#this fanbase is incapable of being happy

[cringecompanionapologist]

So, there's a lot going on with Doctor Who right now, and I'm not sure it's all gonna work out, but I really want to give RTD the benefit of the doubt right now, because he's got a nearly impossible task here.

The show went through a dip in ratings and he was brought back in to rescue it. He revived the series from the dead in the first place. But, he now has to create something keeping a very diverse audience in mind. I don't mean "diverse" in a race/gender/sexuality sense, though that's certainly also true. I mean diverse in what they actually want from the show. I mean, you've got:

Fans of the Classic series who generally hate everything new.

Long time fans who like the new series, but weren't really into the Chibnall era.

These can be divided between "We didn't like Chibnall and we want things to be like they were before him" and "We didn't like Chibnall and we want something completely new."

People who stopped watching the show some time between 2010 and 2022 who want to get back into it, because it looks like it did when they were watching it.

Literal children who just watch Doctor Who.

Fans of the Chibnall era that don't like that it ended.

Fans very critical of the first RTD era who just don't want him back in general.

Fans who think the Chibnall era was "too political"

Fans who think the Chibnall era played it too safe politically. (Compare the treatment of capitalism in Oxygen to the treatment of capitalism in Kerblam.)

And I'm definitely forgetting some people here. He has to make the show like it was in the classic era, like it was the last time he was running things, like the Moffat era, like the Chibnall, and like something completely new. Something different, but not too different. Something inoffensive, including to people who get offended by attempts to be inoffensive. Something that appeals to children without seeming too childish for adult fans. And it all has to bring up ratings and turn a profit.

So everything he's done so far that you don't like was done in an attempt to cater to someone else.

David Tennant's back for the people who stopped watching after he left. This is stupid to everyone else.

Series 14 is a new Series 1 for new people who feel weird starting a show in its 14th season, who we don't want to binge 13 seasons to catch up. It ruins the numbering system for anyone keeping track.

13's cloths changing when she regenerated into 14 was an attempt to avoid controversy with one group which created controversy with others. Same thing with all the Davros stuff recently.

Meanwhile, you have Tales of the TARDIS, a popular dw comic villain appearing in the show, and the return of a one-off villain from 1966 to appeal to classic series and eu fans, as well as make new fans curious about those things.

He's trying to do something for everyone, but some things that are for one group are against another. Still, I can't be mad at him for trying. He's being giving a near-impossible task of saving a sinking ship, which wasn't sinking for half of its passengers, and already underwater for a good portion of the other half. Things are going to go wrong in there somewhere.

I'm still going to wait and see how this next season goes before calling it a success or failure. I don't believe Doctor Who can be Ruined Forever. Even if it's cancelled, it'll come back eventually. It's already happened. And even if it's not on TV, we're still got a lot of other stuff. This show, even if it's doing things you hate, is unkillable.

I know I have absolutely no sway over this fandom, but I think we should try to be patient. Even if you didn't like the RTD era, he's still trying here. If you didn't like the first RTD era, don't be surprised if you don't like this one. This era will end and you might like the next one. If you don't, whatever you do like will still be there.

Everything's gonna be fine by someone's standards.

[scramble-crossing]

17 and 19

17. Character you think had the best arc

Sort of Rindo, sort of Shoka

Shoka's arc is probably the best-written in the game. She's given the most backstory out of all of the new characters, and with the main antagonists of the game being her own once happy, now crumbling family, the whole narrative is perfectly suited to fleshing out her individual storyline. There's a lot of room to develop her and the writers definitely made the most of it. It's just not my personal favourite. Shoka's a good character and all, but she didn't really click for me ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I think Rindo's arc is pretty decisive in the fanbase? Some people think it was done well, others think it pales in comparison to Neku's. Personally I think that subtlety in a character's arc is a good thing (I say subtlety lightly, Rindo's deal becomes pretty obvious if you're paying attention in the right places) but it's not really in the twewy spirit. Neku set a standard of heavily flawed protagonists with very clear deficits of character to the point of starting off as flat-out unlikable, and while early Rindo does teeter towards this, it feels like the writers didn't commit to it entierly. Or didn't want to. Or couldn't.

One of Rindo's biggest problems is that the medium he's in can be counterintuitive to what his arc is trying to achieve. Rindo is supposed to be a weak-willed, indecisive train wreck who constantly hoists responsibility onto others so that he can avoid the consequences of having made the wrong decision. And while this does come across, it's hampered by the fact that as the player character, you are constantly taking control of and making decisions for him. He starts to feel less like the kind of person who's incapable of making a choice, and more like someone who can and will when it really comes down to it.

I dont think his arc is bad or especially unclear. I think it can be easy to forget what his deal is supposed to be when from the player's perspective, he's been in control this whole time, even when the narrative is trying its best to tell you that this isn't the case. You've gotta look just a teensy tiny bit closer into what he's thinking and saying over what you're leading him to do.

It also doesn't help that the most obvious instances of him being indecisive or having lingering doubts are entierly reasonable. For example, it is a huge decision whether or not to trust a rival team leader who's survival depends on your demise. Really, it starts to feel more like Rindo is being understandably cautious and Fret is the one at fault for pushing him to make a quick decision based at least in part on his crush. He's not at all impartial, and Rindo doesn't push it down to the wire enough for it to be a major issue.

Also!!! The absolute biggest issue I take with Rindo's arc is that he never abuses his Replay in a way that would've made sense for an arc centered around avoiding responsibility. He's pretty much always forced to use it during situations that are out of his control because they could've only been avoided with information that he didn't have at the time. So much of the Soul Pulvis generated isn't Rindo's fault at all. It's Nagi's for exploding him with her mind or Minamimoto's for withholding his help (twice!) with the express purpose of triggering a Replay, or its because he and the others were held up by completely unforeseeable circumstances caused by Noise or other Players. Had Rindo been forced to use Replay for situations he undeniably caused because of his inability to make a decision, or even better, if he'd started to make decisions apathetically knowing that he can just go back and fix it if it didn't work out, I think his arc could've absolutely shone and even rivaled Neku's, as iconic as it was.

This has become a whole essay now and I'm sorry. The TLDR is that Rindo's arc is good, but it definitely has its faults. Some are on the part of the writers, but some are unavoidable based on the fact that he's the player character and is going to be subject to some projection that might make him appear to be more of a leader than he was in the early days of the game. It could've been better, but it's definitely not as bad as some people make it out to be.

19. Overall, do you prefer the first game's cast or Neo's?

In retrospect the second game is filled with so many recurring characters that this is a hard question to answer. Plus there was pretty even focus on the Reapers vs the Players whereas the first game was pretty solidly concerned with the core Hachiko Gang, and every other character was designed with the intent of contrasting with them in some regard (Konishi and Beat's whole mind vs the heart deal for example). It's kind of an unfair comparison since both games set out to accomplish different and not necessarily better or worse things with their casts, but in general I've got a bigger soft spot for twew1's cast over neo's. I like the Shibuya Reapers a lot. I'm literally writing a whole collection of drabbles about them being friends. It's some kind of brainworm idk

[bluepulsebluepulse]

To the DDoS Attackers of AO3

I’m going to try and force my thoughts into some semblance of order regarding the recent DDoS attack against AO3; which is extremely hard to do considering I am so angry that I can barely think straight.

I may not know exactly who was behind this… I may not even know the true motivations or goals of the individuals behind this attack… But the one thing I do know is this…

Whoever you are... You deserve to experience suffering on a level that equates to all the grief you’ve caused others through your selfish actions.

Now, I know that wishing pain upon others isn’t taking the high road, but I’m simply incapable of it with everything currently going on in the world. These people are denying access to a service that many people, quite frankly, need.

AO3 is not defined just by it’s content.

It’s a place to escape reality; a coping mechanism. It’s something that improves quality of life. This is especially important for those who experience mental health issues and struggle with conditions like depression, anxiety, and more. For some, it’s the only way to find comfort after a long, hard day at work. For others, it’s literally an aid to help them fall asleep.

It’s a creative outlet. Suffice to say, exercising your brain is vital to good mental well-being. In addition, writing can also allow people to express their emotions, process grief or trauma, and gain clarity on issues going on in their own life. It’s cathartic. It’s happiness. It’s art.

It’s a place to make friends and embrace communal positivity and support. Whilst it may not be one of the most common places to make friends, it does happen. And for those who met elsewhere, it’s still a place to bond and share gifts. More than that, it’s the place associated with that rewarding feeling that you get when you either give or receive kudos’, comments and bookmarks on works. All that stands between smiling all day is one flattering comment.

And that’s me just getting started… AO3 is so many things, but because I’m trying not to write an autobiography right now, I’m trying to keep this rant to a minimum. Besides, I want to save my energy for the next work I end up writing.

I don’t care if AO3 contains content that could be considered heinous, repulsive or downright twisted to the point that some may need therapy after reading it. The point is, if it’s not hurting anybody, or impeding upon anybody’s rights as a human being, then it should be allowed. This of course comes with the caveat that a tagging system must be enforced to correctly identify potential triggers to readers (which AO3 offers). The only way this system fails is if writers accidentally or intentionally mislead readers by incorrectly tagging their work (which is rare - and there are also ways to rectify this including communication with the content owner or submitting a report to AO3).

Above all else, adults are more than capable of navigating the site and consuming whatever content interests them. They’re also capable of evaluating the risks involved with specific works that may be an issue for them. For any readers under the age of eighteen, parents or caregivers should be held responsible for deciding whether to manage content consumption or to disallow access altogether. It’s the same concept as choosing whether or not to see a film based on its rating or locking the adult channels on a television.

I understand that the issue here isn’t the tagging system; it’s the content itself. But the attackers’ efforts to stop freedom of speech are futile and pointless. If the AO3 fanbase aren’t reading or sharing content on AO3, we’ll do it elsewhere.

So again… Turning my attention to those who are responsible for this attack… I know I’m probably wasting my breath here but… 

Get a life and go do something that’s actually meaningful with it.

[obsessivelollipoplalala]

"Janet asked if Freddie thought he was gay or bisexual after Mary said in a documentary the Freddie was gay. Freddie never thought of his sexuality in any form of words as such. As soon as you start using words like gay, bisexual, or straight, you are putting individuals into convenient boxes with those labels, as though there is no other permutation. Freddie had slept with both men and women during the course of his life, and must have enjoyed himself at the time, why would he then start thinking about what word to label himself with?" (Ask Phoebe blog 71, 10 Jun 2014)

There is SO much that bothers me about this comment from Phoebe.

He's deliberately avoiding the question, and giving a vague answer of "we can't label Freddie" as a way of not calling Freddie gay and pissing off homophobic fans. Don't get me wrong, if it were the case that Freddie never labelled himself, he'd be right on the mark. But Freddie did label himself. Freddie referred to himself as gay publicly on numerous occasions, though it was always ignored or passed off as a joke. He explicitly expressed to his friends that he was interested in men, and men only, particularly when they were on the club scene in search of potential hookups. Phoebe is deliberately being dishonest here, as well as hypocritical, given that he always referred to Freddie as gay up until he decided it was more profitable not to.

He uses the whole "Freddie slept with both men and women," which reinforces the age old stereotype that gay people can't possibly be gay if they've had relations with the opposite sex. This is, again, something homophobic fans constantly scream about when they insist Freddie was bi, because they have zero understanding about societal homophobia and the heteronormative pressures that are put on queer people. Phoebe is literally saying "we can't label Freddie" while implying that Freddie was bi.

This entire response is basically him just wanting to keep both sides happy, by pretending that Freddie's sexuality was some mystery when the man himself literally said "I am gay." This is something that the tabloids and biographies do to make Freddie more palatable to a heterosexual audience. The fact that Phoebe, a gay man himself, is supporting such a homophobic narrative, is both disheartening and repulsive.

I used to really like Phoebe and considered him a reliable source of information when it came to Freddie. Now, I feel like he's just trying to profit off Freddie's name, and is willing to disrespect Freddie's identity and dismiss Freddie's own words in order to appease Queen's homophobic fanbase. Because presenting Freddie as a shallow, god-like being who was incapable of falling in love and deliberately spread AIDS to his partners makes for a more interesting story than a gay man who had flaws just like the rest of us, and managed to find the love he was searching for all his life shortly before he died.

Phoebe outright lied in that response. Seriously, let's call it what it is. He was lying, and it's a stark contrast to him saying in his own fucking book that it's a myth that Freddie never admitted his "gayness." We have Freddie labeling himself in public interviews ("Yeah I'm gay, so what?" and the gay as a daffodil one), like you said, so it's a lie we can easily see. This is also a stark contrast to Brian saying, "yep, Freddie said he was gay as a daffodil and meant it."

You're totally right in all of your points and I don't know if I can add much more. The fact that Phoebe once spoke of the truth about Freddie's life being deliberately erased by PR after he died points to all of this being deliberate on his part, as well. He's not naive. He knows what he's doing, especially as a gay man from the same environment and era Freddie grew up in. He knows what he's saying isn't true, continues to obscure the truth and spread the myth that Freddie was bisexual, and appeases homophobic fans in the process. No one can reasonably say that he's just trying not to "reduce" Freddie to his sexuality with his "labels bad" response when he chose to answer that question on his blog in the first place, and you can still tell the truth without acting like Freddie's sexuality was the most important thing about him! Once again: look at Brian May.

I agree, man. Your last paragraph is 🔥 I don't consider Phoebe a very reliable source after like 2010, and the lying about Freddie's personal life does all seem to line up with him getting more job/financial opportunities. There's no other reason I can think of for him to do this. It really sucks.

One last thing: Phoebe being like "well we can't put a silly label on Freddie because he slept with women and must've enjoyed himself! :))"........1.) girl you didn't even know him then 2,) hello, Rosemary's "Freddie cried in bed with me during sex because he wanted to have sex with men" story. But like you said, the public would rather hear about an oUT oF COntrOL bisexual than a gay man who was human and struggled to accept himself (and hello again, Brian May, saying "I think Freddie struggled...I know he did").

[chisatowo]

Oh shit is ensekai actually making a good decision for once????

[yestrday]

― YANDERE! GENSHIN ACADEMY AU. pt one | two | three | four | five

 ⇢ albedo, xiao, kazuha / gn! reader

introducing! your fellow second-years are starting to realize how stressful high school is, but luckily you’re here to cheer them right up! blessed with the same schedules and close seating arrangements, they make sure to eat all your time up. don’t look away from them for too long, okay~?

warning! yandere, obsessive & possessive behavior, unhealthy relationships

― GENIUS TYPE. albedo |  阿贝多

[ “come, the sun is setting and the rays serve as a perfect lighting. surely you won’t mind being my muse for a while?” ] 

⇢ amiable and polite at first glance, albedo has garnered himself a rather mellow fanbase of his own. people from all years admire him for his study ethics and his artistic prowess. there’s no shortage of people asking him for advice each day, to which he politely indulges.

⇢ still... there is a distance between him and everyone else that no one seems to be able to cross. that is, except for you, of course! albedo makes sure to be seen linking hands with you two are together. he’s touchier with you and makes sure everyone sees it: flirtatious swipes of the lip and gentle brushes agaisnt your cheek. it’s clear as day who his favorite person is.

⇢ usually albedo has no qualms showing off his artworks, but something about the sketches he’s made of you makes him embarrassed. his own hands have lined every curve and shape of your face and it’s just so... intimate. some nights he spends staring at a new sketch of you before blushing and gently putting it away. it just can’t compare to the real thing at all.

⇢ as with most his fellow harem members, his mind is filthy. it’s filled with messy fantasies--  ones where he force one of his science experiments down your throat and watch as you tremble and shake at his feet. just imagining your glassy eyes and your desperate pleads... it makes him shiver with delight.

⇢  despite all his flirtatious touches, albedo doesn’t have the willpower to embrace you like how the others do. but when you initiate, he immediately becomes pliable under your touch. he’s made well-aware of your warmth and the beating of your heart and how hot your breath tickles his ear. ... fuck, if you aren’t adorable.

⇢ albedo doesn’t bother with the rest of the world. as far as he’s concerned, you were made to be experimented on, to become putty with his chemicals and touch. he certainly won’t allow anyone to disrupt your playtime together... not. at. all.

[ “tsk, tsk, making a mess of the floor again? nevertheless, the expression on your face is worth a sketch or two.” ]

― SULLEN TYPE. xiao |  魈

[ “don’t come near me. i’m... not worthy enough.” ]

⇢ ooh, so mysterious! the bad boy of everyone’s dreams...! or not. that’s what you once thought too, until you finally found out after several run-ins at the local convenience store that he’s just socially inept.

⇢ there’s no denying that he does give off this intimidating aura and although he doesn’t actually have any criminal records, everyone makes sure to stay as far away from him as possible. well, that doesn’t really matter. so long as you aren’t the one avoiding him, he can live like this forever.

⇢ he’s so stupidly infatuated with you, blushing and stammering whenever you try to strike conversation with him. he tries to brush you off with harsh remarks and cold responses, but you don’t fall for that shit. soon, the slightest smile comes on his face when you run up to him in school and his hands find themselves brushing back your hair so he can look at your bright eyes.

⇢ he’s well aware of the your harem, all of them lovesick and lustful. it makes him sick and wary, but he doesn’t want to alert you. you look so happy and carefree... it’d be selfish of him to destroy that.

⇢ he tells himself that he stalks you for your own good, that you’re so stupid and trusting that you’re incapable of seeing the world around you as it is-- dangerous and murky. but that’s a lie, isn’t it? if it was really for your own good, he wouldn’t lurk outside your window, watching you as you peel off your clothes and get ready for-- ah, shit, he’s been found out.

⇢ he should be guilty. this is indecent, immoral, perverted. what makes him any better than the rest of your suitors. but... but! it’s so thrilling, watching your most private moments when you think no one’s looking, seeing expressions that no one except for him will see.

⇢ what kind of expression will you make when you finally find him out? betrayal? terrified? ... or excited? ah, well, he’ll find out anyway.

[ “haah... this is what you get for being so stu~pid.” ]

― CAREFREE TYPE. kaedahara kazuha | 楓原万葉

[  “why, hello there. care to share this warm rock with me?” ]

⇢ although the school has a literature club with members famed for their outstanding achievements, not a lot of people has seen their most famous member. rarely attending classes, hanging out in the school garden then vanishing in the blink of an eye... ah, so why is kaedahara kazuha coming over to you right now?

⇢ you’re fresh with the scent of nature and kazuha takes advantage of the fact that he’s slightly taller than you as he buries his nose in your hair while he wraps his arms around your shoulders. he’s a gentleman, showering you with such poetic praises that somehow aren’t too cheesy. his drooping red eyes crinkle ever so slightly at your slightest blush and he can’t help but warmly laugh when you grumble at him for embarassing you again.

⇢ sometimes he just shows up out of nowhere, swooping you away to enjoy the pleasantries of nature together. he tells you of the delightful red maple leaves back home, the hints of loneliness leaving his eyes before you can see them. he listens to you in return, his comforting character making it easy for you to confide in him. you miss the way he leans in and kisses a strand of your hair, mistaking it for a normal hug.

⇢ ... my, if you didn’t resemble him so much. no matter how much you protest, you are the living reincarnate of his sworn brother, someone who had come to ruin years ago along with the rest of his family. you are gentle and warm, whereas kazuha is only reenacting how he used to be before everything was destroyed. he was hollow, but now there’s no need to feel that way anymore.

⇢ he’s so well-spoken and eloquent that you completely miss the way he has you roped in his scheme, only realizing it when he finally corners you and has his hand on the small of your back. he still smiles gently... but when were his eyes this gaunt?

[ “now, now, don’t be so afraid. i don’t resort to violence most of the time.” ]

a/n: me to me: now what if we give kazuha a tragic backstory in six bullet points. also just realized that the rest of the boys will be seniors... theres so many senpais.. no complaints tho

[thevoidable]

So Halo 3 turns 15 today and I’d like to voice my Very Strong Opinions about whether or not it should get an Anniversary remaster.

Now, it’s already five years past when the previous two games got remasters, and to not complete the trilogy - especially for one of the highest selling video games of all time - feels like the most blatant disrespect. Halo 3 has a very special place in my heart as well as many others’ and it deserves the same amount of love and treatment as the other two installments.

I know that the fanbase is very mixed when it comes to a potential H3A, but the most common argument that I see against it is “H3′s graphics still hold up today”. Yes, I do agree that it’s still a very beautiful game, but I would just like to point out two things:

1) Many of H3′s textures and models are in desperate need of a makeover, especially when you compare it to H2A (and no, I’m not talking about the pre-rendered cutscenes). H2A has beautiful models and H3 could really use them, espeically the Arbiter. It’s extremely jarring to go from seeing him in all his silver-armoured glory to suddenly what looks like a weird bronze knock-off that hardly even looks shiny. (Not to mention the H3 Sangheili models seem to be completely incapable of facial expression and emoting.) The H3 human models also all have very visible polygons and it veers a little into uncanny valley.

2) For the love of fuck, a remaster isn’t just about giving a game better graphics; it’s about being a love letter to the game. H2A is a perfect example of treating a game with the utmost love and respect while enhancing and improving upon the experiences of the original version. A remaster allows players to experience their favourite game all over again in a new light, and that doesn’t mean that the original is erased. If you want to play the original, it will always still be there. 

Anniversary remasters aren’t pointless remakes - they’re celebrations.

And Halo 3 deserves to be celebrated.

So, happy birthday to the game that made my childhood and still makes me happy well into my adulthood.

[lightdancer1]

One thing that I think is funny is that the ATLA writers evidently struggle to have a fully powered Avatar face convincing challenges

Now at the surface of this, this is ludicrous. The Avatar is not (exactly) a superhero who is obligated to face supervillains. A fully realized Avatar has a shaman's task to juggle the balance of eldritch spirit entities and the demands of four (in theory, in the Aang era three and a one hundred thousandth) nations that all have their own geopolitical needs, and even the Air Nomads might have issues where the spirit world butts up against their survival.

Simply blending in elements of political intrigue, eldritch spirit shenanigans, and the complexities of balance could work well. This is done in lip service with aspects of how each Avatar leaves a flaming bag of shit on their successors' porch. Szeto left Yangchen in the lurch with presumably being very busy establishing swords into ploughshares by hinted at less than gentle means.

Yangchen FUBARed the spirit world so badly she killed Kuruk at the Jesus Christ Age. And gets to be the hero where Kuruk is remembered as the Bender Bending Rodriguez of Avatars.

Roku evidently was at the inversion of Sozin's idea of enforcing order in the world but both of them threw their weight around like 800 pound gorillas. A truly cynical view of how that went down could have Sozin deluding himself that the chaos caused by Roku's unrealistic segregation dream could be resolved by unity under his armies, while in reality he's not really meaning 'bringing the world together' so much as 'obey or be destroyed.' And that Roku in his own way was just as much a bully to the people he deemed as threats to his view and simultaneously incapable of realizing how sincere Sozin was until the whole 'volcanic fumes' incident.

Aang, as amazing as he is, is a trickster who can't say yes or no to a hard decision when he has to. This fault works somewhat better for ending a war and would sow up massive problems for future generations.

Korra decided that 10,000 years of spirit world barriers that existed for the evident reason of 'spirits collectively aren't always nice to humans' should be wiped away because it makes her job easier. Probably not going to make the next Avatar happy.

There is nothing saying a fully realized Aang or a Korra who didn't neatly erase the entire history of the previous show to shill the new Avatar expecting the fanbase to roll over and be happy about it would have steamrolled things. Reality is never that simple and even Superman in DC can't fix every problem and he has relatively speaking more (and in some ways much less) power than any Avatar.

[movie-robotnik-positivity]

Aside from the usual portion of the fanbase that is physically incapable of being happy about anything, it looks like Sonic Prime’s reception is pretty positive!

This could be really good for the franchise, and so far I feel like this series has more going for it than against it. Let’s go!

In other words, I’m not cautiously optimistic, I’m optimistically optimistic!

[paleode-ology]

Pre-Season 6 Thoughts - In Conclusion, Fuck the CW

okay yet another supergirl post bc I want to say some things before s6 starts airing

I started watching this show in middle school. I was just starting to become confident about the fact that I liked girls and as a girl I was really excited to watch a show about a female superhero whose most important relationship was with her sister. I thought Cat was hilarious, and I about lost my mind of happiness when Alex came out.

Season two rolled around and I absolutely fell in love with Lena. Again, I was really excited at the prospect of this super complex, female character. Pretty soon I hopped onto the supercorp train and never looked back.

Genuinely, I really, really loved this show. I loved Maggie and Sam and Ruby and Lucy Lane and Cat Grant, I adored Winn, thought J'honn was an absolute bop of a character. I thought there were really interesting and intriguing storylines, like Lena's short and emotional stint experimenting with humans. In hindsight, I even think that the idea of Mon-El could have been really compelling, even if it wasn't executed extremely well.

All this to say, I have had a lot of love for Supergirl. It's sentimentally valuable to me, and I feel so nostalgic when interacting with supergirl art on Tumblr or reading supergirl fanfiction or just watching it in general.

it's also incredibly, fundamentally, flawed.

please note that I don't blame actors for anything at all. there's obviously things that have happened behind the scenes, but I want to talk specifically about the show runners/writers/directors.

as a middle schooler, when I was 12, 13, even 14, I watched supergirl for the pretty people and focus on women and the aliens and (to middle school me) compelling plot lines.

however, this show has shown time and time again that they are incapable of focusing on platonic relationships between characters for extended periods of time. we got a few episodes of kara and nia working together and then an entire subplot focused on nia and brainy's relationship. as the show continued into its third and fourth and fifth season, danvers sisters moments became few and far between, which was especially distressing considering the show was originally built upon the strength of Kara and Alex's relationship.

James? became primarily a love interest for whoever the nearest woman was. and also a disastrous vigilante. sort of.

They brought Lex Luthor back, in a show that was supposed to be focused on the women of the superhero world, especially Lena, Lex's sister. For her to be pushed out of the Luthor spotlight in supergirl of all shows is discouraging, and it only builds upon the shitty rep the CW has given us in one of their only shows with a female lead.

Kara, of course, was inconsistently written, to the point where it's transparently obvious that the writers have her make decisions that are the most compelling for the sake of the plot rather than decisions that were the most in character for her to make.

Kara and Lena were established to be best friends. then, they were constantly pitted against each other, again, mostly for the sake of plot. supercorp aside, we can still talk about how Kara never told Lena about her identity until the fifth season, about how despite being "best friends" their relationship was hardly focused on. we instead saw the James and lena elements or lena and her science plot lines, but the gals themselves? hardly any scenes. this specific argument is strictly from a platonic kara/lena point of view, although I do ship them so I admit I'm biased.

Supercorp as an actual romantic ship is something I definitely have Opinions about, but I think that's for a separate post. HOWEVER, I do want to address the queerbaiting we've seen for years.

While I don't want to go too in depth (since this really is mostly for the supercorp post I'm also drafting 💀) but complicated story short, the very obvious queerbaiting regarding supercorp, as well as blatant encouragement of fans shipping the two together - liking comments regarding supercorp on their instagram, for example - is not only disrespectful and, to be frank, manipulative of their fanbase, but it also borders on (in my humble, seventeen-year-old opinion) unprofessionalism.

the supergirl social media accounts encourage behavior from their fans that they have proved time and time again they have no intention of actually rewarding in the show. maybe if this was the first or second year of supergirl airing, this wouldn't be a huge deal, but at this point, they know exactly what they're doing, and it genuinely makes me so angry.

I don't have high hopes for this last season. I'm looking forward to the more fan service-y episodes. Really, I'm only going to be watching it for the nostalgia factor, desire to see it through and get closure, and, if I'm being honest, clown-like hope that maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to fix the show that has grown more and more unstable over the past five years.

TL;DR: I loved supergirl as a kid, it holds a special place in my heart, but over the past few years, the writing and management of the show has made it one of the biggest disappointments I've witnessed amongst all the media I've been able to consume in live time (as opposed to things like ouat, which I only got into just as it was ending). While I'm going to watch the sixth season out of fragile hope and the desire for something akin to closure, it is going to take A LOT for supergirl to redeem itself.

happy final season, kids.

[glitta]

Okay, so I need to just.. get some things off of my chest here. Because at some point soon I’m probably going to stop coming to the tag because I need to vent but I also don’t want to keep wallowing. It’ll make it harder to move on when I keep reminding myself of it and getting angry and sad about it.

First I’ll say that I am 100% convinced that they’re done with romantic barchie. I become more convinced each day. And I know some people are hanging on, which is fine.. you do you. But I also hope you see it soon, because I don’t want them to use you. I don’t think it’s fair, and we barchies have been through so much.

What convinces me that they’re done? First.. this was the perfect opportunity to go for it. If they didn’t explore it now, when the road was clear, then they’re not going to. Next..they made some callbacks to the first season, and they were in vrchies favour. The callback to the s1 party? Ended the same way. Archie going after Veronica. You would reverse it if you wanted barchie. And they even used the “if you love me” pilot song back in 5x06, which showcased Archie looking off - because he was feeling things for Veronica, as it turned out. So no, the answer to the question if he loves her is no. (now, I call bullshit and retcon, but this is the canon they’re going with now) Then you have Archie not showing indecision or being caught between the two and not showing feelings for Betty. I hate it, but didn’t. He said he was perfectly fine with booty calls, but I guess when it started mixing with Betty being upset after a nightmare, it started to feel wrong when his feelings for V were growing and he didn’t want to lead Betty on. Archie didn’t look happy when Jackson said he was juggling two girls.

Then you have Archie’s wildly different reactions to Veronica picking his key, and Betty getting his key. Like, honestly.. even if they wanted to go in a direction of him having to deal with lingering feelings for Veronica and then feelings for Betty getting deeper.. we would have seen him having feelings for Betty. Like now. And that’s not how it played. He just showed zero feelings. Which is a retcon from practically the whole series, but this is their new take. To erase barchie from the equation and guarantee the fans of those other ships their endgames.

Then you have “the break up scene”. Following on from the retcon, I’m just so frustrated with this because of the lack of effort. They didn’t explore barchie and let them really navigate their feelings and figure if they worked or not. They just had them had meaningless sex (apparently, at least on Archie’s end) and throw some reason out there why they ~don’t work~. That was full fanservice and closing the door by declaring that they.. don’t work. Even though it was full TELL and not SHOW. I still don’t even understand?

Take it back to Betty’s conversation with Kevin - where she was so happy and didn’t want it to end, btw. Like lets lay it out:

 “I don’t want to get too deep with him.”

“Why?!”

“He’s this lit window in the darkness. And I don’t ever want that light to go out.”

Okay.. so my take away from that is that she would like it to be more, but it’s a fear of losing him if things don’t work out and she’ll lose the light that he brings. Fair enough, I kind of get it.

But then when it’s a conversation with Archie, she just say’s they’re completely different people in their cores. ?? Being different people is not a reason to not be together if you get on. If you’ve been best friends your whole lives. If you have amazing sexual chemistry. And then with him being her light - damn, utilise that. Does it really make a difference if he’s helping her as a friend or romantic partner? Will that make a difference in not dragging him down if he’s there for her anyway through what she’s going through? It just doesn’t make any sense to me. And it’s not like Archie doesn’t have his own issues and trauma. But it’s again all in favour of the antis/other shippers who just want to know that BA are over and insist from their biased perspectives that they can’t ever work. The writers are full on catering to that, and I can’t for the life of me understand that obsession when you’re running the show to it’s end with those kinds of decisions. I just feel like they went.. right, we need to find an excuse why they wont work, and insert some word vomit and use the words “we should work because (cliche) but we’re different.” and think that just.. explains it all, even though it’s all tell and no show.

Anyway, I think that covered the biggest red flags I saw for the end of the ship. So now let me start on the thing that pisses me off even more even more than them fucking ruining my ship to serve the antis everything they want.

The engagement of the writers on social media leading up to this. You want to tell a story and do whatever you want? Fine. But I cannot grasp what kind of people take a ship that it’s fans have been waiting for.. for four years while they dropped hints and had them kiss and teased them.. and hypes them up and makes them promises of a romance coming up.. and then fucks them over in about 3 episodes by ending the ship for good. And rushing back to the other ship.

Who does that? How do they think it’s okay to fuck with people like that? And then they victimize themselves because people are calling them out. (note: not condoning any death threats or extreme things)

And it’s not even shippers that have a right to be angry, just as a side note. A fresh start and new things were promised. And they’re right back to the stale things? Make it make sense. You can’t.

You know, not that long ago I was still laughing at myself for loving a ship on Riverdale. Like no offense, but past the first few episodes I thought this show was a joke, and became more so. But I loved barchie. They were this little thing that made so much sense and seemed to have a set up for a beautiful story in the end. So I got invested in that. Jokes on me?

And I will never understand how they think it’s the best story to keep the same two couples together for the duration of the show with little to nothing else. They couldn’t keep them apart for 5 episodes through cheating and a time jump? It is SO insane and odd? It is so boring and complete fan service and actually ruins the show and makes it a joke?

And I’m happy that Betty and Jughead were “allowed” to have sexual relationships outside of each other, but at least 3/4 of these characters never got to experience another loving relationship outside of their high school loves..? (and I’m only excluding Veronica because I think at some point she loved Chad at the start..?) Now, I’m not dissing all high school relationships that go to marriage. But to just pair up two couples neatly with these core 4.. and have them break up for 7 years and still not give them these experiences and relationships is stupid and really fucking sad. You can love more than one person in your life, and it doesn’t discount anything.

And if they wanted them brought back together eventually, they could have actually had a much better build up back to it? Yet they’re just incapable of taking any time and wont keep them apart for more than a handful of episodes? I’ve never encountered a show like this, and that is not a good thing. At all.

And the fanbases they’re catering for are so entitled. And I guess that goes hand in hand with the constant fanservice, but it’s just such a toxic thing. I don’t think any fanbase are innocent angels, but as someone who has dealt with their shit and entitlement from season 1.. it’s just unbelievable and funny any time that they try to say that we.. I don’t know, deserved this? What does that mean your toxic fanbase deserves?

But let me clear about something: I’d never want your content and ships. More screentime, maybe. But even then the screentime and focus on two ships took over and at least the barchie fandom never wanted that with our ship. We were happy to share screentime with other characters. And if my ship had one cheating on the other with someone the other character had always worried about.. and they never apologised for the cheating? I think I’d be done. As it is there’s a lot of barchies that don’t excuse or forgive things that went down and unsure if they could forgive it and like the ship again.

And hey, I will take Archie being Betty’s light and never wanting to lose that vs I don’t know.. sharing darkness with someone else?

And barchie’s chemistry was unmatched. (and drew people back in that they will now lose.)

Anyway.. I think I’ve covered at least most of what I wanted to. Didn’t mean to get so anti-other ships at the end, but I’m just venting on everything.

[lesbiancarat]

Lol its fine!! Reply whenever you can ^_^

But ahh true, true. Idk why I thought it would be a hint to the music lol but a sort og an evolution of the concept so to speak. Either way, am excited for the comeback because fresh svt is always iconic. Oohhh the concept photos are all pretty and idk which one to pick jfkshfjsjd. Like they are all very on brand for them but also unique and pretty. Very artsy haha.

Ahh yes, rabbitnwas forever iconic and it was what helped other places like discord to do similar things! But ah understandable!! Both seventeen and nct (when I was getting into kpop more) always felt like BIG well known groups due to their fandoms being so big at least to me. Especially when people always recommended their songs i just assumed they have been around for a while like bts when I joined only to realize they are still rookies. Monster rookies indeed!! The fact so many people love them is enough for me to say they are amazing, well respected and loved by many. Those comments annoy me, especially when people downplay their hard work by claiming 'bighit helped them get more famous' like what!? Yes bighit did help with getting more western attention per se but like downplaying as if they haven't achieved anything at all is confusing to me. Claiming how streaming fans aren't doing s good job to which im like one, mass streaming isn't healthy and two, fans who do try their best and we do beat records of our own. Seventeen isn't unpopular, just because they aren't you know who level doesn't mean they aren't big like do people forget what unpopular means?

Anywhoo, a day late but happy late birthday to our tiger King. May he forever rule the tiger land and take over the world with his tiger agenda lol.

yes! one side fits my aesthetic the best but all the concept photos were nice ^^

and yeah it is annoying but at the same time those people are so detached from reality that I'm just sort of like whatever djflgj like 'it's obvious to anyone who knows what they're talking about you're wrong so I'm not going to bother arguing w you' is sort of my mindset when i see those comments dhfkj bc if i don't think of it that way then i get angry easily. the way i see it bh/hybe definitely is helping SVT with western promotions but like. i don't think SVT/pledis would have been incapable of expanding into the western market on their own if they wanted to. but it's a given that it will be easier and faster with hybe bc they have connections and a reputation in the western market already established. honestly I'd guess that was one of pledis's main incentives for agreeing to the acquisition. but at the same time hybe and western media wouldn't give SVT the time of day if they truly were the flops some ppl try to claim they are lol

and yeah agreed, streaming culture can be super unhealthy. it's one thing to do it if you want to but at the same time don't be losing sleep over it or prioritizing it over your real life responsibilities. and definitely don't guilt trip and say a bunch of toxic things to others to get them to stream... i feel like it would be a lot healthier if fanbases just stuck to simply explaining, hey this is what streaming is and why it can be important (for like music shows etc) and here's how to do it properly if you choose to stream, and then just let people decide for themselves. there would still be people more than willing to do it, and without the guilt tripping maybe even more people would just find it enjoyable. but hey, what do i know? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i also think most kpop stans underestimate how many views from from casual listeners and fans vs hardcore fans/streamers. like streaming does make a difference, but not 100M views difference like some people try to act like it does. tbh there are a lot of groups that have a smaller core fanbase than SVT but get hundreds of millions of views bc they have a lot of casual listeners. you can even see it internally too: don't wanna cry is SVTs most viewed MV by a mile, it's the only one to pass 100M views, let alone 200M. and it has nothing to do w carats streaming dwc extra hard, it's bc it's arguably SVTs most well known song outside of the fandom. i see reactors all the time who react to it and say "oh i know this song! i had no idea it was by seventeen" and you can look at the comments section and see a bunch of people saying the song has a fandom of its own/even if you're not a carat you have to know this song

kpop stans also put too much emphasis on views imo and also equate views to popularity, which on the surface might make sense but isn't always the case. actually in terms of profit, groups/companies make the vast majority of their money off of album, merch, and ticket sales than they do off of views. but those are all things that are a lot harder to "sell" than views, because they actually cost money for the consumer, while you can watch an MV for free. hence why it makes sense that there are a lot of groups with hundreds of millions of views that get relatively low album sales. it's easy to convince casual fans and and listeners to watch an MV than to get them to buy something

and I'm not trying to diss other groups at all or try to say groups that consistently get 200M+ views are flops, they're absolutely not. I'm just trying to point out that kpop stans completely underestimate the amount of casual listeners that exist

but this is why SVT is honestly such a fascinating case. their MV views are nothing to write home about, and yet they're the second highest selling k-act at the moment and are in the top 10 if not top 5 highest selling k-acts of all time, their album sales are literally insane. a lot of people chalk it up to carats being bad streamers but like i said before, streaming isn't going to make a difference of hundreds of millions of views. this indicates to me that seventeen have a bigger core fanbase (ie people who call themselves carats and actually keep track of seventeens activities) but a smaller audience of casual listeners compare to other kpop groups. and i think a lot of people, carats, and non carats alike, pick up on this in some way or another but don't realize that's what's going on and it manifests in kind of weird ways sometimes

and this fact isn't something that bothers me, i actually think it's super important more than anything for SVT to have a strong core fanbase if what they're shooting for is longevity. but i do find it strange bc as i said, groups that do better with digitals than physical sales make total sense from a consumer standpoint!! so how did SVT end up like this!! it's so interesting for me to think about. i think i would have a better idea of why this is if i had been around since debut but alas

the only thing i can come up with is that SVT is better at retaining fans or like... getting fans invested in the group so people who become carats are less likely to be multistans? bc multistans play a huge part in both being and attracting casual listeners. they're the ones making video compilations and edits and content that includes multiple kpop groups, which is how a lot of non-fans get interested in other groups. whereas if someone is just a carat and making content for SVT the people most likely to watch that content is ppl who are already carats. i know im not the only one that's noticed it's kind of rare for SVT to be included in multistan edits and videos. which i don't blame anyone for, i think most of those people genuinely just don't stan SVT and they shouldn't be expected to include a group they don't know we'll or at all. at the end of the day ppl can make what they like. but it's interesting to observe as a general trend. but idk SVT potentially having a lower percentage of multistans still isn't really an explanation for why SVT doesn't have as many casual listeners bc those things kind of just go hand in hand. like either one could be the cause of the other one if that makes sense

ANYWAY sorry for the long reply but as i said the ratio of SVTs core fanbase vs casual listeners is a topic i find endlessly fascinating dhfmfj

[lizthirose]

Ok but supernatural is like super homophobic. (And so is the actor confessing lol). Liek. He literally gets sent to hell right after confessing. The show literally just said “if you are gay you will go to hell”

Hi there Nonni!

Well. This is an interesting point; one, however, I can’t agree with. See, here’s the thing. I get why people think Supernatural is “super homophobic”. I know many think so, that much becomes clear if you spend enough time on Tumblr, which is by the way one of the reasons I have been absent for so long from here.

Because here is the other thing: I don’t see it that way. I recognize there are certain issues, but having grown up the way I have, I have a different view on things. I don’t negate what many feel Supernatural is and does, and that it is sometimes, oftentimes, problematic for them. It’s just not how I see it.

Around seven years ago I received an anon regarding the Johnlock ship. Here I discussed whether popular media and the audience are ready to see such a canon ship between its two main (male) characters. A lot has happened since then; nevertheless it is still not an easy thing to realize on screen. We may be openminded here on Tumblr, and many others out there have since followed. But our society, and I’m talking about earth’s whole population, is still far from accepting homosexuality, or LGBTQ+ in general, as “normal”. If you want to blame anyone for that - don’t blame the people, or the writers. Blame the teachings especially of church(es) that have always and still condemn anything other than the heteronormative. Back in 2014 I said you don’t change the world overnight, and not even in a decade or two. But when I think back, I believe we have already come a long way, and we’ll soldier on, all of us who know that love is love, and who want everyone live their life the way they feel is best for them.

But back to Supernatural. 

No matter what they do on the show, the cast and crew are well aware that there are probably millions of Destiel shippers in the whole world. We are what, 90-95% of the fandom? Okay, maybe a little less, but we certainly are the majority, that I am sure of.

I think we can also agree that the cast and crew, and mostly the writers, are also aware that this show is ending. 

So there is this one thing that has been going around in my head since a few hours earlier (though being in Europe, it was the middle of the night and I decided to first get some sleep instead of writing something about it):

What if they stopped caring? 

Up until now, when there were still episodes and seasons to come, they had to tread carefully. Supernatural may have a strong and massive fanbase around the world, but ratings are still decided in the US. And viewership there does not only consist of fans/shippers. Up until now they had to consider all viewers, what they could gain and what they could lose because of their writing decisions. It’s a fine line between enthralling someone and putting them off.

If they make Destiel truly canon by the end of the last episode, if they let Dean say it back, if they do even more (I’m not gonna say it out loud, I’m afraid I could jinx it ^^), there may be a small percentage of SPN fans who won’t be happy. Maybe. But most of us, of them, will rejoice, and a part of those who don’t ship Destiel will probably be indifferent to it, or be happy for the rest of us. Furthermore, the general audience and their opinion won’t matter anymore.

There are no more episodes. There is no drop in viewership to be feared. It’s a done deal. Show over. So why not do it? For TWELVE YEARS they have dropped hint after hint after hint. Some call it baiting. I call it regular ship tease you see on so many shows. Chuck knows I had to endure it so often, and some didn’t manage to give closure to shippers (of popular ships that had been teased for years as well, but couldn’t become canon for different reasons during the run of the show). And here I am talking about heterosexual ships. 

So long story short, and to answer your question - a part of me really believes that they will give us closure. Let’s look at it this way: Cas has to sacrifice himself to make Dean realize that he loves him too. And not only realize, but also admit it. He has heard it now. Maybe he suspected it before, but hearing it makes it real. It’s out there. 

Look at how Dean wasn’t even able to accept Sam’s call, despite their dire situation, despite Dean maybe had to know that something was up, that Sam needed help. But Dean couldn’t. One can argue it was because he didn’t know how to tell Sam Cas is gone, but let’s be real: We’ve seen Dean devastated before when he thought Cas was dead, seen him keep Cas’ coat in the Impala and so on. This time, he was incapable of doing anything. Their world is literally on the verge of ending, and all he could do was sit there.

While Cas’ speech and confession had me sobbing, seeing Dean sitting there as if paralyzed completely broke me. He hasn’t just lost his best friend; he has lost the one he loves. I believe a dam has been broken. I don’t know what they will make of it, but seriously -- Cas said the three magic words, something I never expected to hear, so all bets are off now. 

In all honesty though -- for me it will already be enough if they bring Cas back and reunite him with Dean. Everything else is a cherry on top.

I have another thing for you, another perspective: 

You say the writers made him openly gay and then sent him to hell as a result and punishment.

I say: they could have chosen anything as his true happiness. They could have come up with whatever. We all have known for a long time that Cas finding/recognizing his true happiness will send him back to the Empty; he was always on borrowed time, because it was clear that they would make use of that plot device. 

So whatever they had chosen, it was only about Cas’ happiness. Could have been anything. But it isn’t. No, they decided to make Dean his happiness. The things he has learned thanks to Dean; the love he feels. 

The Empty didn’t know what it would be. There was never a condition on what his happiness had to be about. 

But the writers decided that there is only ONE thing that can be Cas’ real, true happiness. They gave us this. They could have found something else and we would be none the wiser, except that maybe we complained that it wasn’t Dean. 

The writers have made a decision. They decided to finally make it canon. 

[tomakeitbeautifultolive]

Still not comfortable coming off anon, but I wanted to thank you for your kind words. You're absolutely right. Those two sadistic psychos managed to write Jon Snow doing the one thing that was guaranteed to send me spiraling. If I told anyone else in my life that stupid show had me on my living room floor bawling my eyes out on SEVERAL occasions they'd look at me like I was crazy. (1/?)

But I did trust Jon, I put my faith in him because there was nothing in Jon that resembled my father - who abused me, my sister, and my mother. But then at the end, it was like that was all I could see when I looked at him. D&D are literally devils, ugh. I hope their careers rank and this travesty haunts them for the rest of their lives.

                                          .  .  .

You're very welcome, anon. That’s what I’m here for. ♥

I don't hate or even dislike many things if I'm being honest... and aside from say, human injustices, there isn't anything I hate more than D&D right now. I don't think that I quite grasped just how far-reaching fiction could be until I saw what they did to the fanbase - me included.

I remember when I found out the leaks were true. I was sitting at my kitchen table awaiting a delivery. I had read the leaks, and my phone vibrated - someone sent a spoiler video of Rhaegal's death. I knew in that moment every word was true of what they did to Daenerys, and I just broke down. My husband happened to come into the room at that exact moment and he didn't have a clue how to handle my reaction - which admittedly looked a bit unhinged. Because while he liked the show as a casual viewer, he's never fallen in love with a fictional character to the degree that they felt like they were a part of him. It felt like something inside of me had been ripped out and set on fire right in front of my eyes. It had me questioning everything I thought I knew.

And not even just Daenerys or Jon. Sure, I may be a trash shipper, but I'm also a very hardcore fangirl. I had an investment in dozens of characters and the future of their houses. I had an investment in prophecies and theories and mysteries that were never addressed, I had an investment in the state of Westeros, in the MESSAGE that this globally impactful series would have on actual earth - and just... my heart was bruised and battered. In the end, there was nothing. No answers, no resolution, no message.

Or perhaps worse yet, like in your case, it affirmed the worst about people and relationships. If there was a message to be had in Game of Throne's ending it's: don't bother to be a good person because it doesn't pay off, don't make friends because you can only trust family, love isn't real or worthwhile, revolution is evil, don't try to change because who you are was predetermined at birth and there's no escaping it... and I don't even want to get into what the message might be regarding mental illness... because it's too gross to even type.

If themes are for eighth-graders, then David Benioff basically admits that his aptitude as a writer is at a level lower than that of a child. 👍

I'm happy to hear that, at least prior to season eight, there was nothing in Jon that resembled those who abused you. If nothing else, that might just bode well for his book counterpart. Yet I'm still devastated to hear that by turning Jon into a traitor, the writers left you no choice but to see your abusers in him whenever you see him. We watch fiction to escape from that. 😞

I think most Dany fans put their trust in Jon because well, she did. As a fellow Dany fan, I'm sure you would agree that she hasn't been wrong about much - and she's been particularly good at judging men and their motivations. So, not only are the writers telling us that we were wrong about Jon Snow all that time - but that Dany was wrong, too. And not just about that, but everything. They really argued that taking justice out on evil men was bad. But of course, these were the writers that thought the perfect ending to Missandei's story, a freed slave, was to have her die not only in captivity but in chains.

Similarly, it's an insult to Jon's judgment, too. Even people who hate Jon and can't forgive him must at least agree that he was right when he put all of his eggs in the Daenerys basket. After all - she proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was an altruistic and selfless leader who would use her power to save others - even a handful of men - showing no hint of regret for her decision to help others even though it cost her dearly.

Luckily, we have countless critics who have spoken out about these inconsistencies with the writing. About how tone-deaf it was. I know D&D's careers won't be ruined by this, unfortunately, even though they've proven themselves as incapable writers. The epic failure of their choices, however, will absolutely haunt them throughout their career and will forever be a stain on their legacy, as it should be.

Woooo, guess I still had a lot to get off my chest!

[copyofa-copyofa-copy]

Do you believe in Larry?

I'll put it as simply as possible. Yes I love the idea of Larry being real, its soft and has so much more believable. I'd love the best for Louis and that explains why majority of his fanbase loves idea of Larry.

My priority is Louis, I'm a a Louis fan first. I'm not here for the ship but to support the beautiful boy who makes me smile everyday.not his family, not his relationships. it was him I fell in love with and will continue to love him.

It hurt me A LOT when I saw how harries and larries treated Louis, like a toxic guy with bad boy aura to make him fit their canons. Or like an arm candy who is incapable of being independent and depends on his partner . I mean look at the number of them using tommo way to quote their hate and the people using his loss as Larry proof?!

Louis is very kind sweet and he himself said he wants us to know he's a really nice guy. If you love larry because it seems beautiful and worth a go, I am not opposed to you. Keep supporting keep shipping if you love both of them equally and respect them.

All I wanna say is, if tomorrow larry comes out, I will support it. I will support Louis, Louis and Louis. Be it any relationship, I want Louis happy. And just so you know .

It's not that I disregard his partner or don't care about them, it's just not my business. I'm here for music and talent. And Louis promises me that irrespective of who he has by his side.

Relationship is a part of the artist and not their defining trait. High time people understand that Louis is an artist before the ship.

[bethanys-adventure]

Hey there! For the OC ask: 34-38. I didn't know you had a new story!

Hi! 

Yes! I started (officially) writing for a new piece and published it yesterday! To be fair, I had mismatched chapters but nothing in order! Here is the link: x (I’m also going to add links to the main character summary and also an informal introduction so everything makes a little more sense!)

Because I like pushing myself when it comes to fics and I have 4 main OCs, I might as well answer the questions for all of them! 

(Obvs Under ‘Read More’ as this will be a lot!)

34)  What is your OC’s dream job and/or current profession?

Eliza: Eliza is a pretty busy person. She’s a media personality - she starred in a recently ended travel show that went on for 3 seasons/years. Though now that she’s graduated from university she wants to take a bit of a break from all of that (before maybe going back to showbusiness) and gets an internship as a curator in the Natural History Museum. Her dream job, though, is an author.

Sami: Technically, Sami is an influencer. He has gathered a large enough following because he kept roasting Eliza on social media. However, his actual job (another internship) is at Twitter, he helps out at advertising. He never really had a dream job, when he was a young boy he wanted to be an astronaut but that was about it.

Tim: Tim is doing his dream job. He’s a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum. Part of him finds it a shame that the only place that would offer him a job in his field (while he was working for his doctorate) required him to move to England. 

Matt: Matt works in publishing. It’s not exactly his dream job - like Eliza he would rather be an author or a screen-writer. After all, his BA is in Creative Writing and his MA is in Script Writing - it would be a perfect match!

35)  How is your OC working towards his/her dream job and/or achieved his/her current profession?

Eliza: Let me talk about how she got into show business because she’s 21 and it’s not really that usual for someone from her background to get famous. So Eliza was in her first year at University and among her housemates, she got close with two in particular: Darcie and Evan. They kept making up stories and joking around with “hey, what if we got famous?” and whatnot. One day, Darcie states that she has a distant family friend at Netflix and may be able to pull a few strings. 

So it happens. They are first sent around the US for their first trip during their summer break and they can’t explain how but after the first week it blows up. It’s actually overwhelming. Evan drops out after the first series (as he legit dropped out of university and goes off the grid) so two Youtubers are brought in for the last two series’ - which opens them up to a new audience, their fanbases. It had positives and negatives - the negatives included privacy invasion, an event which causes a breakdown in her last relationship (I have actually written this!) so once it ends all Eliza wants is a break.

Sami: Sami got his internship the same way Eliza got hers - entered a graduate scheme and got in.

Tim: Tim loves dinosaurs, he always has done. He has worked so hard to get where he is. His parents wanted him to go into business (like his father) so naturally, when he said he wanted to be a palaeontologist he instantly lost their support, His job - the only job that would take his lack of a doctorate - required him to move nearly 3,500 miles away from home. It was a struggle leaving everything behind, but it was one he had to make.

Matt: Matt always thought that he could work his way up, if he started at small newsletter writing jobs in his home county of Kent then he could make it eventually as a writer. Though, he seems to be a little stuck when he got into publishing. He never made it further than there. it wasn’t that he didn’t work hard - he really did - but rather there was nothing really further for him to go.

36)  What are your OC’s thoughts/opinions of his/her current profession?

Eliza: Eliza is conflicted. She loves her role in the media but three years of balancing a degree alongside a show started to get to her (alongside al the social media hate) so she had to take a break. She wants to return but she’s all burnt out. She’s also not the same person she was 3 years ago, part of her wants to make a name for herself professionally using her degree. Which is why she enjoys her work as a curator. Sure there are some stressors but it’s like that with literally any other job.

Sami: Sami isn’t sure. He wanted to work in social media (as per his degree) and he is. Which is great! He works in advertising but he’s not really on terms with any of his workmates. It’s all just the small talk and project work.

Tim: He. Loves. His. Job. Yes, it can be stressful but he’s surrounded by everything that he loves.

Matt: Matt’s content with his job, but really wouldn’t mind working his way further up the career ladder.

37) What is your OC’s biggest dream?

Eliza: To be truly happy. She’s been through some shit that she can never unsee. She has suffered some pretty nasty mental health episodes. She just wants to forget it all and focus on being happy.

Sami: For someone who (jokingly) gives Eliza so much shit, he wants a more tolerant world. Sami’s a gay man (who has an autistic, bisexual older twin) who is in a relationship with another man. There are going to be people who very strongly disagree with his existence.

Tim: He’s very self-conscious about the scars on his body after he got in a nasty car accident at a young age. He wishes that people won’t look at the marks on his hands in a funny way or whispering as he walks past. He just wants to be accepted and loved for who he is rather than the accident that could have killed him.

Matt: Matt comes from a (slightly) conservative family. Long story short, he’s not out as pan to many people he knows. They know nothing about Sami, they know nothing about anything on the side that he does outside of work. Matt wants to be just as free with his loved ones as he is with everyone else.

38) How does your OC react to and handle stress?

Eliza: Surprisingly badly. Eliza’s autistic so any severe amounts of pressure results in a sensory overload (even small amounts of pressure combined with other triggers can set a similar response). She’ll need to isolate herself for some time and blast the music related to her special interest if she can feel one approach.

Sami: Much better than his sister. You can’t tell if Sami is stressed on the outside but he will internally be freaking out. As to how he handles it, he takes it out on a sharpie marker and a piece of paper.

Tim: After some push, he will crack under stress. He’s a tiny bit ashamed to admit that he’s a cryer, but he only does so when he’s in the privacy of his own apartment and around those he trusts. If not, he gets more fidgety and irritable and more likely to break all over again.

Matt: Like Sami, Matt appears so laid back that he seems incapable of stress. But he does feel it. He had to create a whole new identity (Which will later be referred to as “JustMattThanks”) just so Eliza’s fanbase wouldn’t know who he really was. Like Tim, he gets more irritable but completely isolating himself from the situation works wonders.

Wow. That took me so long to write, but hey! It was fun. Thanks for the ask Kat!