#i saw it on twitter and became obsessed what can i say | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

olderthannetfic · 5 months

Note

https://olderthannetfic.tumblr.com/post/739381076510785536/so-it-seems-our-flag-means-death-has-not-been#notes

I liked OFMD and I'm sad it's not getting renewed, but I agree that the fandom was especially toxic, even by the standards of currently popular slash-heavy fandoms. I wanted to read fic after s1 ended the way it did, and I read a little bit, but along with it having all the tropes that I can't stand in a lot of what is currently big with the MSF crowd (and that I'd been happy to have a reprieve from in my current main M/M fandom), the toxicity of the online fandom discourse made me quickly realize it was one that I was going to discuss among my current-friends-from-other-fandoms who also watched it, and my sister who watches it, and pretty much ignore the rest of the Internet. It was such a perfect storm of everything awful, from people who are overly invested in it to an unhealthy degree (I think I realized I wasn't gonna be active in the larger fandom around a month or so before the s2 renewal announcement, when I saw earnest PSA tweets telling people to "stop threatening suicide in HBO's replies if they don't renew OFMD"), to bombarding and parasocial obsessions with the creators and actors, to all the classic "anti" and purity police crap that plagues anything that gets popular on here.

The fandom it reminds me the most of, honestly, is Yuri on Ice fandom at its peak in early-mid 2017. Again, a show I love, but a fandom I absolutely do not miss. In some ways they are kind of similar shows: ones with canon M/M romances where they were not billed as that, and they were hinted from early on but people didn't trust it due to years of dealing with queerbaiting, where that sort of thing slowly crept up on people and then became the defining feature of how it was discussed everywhere. I wonder if there's a particular level of insanity that that type of thing breeds in its fans - or maybe, more broadly, "canon M/M with a large female fanbase." Like, you don't see this kind of thing in canon M/M stuff that's mostly watched by queer men rather than women, but there are shades of the insanity I also remember from Glee fandom (I was more active on the F/F side of things there, which had its own unhinged drama, but the Klaine vs. anti-Klaine stuff was so explosive that it was hard not to notice it if you were anywhere in that fandom, like a mushroom cloud in the distance). But YOI and OFMD do seem very... singular in the particular kind of obsession that they generate.

And I really wish people would shape the fuck up, because if they're going to act like this over and over again, that's just going to de-incentivize showrunners to make shows like this for that audience.

Driving Con O'Neill off Twitter was one of the worst parts of it, too. There was something so refreshingly earnest about how much he embraced the fandom, even the weirdest parts - saying with regard to NSFW fanart that "art is art" and retweeting stuff like his character in a crop-top that said "babygirl." It was so nice to see an actor who didn't usually have that kind of following embrace it wholeheartedly rather than steering clear. ....And then people had to be awful and creepy and obsessive and he left Twitter. I bet he's going to be a lot more skeptical of dealing with fans in the future!

It's not just the canon m/m aspect: it's the wholesomeness.

Yes, yes, they're all evil pirates, I agree, but watching S1 did give me the feeling of something that was supposed to be very progressive and light-hearted in particular ways. I don't think that's bad, but it does tend to attract some very over-sensitive fans with some very rigid expectations.

It's sadly par for the course that one of the random side character actors is the fun one and people are jackasses and desperately want the leads they ship to be the fandomy ones and/or just start creeping on any actor they can get a reaction from.

130 notes · View notes

teex · 29 days

Note

hey, i recently saw your reblogs with tyler and jamie, and these days i have become obsessed with them, and i was wondering what their friendship was like, what the plot. maybe there are some moments with them that can blow my mind and say wow they are such fruity. big thanks if you answer 🦥

hello oh goshhh

whats the plot??? we have over ten years of plot atp and i am not very good at presenting this kind of DATA, but they truly do have such a narrative

this is not going to be formatted well but let me just spew some Things i know/think i remember to give you a better feel. let's start with this ridiculous quote from tyler (from the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, December 17th, 2018):

"Our personalities bounce off each other. When I first came to Dallas, he was super quiet and I was super loud, and I think I got him going a bit and he kinda tamed me. That's probably the easiest way to describe it."

he has boiled them down to their essentials right here. he Understands.

jamie was drafted in fifth round (129th overall) to the stars. he barely made it into the nhl. tyler, on the other hand, was drafted 2nd overall to boston. he became a big name and won a cup with them immediately. he also got into a lot of off-ice shenanigans (some rumored and some with clear photo evidence). so after just a few years on the team, boston shipped him off to dallas. it really bruised tyler's ego and came as a shock. when he got to dallas, jamie was still a young player on the stars with an A. he knew that tyler was seen as immature and unprofessional and difficult, but he told tyler, let's prove them wrong and that's kinda been their thing ever since.a few month's after the trade, jamie became captain and really took responsibility of tyler.

they immediately found chemistry on the ice. they became one of the most effective duos in the league. they lived in the same building, then bought houses in the same neighborhood. tyler has always been loud and outgoing and handsome. jamie's nickname is 'chubbs' and he's always been quieter. so there are a lot of meaty dynamics there.

jamie was constantly protecting/defending tyler on the ice and the ONE career fight tyler has is from avenging jamie.

they have been the two heads of this team for a really, really long time now. they don't seem to be as close in their personal lives anymore, and they play on diff lines, but there is still a real respect and fondness they have for each other. every single game they go out of the tunnel together, last

as for moments that can blow your mind, just check out the bennguin tag. watch the dude perfect videos they're in (here's a gifset from one)

some funny audio clips x x

tyler making such a face at jamie

there are so many years worth of Things i am forgetting. i wish i could find the clip of jamie saying he loves giving tyler a good time, and then correcting himself to say hard time and tyler reacting. you will have to do some investigating, here and on youtube and on twitter (and ao3 if that's your thing.)

#bennguin #jamie benn #for filtering #oybreplies #they were publicly called out a few years ago together by mgmt and said to b horseshit #many many bonding experiences #before they met as teammates they played on an all star team together one year

52 notes · View notes

beautifulpersonpeach · 19 days

Note

BPP I'm so exhausted and heart broken over this NewJeans mess. Funny thing is I got into the group after seeing you talk about them late last year, I fell in love with Ditto and started watching them closely. I saw how MHJ would treat them and smile at them in candid shots like the Lolla show, and felt at ease that they would continue to succeed with her managing them.

But since this issue started when I try to express why I'm uneasy with HYBE controlling NewJeans, I'm downvoted to negatives on reddit and qrted to hell on Twitter. Army friends have unfollowed me even though I've said I'm against the hate on BTS. I don't even stan NewJeans the way I do BTS, but because I'm critical of Hybe and siding with Ador, I'm called all sorts of names and yesterday Armys tried to suspend my account. Even BigHit's former choreographer has come out in support of Ador, other idols have publicly come out in support of NewJeans and N Capital came out to refuse Hybe's claims that MHJ met them to take Ador out. I feel things are not as Black and White as Armys are saying about this issue, and that NewJeans is under risk if MHJ leaves.

Everybody is calling me crazy and on one hand it's whatever. I know how kpop stans are in general so I'm not surprised, but I'm truly starting to worry. I started writing this ask 3 times before settling on what I've written now, because I kept getting choked up. I know its just kpop and I shouldn't be this attached, but I'm so scared BPP. Those girls are not even 2 years old as a group and their future is already looking so bleak when at the start of this year, their future was so bright. I remember you said they might technically even get a Grammy nomination this year. I feel sad and angry but I'm unable to express myself freely in all the fandom spaces I usually spend time in.

What should I do? How can I handle this? If it were you, what would you do? Sorry if this ask is super whiny but you always have good advice and I need some right now.

***

Listen, you already know what you should do. You just seem to lack the will to do it, at least that's what it seems like.

ARMY is the largest fandom in k-pop and they've deemed NewJeans as persona non grata. Most other HYBE fandoms also aren't looking too keenly on NewJeans and with how obsessive k-pop stans are in everything they do, this will be a long-term problem for NewJeans and their fandom. If Bunnies were a bigger fandom it wouldn't be too much of a problem, but they aren't, so the lifetime of the group is already halved.

If you only got into NewJeans six months ago and you're already this attached, you need a cold turkey break. Things are looking grim given the girls have expressed support for MHJ, and it's very unlikely HYBE will lose this case. Those girls are more or less done, so I'd say you should cut your losses and start detaching from them now to spare yourself more heartbreak later. Also, block the 'ARMY friends' who are downvoting, quote tweeting, and otherwise harassing you. You're in fandom to enjoy a community about the things you love, not to get stuck in never-ending arguments with people who have little else going on in their real lives.

The primary danger of k-pop, is getting sucked in. A lot of people here are fully, irredeemably sucked in. On both sides of this matter, ARMYs, Bunnies and kpoppies alike, the majority of this crowd is people who think they are normal but have lost any real semblance of perspective on what this industry is and of their place in it. You need to cut loose because you seem to already be in a somewhat fragile state, and what this space does is pervert that hurt you feel into a tribal sort of resentment.

I can't really say what I would do if I were you, because I don't feel attached to NewJeans the way you do. It's a shame the girls have become collateral damage, but given how quickly they became massively successful in this industry, this is unfortunately a more expected outcome for them, than not. It's sad, but that's the nature of things here. I like BTS, but like I've said many times before, I don't see myself as having any significant influence over their careers and choices. Whatever they choose to do with HYBE or whatever is their business, I simply keep supporting them for as long as I like them and the music they make.

This mess with HYBE is peculiar (and different from the 50-50 case) because NewJeans and ADOR are saying they don't want to leave HYBE (yet), while HYBE is punishing them as though they are asking the courts to let them leave HYBE. It's created a situation such that even if NewJeans stays or leaves, they are in a sense doomed, to be blunt. And you need to make your peace with that.

Some ideas to help:

A cold turkey break is very needed. The way you're talking about this group doesn't seem healthy. It wouldn't seem healthy if you were talking about BTS either. It might be a good idea to block anything related to k-pop for the next two weeks. Things will only get messier because the stakes are high, and HYBE has shown they have no problem going low. For your sanity, I really think you should stay away cold turkey and tightly curate your online spaces when you return.

Consider stepping away from Twitter and Reddit. I'm less familiar with Reddit but for Twitter, you have the option of making your account private, blocking the ARMYs harassing you, finding more sensible Bunnies to commiserate with, using lists to keep up with topics and accounts, etc.

Consider spending more time on Phoning. After taking some time to cool off, use NewJeans' app to connect more directly with the girls to show them love and support.

Try to focus on the music. NewJeans will have comebacks on May 24th and June 21st. The best way to support those girls now, is to focus on their music and support that. Personally, I've already ordered full sets of their albums since this might be the last ones we see with Min Heejin's creative direction. (Also, they might become collectable lol). Of course I hope that's not the case, but supporting their music is the most direct way to support the girls right now, in my opinion.

I'm sorry you're in this state, I'm even more sorry that the girls are in this state, but you need to detach and remember they have their own lives, are making their own choices, and that has nothing to do with you.

Good luck.

#newjeans #ador #min heejin #kpop #kpop fandom #bts army #fandom behaviour

21 notes · View notes

triforce-of-mischief · 1 month

Text

Bunny Bumps and Bruises

Summary: Ravio hits his head and Link tries his best to take care of him. Pre-relationship and pre-LU.

Words: 1600

AO3

Please reblog to show your support! Likes do nothing.

Link sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by mounds of tiny rings. Wooden chests of various sizes were lined up beside him, most empty but slowly being filled with jewelry. He plucked a ring at random and turned it over a few times, analyzing it before tossing it into one of the chests. He quickly fell into a rhythm, sorting the rings into collections by use, necessity, and danger. Some went into chests with enchanted padlocks, some were placed in his traveling bag, and a few were slipped onto his fingers. He wasn’t near his house very often anymore, so he always took the opportunity to reorganize his inventory whenever he stopped by.

With every visit, the building became less of a home and more of a hoarder’s warehouse. Consequently, this meant that it was very attractive to people who had an obsession with magical items. And Link was no longer the only individual in Hyrule with an affinity for most of the objects in his collection.

“Where do you want these, Mr. Hero?”

Link looked up, barely able to meet the eyes of Ravio peeking from behind an armful of rods and staffs. The merchant had been sneaking into Link’s house more and more, far less content with life on the road than the hero himself was. Link put on a show of appearing annoyed with the unexpected houseguest, but in truth he felt safer leaving his stuff behind with someone watching it.

“Uh, in the basement’s fine. There should be some empty shelves to lay them on.” Link watched Ravio shift the rods around, stumbling on his feet for a moment before regaining his balance. “Are you sure you should be carrying all of those at once? I don’t want any of them falling and breaking and blowing the house up.”

“Oh, I’m fine! I’ll bring these downstairs then.” Ravio beamed at him around his bundle and set off into the other room where the stairs to the basement were. Link continued his ring-sorting, listening to Ravio sing a little nonsense song as he went. He had just filled up one chest when he heard Ravio halt his song to say “Oopsie!”, followed by a clatter. Link shook his head, reprimands forming in his mind. Suddenly there was a crash followed by a scream.

Link froze and called, “Ravio?” There was no answer. He set down the ring he was holding, unsure if he should go see what had happened. A twittering came from the other room, and Ravio’s weird little bird flew in. Sheerow circled around Link’s head, chirping frantically. He jumped to his feet, walking to the basement stairs. “Ravio?” He tried again, once again receiving no response. Worry churned in his stomach, and he picked up his pace as he followed Sheerow.

Link reached the top of the stairs and gasped at the sight of Ravio laying on the floor, rods still rolling away from where they had fallen. Judging by Ravio’s position, it looked like he had tripped right into the shelf on the wall. Link fought the instinct to ask a useless Are you okay?! and instead ran down the stairs to stand over him. “Ravio, can you hear me?”

Ravio only moaned in response. Link hovered for a moment, unsure of what to do. He always travelled alone, and he dealt with his own issues himself. He had never had to take care of someone else before.

Sheerow screeched, interrupting Link’s panicked spiral. Mentally shaking himself, Link knelt beside Ravio. He was curled around himself, pulling his oversized bunny hood over his face.

“Come on Ravio, I need to see what’s wrong.”

When Ravio refused to move, Link grabbed his wrists and tugged, forcing him to let go. He gently pulled the hood over Ravio’s head and winced when he saw the damage. An angry red was spreading above his eye, already beginning to swell up. Bright, tearful green stared up at Link and they took identical shaky breaths.

“Okay… we need to get some ice on that.” Link snatched an ice rod and ran back upstairs, searching for a clean rag. He directed a miniscule amount of magic into the rod, forming a chunk of ice which he wrapped in the fabric. He sprinted back to Ravio, skidding to a stop and handing the makeshift ice pack over. Ravio took it and pressed it gingerly to his face, gasping softly at the cold. Link crouched awkwardly next to him before forcing himself into action again. “Let’s get you to the couch. Can you stand?”

Ravio gave a wavering hum and wobbled to his feet. Link watched closely, hands outstretched a few inches in the air in case he needed support. The two made their way upstairs and into what was supposed to be the living room. It was currently littered with maps, instruments, and the piles of rings from earlier. Link darted ahead and swept the tower of maps off of the couch, realizing his mistake when the parchment fluttered everywhere. He observed Ravio’s unsteady trip to the seat, satisfied when he plopped down. Sheerow perched on the back of the couch, watching them both. Link turned his back to Ravio and started gathering up the maps, pushing them into a pile once more. His nerves were running so high and he wasn’t even the one hurt. He just needed a minute to regather his thoughts and plan out the next steps of his treatment. Ravio had hit his head, so Link would need to test for a concussion soon. He had the symptoms memorized, but what to use as a light-

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Hero!” Ravio blurted out, making Link jump. “I should have been more careful, I could have broken one of your magic rods!”

Link whirled around and stomped over. “Who cares about that!” He said, ignoring Ravio’s shock as he sat beside him and pointed his finger at him. “What matters now is that your eye is swelling rapidly and you may have a concussion.” He regretted his words immediately as Ravio whimpered and reached for his scarf with his free hand, twisting and squeezing it between his fingers.

“A concussion? Am I going to die?” Ravio whispered, and Link snorted despite himself.

“Highly unlikely. If you do have one, it shouldn’t be major, and we can easily give you some… argh! I’m such an idiot! Why didn’t I think of that first?” Link leapt off of the couch and ran to the pantry, yelling again in frustration when his search turned up empty. He returned to Ravio, defeated. “I don’t have any red potion. How am I out of red potion?” Link knew exactly why he was out of red potion, but he would very much like to avoid telling Ravio of his recent cucco-related escapades. He was being such a stupid scatterbrained mess, he needed to focus on helping him. “Um… is the ice helping at all?”

Ravio nodded and mumbled something.

Link rolled his eyes. “What was that?”

Ravio wouldn’t meet his gaze. “It hurts a lot.” He admitted quietly, breathlessly.

Link felt a pang of sympathy. “Yeah, I know.” He laughed bitterly when Ravio’s head shot up in surprise. “Oh please, I’ve been hit on the head more times than I can count.” To his horror, this only made Ravio more distressed.

“I know, I know, and you’re such an amazing hero, Link! I’ll never be as brave as you. Just look at me, all worked up over a little bump!” Ravio’s eyes filled with tears once more, and Link scrambled for the right thing to say.

“That ‘little bump’ is nothing to laugh at. It just now stopped swelling, it’s turning a shade of purple to compete with your robes, and we still don’t know if you have a concussion.” Ravio whined at the description, but Link kept going. “So of course it’s perfectly reasonable for it to hurt. In fact, I know multiple castle guards who would still be screaming their heads off right now.” It wasn’t even an exaggeration. Those fools were absolutely pathetic. Uncle was the best and only competent knight Link had known.

Ravio gave a weak giggle. “You really think?”

“Yup. Now, I think I should check for a concussion.” The next few minutes were spent going through the motions of testing reactions and comprehension, and no symptoms could be found. They both sighed in relief after Link gave his diagnosis. Link wasn’t sure if he could handle something that severe, but he certainly would have done his best if it had come to it.

He was suddenly hit with a wave of guilt. “Ravio… I’m the one who should apologize.” Ravio’s eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to argue, but Link held his hand up. “It was my stuff that made you fall in the first place. You were only trying to help me clean up my own mess, and I frankly don’t know what I did to deserve that.”

Ravio’s face softened, forming a grin that seemed only slightly pained. “Well, thanks for taking care of me, Link.”

Link found himself having nothing to say to that. Surprising both of them, he simply reached over and cautiously placed his hand on Ravio’s shoulder. Ravio immediately leaned towards him, dropping the melting ice pack in favor of wrapping both arms around the stunned hero. Ravio buried the good side of his face into Link’s tunic, hugging him wordlessly until Link finally squeezed back. They held each other for a few minutes until Ravio sat upright, feeling behind him for the wet rag. Link took one look at Ravio’s now-exposed, bruised, swelled eye and grimaced, although he was smiling.

“Yeah, I’m definitely going to have to go to the market to buy some red potion.”

#OLD FIC but i think i forgot to crosspost it :(#extremely ambiguously tagged on ao3 but we'll go lu raviolink here #linked universe #lu #lu legend #lu ravio #legend/ravio #raviolink #fable writes

24 notes · View notes

valkyrie-8888 · 3 months

Text

the wilbur soot situation

im not a very big person on social media, nor do i post often, but i just want to get this out of my system. this post is just going to be a little rant and my take on the current situation. to anyone who is not yet caught up to the situation, i hope this can help a bit.

TW: discussions of abuse, domestic violence, death threats, etc

--------------------------------

when i first saw a video about wilbur soot's allegations, i thought it wasn't anything that bad. things like this happen to cc's all the time.

a while later, it kept popping up. i still thought it would go away eventually. i'm not proud of it in hindsight, but i cant change the past.

recently, i realized this situation was serious, and decided to catch up and investigate. what i was not prepared for was having my view of the world absolutely shattered. this will not go away. it will not be silenced by fanatics who believe their favourite cc can do no wrong. this is extremely serious.

a bit of backstory, so that my reasoning can clearly be understood:

i started getting into dsmp in around the start of 2021. i was immediately drawn to the dynamics of sbi as a group and started watching mainly their pov-s of things. the three quickly became a part of my daily life. i have been watching them ever since. went through some really bad times, especially after technoblade's death. after that, i started watching wilbur and phil more.

wilbur soot, i highly doubt you will read this, but if you do, i want you to know that I am disgusted by you, your behaviour, your response to said behaviour coming to light, and your sheer cowardice. you are a disgusting human being. there is no justification for your actions. no apology can undo what you have done. and from what i have heard and seen, shubble might not be the only victim.

as of my writing this, wilbur soot has not given any more responses besides the emotionless and frankly disgusting apology published on twitter/x

an overview of everything, my take on this situation, and just a little vent:

wilbur soot is an abuser and a manipulator. he ignored consent and a set safe word. as someone who heavily believes that consent and respecting it is common sense, i am disgusted, to say the least. i recommend reading more on the situation and watching an unbiased and neutral video

i looked for any possible justification, any way this could be misunderstood or redeemed. i have found none.

this man was my idol. i looked up to him, respected him, and admired him deeply. he was my comfort streamer and one of my favourite musical artists.

because of this, i will find it extremely difficult to cut him out of my life completely. however, i do not support him or condone his behaviour in any way. i don't think i will be able to completely sever all bonds to him. that's what abusers do, isn't it? they worm themselves into your life, make themselves irreplaceable, and, once their toxicity is discovered, they guilt trip you into staying, or make you think it's your fault or just paranoia.

the people who try to justify his behaviour, belittle or blame the victims of his abuse, or frankly any abuse, are absolutely disgusting. karma is a bitch, and i hope it hits them hard.

wilbur soot, it seems, has blown up his own career just like he did to l'manburg. i hope to never hear about him again, except to see him be brought to justice. domestic abuse is a felony.

my message for shubble:

you are incredibly brave. to speak up at all about anything like this takes a lot of courage. i despise the fact that the obsessive fans are threatening and blaming you. it is disgusting. but i am happy to see that you are still standing strong. your story has inspired others to come forward and take this man down once and for all.

EDIT: Insight a few days later

there have been more people telling their stories. the 'allegations' can no longer be referred to as such. i now add 'rapist' to the many words one uses to talk about this horrendous man.

i personally feel a bit gaslit myself. this person so many praised and referred to as this perfect man turned out to be an absolute incel.

one thing i noticed after looking through old clips is that there were in fact signs that seem obvious now. niki also mentioned the biting a few years ago. however, we all laughed it off as a bit. because we thought it was. because we were lead to believe it was. in one clip, wilbur tells niki to 'tell them how horrible i am to you,' and proceeds to start fucking hoovering. and everyone laughs it off. because that's his thing.

there are also signs in some of the songs in both ycgma and those released separately. especially your new boyfriend, soft boy, and the nice guy ballad. the last one is the most chilling. there are also some lyrics in ycgma, like 'abuse those i love/while i ostracize the ones who love me back'.

to end my little rant/essay, if wilbur soot is a manipulator, what is to stop him from (consciously or subconsciously) applying these behaviours to his online presence?

i genuinely hope he can get help and improve as a person, but that does not excuse his past behaviour. neither does his bad mental state during said behaviours.

#wilbur soot #wilbur mcyt #wilbur situation #support victims #shelby support #shubble support #shubble suport squad #shubblesupportsquad

7 notes · View notes

traewilson · 3 days

Text

So I saw this post on Twitter, and something about it stirred a bit of writing out of me. This became Too Much for Twitter to handle (like Hell I'm paying that bitch ass snake oil salesman running the place just to do what I can do for free here!)

So, for exactly no one's pleasure - my first actual post, and my first somewhat serious stab at writing. In that, I actually finished it. I digress. All I ask is that you put yourself in the world. This is a History Keeper, telling you some small trivial bit of Wasteland history.

"The Engagement Farmer. Once, I spoke with a man who said he knew him from before The Collapse. A friend of the family, he was. Before The Collapse, he was nobody. Never could hold down a job, never amounted to much of anything. He was obsessed with that unimaginable thing, the Internet - something I cannot describe to you who never knew of it, and still tell this story. Suffice it to say, like so many of us, when The Collapse came, he was so attached to the things that came before, the things now no longer. And once they were gone, this man collapsed.

Many can regale you with a story about encountering the Engagement Farmer. Most just talk about how they drove by, and suddenly a man, dressed in rags, face barely visible under the unwashed untrimmed hair. Worn over his head was a device he once made his whole world - a "computer monitor". Perhaps your parents will remember what function they once had. Your grandparents, if you're lucky.

...Where was I? Yes yes of course! Attached to his arms were devices called "keyboards" and long dead remains of a kind of phone from before The Collapse. Where he found them, no one could guess. He would chase these passers by, screaming with an animalistic ferocity, "ENGAGE WITH ME!! ENGAGE WITH ME!!" Most who saw him will tell of how they were both unsettled yet amused by him, and would marvel at how he just kept following them. Some told me of how they would actually slow down occasionally to see just how far he would go. One I remember was tickled pink by it, delighting in teasing the man before making him, as they say, eat dust.

One story in particular strikes me as particularly memorable. Once a man and his wife were traveling through the Wasteland, also on foot. It was dark of night, and as you should well know, barely a sound was made. They knew this was where the Engagement Farmer had camped, and didn't much care to find out what happened to those he noticed and caught up with. But as they snuck through the sands, an odd sound filled the air. Moaning? No, it was...weeping. A dangerous thing to do in the Wasteland - moisture is precious, you know. But I digress! This couple heard this weeping, and feared the worst. "So this is what happens to those the Farmer catches," one thought at the time. "What a cruel way to engage." These two worked up the courage to approach this sound, to see if they should help this poor soul. They crawled their way up a dune, and peered over. There, they saw the truth, and the truth was terrible - but not in the way you might think.

A tent was planted in the sands. Some kind of light filled the camp. The light they described didn't look like a campfires' light; it was too consistent, not to mention the lack of smoke. But that wasn't as important as the shadows they saw, reflected onto the tent. There, they saw the outline of what must've been the Engagement Farmer, and he was the one who was weeping. The weeping had become hysterical sobbing and shouting by the time they saw him. They noticed he was holding...something. They couldn't make out exactly what; the shadow looked peculiar. They decided, without a word said between them, to leave him to his troubles, sneaking around him. If he noticed them, he did not pursue.

Is the Engagement Farmer still out there? Just hang on, all in good time, all in good time! Don't hasten the story to its end. We'll get there in due course.

That same couple came by later on, to see if they couldn't talk to him; convince him to come with them back to their community. This community. Yes, that's right - that couple lived here. But when they arrived to where they had last seen him, they saw a dreadful, but all too common sight.

The Warboys of the one called Immortan Joe had been through the area. The signs were unmistakable. And there, hung from a nearby tree - the tree this couple hanged onto in their minds as a landmark to find him - was the remains of what was once called the Engagement Farmer. He was more deathly pale than even a Warboy - they took everything from him. His blood, and his life. They approached him, slowly, carefully, fearing an ambush that never came. He was strung up by an oddly thin metal chain attached to a collar around his neck. On that collar were inscriptions, and they understood the word from their lessons here. In his pocket, was a photo. The one who became a mother told me later, that was the first time in some time that she had cried, and soon the one who would be a father cried too. In hindsight, they realized what they really saw inside that tent.

They buried him, not too far from where he was found. They saw something in him, and they understood. What terrible irony, to only be truly seen after death. Somewhere out in the Wasteland, you might find that grave, perhaps, and the collar he was hung from, and the photo from his pocket, buried with the Engagement Farmer.

...What's that? Oh, I suppose I didn't say what the word was, did I? And the photo. Yes. Well, the one who would be father, to this day, never told me or anyone else what was on the photo. But he did mention, once, after several drinks of alcohol, what the collar said. The one who would become a mother would, without fail; abandon any conversation that brought up the collar. But just once, she told me what the photo held. Both times, they came to me and told me in no uncertain terms that they lied to me. Their words were adamant, but there was something in their eyes that...gave me room to doubt.

What he told me was

"It was Heathcliff. Heathcliff. That's what the collar said. You happy now?"

And what she told me, seconds before getting up from the table and leaving as fast as she could without disturbing everyone in sight, was:

"Just a boy. A boy and his dog."

#mad max #mad max fury road #furiosa #furiosa a mad max saga #writing #be gentle with me please #but not that gentle #compliment but dont brown-nose me

6 notes · View notes

evendumbo · 1 year

Text

Man, just one more thing since I made the mistake of seeing how the conversation was going on twitter and elsewhere with the antis. It's not fun to see people call fans who rooted for a Ted and Rebecca romance crazy, strange, and obsessed. That's just fucking sexist and, maybe even more annoying to me, it's not good faith disagreement. I did not ship Ted and Rebecca throughout my first watch of both seasons one and two. I am generally not pressed by possible tv romances. The ship did not start in my imagination, it was initiated by the writers. It was not only a platonic soulmate story. It was a possible romantic soulmate set-up. I wish people would stop playing. If everyone can acknowledge that Nate eventually taking a turn for the worse was seeded all the way back in the season premiere, then we agree that the writing was deeply purposeful and likely seeded other things. In fact, after I finished the season 2 finale and rewatched seasons 1 and 2 together as a whole, it was the seeds of Nate's arc that I saw first. Then I began to realize the other narrative arcs that had been put into place and I marveled at the kind of work that the writing was doing. This is when I realized that the writing was communicating that Ted had a crush on Rebecca and only then, lo, a shipper was born.

Por ejemplo, I wish those who are saying that tedbecca was fabricated could explain why the Dutch guy had so many parallels with Ted. What would be the point of that? There are an infinite number of ways the writers could signal that he was a nice, goofy, caring guy. They didn't have to reference Kenny Rogers, they didn't have to make him cook for her, they didn't have to have Rebecca say "fuck me" after she consumed something he made, they didn't have to make the dress pink. If this were a regular show and Ted and Rebecca were regular platonic friends, none of this would have been (or at least should not have been) written. Imagine Leslie from Parks and Rec falling for a guy who is written to be exactly like her platonic friend, Ron. That would be weird, uncomfortable, and at least raise questions.

One could argue that, yes, Rebecca and Ted were soulmates but they had no romantic attraction, so the Dutch guy was supposed to be a Ted-shaped soulmate with romantic attraction. I'd counter with all kinds of things, but at least this would be a good faith argument because we can agree about what is clearly on the screen. We just disagree about the interpretation of the narrative. Nobody is "crazy" in this argument. It's fine if Hannah advocates for a purely platonic relationship between Ted and Rebecca, but it's not cool that she talked down to tedbecca fans who became excited about what was clearly on the screen like there was something wrong with us. The possibility of romance between Ted and Rebecca did not come out of thin air or some kind of heteronormative compulsion, it came from your show, girl. We didn't write it! If they were gonna get exasperated about people getting excited about a possible romance, then they shouldn't have written it and performed it like a possible romance.

As I said, it would have helped if we at least were given confirmation that Ted had a crush on Rebecca in season 3. If that had happened and everything else was the same, I would have been a little disappointed, but that would have been an ending that made sense to me, an ending that was bittersweet and cohered with everything else the show was expressing. I would have defended that ending forever. But without an actual reveal of at least Ted's feelings in the world of the show (not another pointless fake-out), I'm left feeling irritated or crazy-made or, as I said before, somewhat abandoned as a fan of the TL narrative style. And, at this point, until I let it go, I also dread the hanging possibility of TL's return. I've had enough ambiguity from these folks 😂. Just vaya con dios, friends. Adiooooos.

I love and respect television and I am deeply grateful to television writers. I have also acknowledged that Ted Lasso looks hella hard to write, so I am humbled by that. It had to reach a great height in order for me to be invested this hard. I am thankful for the show's lessons about faith and ethics and community and will try to take them to heart going forward. I honor the show, the fans, and the artists.

And, as far as people calling tedbecca fans crazy? As the woman said, fuck the haters. 💜

#i'm not going to be crazy-made as a fan of a show about a woman who survived abusive crazy-making #ted lasso #tedbecca #tedbecca truther forever

17 notes · View notes

shoujoboy-restart · 1 year

Note

angela davis herself wrote about how the obsession with "true womanhood" always has a white supremacist agenda behind it. she remarked on the obsession the right-wing has with trans women and compared it to the bigotry she and other black women have experienced.

needless to say she was 100% right about the connection transphobia has to white supremacy. anti-trans lobbyists have direct connections to white supremacists.

Oh yeah, ironically enough they also harassed her some years back, she had a interview with two drag queens on the GLAAD youtube, and when asked to introduce herself, she called herself a queer lesbian, i believe, queer nonetheless, and during it she also said she saw black trans women as the most oppressed demographic out there.

Of course TERFs lost their fucking minds, did the usual "ANOTHER SELL OUT THE LIZARD ELIT-i mean, QUEER LOBBY!" and said Angela Davis, the woman who who became a targeted by thee FBI for saying racism bad ad was put on the death row multiple times and became a political refugee on the USSR, was scared of becoming a hashtag, the trending topics and anime profiles.

Is amazing, when they believe you are siding with them or can become useful as a tool to attach themselves for PR reasons? Oh such a strong woman with conviction, courage and determination to fights against oppression and the patriarchy

The moment the are like "ummm i don't think hate criming trans people is gonna them sex trafficking victims or make tampons free" OMG A TRAITOR A SELLOUT YOU DON'T KNOW THE TEAL OPPRESISON OF GETITNG RATIO'D ON TWITTER.

And it really tells how terminally online these people are, because when they aren't out here making parades with their neo-nazi boyfriends and calling black women dirty(Posie Parker), they legit think being a hashtag or cancelled on Twitter is the end of the world, they become so obcessed with numbers they really think women who stared death down are gonna give a shit what some fag with a anime profile is gonna think of them.

And btw "they were Jesus on our side, but the Devil on the enemy" is also a tactic used by scientology compulsively in their own scripture, from the average members to chairmen, the moment they come out the church and have criticism, whatever was good about them is ignored and replaced with them being satan on earth, and I'm not joking with the charimen part, an actual chairmen who was adored by thousands, appeared on the biggest events and has footage and general information about him talking about how great he is, then the moment he spoke against the church, HORRIBLE, LAZY, HARD TO WORK WITH, POISONED THE WELL AND WE WERE LUCKY TO CLEAN IT ON TIME.

The person you ideolized and believed was figuring for a better world just supported a democraphic of people you hate getting rights? Pfft, don't self introspect, just call them dumb traitor, sellouts and mock specific violent think they went to right in life, you are such a good person for that.

#anti terf #anti terf sources #angela davis #malala yousafzai

23 notes · View notes

bcacstuff · 1 year

Note

I think the key issue within the fandom is in the beginning it was overwhelmingly an obsession fest over Sam. That obsession became blind worship and defense primarily because of his looks and the halo effect. Does Tobias inspire that kind of wide spread devotion? Do Cree or Duncan? It wasn’t until he made too many messes, the bitter infighting became too exhausting, and people either left or what we see more now, people have taken off their rose colored glasses, that the tide started to shift. The swing in the opposite direction against him I also think is in part a natural reaction to the absurd salivating and competition by his mommies, the fact that he does make mistakes and doesn’t own up to them, and is always given a pass (see halo effect). Yang to yin.

This fandom at itself could be subject for a PHD and a doctorate to be honest 😉. You made some good observations and touched some aspects of it. I saw this obsessive blind worship and defense right from when I started to explore some accounts beginning 2020. A fan that made a gesture towards his butt while they were playing a game during Nola, was accused without any mercy and bullied straight off of Twitter. Have to mention how S stepped in later on and defended her saying nothing happened and it was all in jest. But the harm was already done and my decision to never interfere on Twitter about S or OL or anything related quickly made. (and bet I'm not the only one that was turned off by that fan behaviour)

Yes Hawaiigate was my next encounter and I know there were some more messes before that, and a fair number of people took off their rose colored glasses. But that wasn't the only reason for the infighting I think. The many fractions the fandom split into are as well cause for the infighting. Each one defending and obsessively trying to convince other opinions being wrong, leading to bullying and harassment.

Yang to Yin is a good metaphor. I just wish sometimes that people would be able to balance their view on things more. Criticism isn't hate, and why is it so bad to have some criticism? Why judge people that express their opinion and tell them what to do. Is it forbidden to say something that isn't all worshipping, is it forbidden to follow when you do not worship? Do you need approval, or have to take an exam before you can follow or write about him? And why see it all as negative? That's what keeps baffling me.

23 notes · View notes

tipsy-scales · 1 year

Text

Despite starting to use tumblr again, I haven’t done a good job at updating on what has become of me since I left, so I’d like to make this special post centered on:

✨My Selim Bradley Obsession✨

“What?” You may ask. That kid from the last arc of FMA who nobody likes? Yeah yeah that’s him.

I’m exaggerating ofc by saying nobody likes him but he’s not among the ranks of Roy Mustang, Edward Elric himself, or Greed. He is not fighting for good. He is not a suave adult. He is a mean little boy.

FMA has been one of my great loves since I was 14…which was a very long time ago. To me the story is perfect and satisfying— so much that once the manga and FMAB were finished, I stopped thinking about it. (I also had a lot of embarrassment over how in love I was with Ed before that.) It was easy to leave FMA behind and move onto new things…like Fire Emblem Awakening! That is how I ended up making this blog. But over time I became sad that I was only chasing new things. Eventually, I wanted to return to the media that had shaped me and it was during summer of 2020 that I decided to revisit FMA.

Originally Ed was the character I cared most about. I remembered Selim but not enough to care about him. My taste in characters had changed drastically by the time I returned though. I actually did a rewatch a few years prior and thought Selim was really cool. This spurred me to make a Twitter thread about how he *might* be my favorite FMA character. And by the end of that thread, he WAS my favorite character. Below is my gallery where you can see the obsession awaken down to the day.

Simply put, I think he’s neat? M Robin Fire Emblem was my favorite when I was blogging here regularly. I like male characters who fight with their wits instead of flashy weapons, so I guess Pride falls into that too. I also like shadows. Darkrai is one of my favorite Pokémon. I like little boy characters with big empty eyes. I think they’re cute in probably in the same way people think squishmallows are cute. I like characters with spiky bangs I think it looks sick. There’s also something somewhat tragic about him. From things with his mother to things with his Father to the fake little family he lives in. I can spend a lot of time on this so I’ll stop there.

My little obsession (2 years and counting ahaha…) has lead me to do all kinds of things too! I’ve made new friends online! I started collecting manga beginning with FMA! I’ve gotten a bunch of merch that makes me happy. And the projects I’ve done! I’ll make a separate post of all my Selim inspired projects but gosh I learned so much by being way obsessed with a character who barely has any merch. I had to make my own merch! And then there’s…my shameful custom phone screen

(It’s actually easy to navigate once you get used to it)

Anyway I’ll stop it here! I mostly wanted people to know about my new child. I reblog him every now and then but so far people on…every one of my other social medias who saw this happen know, but tumblr doesn’t

#i don’t engage w FMA fandom much bc I don’t want it messed up for me lol I get very sensitive about something so personal RIP #fullmetal alchemist #Fullmetal alchemist spoilers #fmab spoilers #I’m spoiler tagging it just in case but this shows rlly old lol #selim bradley

28 notes · View notes

armando-triplepapito · 8 months

Text

Okay story time!

Before I got obsessed with ysblf, I was obsessed with BTS. So obviously I was in the BTS army/fandom. I was active in Twitter so I had quite a following (over 4,000 followers! Sorry I had to brag🤭). Random people would message me and you know me, I wanted to make friends so I would reply back and made some nice conversation. Now tell me why a 10 year old girl started messaging me!!! The worst part is that I didn’t even know she was 10 until multiple messages later!! When I found out her age I was flabbergasted! Like why is a 10 year old messaging strangers!! Kids these days are so bold!! This was 3 yrs ago so she’s probably only 13 now ugh I can’t believe it! I always think about that girl till this day😭 I should’ve known honestly, cause the way she “typed” was off like you could tell she was way too young😭 that got me wondering tho! How old we’re you guys when y’all decided to message strangers online? I was 20yrs old when I started to do so and that’s for my BTS Twitter account. I’ve always read fanfics, I think I started when I was 13 yrs old but even then I never commented on a fic ever until this year, just a few days ago actually. And that’s only cause the fic I commented on belongs to a mutual here! I’ve always been too shy to talk with strangers 😔

In my Twitter bio I always had my date of birth (Ik I shouldn’t) so everyone could know my exact age plus I wanted to attract people my age yk, but no! I always got kids I’m my dms! (That 10 yr old knew I was 20 yet she still decided to dm me💀) I even made good friends with these two girls, in my head they became my besties! But dude!! One was 13 and the other 15!😭😭😭 tbh I miss them🥲 but turns out the 13yr old blocked me! How dare she! Like why? What did I do? We had deep conversations and everything! Maybe I offended her 😞 I also had deep conversations with this 14yr old Brazilian (well her bio at the moment says she’s 17 so I’m assuming she was 14 when we talked). I feel so bad cause I never saw/opened her message. Her last message was her talking about how ashamed she is to talk to people in English since she’s not fluent. Like girl noooo don’t apologize!! I should be the one ashamed! And I am!! My poor baby! If only I replied to make her feel better! But in my defense by that time I was already homeless so I couldn’t log back in and when a year has passed and I finally found a place I watched ysblf and got obsessed so I never went back to Twitter. I actually logged in just a few days ago and that’s when all the memories started🥲. Army Twitter 2020 was the best!

Anyways yea Ik this is random and all but yea I just wanted to share a bit and go on a bit of a rant. Tbh I was never not shocked when I found out the ages of my mutuals on Twitter, they were hella young! Tho I sometimes do get shocked when I find about y’all (tumblr moots) ages too cause I’ve noticed some of y’all are over 30😳 which idk why that surprise me cause y’all are so smart I love it🥰

Its crazy how I was an army for 3-4 yrs and I’ve been a ysblf fan for a little over a year now. Makes me wonder what I’ll be obsessed with next tho I don’t wanna jinx it cause I wanna stay in this fandom as long as I can! I love y’all 🥹❤️

#okay I’m being dramatic when I say only kids entered my dms but that’s how it felt like😭#random rant #ysblf #bts #bts army #okay if anyone is wondering this is what I used to be obsessed with —>#adventure time>blue exorcist>BTS>ysblf #in that order #obviously I had more smaller obsessions but these for 4 changed my brain chemistry!#also the only ones I can read fanfics of #like I’ve watched a lot of animes but can’t read fanfics for any one only blue exorcist #actually I spent most of my life reading only or mostly blue exorcist fanfics it’s only when I got into ysblf that I finally stopped

5 notes · View notes

dreamhot · 1 year

Note

I wouldn’t say I started off disliking dream, but I definitely assumed he was on the more problematic side. I first stumbled across him in an among us video that I think jacksepticeye posted, and it was the ‘biggest youtubers’ and some of them were kind of.... not my vibe, and I’d never heard of dream, so I just assume he was like the others.

Then fast forward to December 2020 and I don’t know how I saw it, but I saw the twitter thread he made about queerbaiting and ‘not dating George’ and I genuinely remember thinking, wholeheartedly, ‘why on earth would anyone ship dream with anyone? he seems so distant and cold’ (and to be fair he kind of was in among us lobbies where he didn’t really know anyone, and now I know he just gets a little shy sometimes). So I thought that was a little strange.

THEN, like a week later or something, I was bored and scrolling through twitch and I started watching Ludwig’s mcc pov, I had no idea what mcc was but I knew Ludwig from among us and I liked him so I tapped in. It was that stream that I was like, wait- THIS is George?! The guy everyone ships with Dream...? Interesting.

Then it wasn’t until I wanted to watch corpse in among us but he wasn’t streaming that I tapped into George’s stream (because I’d recognised him from mcc) and I became obsessed. Binge watched every stream and video of his in like a week and considering dream is in at least 85% I got to (parasocially) know him quite well. And I’m glad I did because I was wrong in my assumptions! And then well I became a dnfer but well- that’s beside the point.

Sorry for the essay lee I think my journey into dteam fandom is so funny considering how many ‘signs’ I had to just Watch them before I gave in.

it's so funny that you had the opinion of him being kinda aloof (which makes sense bc like Yeah he can be kinda quiet in larger group settings with people he doesn't know), since like. i somehow had the opposite notion of him and it was based on Nothing lmao i just assumed he would be a loudmouthed blowhard 😭😭 and then i heard him speak in the eboys vs dsmp video and he was so QUIET like who is this soft voice of a man...... clearly he's more outgoing in certain environments but no version of him matches my original concept anyway

#smile.ask #anon

9 notes · View notes

sudrian-railways-enthusiast · 1 year

Note

for the ask game, can you tell/share a bit more on Cold Iron/Funiculars of the Fantastic?

i just like saying 'funiculars' <3

Funiculars and the Fantastic

AKA Cold Iron

AKA Olton Hall goes to Florida

First, some disclaimers:

This fiction engages with the existence of the Harry Potter Franchise

I do not recommend financially contributing to said Franchise at this time

This work of Real Locomotive Fiction (RLF) is inspired by Hatt v Rowling by halfbakedhex8 on twitter and Joezworld's headcanons regarding Olton Hall and Taw Valley

Written for Traintober, this work plays with themes of cosmic horror and the threshold of the uncanny valley for steam locomotives

In which Olton Hall, due to unfortunate contract compromise and/or the mistaken assumption that his celebrity status would be properly acknowledged, finds himself neglected and obsessed over for a week on a plinth in Universal Studios theme park, Florida. His only reprieve from the endless stream of park goers? A seemingly Lovecraftian horror that mocks his form and speaks in his voice.

I have cleaned up excerpts of the scenes that inspired me:

And indeed, as Olton squinted over the heads of passengers, he saw what his driver meant. The engine was uncanny. Protruding from its smokebox was a face unlike any Olton had ever seen, but which also reflected Olton’s own complexion. Its mouth creased in the well-worn motion of connecting rods rather than the fluid motion of lips, and its dead eyes meandered to and fro in mechanical synchronization with the rhythmic oscillations of its expressionless countenance. Its skin was too rubbery and pale, and lacked a healthy metallic shine. Judging by the parkgoers in que, it seemed even some humans found its presence disturbing.

But Olton could perceive more. Living machines have a certain perception of architecture in the manner that a human perceives and imperceives faces. Certain schools of design define many a machine's very sense of self and other. Curves and straight edges, proportions and profiles, the placement and choice of components; any decision that is penned to blueprint (knowledge trivial, niche, enigmatic or even arcane to the layman) ought to have appeared as plain to Olton as the funnel on his smokebox. And so, even through the throng of people, Olton could sense an uncanniness. Parts whose function he could not understand. Parts that operated in unfamiliar ways, and certain familiar parts to him missing. As Olton scrutinized, he became more perplexed and unsettled, and curious, and sore in the smokebox. Once, he swore he caught sight of its driving wheels simply stop rotating as it left the platform and glided swiftly away. In the end, he was forced to conclude that he simply could not understand how the form so intent on impersonating his likeness could function the way it did, without actually possessing the functionality that made Olton, well, Olton. Despite functioning apparently fine? "Rich criticism", thought Olton, "coming from the engine currently on static display." But there was something else about the engine that disturbed Olton on a completely different, visceral level. It spoke in his voice. His past voice. It spoke entirely and unerringly from a script pulled piecemeal from various clips of his acting career. "Doesn't it have a voice of its own?", Olton had complained to his crew. "Of course not!", his crew had replied. "It's only a model, like a mannequin!", "It's line is only half a kilo-long, it would be wrong to confine a living engine like that, it might even be illegal here in the states." "Oh, like static display is any better", Olton groused, annoyed. His crew could only grimace awkwardly at that. Slowly, Olton softened. "Is, -did it die?" "Oh goodness! No! Its never been alive at all, just a model, remember?" "Only Cold Iron."

Some time later, uninterrupted exposure to the Public™ and the park's unwillingness to cater to the needs of their local locomotive celebrity (such as designated meet and greet events rather than a continuous barrage of attention from the public at large) leads Olton Hall to demonstrate why imprisoning a very sentient steam locomotive in a theme park is not a profitable idea. [Not Pictured]

Olton sat in the studio lot after his outburst. A rumbling noise disturbed the elevated track before him, and two terribly familiar trains approached from opposite directions. He stared, incredulously. “Are there two of you?”

For a moment, eyes literally blinked into existence where there shouldn’t have been. Olton’s vision went hazy, speckled with afterimages. Squinting, he inspected each engine, tender, and carriage. No, no eyes, why did he see —two sets of Dead eyes swiveled jerkily to stare at Olton. A staticky staccato chorus. “No. Only. One.” A detached part of Olton noted that he recognized which clip from his past that each word had come from. The rest of him didn't really know what to think. As the two trains continued, out of view, they echoed, "Our. Heart. Belongs. to. King's Cross."

Bonus Notes:

POV Your upset celebrity guest accidently gave the spark of life to your very intentionally repressed and isolated amusement park attraction and it developed a gestalt consciousness to cope.

In a world where look-a-like locos are generally sentient, animatronic loco faces are exceptionally creepy.

For more information on the funicular in question, watch the other thing that inspired this work.

#traintober2022 #(better late than never I suppose)#Olton Hall #SRE responds #Fun times with Funiculars

5 notes · View notes

bala5 · 2 years

Text

This year, the Colorado State Fair’s annual art competition gave out prizes in all the usual categories: painting, quilting, sculpture.

But one entrant, Jason M. Allen of Pueblo West, Colo., didn’t make his entry with a brush or a lump of clay. He created it with Midjourney, an artificial intelligence program that turns lines of text into hyper-realistic graphics.

Mr. Allen’s work, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” took home the blue ribbon in the fair’s contest for emerging digital artists — making it one of the first A.I.-generated pieces to win such a prize, and setting off a fierce backlash from artists who accused him of, essentially, cheating.

Reached by phone on Wednesday, Mr. Allen defended his work. He said that he had made clear that his work — which was submitted under the name “Jason M. Allen via Midjourney” — was created using A.I., and that he hadn’t deceived anyone about its origins.

Continue reading the main story

“I’m not going to apologize for it,” he said. “I won, and I didn’t break any rules.”

A.I.-generated art has been around for years. But tools released this year — with names like DALL-E 2, Midjourney and Stable Diffusion — have made it possible for rank amateurs to create complex, abstract or photorealistic works simply by typing a few words into a text box.

These apps have made many human artists understandably nervous about their own futures — why would anyone pay for art, they wonder, when they could generate it themselves? They have also generated fierce debates about the ethics of A.I.-generated art, and opposition from people who claim that these apps are essentially a high-tech form of plagiarism.

Dig deeper into the moment.

Special offer: Subscribe for $1 a week.

Mr. Allen, 39, began experimenting with A.I.-generated art this year. He runs a studio, Incarnate Games, which makes tabletop games, and he was curious how the new breed of A.I. image generators would compare with the human artists whose works he commissioned.

This summer, he got invited to a Discord chat server where people were testing Midjourney, which uses a complex process known as “diffusion” to turn text into custom images. Users type a series of words in a message to Midjourney; the bot spits back an image seconds later.

Mr. Allen became obsessed, creating hundreds of images and marveling at how realistic they were. No matter what he typed, Midjourney seemed capable of making it.

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing,” he said. “I felt like it was demonically inspired — like some otherworldly force was involved.”

Eventually, Mr. Allen got the idea to submit one of his Midjourney creations to the Colorado State Fair, which had a division for “digital art/digitally manipulated photography.” He had a local shop print the image on canvas and submitted it to the judges.

“The fair was coming up,” he said, “and I thought: How wonderful would it be to demonstrate to people how great this art is?”

Several weeks later, while walking the fairground in Pueblo, Mr. Allen saw a blue ribbon hanging next to his piece. He had won the division, along with a $300 prize.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I felt like: this is exactly what I set out to accomplish.”

(Mr. Allen declined to share the exact text prompt he had submitted to Midjourney to create “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial.” But he said the French translation — “Space Opera Theater” — provided a clue.)

After his win, Mr. Allen posted a photo of his prize work to the Midjourney Discord chat. It made its way to Twitter, where it sparked a furious backlash.

“We’re watching the death of artistry unfold right before our eyes,” one Twitter user wrote.

“This is so gross,” another wrote. “I can see how A.I. art can be beneficial, but claiming you’re an artist by generating one? Absolutely not.”

Some artists defended Mr. Allen, saying that using A.I. to create a piece was no different from using Photoshop or other digital image-manipulation tools, and that human creativity is still required to come up with the right prompts to generate an award-winning piece.

Olga Robak, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Agriculture, which oversees the state fair, said Mr. Allen had adequately disclosed Midjourney’s involvement when submitting his piece; the category’s rules allow any “artistic practice that uses digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process.” The two category judges did not know that Midjourney was an A.I. program, she said, but both subsequently told her that they would have awarded Mr. Allen the top prize even if they had.

Controversy over new art-making technologies is nothing new. Many painters recoiled at the invention of the camera, which they saw as a debasement of human artistry. (Charles Baudelaire, the 19th-century French poet and art critic, called photography “art’s most mortal enemy.”) In the 20th century, digital editing tools and computer-assisted design programs were similarly dismissed by purists for requiring too little skill of their human collaborators.

What makes the new breed of A.I. tools different, some critics believe, is not just that they’re capable of producing beautiful works of art with minimal effort. It’s how they work. Apps like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney are built by scraping millions of images from the open web, then teaching algorithms to recognize patterns and relationships in those images and generate new ones in the same style. That means that artists who upload their works to the internet may be unwittingly helping to train their algorithmic competitors.

“What makes this AI different is that it’s explicitly trained on current working artists,” RJ Palmer, a digital artist, tweeted last month. “This thing wants our jobs, its actively anti-artist.”

Even some who are impressed by A.I.-generated art have concerns about how it’s being made. Andy Baio, a technologist and writer, wrote in a recent essay that DALL-E 2, perhaps the buzziest A.I. image generator on the market, was “borderline magic in what it’s capable of conjuring, but raises so many ethical questions, it’s hard to keep track of them all.”

Mr. Allen, the blue-ribbon winner, said he empathized with artists who were scared that A.I. tools would put them out of work. But he said their anger should be directed not at individuals who use DALL-E 2 or Midjourney to make art but at companies that choose to replace human artists with A.I. tools.

“It shouldn’t be an indictment of the technology itself,” he said. “The ethics isn’t in the technology. It’s in the people.”

And he urged artists to overcome their objections to A.I., even if only as a coping strategy.

“This isn’t going to stop,” Mr. Allen said. “Art is dead, dude. It’s over. A.I. won. Humans lost.”

6 notes · View notes

duckydae · 1 year

Text

exo-l tag challenge

so now that exo's coming back to properly celebrate their 10th anniversary, thought i'd send this around so we can have a wee giggle and reminisce

dunno if any of my moots are still active anymore so feel free to do this whether or not you follow me! also feel free to tag me, need some new exo-l blogs to follow as my dash is very exo-less

when did you first learn of exo?

this is really cringy but i first saw exo in twenty-fourteen on a 'youtubers react to k-pop', they were reacting to "overdose" and i kid you not, i was so put off their styling i wanted nothing to do with it. i hated it (and i still bloody do)

and then, a little while later they put out a 'teens react to exo' and i hadn't connected they were the same group. anyways, i saw yixing with that blonde hair and my mind went "that one, i like that one"

so don't let anyone ever tell you a visual is a stupid position

(it was probably a lot to do with the fact the boy i really liked had the same hairstyle)

turns out, my friend at the time was vaguely into them (she was more into super junior & shinee) and we just clicked over that and the rest was history

who was / is your bias?

yixing was my first bias ever, and i vaguely remember bouncing around yixing + luhan but i think like a month in jongdae committed the cardinal sin of a bias wrecker and became the ult bias

don't ask me how, it might have been showtime? but yeah jongdae's been my ult since twenty-fifteen. oh god.

where you team exo-k / exo-m?

i was pretty openly exo-m, because yixing was my bias and would only exclusively listen to their versions of the b-sides, until "the war" and it's funny that jongdae became my bias because i really don't think it was his vocals that sold me on him because i was too busy thinking "i wish lay would get more lines"

now looking back, yeah jongdae (and yixing) were my bias individually but as a collective, i preferred exo-k (also, "candy" and "mirotic" were better than "sorry sorry" + "happiness")

favourite m/v?

"lotto". not my favourite song in the world but the aesthetics, the 'plot', jongdae in the white smashing up that table with a hammer? ugh, love it. jongdae and baekhyun's era.

i love a music video with a plot, i would love to see them do a "now" or "365 fresh" but i don't think my heart could take it lol

honourable mentions: monster & i love 'love shot' probably because its in the same vain as "lotto" if it were less plot, more vibes.

also chanyeol with no shirt and that black leather, ugh.

the music video isn't my favourite, but i love the 'alice in wonderland' aspect of "love me right"

favourite album?

i think it really depends on what day you ask me, also my favourite album isn't always the one i think its their best. i'm really enjoying the obsession album right now but the "love me right (exodus)" is exo's magnum opus and dare i say "lotto (ex'act)" is the best sequel since shrek two.

but i really didn't like "love shot (don't mess up my tempo)" and it killed me inside but i only liked two of the b-sides

top ten tracks?

exodus

heaven

thunder

my lady

forever

cosmic railway

white noise

hurt

christmas day

fall

favourite soloist / subunit?

unit is absolutely exo-cbx. their "hey mama" mini-album is a no-skip album, their second mini wasn't really for me but "vroom vroom" is amazing also jongdae's "watch out" is brill but i can't listen to it without remembering him decking it on stage

that said, i still mourn the concept of chenbaeksoo unit and i'm still really disappointed sment didn't milk the shit out of that trio like kry or tts before them

favourite performance?

it feels a bit cliche to say the "wolf (remix)", the olympics or "artificial love" so i think i'll have to go with twenty-fifteen's mama set it was fantastic, show stopping and a bit chaotic

but shout-out to baek's "monster" in tokyo dome. y'all baby exo-l missed out on the shitstorm that was tumblr / twitter.

also, not a 'favourite' but cbx in "run this" at the golden disk awards being visibly pissed-off and screaming into their mics because of the "lip-sync" rumor

your exo hot take?

not an unpopular "hot take" but i know folk get stick for it

i really dislike superm, like seriously. i really dislike sm's management of it. sm had a perfectly good group to go up against bts on a global stage and they screwed it up. they weren't rookies like most of nct, they weren't too "out there" like shinee and the less said about suju the better.

also, they're a 'global group' yet all their best songs are mostly korean.

but they squandered it, they prioritised the nct brand both with the group itself and superm and tacked exo + taemin into their daft group to make older fans give a shit and they took away exo's chance at their final ot8/9 comeback before enlistment.

also, whilst it was for the better, kris leaving exo really stilted their international growth as a unit and individuals, honestly just the china line generally as they are collectively a lot stronger in their english as opposed to the korean members

showtime, ladder or arcade?

overall, ladder but i love showtime, especially episode eleven. i think that's when i first thought "hey that really fucking loud guy is pretty cute"

collab you'd like to see (western + k-pop)?

in regards to sm, i would love to see taeyeon, wendy, kyungsoo and jongdae take a shot at either a jazz or r'n'b collab track.

k-pop generally, baekyeol + dreamcatcher

western, bruno mars & kyungsoo

what would you like for exo to do next?

sm please! give me an english version of their title! almost everyone else at sm has one! hell, there was literally an english version of "the eve"!

but also, royalty concept (they've bloody earned it and exo-l's can't keep suggesting it every comeback)

but personally, it'd love to see a twenties or thirties "great gatsby" concept

funniest exo moments(s)?

"say hey!" that entire performance is a disaster, baek getting interrupted, then spooked by a pyro and finally jongdae decking it in the dance break of "growl"

the water fight during exoluxion

jongdae's outbrust at sehun on knowing bros

exomentary's bowling episode (rip chanyeol)

sehun and the beluga whale

the exo-l screaming "yah baekhyun!"

jongdae scaring the shit out of doni on weekly idol (deserved)

everyone yelling that baekhyun picked 'i got a boy' and not ‘gee’ like a normal person (personally luhan made the best choice)

baek, tao and luhan's haunted house run

heechul's various impressions of kyungsoo on knowing bros

favourite line?

chingu, we never get to see them anymore but they (especially the beagles) were always tied to the hip, that said i've defo gone soft for the maknae line

who's the traitor? is there one?

kris it's absolutely jongdae. i know folk think it's baekhyun but or chanyeol but after "lotto", i feel like that rules out chanyeol and baekhyun after "monster".

jongdae seems to be doing the opposite to everyone in these music videos whilst still being 'apart of it'

like: the white shirt in "lotto", standing at the 'last supper', the cameras in obsession, the smashing of their earnings in "lotto" the 'no fucks given attitude' when the swat shows up, unlike the rest of the group

favourite pathcode?

baekhyun, its so pretty but i also love sehun's as a resident scot

favourite cursed moment(s)?

"my name is baekhyun, but you can call me bacon" stfu bake-hun

suho meeting jedward

chanyeol's nick mask

exo: next door (side note: why was exo-m + jongin just not in the show?)

baekhyun's 'best looking' ranking on weekly idol

"wolf" demo

who's "baby-girl" are you picking?

kyungsoo's in "call me baby" but shout-out to jongdae's underrated one in "juliet"

favourite exo collab?

i've got a few, probably "lil' something" with jongdae & heize or his collab with ailee

it kills me that taeyeon was unwell whilst singing with jongdae also, chanyeol's collab with far east movement

favourite cover?

vocal line + sehun's "why so serious"

exo & yuna kim's "happiness" (vocal line sound brill in this)

sunday morning

#exo #jongin #baekhyun #chanyeol #kyungsoo #junmyeon #sehun #jongdae #minseok #yixing #kai #chen #suho #lay #xiumin #my posts

3 notes · View notes