERF” and that is an excellent argument. Your morals. Your ethics. What you can stomach having done or not done. But the “your” is incredibly important there. People need to understand that this is their own line in the sand and that if someone else’s line is different, that doesn’t mean they’re automatically a worse person than you. For example, I have made the choice not to eat at Chick-Fil-A. Not because I believe that me not giving them $3.75 for a sandwich will make a difference in their influence on the world, but because it makes a difference to me. It helps me sleep at night. So if not purchasing Legacy helps you sleep at night? That’s a fantastic reason not to buy it. But the flipside is that if someone else does purchase it that is not a reliable reflection of their morals, no more than I think my friends are homophobic for grabbing lunch at Chick-Fil-A now and then. Sometimes you just want a sandwich. 

“But Clyde, why would you want to buy it? Rowling is such a shit-stain I don’t understand how anyone can stomach supporting her—whether that support has an impact or not. Maybe someone eats at Chick-Fil-A because it’s close to them and they’re too busy to go elsewhere, or it’s all they can afford, or they don’t know how homophobic they are. There are lots of reasons to explain something like that. But you’re not ignorant to Rowling’s problem and there’s no scenario where you have to play this game, let alone spend money on it. So why?”

The reality is that I will likely be buying Legacy, second-hand if I can, but new if it comes to that, so I’ll give some of my personal answers here, in descending order of presumed selfishness:

5. Part of my work involves studying video games/Harry Potter and as a researcher of popular culture, my career depends on keeping up with major releases: good and bad. I often engage with stories I wholeheartedly disagree with for academic purposes, like Fifty Shades of Gray.

4. I find the “Just pirate it!” solution to be flawed. I’ve spent the last four months struggling to get my laptop fixed and I currently have no income to buy another if it were to suddenly develop a larger problem. I am not going to risk my $2,000 lifeline on an illegal download, no matter how safe and easy the Internet insists it is. 

3. We’ve been told that Rowling has not been involved in Legacy in any significant manner and I do want to support Portkey. No, not just financially because I know many others have insisted that everyone good has already been paid. Game companies still need to sell games. That’s why they exist. There’s a possibility that a company with just two mobile games under its belt will be in trouble if this completely flops. Is my purchase going to make or break things? No. Same reality as whether it will put new, influential money in Rowling’s pocket to do horrific things with. But I’d like to help a company that looks as if they put a lot of heart and energy into a game only to get hit with some real shit circumstances outside of their control. Even if they’re not impacted financially or career-wise… art is meant to be consumed. I know if I wrote a Harry Potter fic and everyone boycotted it because they want nothing to do with Rowling anymore, I’d be devastated. Sometimes, you can’t separate supporting the good people from supporting the bad. Not in a media landscape where thousands of people are involved in singular projects.

2. I’m invested in reclaiming excellent works created by horrible authors. That’s fandom! We don’t know much about Legacy yet—this is pure, unsubstantiated speculation—but this new story could be a step forward from Rowling’s books, giving us some of the respect for minority groups that she failed at. That’s the sort of work I want to promote because Harry Potter as a concept is great and I think it’s worth transforming it for our own needs and desires. The reality is that as long as Rowling is alive she’ll benefit from licensed material, but if that material can start taking her world in better directions? I want to support that too.

1. I literally just want to play it. That’s it. That’s my big justification. I think it looks phenomenal and I was itching to get my hands on it the second the trailer dropped. And you know what? I’m not in a good place right now to deny myself things I enjoy. I don’t need to tell anyone that 2020 has been an absolute horror show, but for me certain things have made it a horror show with a cherry on top. Not a lot gets me excited right now because we’re living in the worst fucking timeline, so when I find something that makes me feel positive emotions for a hot second I want to hang onto it. I have no desire to set aside that spark of happiness in a traumatic world because people on the Internet think it makes me selfish. Maybe it does, but I’m willing to let myself be a bit selfish right now. 

Which circles back to this issue of equating buying a game with active harm towards the trans community. It honestly worries me because this is a very, very easy way to avoid the harder, messier activism that will actually help the queer community. When someone says things like, “You’re choosing a stupid video game over trans lives” that activism is performative. Not only—as demonstrated above—is purchasing a game not a threat to trans lives or ignoring the game a way of protecting trans lives, it also gives people an incredibly easy out while still seeming ‘woke.’ Not all people. Maybe not even a significant portion of people, but enough people to be worrisome. “I’m not purchasing that game,” some people post and then that’s it. That’s all they do, yet they feel like they’ve done their duty when in fact they’ve made no active difference in the world. Are you donating to trans charities? Are you speaking up for your trans friends when someone accosts them? Are you circulating media by trans authors? Are you educating your family about trans issues? Are you listening to trans individuals and continually trying to educate yourself? These are the things that make a difference, not shaming others for buying a game.

All of this is not meant to be an argument that people shouldn’t be absolutely revolted by Rowling’s beliefs (they should) and that this revulsion can’t take the form of rejecting this game wholeheartedly. This isn’t even meant to be an argument that you shouldn’t encourage others to boycott because though the financial impact may be negligible, the emotional impact for you is very real. I 100% support anyone who wants to chuck this game into the trash and never talk about it again—for any reason. All this is meant to argue is that people shouldn’t judge others based on whether they purchase this game (with a side argument that we can’t limit our activism to that shaming). That’s their decision and this decision, significantly, does not add any real harm to the world. Your fellow Harry Potter fan is not the enemy here. We as a community should not be turning our visceral on one another. Turn it on Rowling. She’s the TERF, not the individual who, for whatever reason, decided they wanted to play the game only tangentially related to her.  

If Twitter and Tumblr are any indication, I can imagine the sort of responses this post may generate: “That’s a whole lot of talk to try and convince us you’re not a transphobe :/ ” For those of you who are determined to simply things to that extent, there’s nothing I can say that will change your mind. Please re-read the disclaimer and consider whether yelling at me over anon will benefit the trans community. For those of you who are still here, I do legitimately want us to think critically about the kinds of activism we’re engaging in, how performative it might be, whether it harms the community in any way, and (most significantly) whether it’s actually moving us towards a safe, respective world for trans people to live in. Personally, I don’t think telling Harry Potter fans that they’re transphobic for buying Legacy will generate any good in this world, for them or for the trans community. 

At the end of the day only you can decide whether you can stomach buying this game or not. Decide that for yourself, but make that decision knowing that there’s no wrong answer here.  

[phaeton-flier]

A big part of why people feel the need to put words in his mouth is that Scott has been looking identical to the following classic racist playlist:

Mention something slightly suggestive of racism

When someone points out that it could be interpreted as racist, demure, insist they're overreacting

Rely on people interpreting your words charitably (This is normally a very good thing and something the internet should do more, but this playlist directly takes advantage of that)

Repeat steps 1-3, compiling a trail of puzzle pieces made of vague, odd hints to be put together

Mention that society can be real mean, sometimes you can't just say true things for fear of being cancelled

Mention the need to occasionally put things together on your own, about having deep truths only uncoverable by real initiates. Make vague posts without clear support or strong point about abstractions

When someone puts the pieces together and notices that they spell "R_CISM IS G__D", accuse them of trying to misinterpret you. When they point out that the pieces seem to have one strong interpretation, or that lots of their followers seem to be racists who talk about the need to hide their power level, accuse them of being anti-science.

Whenever someone asks what they actually think, or for evidence of any of the vague policy proposals they put out, explain that you can't post it because you would get cancelled.

There's been a million guys out there who are racist but put on a thin charade of being respectable or just asking questions, who immediately demure when you ask for anything like evidence.

So when Scott goes around occasionally saying things like "Gee, I've met people who want to study intelligence but are afraid of being cancelled (but don't worry, this is just curiosity with nothing to do with policy decisions)", or "Sometimes, someone knows the Real Truth about something but has to keep quiet about it for safety, like Gallileo or mathematicians in the USSR" or "Some things are antimemes, everyone can see them but no one admits it (conveniently impossible to disprove as a concept)" or "You know, I'm just a little concerned about demographic shifts (but not for a racism reason, just culture)"

And then refuses to just outright say what his actual beliefs are, or the evidence for them, then I'm left with something that looks a lot like a lot of other bigots using a thin fig leaf of "did not outright admit to being a racist" who act identically.

If he is actually scared of being cancelled for his beliefs, instead of trying to dog whistle to other racists, he would not keep dropping weird little hints that point in only one direction. He would just not talk about it. If really is different in some important way, he can stop dancing around the fucking bush and do an essay on what his actual beliefs are, with actual evidence. But right now, it looks a lot like "Guy who believes black people are genetically stupider/more violent than other races without evidence, trying to hint to other people about the racism"

Scott walking the edge as usual.