#while gaming community and fandom aren't exactly the same

[plumblobs]

i just saw a post mentioning my tou when it comes to all the old crap i've made for ts3 and like, do with it what you will.

all i ask is no reuploading anything behind a paywall. most of my stuff is either conversions or retextures which means someone else worked hard on the meshes, and paywalls suck ass.

i plan on keeping the google doc and my simfileshare up so as long as neither breaks, you can get everything there. if they do, we're all fucked because i lost everything in the great harddrive meltdown of 2021.

anyway hope you all are well! when i'm not in the capitalism mines i'm playing overwatch and/or longing for dragon age dreadwolf.

[chairteeth]

have u ever explained ur aro-ace hcs for tounemu

Hmm, I don't think I have. They're partially based off of my own experiences as an aroace lesbian as well as those of my partner and other members of the community, which I felt vibed with the characters. The headcanons vary depending on the fic/AU, but there's some general stuff I can easily share, I think. A lot of this is just gonna be vibes and what I believe fits the characters/is most interesting to play around with. Since this is a sexuality rant, fully expect me to talk about the characters beyond the scope of their ages in canon. In case it gets really long, have a readmore.

First, assume a lesbian layer under the aspec layer of the characters. So, let me try Touka first, because she's probably easier to talk about. I like to headcanon her as demiromantic specifically, because I just cannot see her getting crushes or falling for anyone she doesn't already have a significant emotional connection to, but she does seem like she would feel romantic attraction. Only in a very demi way, though. Very "over the course of years of having a close bond" type. She doesn't feel to me like she'd be interested in traditional romance in any way, shape, or form. Sexually, I'm... I'm so tempted to say demi sapiosexual you have no idea. That's because I feel like both Touka and Nemu (especially Touka) are attracted to high intellect, mind you. If I had to say, though, for Touka I'd classify her as a gray-ace. It feels right. I believe that she has this base, very mild relatively "constant" level of it, ssssorta like the allo way, but when she does feel strong sexual attraction, it hits her like a powerful and relatively sudden slap in the face and is only triggered by highly specific things. And also you have to know exactly how to work her, etc. I really, really think it's more about the mind games and stuff for her, that's what she's into. Same for Nemu, but I like doing something a tad different with Nemu, give me a second to rant.

I have many gripes about what people do with characters like Nemu, especially when it comes from people who are clearly ignorant or insufficiently educated on the aroace spectrum. See, Nemu has a very specific set of traits that often make people go "oh I see her as asexual" but attaching that headcanon to these specific traits when you don't even have a solid basis of what that even means grinds my gears pretty bad. Some of these traits are: quiet, glasses, bookworm/nerd, wheelchair user/physically disabled. Fandom culture around these kinds of characters is rancid. And whenever I've seen people write ace characters, it's one of two things: exotic allo or completely celibate. Which is just so far off from reality. The aspec is a lot more varied than people may think, and while being asexual does not equate to being celibate, that also doesn't mean that sexual experiences are the same for an ace person as they are for an allo person. You cannot simply say "oh they're ace but they enjoy sex" and then depict them acting exactly like an allo person, the approach is completely different. And then there is the camp that thinks ace = celibate. Some aces are celibate, some aren't. Don't even pretend libido isn't a completely separate thing too. So most of the time, it feels like internalized ableism, ignorance, the general assumption of "nerds don't fuck" (while this is the case for some, a majority of nerds are freaks) etc., and since it especially applies to female characters, also some level of internalized purity standards or something. Which absolutely maddens me.

Anyway, I see Nemu as grayromantic asexual. To elaborate a little, I feel like through her passion for literature and just how much poetry and how many books she must've read, Nemu feels some level of curiosity towards romance and approaches it from a pretty writerly perspective that would likely only ever work on another weirdo. It feels like she's more of an observer, but although rarely, she does feel romantic attraction, and in a relationship it's like a permanent little warmth in her chest. Not overwhelming, not loud, but like the tiniest ever-present flame of pure fondness. My ace interpretation of her, however, differs from others I have talked to. For example, my partner does understand my interpretation but sees her as gray-ace instead. Now, I see Nemu as completely asexual, but much like Touka, academically interested in the whole... everything surrounding sex and kink. My personal explanation for that one "people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Touka" scene in Miyuri's MGS is actually just that, simply put, the girls probably have conversations about sex and kink/fetishes. Not in a sexual way, but in a curious, intellectually-driven way, and that curiosity is what may lead them into experimenting when they get older.

The most fun thing about my interpretation of ace Nemu, in my honest opinion, is how it combines with other traits, like her high libido (headcanon we derived from canon, there are words in the background of Nemu's henshin and they're all philosophical concepts or other relevant stuff except for the word libido, that's where that headcanon comes from and it's interesting, so we're keeping it), her being a Buddhist, or her sadism, or the funny kink we suspect her of having (if you know you know). This is something I tend to touch upon more in AUs by honing her trauma to specifically highlight the issues she already has. Ace + high libido is already a potentially fascinating combination of traits, but when you add the religion thing and the kink aspects born from trauma, not to mention the rest of the trauma? It's so incredibly crunchy to rotate in your brain and analyze and play around with.

I think both of them would enjoy planning outings and the like just because they like planning things and they love quality time. They'd probably be trying to one-up each other often, Touka would delight in finding ways to fluster Nemu I think, and same in reverse, but Nemu does tend to be more dramatic, so she might enjoy the occasional theatrics as part of their little ludus thing. Who am I kidding, Touka "let's explode in a cool pose!" Satomi is also dramatic. I mentioned in my love styles essay that I feel like physical touch is vitally important to them, because of sensory craving and having been touch/affection starved as kids (yk, in a hospital, particularly Nemu), so that is one part of why I think they'd enjoy physical affection, from handholding to sex. The intellectual aspect of the kink experience also feels important. You can explore so much fascinating stuff about a character through their sexuality (general usage of the word, not specifically referring to identities here), and it bugs me a little that most nsfw works I've seen (not necessarily TouNemu), particularly Eastern ones, are just... character assassination galore. From my point of view, I don't understand why you'd ever want to do that, but I can at least comprehend the concept of "this is meant to be fapping material and that's why it's like that". It's not what personally interests me about nsfw, so I tend to stay away from any that isn't produced by myself or recommended to me specifically by someone in the aspec who I trust.

To summarize:

Touka demiromantic gray-ace

Nemu grayromantic ace

Both dramatic enough to pull off romantic stunts for funsies

Both hungry enough for enrichment and/or horny enough to indulge at some point (probably their teens, maybe their 20s if they're stupid enough, I could easily see them sharing a house and possibly a bed for like ten years and acting every bit like a married couple without realizing- this includes sharing a bed because as per new canon info, Nemu requires a body pillow, and Touka is probably the perfect size to be hugged while sleeping), but not the way an allo person/couple would. Being the freaks they are though, you probably couldn't even tell they're aspec as an external observer

[galaxythedragonshifter]

A bit of a criticism of the FNAF community...

I don't like how a lot of the fans take the story of fnaf too seriously, and expect it to work like a tv show, where they just tell you the lore and anything not in said show is non-canon.

That's never how the story of FNAF worked in the first place. Sure, the games show us bits and pieces, but the community had to figure it out themselves with little help from Scott. A good portion of the lore is ambiguous and/or hinted at, and even smaller details the community came up with aren't even canon to begin with (ex. CC being named Evan).

While I agree with the sentiment that FNAF 6 was a good ending to it, I also empathize with Steel Wool, and I don't agree with the "they should have never continued after FNAF 6, they ruined the franchise" sentiment.

I wouldn't have even found an interest in fnaf had security breach not been made. Security breach is what grabbed my attention. So ofc I will be slightly biased, but I don't think SB deserves the hate it gets. Yes, it's buggy, was barely playable on release, and was unable to do everything Steel Wool wanted due to time constraints, tech limitations, and over ambition. Those criticisms are 100% true.

However, saying that security breach should have never been made, rather than understanding that SB was a learning opportunity for Steel Wool, as well as something that grew the community despite it's quality is questionable. Besides, a lot of the story is established to be there, but unfortunately wasn't able to be implemented due to the aforementioned problems.

Although I, again, absolutely agree Steel Wool shouldn't have rushed the end product due to a release date they absolutely had control over, as well as the community needing to be more patient. I'm not saying the game is a masterpiece or anything; it's not.

I wasn't exactly too aware of the fnaf community before SB released, but after, I heard a lot about how the community was upset about all the setbacks in development (please correct me if I'm wrong). I can see why Steel Wool felt rushed to get SB out asap.

Yes, the story has plot holes and yada yada yada... when has it not???? Why was that ok, but it's not ok now? During the "Scott era", people had no problems with coming up with theories/making their own stories, Headcanons, and working without a straightforward answer to everything. While that absolutely still exists, it feels like the people saying "SB should have never been made" seem to see SB as a tv show more than an installment to a franchise that always made the community work together for answers.

Now you can argue that SB's writing was sub-par compared to the first six games. And I agree. But keep in mind that Steel Wool was assigned to the franchise by Scott, and they absolutely want to give us more fnaf content since Scott can't oversee the whole entire franchise anymore. They really enjoy working with Scott to continue bringing games to the fans.

In addition, Scott absolutely loves playing in his goofy little murder robot story like it's a sandbox, and I believe that was his intention for the fandom too. He's funded several fan projects as well as creating the Fanverse. He's made many variations of the same story (the books, the games, the Silver Eyes trilogy, and the movie). And as a creator, he's absolutely allowed to do that. He had fun with his creations, and I absolutely applaud him for not trying to please the fans every two seconds to desperately keep parts of the fandom that were upset at random things. I truly believe he wants the community to have fun and not to take the story too seriously. (Actually, Steel wool mentioned that they do the same thing during FuhNaff's interview.) They understand that you shouldn't try to make EVERY fan happy.

Speaking of the interview from two months ago (as of writing this), Jason talks a lot about the process behind SB and why they did things a certain way. Ofc, most of the criticisms still apply, but there's a lot of intention behind the other complaints. He also mentions that there's still things in SB that haven't been found, and that they're making everything work similar to Gravity Falls.

Basically they have a ton of little details that don't seem to have answers, but will in later times. Mind you, the new Mimic game was announced today, with one of the frames having 1979, presumably referencing Fall Fest (before Fredbear's Family Diner). This will probably explain the extra details in HW2 with the Daycare Attendant, the outfits the Mimic uses in Ruin, ect.)

And on top of that, no story is 100% perfect. There have been multiple limitations and roadblocks, especially for Steel Wool, that need workarounds. Of course it's not gonna line up 100%. That's where we, as the fandom, come in to theorize and explain.

Imo, ragging on Steel Wool for Security Breach and not killing the series after fnaf pizzeria sim is incredibly harsh and doesn't take into consideration any of the factors involved. It also isn't really all that fair tbh.

Sorry I practically wrote an entire essay lol. This has just been bugging me for a while.

[branmuffins22]

13, 26, 35, 39, 44 from this ask game

Ooo, that's a lotta questions!

13. Do you outline your fics? How much of a headache would someone get if they just looked at an outline of yours without reading the fic?

The short answer? NOT EXACTLY BUT I REALLY REALLY SHOULD

The longer answer?

Technically, I have almost every major plot point written down in some form or another before I write a thing. That said, they usually aren't in any sensible order, and are buried in a mess of a channel in my private discord server, where ALL my brainrot goes.

When I write, I mostly just pick a starting point from one of my notes, and walk it forward from there. I tried properly outlining for one of my fics, and it got me... somewhere, but for the most part, my brain just doesn't work that way. An outline becomes a task list, and I can't stand task lists.

My current system is kinda horrid, but I'd be more worried about someone getting bored sifting through all my scattered notes than getting a headache from them.

26. What’s your biggest distraction when writing?

That one's... probably a tossup between a lot of things. Bodily needs, background streamers mentioning something I actually have an opinion on, my mother barging in with shame and deadlines for cyclical tasks (man, I need out of this house), my twin having something funny to show me... basically just ~Life~, lmao.

I guess part of the problem with my current life situation is that I don't have a lot of time that's truly, unequivocally my own, so I get pushed and pulled around by whatever or whoever calls my attention loudest.

...Or maybe that's just the adhd talking.

35. How much has writing fic changed your life?

SIGNIFICANTLY.

Now, I've been known to struggle with feelings of situational/emotional permanence, so I could be a little biased by the fact that it's my current biggest hobby, but at this point, around half of my social life happens in fandom/fanfiction circles, which wasn't the case a year or two ago.

Two years ago, I didn't read for fun. Like, full stop. I only started doing that after Thanks to Them released, when the hiatus brainrot got me seeking content and community from more than just the show itself and the friend who got me into it. I think the very first fanfic I read was a oneshot someone cross-posted to tumblr, which somehow convinced me to join both tumblr (technically rejoin tumblr) and Ao3 around the same time. Well. maybe a month or so apart, because of the weird account-creation queue thing Ao3 has goin' on. But still.

I don't think I started to consider writing my own fanfiction until I read A Blight on Bonesborough, by GeminiAlchemist, and got a bunch of ideas from the way they expanded upon the lore and magic system and characters and all that of the Owl House.

From there, it kinda took over my life completely, lmao.

I wanted to write about Luz's experiments with glyphs, and some potential avenues of missed opportunity brought to my attention by The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled, by IdeaHunter, and that eventually turned into the Artificer|Overthinker AU (to this day i still haven't picked the name).

Later, I wanted a story about Luz experiencing human high school again after all the dust settled, and after reading a fun fic whose premise was great but whose execution didn't quite scratch the itch (Luz Noceda and the mysterious case of her imaginary girlfriend, by Imkindagayyk), that slowly evolved into Masha and the Very Normal Nocedas (which I actually started writing over a year ago, and still haven't gotten to a postable state with even a single chapter, lmao).

Ever since, I've pretty much been rotating some fic idea or another in my head 24/7.

Nowadays, I wake up and check ao3 for fic updates/new fics, I read while I cook and eat breakfast, I browse tumblr for new stuff from my faves and mutuals, I check ao3 again every few hours, sometimes (but not often) I find the motivation and such to actually write, and I kinda keep up like that all day.

It's maybe a little excessive/obsessive/destructive/etc, but fanfiction kinda defines all the intentional parts of my life right now.

39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on?

Voice and gimmicks.

The most prominent examples I can think of are the various literary tropes I try to imbue certain characters and such with. I usually write in 3rd-person limited perspective, so the characters' voices influence not just the way I write their dialog, but the way I write entire scenes.

There aren't any good examples of it in either of the fics I've actually posted so far, so you'll kinda just have to trust me on this, but a great example is the way I establish the POV character of a given scene.

It's easier for some characters than others, and I haven't come up with a gimmick for every character yet, but I try to open each scene with a literary trope that emphasizes some aspect of the POV character's voice.

For example, scenes written from Luz's point of view always start with speech, either hers or directed at her. Luz is a rambunctious, chatty, and kinda awkward character, who tends to exert herself on every situation she comes across, so I figure an unconventional (and arguably obnoxious, according to some people) opener works great for her.

Hunter is an outwardly-cocky character with some deep-seated self-worth problems (and a very slanted worldview besides), so his scenes always start with a self-affirmation of some kind, usually followed by a contradiction. Often, he's either intentionally or subconsciously trying to convince himself of something, or to do whatever it is he's about to be doing in the scene.

Vee is a bit of a special case. Like Luz, her scenes start in media res, but she tends to borrow the gimmicks of characters around her. She's a shapeshifter, and learned about life in the outside world as a doppelganger, so she has a tendency for mimicry, intentional or not. She also has a secondary gimmick, one that's a bit more her own, in that narration about her often finds itself filled with alliteration, especially involving the letter S (since she's sort of a snake, and snakes hisssss (and doing it with the letter V was too hard lmao)). It started as a running gag she played on Masha in MatVNN, but then I couldn't stop using it, so it's kinda everywhere now.

Masha is a superstitious (though slightly apathetic) character with a keen eye (and no attention span with which to wield it). They tend to seek out meaning even where there isn't any, and thus often completely miss the broader details in favor of the little things. Their scenes start with an isolated excerpt, usually a tarot reading. In an ideal world, the readings would foreshadow both the events of the scene and at least one of the ways they've misinterpreted them, but unfortunately, I haven't yet actually learned enough tarot to do that. It's a big part of why Masha and the Very Normal Nocedas is taking so long to get to a postable state 😅.

That's pretty much all the opening gimmicks I've worked out so far, but another one I'd like to mention has to do with the way magic is written.

Whenever a spell is cast, I whip out my thesaurus and try to sprinkle in a few words nearby that relate to the kind of spell being cast. For instance, I might say that when Willow casts a wall of vines, she first "plants her feet on the ground", or "stifles her budding anger". Before Luz casts an invisibility spell, she might think about "hiding the cards she was dealt" or maybe "her hands disappear into her pockets". Stuff like that.

The way I imagine it, magic taps straight into the caster's homonculus (broadly, the part of their brain that decides and understands what encompasses "the body") in such a way that the caster becomes part of the spell just as much as the spell becomes part of the caster.

Luz in particular, having the knack for magic that she does, tends to start this process of "becoming the spell" as soon as she decides to cast it, not just at the moment she actually casts it. It's like working yourself into the headspace of a thing, before sitting down and doing it. I've got a whole huge segment in one of my more dramatic fics that's basically an entire page of this kind of thing, with Luz preparing to cast a really big spell (or, well. technically a pair of big spells (TECHNICALLY technicaly it's one normal spell being used to prepare to cast the two massive spells. it's a whole thing)). It honestly might be the highlight of my writing portfolio, which is a huge shame because it's a MASSIVE spoiler.

Anyways, uhhh yeah. I really like gimmicks.

44. Rant about something writing related.

WELL SHITDAMNFUCK, IF ONLY I READ ALL THESE QUESTIONS AHEAD OF TIME! I COULD'VE SPARED SOME OF THOSE PRIOR RANTS FOR HERE!

Well. Guess I aughtta find something else to write about.

How about the ultimate enemy, the scourge of our people, the cornerstone of suffering itself, the dreaded and feared, the great and terrible:

Writer's Block.

It may come as a surprise to the ignorant among us (hehe, amogus), but I, too, suffer from Writer's Block from time to time! In fact, I'm even suffering from it right now! And I have been for the past... oh goodness, over 2 months now.

I had one good day of writing, in all that time, which only came about because I nearly fell asleep in the tub. I somehow daydreamed my way into a really good turn of phrase that I just HAD to put into context for Backlight and Bitrot.

So far, that singular scene, set (the equivalent of) several seasons into the story, remains both the only thing I've written for that fic, and the only thing I've written at all since January.

It's infuriating! I have all these ideas, all these things I WANT to write, all these people I want to share these ideas with, all this time, all this passion, all this brainrot, and yet I Just! Can't! Write!

AUGH!

It would be one thing if I'd simply run out of ideas; I could call this whole thing something pretty like a "dreaming phase" or a "break in order to recharge" or whatever. But I've been dreaming for ages! This break has been in no way relieving! I'm just wallowing in my inability to do the things i love, while the world moves on around me!

You've had an excellent way of phrasing this for yourself, recently: "The executives are on vacation."

It's not some pleasure cruise for me! Those darn jerks (basic brain functions) who dictate every little thing that goes on around here just fucked off to who-knows-where! Completely blind to the consequences (stagnation, suffering, shame) of their absence, and how those affect their employees (me)! I just work here, man! Lemme do my job! I wanna do my job, but I can't if you don't let me! Ugh.

I want to write so goddamn bad. I've got all these projects to write for, all these brainrot spores to spread. I've got so much I want to accomplish, and yet my dumb bitch brain can't seem to get the memo. Work phone is powered off, I suppose.

It's gotten to the point lately that even those random notes to myself have slowed down. I'm having less new ideas than before. I'm picking old ideas out and polishing them less than before.

I'm worried I might end up having to find a way to cater my writing to the dumb mammal part of my brain somehow, in order to bring some momentum back. Write about something crude and easy and filled with every instantly-gratifying fantasy I can imagine.

No more of this 'careful thought' and 'consideration for themes' junk, we want it LOUD and we want it NOW.

Ugh.

Writer's Block is the worst.

What a bummer to end on. Oh well, I'm gettin' kinda sleepy, and I'm out of questions anyways. Thanks for the ask!

[apollo41writes]

Goodnight prompt 55/∞

Fandom: Arcane: League of Legends Ship: Jayce/Viktor AUs/Tropes: Gamer/streamer Jayce, Barista Viktor, Mutual pining, Secret identity (kinda) Prompt: There's this one player Jayce teams up often during his streams. He's a sarcastic little shit, but he's also crazy smart and his voice makes things happen that Jayce is aware aren't necessarily appropriate while he's live. If only MachineHerald accepted to finally meet after years of partnership from a far...

Extra details: What can I say, I have a soft spot for the two of them being gaming buddies. Also, being absolutely in love with each other but pining because for some reason they are too scared about admitting their feelings.

In this case, I was thinking maybe Jayce started playing with Viktor when he was seriously considering starting his own Twitch/Youtube/whatever career. And maybe it was Viktor that finally pushed him into giving it a shot.

Jayce didn't think he would gain a fairly consistent community in so little time, but apparently people like his personality (and his body, judging by his instagram's comments). And Viktor accepted to still play with him when Jayce needs a co-op buddy and he isn't at his own work. The one caveat is that Viktor still wants to be just an anonymous voice behind a nickname.

Jayce agreed, of course. But he also thought that sooner or later Viktor would show his face at least to him privately. But after maybe two years of being basically best friends, no luck. Viktor absolutely refuses videochats, giving Jayce's his private social accounts or even just a name.

Jayce is in love with Viktor, but with all of the being very private he doubts that Viktor actually feels the same way, so he doesn't say anything about it. And he also kind of tries to forget about Viktor by flirting with the cute barista that works at this one coffee shop he started going to about 8 months prior.

There's something about the cute barista's accent that strikes him as very familiar, but he can't grasp exactly what it is.

And that's when I switch to Viktor's side of things. Of course he knows what Jayce looks like from almost day one. Which is also why he kind of decides that he'll never show his face to Jayce.

People always treat him differently after they know about his health issues. And Jayce is such a good friend! He doesn't want him to be another one of those people that change after they actually meet him.

Also, he's kind of crushing hard on Jayce, but he doesn't know if Jayce is into guys as well. Better just keep his mouth shut about it.

But one day while Viktor was working at the coffee shop, Jayce enters and... Viktor almost panics, but then remembers that the only thing Jayce knows about him is the voice. Which Viktor modulates slightly anyway, so there's no way he'll recognize him, right?

The true panic hits when Jayce starts flirting with him. And not MachineHerald Viktor, but lame sweaty and sickly barista Viktor. Maybe he should just tell Jayce the truth... Maybe he would still want to date him? Wait... what if he gets angry that he didn't say anything that first day Jayce entered the coffee shop?

... maybe he should just keep up this double life thing.

[doctortwhohiddles]

Delusion and Entitlement

I think Annashipper and Fakerbatch have just given the best example of both. Anna got this ask:

Which led to this answer from Anna. I've edited it to keep the most relevant parts (comments in parenthesis) :

We Skeptics never called ourselves “truthers”. That’s what the Nannies used to call us. ●(And that's what they still are)

It was never Ben making Weirdo look stupid. In the early days of the showmance in particular, it was Weirdo and Harvey making him look like a schmuck. The lever of second-hand embarassment fans of his with half a brain have had to endure was (and still is) palpable. ●(The only embarassement comes from sewage corner, the ones with less than half a brain apparently)

Soooooo. Those who truly here back in 2014-5 remember how Ben transformed from a happy-go-lucky guy in 2014 to someone looking physically ill by the spring of 2015. We also remember the ridiculous polls, the even more ridiculous drinking games, the CumberPorn, the Showmance bingo (which @gatorfisch still plays from time to time and cracks me up), the DorkyBatch pic or gif of the day, the snarky questions and the even snarkier answers, the vigorous fact checking, the readers of Bally’s blog losing their glunch, the up/down bump compares, the submissions of crazy theories on what would happen next during those early days, how PR was basically answering Ms Bally’s concerns through weird handholding and bikini sneaky pap shots that were blurred, the press rundowns each and every day, that Ben should always strive to be a #supportivefruithusband to Weirdo whom fetch still eludes because she obviously never tried to follow Spinsie’s advice and take on mandarine juggling on London street corners, Ms Ballsy stocking up on Baileys, pop corn and Tim Tams in preparation for pap walks through airports (which at that time were a dime a dozen), everyone stocking up on the alcoholic beverage of their choice to watch the BAFTAs and Oscars that year, bingate, the showmance (which on Ballsy’s blog was called the shamwow) playlist, etc. As far as I’m concerned, nothing’s changed since those days. ●(In which Anna just proved how fucking delusional the haters are)

I was then and I still am a SkeptoNanny. I was and still am cringing whenever Ben looks pissy / sad / done standing or sitting next to Weirdo although he smiles standing or sitting around everyone else. I was and still am getting a sad every time I think of how much Ben’s demeanour has changed since 2014. ●(It really hasn't, sadly neither have the haters)

Something I’ve always been accused of by Skeptics who run their own blogs as well as Nonnies, is that I nanny Ben a little too much, and they’re all absolutely right. I always did go out of my way to find excuses for his behaviour, and it’s something I intend to keep doing, because for all of his idiocy, I’m still a fan of his work, and I truly believe he’s a nice guy whose one true error in judgement was agreeing to play along with the game Weirdo thought would be fun on the night of January 3rd, 2015 at PSIFF. The moment he agreed to keep baiting that first pregnancy for free publicity because Harvey had promised him an Oscar, he basically signed up for all of the craziness we’ve been witnessing (and alternating between groaning and giggling at) ever since. ●(Basically the moment the haters realize the relationship was serious and still can't handle it)

At the same time, I always thought the awkward shoehorning was hilarious. I always laughed at the piss-poor attempts to disguise set-up pap walks as relentless hounding from the paparazzi. I always found Weirdo’s fetchlessness endlessly entertaining. I always assumed she would never get a voice in this showmance, and the past four years have not proved me wrong. I always got the giggles out of the weird handholding. ● (But I thought Sophie was a famewhore)

I have stated repeatedly that I believe Ben has had a firm grasp on the stirring wheel of this showmance since March of 2016, and I mean that. As such, it’s getting increasingly hard for me to keep making excuses for his poor choices to make this whole thing look realistic. The way he keeps flogging this particular dead horse to receive free publicity, and the unfortunate way his quotes regarding his wife and children come at complete odds with his actions leave me speechless. Or they would leave me speechless if this showmance hadn’t been so very inconsistent since day one. ●(What leaves me speechless is the sheer idiocy displayed by Anna)

You ask why I “want him to sell this“. Well, I’m a firm believer in doing something right or not doing it at all. Since Ben doesn’t seem to be willing to end this showmance until “people who think his wife and child(ren) are a PR stunt” will shut up, he might as well do it properly and try to make the whole thing look realistic. This has nothing to do with the Skeptical community and everything to do with his public image. ●( entitled much are we?)

Newly formed Skeptics still emerge every time Ben decides to rock the proverbial boat by trotting Weirdo out. ●( she means new sockpuppets)

Unfortately, having spent the past 4 years documenting those very inconsistencies has basically turned those of us who are truly paying attention to what’s being said versus what’s being done into human bullshit detectors, and just because Ben is alternating between trying to bore us to death and upping the stupidity level when he decides it’s time for free publicity for one of his projects is not going to drive anyone away. ●(and we're the ones that are obsessed 😒)

The most depressing part of all is that the clickability of Skeptical blogs far surpasses the clickability of any other part of the fandom (be it Fan blogs, Nanny blogs, Anti blogs or just Ben’s official/unofficial web page). ●(still trying to pass has more important than she is I see)

So yeah. I’m gonna keep speaking my mind, and I’m far past sugarcoating my opinions. While I don’t expect anyone to agree with me, I am not going to treat a 42 year old successful man like a helpless toddler who doesn’t have the means and the opportunity to release himself from whatever Madame Fetchlessly Irrelevant is holding over his head. ●(except that's exactly what she's doing)

That being said, I’m still going to keep making excuses for him when it makes sense to do so, and I’m still going to root for him to do well in all of his endeavours. The fact that he’s painted himself into a ridiculous corner with this showmance doesn’t change the fact that I believe he has tremendous capacity for kindness and a raw talent that he’s able to hone into an impossibly sharp edge when he’s in front of a camera or an audience. Just don’t ask him to do it when his wife is within a five foot radius. That seems to be his Achilles heel… ●(it's more the haters Achilles heel since they have to come up with reasons why Ben is still married).

But it doesn't end there, Fakerbatch had to throw in her 2 cents:

Does this moron genuinely think Ben wants advice from her?!? As if he would listen to a bunch of scary, delusional stalkers. Fucking hell, the haters are really slow on the uptake aren't they?