#like why create shit if you're going to hate the audience

[dandylion-s]

Nothing is more fragile than a male showrunner whose show is popular with girls and queers

#these people will destroy their own show because women like it like lmao #this was true with sons of anarchy with spn with the 100 #most recently true detective night country #nic pizzolatto #you fucking moron i hope you never get to make shit again #like why create shit if you're going to hate the audience #true detective night country #true detective

[official-locke-writing]

Okay, I made a rant post about it, but Tumblr posted the draft rather than the finished one, so my points went uncomplete, so let's try again. Yes, this is about the N*zi drama bullshit happening in the EverymanHYBRID fandom.

TLDR; Stop defending Summer. EMH fans are not the problem. EMH itself is not the problem. The problem is N*zi supporters clinging to the N*zi reference and twisting it for their own agenda.

People defending Summer are not grasping the full situation and are contributing to sweeping harmful content under the rug instead of doing something about it.

It does not matter what your intentions are. If you draw a N*zi/Swast*ka in a cutesy little art style, it's a hate symbol. It's hateful content and makes you look like a N*zi supporter. Putting anything of this nature in a remotely good light is going to ruin your chances of ever being respected.

Summer drew a cutsy little N*zi in a sexual situation and then turned around with, "I don't support them!!!" Are you actually being real right now? Holy fuck.

I literally couldn't give a rat's ass about talking to Summer about this because holy hell, their "I feel so bad" guilt trippy shit will not work on me. There was no formal apology and no deletion of what was made. Summer is not sorry, they just don't want the heat.

Well, guess what? Brandishing a swast*ka is exactly how you get it, and until those posts come down and it's acknowledged in a non half assed way, you're gonna keep getting the heat.

Summer is making ALL OF US look bad. Summer is scaring people away from joining the fandom.

Depiction does not equal romantization. EverymanHYBRID used N*zis to disgust the audience and make HABIT a universally hated character. It was a throwback to an old media trope that mainstream movies do all the time. "Ooo, N*zi experimentation created a monster, ooo, spooky corny villain!!!" This is not the problem. Movie depictions of these fuckers were always made in a mocking light, and it seems like EMH did the same thing.

HABIT could barely remember who they were and spoke about them like they were shit on his boot. From what I've heard and seen, both the creators and the fandom agreed on minimizing and rewriting this reference out of EMH. You know why? Because people turned HABIT into a slutty fanonized mess of a concept. HABIT was not made to be romanticized for a fucking reason. They thought they were safe to use this trope because they weren't banking on people being ravenously thirsty and then using that reference as an excuse to connect N*zis with the "sexy serial killer" thing. HABIT was not to be sexualized in any way, shape, or form. HABIT was a mockery of real-life evil people. Dehumanizing monstrous people.

And then people turned around and humanized him to a terrifying degree. They made him "relatable," and people are raving about making him the new Tumblr sexyman.

Some of you guys, not all, but some, have no idea what the hell HABIT was made to do and it creeps me the fuck out.

Summer drew HABIT wanting to fuck a Jewish person. They drew a swast*ka next to a drawing of a real-life, non-celebrity, volunteer actor. It's disrespectful and just fucking mean, dude. On top of that, the Amon Göth quote??? The dude ran a labor camp, you've got to be kidding me.

"I'm just a history buff!" All N*zi supporters are history buffs. Your excuses mean nothing. If you didn't mean it, those art posts would be gone.

It's not the fandom or EMH itself. We agreed on being mature about this. Don't pin some 18 year old kid's edgy N*zi bullshit on anyone else but the person doing it.

#this is an emh fandom defense post #this is also an anti hate post #everymanhybrid #discourse #drama

[thana-topsy]

Ok I gotta come out and say it. I envy you. Like, to a painful extent. The amount of people you get interested in your characters, how you're incredibly skilled in both visual art AND writing, how readers your fics have. I absolutely adore your work, but seeing it fills me with so much envy it's honestly ridiculous.

Did you deal with similar feelings towards other creators when you started writing fic by any chance? If so, how did you deal with those feelings? I feel genuinely stuck feeling worthless about my fics. I'm not as verbose with my language despite over 10 years of writing under my belt and it seems as though my plots don't interest people as much either. So I feel like there's just nothing of worth about any of my work.

I know that this is a lot to dump on you, but I felt like I would burst keeping this all in. Much love to you and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Hey there my friend, I've been sitting with this all day trying to decide how I want to answer you. I genuinely appreciate your honesty, because I know this is a familiar feeling for a lot of people, myself included.

I remember when I first rejoined Tumblr in early 2019, desperately trying to find anyone to talk to about TES, I would look at all these blogs gettings asks about their OCs like they were little celebrities and feel envy and longing. Now, when these feelings start to bubble up, I force myself to take a break from sharing my work, be it art or writing, if only to remind myself why I'm creating it and who I'm creating it for: myself. I know it sounds cheesy, and I probably sound like a broken record, but genuinely I just do this because it's bursting out of my skull. But I won't lie and say the engagement and the support doesn't have a big impact on my motivation. I love sharing with people and getting an enthusiastic response.

I think something people might not realize, or maybe they just forget, is that I used to write a lot of smut. Like...a lot of smut. (I still do). Hahaha and it doesn't get a lot of comments or engagement, but it does draw a lot of eyes. Once my smut stories started taking on heavier plotlines, a comment I'd get a lot was "came for the porn, stayed for the plot." And I wasn't writing smut because I thought it would get me an audience, I was just horny LMAO. But it encouraged me to branch out and experiment with the types of stories I was telling.

Anyways, art is another big part of it, yes. But that also didn't get a lot of engagement in the beginning, and my skills were rusty as hell. I was getting maybe 15 notes on here, 30 likes on instagram. But that didn't really matter to me, I was just insane with inspiration. I'd reach out to people and ask to do art trades, got ghosted a lot, made some good friends, (some people who are still my good friends to this day!). But it took a lot of risks, and I made a lot of accidental enemies and learned a lot of hard lessons. But having visuals to go with the stories I'm writing is like advertisement in its own way. I'm just lucky enough to hyperfixate on this shit like it's my lifeblood. I've always obsessively drawn my favorite characters, ever since I was a wee bab. Long before social media was a factor or the words "content creator" even existed.

And I think that's what it all comes back to. Above all else, do what you do with unbridled joy. If someone else finds joy alongside you, all the better! Even if it's just one person. Take risks, make friends, make enemies, draw that blorbo unapologetically and with wild abandon. Love what you create, even when it's bad. Even when it makes you cringe years later, don't delete it. Even when people try to find every reason to hate what you do and who you are. Don't stop.

Every act of creation is bringing something into the world that didn't exist before you made it. And that alone gives it worth.

Happy New Year!

#topsy's asks #long post

[rollercoasterwords]

that makes me so sad that authors see their fics being bashed on tiktok. now, i’m all for banning cancel culture of course, but can we just…just this time…purge everyone who is reviewing fics in a hateful way purely for views ?🙄🤫

yeahhhhh i mean i have ranted and raved about this before but i think what it comes back to at the end of the day is that people who post negative shit about fics just genuinely do not understand the media they're interacting with. they think it's ok to "critique" things they don't like the same way they would a book or movie, but that assumes that fanfic is something created for a consumer-audience which is simply not the case! like, they think they're ordering food at a restaurant and sending it back because they don't like it, but in reality they've walked into somebody's house, sat down at their dinner table, taken a bite and then gone "wow you're a horrible cook why would u serve me this!!" and the fic writer is sitting there to eat their dinner like ummmm i made this for me and my friends u didn't have to come to my house for dinner if u don't like the food??

i also mostly see this happening with fics that have gotten really popular via tiktok virality, like people think that if a work is popular it somehow makes it more okay to shit on it. but the thing is that most fics that get blown up on tiktok aren't being posted there by the writer. like, most writers just post on ao3 and maybe drop a little update on tumblr for their circle of mutuals/followers and that's it. most writers are not trying to go viral. in fact, many of us think that tiktok virality is like...a nightmare scenario lol. and part of that is because once something goes viral people literally stop treating the person who wrote it like a human being. so!! it does indeed suck and i wish there was a way to like...magically silence everyone who posts "ummmm hot take but i actually HATE this fic" because even if it is coming from a place of genuine ignorance about the media ur interacting with, it's still just mean. it's mean! it's really mean, and it's clearly being posted with the intent of getting views/likes/attention on the internet for urself by framing ur meanness as a "hot take." honestly it's insane to me that such a large portion of the fandom lacks the media literacy to understand that it's not okay to just interact with every form of media in the same way.

#ask #ranting and raving

[aihoshiino]

In Viewpoint B (thank you for that TL of it, by the way!), Ai says to Kyun that she was a liar even before becoming an idol. Ai also describes herself as a liar in her inner monologue in the flashback to when she was scouted in Chapter 8/Episode 1. Do you have any ideas about what lies/"lies" she could be referring to, or how her self-hatred generates this specific self-perception?

You're very welcome – glad you enjoyed! Viewpoint B is my favourite of the sidestories so I'm really happy I was able to make it more available to everyone else, too.

Talking about 'lies' in OnK is kind of messy sometimes, honestly! I think this is where a lot of the weirder/more off base interpretations of Ai in the fandom come from because people get tripped up by how the story uses the word and assume that it begins and ends with the very literal dictionary definition of like, "an intentionally false directly expressed statement". And while this isn't not part of what OnK means when it talks about lies, there's a lot more going on than that.

'Lies' in OnK are essentially an umbrella term being used to cover a whole shitload of thematic ground via abstraction. When Oshi no Ko talks about lies, it's talking about falsehoods, inauthenticity, the sanitized and manufactured versions of ourselves we wear for social approval, the idea of persona, celebrity culture, idol culture, parasocial relationships, abuse, purity culture, misogyny, art, fiction, mental illness, love, hate and all manner of other things.

"Holy shit, Claire" you may presumably say "That's a whole lot of things for just one word to cover???"

And I would say... yep it is! But that's why just one word is used — because the story has so much ground it wants to cover, some of it needs to be abstracted just to not exhaust the audience. To quote Dan Olson's weirdly relevant video on the NC's The Wall review:

"Abstraction is, counter-intuitively, really efficient. It allows a movie to be about a lot of things simultaneously by letting symbols bleed into each other. [...] Symbols shift and merge and break apart, juxtaposed and contrasted in order to create an impression of their interconnected relationship in a way that is difficult to do with mere words."

Accordingly, it's a little hard to express this idea without just vaguely waving my hands and going "oooo the vibes" but I think it is something you end up just kind of vibing with when you have spent enough time chewing on the characters and why they do and say the things they do.

In Ai's case, when she talks about 'lies', she is generally referring to the performance of a sanitized and idealized self by omitting the parts of herself that do not line up with her public image. I've previously noodled on this topic in an older post that I still stand by and this basic idea still forms the foundation of most of my Ai analysis: "Really, the biggest “lie” Ai is telling is the one people have demanded she tell: the illusion of an eternally pure and cheerful idol. But being an idol has become so forcibly entangled in Ai’s personhood at the expense of allowing her to just be a human that of course she thinks of herself as a liar for being unable to live up to that image."

To Ai, any failure to disclose her true, ugly self is a lie. Her performance of a self that other people find lovable is the thing she thinks of as lying. It's also worth noting that in both Viewpoint B and her flashback, she's describing her younger self in hindsight and attributing the label of 'liar' to her rather than this being something Ai called herself before meeting Saitou, who went on to completely rewire her brain by teaching her that this performance for social approval was lying and that it was okay and even necessary for her to do it.

I also think Ai's history of abuse at her mom's hands also contributed to this a great deal. I, uh, don't want to go too deep into this in my silly Oshi no Ko meta tag but speaking from experience: growing up with a parent like Ayumi, you get really good at lying. You get really good at saying "I'm sorry", "I forgive you" and whatever the fuck else they want to hear from you just to calm them down and make them happy. You get really, really good at performing the most perfectly sanitized version of yourself possible just to keep the peace. Knowing just how long and how violently Ai was being abused by Ayumi, it's really hard for me to not project that survival tactic onto her.

#oshi no ko #oshi no posting #ai hoshino #abuse cw

[reiderwriter]

Hello!!If you were part of the writers on criminal minds,what would you have done differently when it came to the romantic relationships of it all and whats your opinion on some of the ships?Which would you erase and which are your favorites?I'm willing to read as much details and analysis you are willing to give on this lmao😂I loved the analysis on Reids sexual evolution season by season and am really curious on what you think on the ships like Reid and JJ,Reid Lila,Reid and Maeve,Reid and Elle😂Personally I would have created a diffrent character as a love interest for him all together.

This is practically an essay so I'm just going to apologise in advance of this. I'm not going to say I'd change much because the end product we got is my favorite show for a reason but yes, here is me talking about all the romantic relationships I can think of in CM and my opinions on them!

(Spoilers for season 1-15 of CM, CME, and season 8 of NCIS - yeah that's how long this post is).

Reid Ships

I think Reid ships are the ones most people have issues with in Criminal Minds so I'm going to start here with personal headcanons and my personal highlights. It's going to become clear that my biggest pet peeve in CM is when the writers want to give the characters a love interest and then just gender-bend their personalities, so let's start with Maeve and Spencer.

I've already talked at length in other posts about how I think the Maeve/ Zugzwang plotline wasn't my favorite. It was some amazing acting from MGG and Beth Reisgraf, but personally, I think it suffered from "serialized cop drama" plot line status. This show airs week after week with another case to solve in 45 minutes and they don't have the time or the format to pause through moments that in a standard drama would be very impactful.

To go on a slight tangent, that is partially why the relationships between the main cast are usually the only ones developed very well over extended arcs (I'll return to this when I talk about Jeid).

So, when you're trying to have an emotionally resonant moment, and you only have a handful of cold opens and one full episode to do it, you're going to have to make the characters motivations, personalities and back stories mesh in a way that makes you think: "holy shit they're perfect together."

Maeve and Spencer aren't that. I hate to use this term, but Maeve is like a manic pixie dream girl for Spencer? She's written as if she's too good to be true, which is why we're supposed to feel so sad when she dies. But they also tried to make her a complex character and didn't have the time to really do it, which is why we're given a back story that makes no fucking sense (as Spencer's DOCTOR no less) and some hints that she probably doesn't feel the same way as Spencer does for her (fiancé she never told him about etc.)

When Spencer's character starts evolving in later seasons to being more than just a genius, but a genius with trauma, they pull a similar stunt with Cat Adams/ Max

The show runner Erica Messer did mention that the Maeve plotline was always designed to be a three act plot: she's introduced, Spencer is in love with her, she dies. But, in my opinion, we didn't get enough of an introduction to her for me to feel really all that bad about it? They banked a lot on the audiences attachment to Reid, so when you feel bad about Maeve's death it's all about Reid - why do bad things keep happening to HIM, I wonder how HE will get through it - when she is the one who was just murdered. Those kind of dynamics always kind of throw me in romantic relationships.

I'm going to be clear, I do not ship Cat Adams and Reid either and I have pretty much no opinion on Max other than that if she were real I'd probably avoid her (teachers who hate teaching and blame the kids are weird! And I'm a teacher so I can say that I think lol).

Cat Adams is girl-Reid if he had a villain arc. She's 100% again there to push Reid's character development, and she's used as an action rather than a character. Max is the same. In season 15, with the entire team at a crossroads, they have to allow Reid two outs: one villain arc where he gives into his lust for Cat Adams, and one happy ending where he gets to start something with someone who is totally normal and a way out of the BAU the way Savannah was for Morgan. But it can't be as easy for Reid, and that's why we're left with the Cat/Max dilemma because he is really attracted to Cat, despite the fact that she was threatening to end the lives of members of Max's family.

By the end of the show, Reid had been actively on the team the most out of all the cast members (bar Penelope, but she wasn't out on cases first hand, so there's not as much emotional baggage there for her). He can't have an easy exit, so I kind of view this "love triangle" bullshit as a metaphor for Spencer choosing a normal life vs a continuation with the BAU.

Which is why I think that if CME continues, I think we're unlikely to see or hear from Max, because that means he's picked the BAU.

Okay now, not to sound like a broken record but, Jeid:

Before Truth or Dare, there is one single suggestion of Jeid being a possibility and it's a suggestion, from Gideon of all people, in season 1. It is CRAZY to me that after thirteen seasons they just decided to develop that one plotline again because jesus CHRIST.

My main problem with Jeid is that, actually, I think it had a lot of potential. Like I said, serialized dramas only have time to develop relationships between their main cast members, which is why we end up with a pseudo-found-family vibe no matter who happens to be on the team at any given point. A lot of similar dramas go down the route of coworker/ team mate relationships (think Ziva and DiNozzo in NCIS or Mulder and Scully in The X Files).

There was absolutely the potential for an opposites attract relationship with Jeid, but I think the minute they abandoned that after that small dialogue we got something WAY FUCKING BETTER. Their friendship is entirely underrated, Spencer regularly babysits her kid, she comforts him after Emily "dies," enough for them to have arguments about it after the fact. Your honor they are SIBLINGS. That is UNCLE SPENCER. Not your future step-dad.

When they decided to commit to JJ and Will, they should've stuck to it, and as a big fan of the Season 7 finale + Hit and Run it is very shitty seeing them trying to retcon both of these characters amazing developments and growth over 14 seasons and have them regress to shit tier versions of their Season 1 selves.

"But Kacie, there must be some Spencer relationships you like," I hear you ask. And there ARE:

Lila Archer is a great foil for Spencer. She has a happy, glamorous life until their paths cross, and then we can assume from dialogue in season 6 that she continues having a pretty fucking glamorous life after everything goes down. I don't think Spencer works best with characters that are traumatised or overly smart the way he is, because he needs something to return to after the cases that switch off that part of him, to help him forget the horrifying shit he sees on the job.

So Lila Archer was kind of a great love interest.

Another one that I'm so annoyed they didn't explore more is Austin. She's the bartender in the Season 4 Episode "52 Pickup" that is charmed by Spencer's card tricks. She is never mentioned again, but they had a great chemistry, she was quick on her feet and managed to spot the unsub first, and she was a really great foil for Spencer as well; it was a street smarts/ book smarts kind of dynamic. If they'd carried that character forward and had her reappear a few times, it could've been a great romantic plot.

I will just quickly note that the reason we most likely didn't see many romantic plots for Reid was because Matthew Gray Gubler didn't like the idea of giving him a romantic plotline, stating that there were so many more interesting things to do with the character - and he's right!

I'm a fanfiction writer, and the allure of characters like Spencer Reid is they are mostly romantic clean slates - you can write whatever you want for them within reason without having to disregard canon relationships. This is why similarly, Steve Harrington, Eddie Munson, Venom, and young "Marauders" fanfictions are pretty popular here imo too - canon compliance isn't disregarded, the reader is just written in. So I don't think I'd change a thing for Spencer to be honest (apart from maybe not kill Maeve off and give her the actual villain arc, but I say that so regularly I'm beginning to sound like a broken record).

Also I'll just quickly mention Elle because you mentioned her - outside of fanfiction there are literally zero hints (imo) of a thing between Elle and Reid lmao there's more of a case to be made for Elle and Morgan, but for some reason, writers and fans alike don't like committing to giving Morgan more than simply platonic connections. THEY SHOULD!! THE MAN IS SEXY AS HELL!!!!!!! GIVE ME A MORGAN WHO IS REGULARLY FUCKING!

Hotchner Ships

Speaking of characters that have a long time where they are single! Aaron Hotchner is another fandom favorite to write self-insert fanfiction for, because of the gap between Haley Hotchner's death in 100, and the introduction of Beth in season 7.

In general, I like the way Hotch's relationships play out on screen. Let's start with Haley:

You can tell that the writers really enjoyed the dynamic between work Hotch and home Hotch, because they played on it so much across the four first seasons. The very first time he is introduced he's in his bedroom picking out baby names with his childhood sweetheart, so any further scenes of him being more stern or serious are always in contrast with that introduction. It's a cold open to his character that immediately let's you know that there is more going on in his world than just the BAU, and he is the only member of the season one team that has that.

Then, they really LOVE taking that shit away from him. I'm not going to go into detail here about how fucking wack the time line is for Criminal Minds, but it is stupid and that's important here because:

I think Haley's reasons for divorcing Hotch are stupid.

She says that she married a man who was a prosecutor, not a man that was an FBI Profiler but realistically by the time of their divorce, he'd been in the BAU like 10 years. They rely more on the audiences sense of time (we're two years in, so they've all been on the team two years etc) to push this character motivation off. And for a while it makes sense that they were separated, until the events of 100. But also: in sickness and in health, for better and for worse, you literally signed up for whatever the FUCK happened, that's what a marriage vow IS.

Now I'm a sucker for the angst of 100,but would it not have felt 10x more emotionally disgusting if Hotch and Haley were talking about reuniting? If they had never celebrated in the first place, and had just finished working through their marital issues when Foyet comes back into their lives and Haley has to be whisked away again? Yes. Yes it would.

There's an episode in season 9 that really pisses me off, and it's the one that Hotch passes out from an old tear in his Foyet stab wounds and he goes into surgery and talks with Haley and Foyet in heaven while watching the rest of his life after the events of 100 on a cinema screen. It's cliché and also has no pay-off because it doesn't change the way he views his relationships after that, and it's not like he's at a crossroads at that point, so it means nothing to the audience except as a remembrance of an issue and an episode so far in the past that it feels like flogging a dead horse. They do this twice, btw, and this is the more successful use of this plot (the first time they do it to Elle in Season 1/2 during the events of The Wicker King - she talks to the father we didn't even know was dead, who died decades ago in an unrelated time. Not to keep bringing NCIS up, but I think the only time I've seen it done well is whenever Gibbs kept seeing Mike Franks in the diner scenes). They do not out enough effort into these plots to achieve the emotional resonance they are aiming for in my personal opinion.

I'm not entirely sure, but I think this could've been the beginning of the era where Gibson was having a lot of issues with the cast, because it just felt like they didn't want to use him in the on-location shoots for a while lmao. Anyway, all that to say, Haley should've stayed dead, and not come back as a stupid phantom.

After the dust has settled on Haley and Hotchner though, we get Hotchner and Beth:

This is going to be a short note, because I actually really like the relationship between these two characters. They have the very slow cold-open build up that Maeve and Spencer get, but there's a lot more and a lot less to Beth's character that makes the dynamic between them really enjoyable to watch.

We're once again treated to the out-of-work Hotchner that had been missing since Season 4 (his in between scenes with Jack are cute but there's always the tragedy hanging over them). Beth is running a marathon in honor of her dad, Hotch is doing something similar for the FBI Triathalon, they train together the tension builds, they start dating. Now obviously it wasn't the purpose or aim of this character introduction to build to tragedy, and I think they just genuinely wanted to show a happy Hotchner again, but its still a valid criticism of the weird voyeuristic Maeve build-up that they literally succeeded a more sympathetic and audience engaging late minor-recurring-character EARLIER THAN THE MAEVE ARC.

I'll shut up now, but yeah, I like Hotch and Beth.

Penelope Ships

This post is getting ridiculously long, so much so that I'm even contemplating adding a fucking word count, but let's continue and dive in to my next issue.

Penelope's romantic life is used as a punch-line for the first 11 seasons and I HATE it.

There is no easy short to say this, but I despise Kevin. He is stupid, and a joke, and I hate him and I am SO HAPPY that she dumped him. They made her really pathetic about him for a few episodes, and then he kept fucking coming back too which was even worse.

Kevin is literally male Garcia but with all the worst attributes. He's clingy, and needy, and he may be smart but in a very "incel" way. In my opinion, Kevin is less a fully fledged character and more a joke line/ convenient plot point for when they need more tech analyst work. The best moment in the Kevin/Penelope arc is during the The Gathering, where she really lays into him and tells him off for being jealous of her ukelele instructor AFTER THEY'D BROKEN UP.

Penelope deserved so much better than what they gave her romantically in these seasons. First, her date tried to kill her, her boyfriend was a joke, etc. She never gets the serious romantic plotline that her other teammates do (Hotch/Haley, Spencer/Maeve, Derek/Savannah, JJ/Will, Emily/being a big old lesbian etc). Penelope is really great levity for the rest of the cast because she is happy and she is positive and she is unapologetic in her positivity. It's annoying that they don't let her be more than that in the romantic relationships they give he during these seasons.

Then Luke Alvez is introduced and there is some hope! Galvez truther's please, rise they are so adorable.

Anyone involved in the writing of CME - what the hell was that? Now I haven't seen it myself, to be completely fair, but I know enough to ask the question - really what the HELL was that?

Tl;dr Penelope's sexuality and romantic relationships should not be used as punchlines.

The Aversion to Homosexuality

This is just a general note, but the writers originally did plan to have Emily Prentiss be gay - amazing, great, it's a completely different time now, please let her have a gay awakening soon. It was obviously scrapped early in, but there's a lot of subtext that can be interpreted in that way.

They did commit with Tara, and she gets a gf in CME, so I want to see some Temily in the future if we do get more CM seasons.

So just so you know, everytime I mention Emily flirting with someone in my fic, assume it's a woman if you aren't already, lmao.

(They did also talk about making Reid bisexual as well, which would've also been great, but again, I don't think we're ever getting any more romantic plotlines from Reid).

Other Characters

Here's just a rating and short mention for all the other character couples I can think of in Criminal Minds, because this is already thesis length lmao:

Morgan + Savannah - 8.5/10, no notes, really just the gender bent love interest but done right.

Alex Blake + Husband - 7/10, solid couple, very much enjoyed when they started bringing in the people in established relationships again lmao.

Kate Callahan + Husband - 5/10, same as above but I wasn't as attached to her character rip.

Matt + Kirsty - 10/10 really no notes, I too would be called a breeder if I managed to lock that man down, damn.

Rossi + His 3 Ex-Wives - Make total sense for his character, very enjoyable to me, love that he has a nice moment with most of them again throughout the series, not going to rate it lol.

Rossi + Strauss - 3.5/10 - Last ditch attempt to make Strauss a sympathetic character, but I felt more attached to her growth after being called out by Derek rather than the effect that her death had on Rossi.

Gideon + the friend of his who is murdered by that Frank guy at the end of season 2 - stupid, worst way to go out, made no sense for the character, but I know Mandy Patinkin wanted OUT and honestly, anything for you Inigo Montoya.

Why I think Criminal Minds is Better Without Romance

Generally, I really do agree with Matthew Gray Gubler when he said that there were more interesting things to explore with these characters than their romantic attachments. It does frustrate me to no end that they focused on some of them more than others, and that post Henry, most of JJ's big moments are tied to motherhood and being a mother/ wife, but that change in her character is still amazing and leads her to a lot of growth (not mentioning Truth or Dare again, sorry it doesn't exist at this point in the post)(also I didn't have much time to mention Will and JJ, but I do love them).

Their best moments are the ones we get of them together as a team, saving people and putting away murderers for life, it's a perfect Found Family!!!

Also, no more romance = Spencer Reid can be mine. In conclusion, I am delusional. Thank you for reading this far.

#reiderreplies #reiderthoughts #spencer reid #criminal minds #aaron hotchner #penelope garcia #derek morgan #tara lewis #emily prentiss #jennifer jareau #alex blake #matt simmons #maeve donovan #cat adams #david rossi #Lila Archer #Bro I talk about so many fucking characters in this post #I'm sorry #The tags are a bit stupid #But I guess they're all relevant? #elle greenaway

[epickiya722]

Oh you liked it!

But yeah just... Fantasy and all of that but sometime I'm tired that people can't enjoy any characters without having to wash them down to be their fantasy husband

This is a trend in fandom that makes me want to be around less and less

Sure did! I feel like when it comes to liking villain characters specifically, if you actually like that character there should be no need to water them down. Otherwise, that is just a whole OC you just created.

For Sukuna, I don't think he should have a sad backstory. Him having one? Seems absurd, I'm sorry to those that may think otherwise, but that's how I feel.

I don't mind sad backstories. But at the same time, I don't need them to be a reason why a villain became a villain all the time for every villain in the story.

It's why I love Sukuna's attitude to Kashimo's question in 237. He answers "I was an unwanted child" but barely shows any sadness for it. If anything, he brushes it off like "hm, well, anyways".

It's like... if Sukuna doesn't care, why should we?

I doubt the mangaka wants us to feel a hint of sympathy, empathy or whatever else for Sukuna because not once has Sukuna been shown to do something that is out of his will to be nice. He only really praises people for their strength but only because he had a good fight. He's satisfied with being entertained for that time.

We should feel enraged by his actions. He should hate him. I said it before, but from my standpoint as someone who writes, I think Gege is writing Sukuna the way he is right now because the whole purpose is to not like this guy or his actions. People call it glazing, but to me that's just storytelling. When you're telling a story, you would want your audience to feel a range of emotions, right? People are annoyed that Sukuna seemingly ain't going down, but maybe that's the whole point. You should feel annoyed.

Let's keep him that way. Like, let canon Sukuna just be a ruthless monster. I think it would be fitting that he's opposite of Yuji in that sense as he is the reason Yuji is suffering.

Sukuna -> the big bad, no empathy for him

Yuji -> the big good, a lot of empathy for him

Just to add on, some times I do feel like people tend to water down villainous characters that they like is because they get people who are to quick to judge them for it. Its like they have to do such a such to not seem like a bad person and for all we know, that person is the kindest person someone could ever meet. But those who judge them for their character palette wouldn't know that because they're too busy sending hate messages over a fictional character.

Haters, yes they are, seem to forget that a fan of a villain can also not approve of their actions and like the villain because of the flavor they add to the story. "You like Sukuna, so you must also be as evil!"

No, buddy, I like Sukuna because he is an entertaining character. But given the chance, I would punch the absolute shit out of him.

With canon writing, I feel it's kinda the same for writers. Sometimes, they may feel they have to resort to making the bad guys somehow able for the readers to empathize them to lighten the backlash they get because nowadays people have absolutely no fucking chill and are quick to send death threats.

People are assholes. They are.

#kiya answers #jjk #jujutsu kaisen #jjk spoilers #jjk manga spoilers #sukuna #ryomen sukuna #sukuna ryomen #ryoumen sukuna #sukuna ryoumen

[canonizzyhours]

Hot take: Both the 'canyon' and the wider OFMD 'fandom' can turn people away from the show. This fandom's infighting is a waste of time and everyone would be happier looking for fans they agree with vs. spending hours wasting their life arguing about pointless shit. (Yes, this post is ironic, but I'm tired of moralizing, and wanted to rant.)

You as a fan are responsible for curating the community you care about and finding passion there, not endlessly posting rants about how weirdly passionate other fans are.

Fandom is just a bunch of very opinionated people who get online and try to find community and for the most part, that's okay! You consumed a piece of media and have opinions about it, but know why you're creating a post. You're not actually going to get murdered by Izzy lovers if you properly tag your Tumblr posts as Izzy-critical. For example.

I write OFMD meta, it's very easy to pop on Stede Critical if I'm discussing why I don't like aspects of his arc, or Ed-Critical for how he was written in S2. Proper tagging shows respect to Ed-focused or Stede-focused fans without clogging the tag with hate. I enjoy aspects of Izzy's character, and if I'm negative I STILL tag Izzy-critical.

Trying to claim moral superiority for 'choosing the right side' in fandom looks immature on both ends. In the end, yeah, I'm sure people in both camps were harassing people. I've got 15 Izzy-focused words on AO3 in this fandom on all branches of loving-to-hating aspects of his character. I have gotten death threats, from both camps, I get it. But those are shitty people, regardless of fandom affiliation. I don't hate an entire subgroup due to that.

Izzy having a subsect in fandom is not really that different than Ed, Stede, Olu/Jim, or hell, S2 positive fans having their own spaces and communities.

I was in fandoms for Marvel (Loki), Supernatural (Castiel) and Witcher (Jaskier). I know how prevalent some side characters can be, it's as if it's y'alls first time seeing this shit. Liking or disliking a character isn't a moral failing. THIS is the ACTUAL reason I saw people leave the fandom.

Moralizing if participating in Izzy (and TBH, Stede) fandom made you a good person or if you were 'filling AO3 with another white man'. Don't complain you don't have water if you haven't even tried to dig a well. Vice versa with only 'pure holy radical leftist non racists' holding themselves above everyone else for liking characters like Edward, Oluwande, or Jim. Why are you wasting time complaining that they aren't represented on AO3?

If you want more Archie fic? Write Archie fic. If you want Ned to get the villian arc he deserved? Do it. If you really hated Izzy and wanted him to die sooner, you have your audience, be respectful of people and their time.

But reader of this post, you are not the moderator for all content created. Why do you spend your time caring about what another ingroup is doing instead of having fun with YOUR in-group??

When this fandom dies out, my stand-out experiences will be the fond memories of what fic I created and the many friends I made along the way. Can you say the same? Or will you remember OFMD because you keyboard warrior'ed your way into not even having fun anymore?

#304.

#ofmd #izzy hands #canonizzyhours #fandom critical

[the-cult-of-riley]

Sleeping With Ghosts (Act Two: Chapter One)

Simon 'Ghost' Riley x Female OC

[[Masterlist]]

A/N:

Double update again!

It has begun >:)

Placebo - This Is What You Wanted

Hey, hey, hey There's no need to panic This is just how it is Your pulse is fast and frantic And it feels like you'll explode

This is what you wanted This is here and now This is what you came for But you leave disappointed Cracked skin and furrowed brow

Hey, hey, hey This is what you wanted This is why you came This is what you asked for Yes, I heard you beg

And you came And you broke it, threw it Out of the room Flushed it, down the toilet Even though it was your precious, the last thing to call your own

Hey, hey, hey This is what you wanted And you got it Now you hate it 'Cause it's a disappointment

Your expectations were way too fucking high Now you're angry Frustrated You've created your own special hell

Where it's arctic And it's barren And it's silent And it's white Your own prison cell

Hey, hey, hey There's no need to panic

It was dark outside, the air starting to get a little cold as he stood outside the barracks and the moon hung heavy in the sky, casting the car park in an eerie glow. Anxiety ran rampant inside of him as he stood there as if he was waiting for his execution. He'd spent the time beating the shit out of Soap, admittedly going a little harder on him than he should. The Scot took it like a champ, no doubt telling himself some bullshit about ‘that's what best mates are for’. Either way, Ghost appreciated the distraction, but now it was time. Price had texted to let them know he was a few minutes away. Texted Johnny , not him. Maybe he thought Ghost would bolt if he got the text, part of him was fighting the fucking urge. 

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears and he shifted where he stood, crossing his broad arms over his chest as if to protect himself for what was coming. The feelings only got worse when he saw Price’s car pull in. He didn't really want an audience for this but had Johnny on his left side. Ale, Rudy and Gaz were also there, albeit loitering a little further away, closer to the door to the barracks. They'd all been excited to meet the ever elusive Mrs Riley they only just found out existed. Only made worse when Johnny told them a Mini Riley would be in tow too. 

Price was the first to get out of the car and nausea swept through Ghost’s entire being, heat prickling at him uncomfortably. 

“Should you not take off the mask, hermano? You might scare the little one,” Ale asked warily from his spot near the door and Ghost’s head whipped over to him, eyes slightly wide through the mask. Of course it would scare her, he looked like a fucking menace. Why didn't he think of that? He was already failing at being a good father. 

But then images of his scarred face flashed through his head and the idea of scaring her with his actual face and not his mask cut through him like a hot knife through butter. 

“Mask stays on,” he bit out, and he could feel Johnny’s eyes burning holes into him.

“LT…” he started and he knew the Sergeant knew why he wanted to keep the mask on and he didn’t want to hear it.

“Don’t ,” he warned dangerously, dark eyes boring into the man next to him who wore a frown. Before Soap could argue more, the sound of a car door made Ghost look back over to the car. 

Charlotte climbed out and suddenly he couldn't breathe anymore. An ache started deep in his chest and climbed into every crevice of his body. Fuckin’ hell, he'd missed her. Missed her so much he could feel it all the way down to his fucking bones. He could hear blood rushing in his ears as he watched her carefully, emotion clogging his throat with a lump he couldn't get rid of. He tried to clear it but the noise sounded more like a pitiful whimper as he fought the urge to break down in front of everyone. 

The noise didn't escape the man who was still glued to his side though and he felt Johnny's hand on his back. He bit back the snarky comment that wanted to leave his lips because he was sure it was Johnny's hand that was keeping him from collapsing in a heap on the floor. His arms fell to his sides, fists clenching and unclenching as he resisted the urge to run over there and touch her. To grab her face and kiss her senseless. To hold her close and never let her go again. 

‘She’s pretty upset, I don’t know what the fuck you were expectin’. She’s taken it pretty badly that you left her willingly.’

No, she wouldn't appreciate that, not without him trying to explain and smoothing things over. Not only had he chosen to leave her, but he did so knowing she would be completely on her own, that it hadn't just been him she'd lost that day. 

He’d broken the vow he’d made to himself and to her, that she would never have to feel alone again. It was so fucking selfish of him, even if at the time he told himself it was to protect her. And it was. After what happened to his family, he couldn't risk that happening to her too. But he knew deep down he'd ran off out of fear, out of selfishness, and now he was about to face his reckoning. 

His dark eyes stayed glued to his wife as she leaned into the car before helping a small child out. He blinked dumbly as he watched on. She was fucking tiny, her blonde curls a little unruly like she'd slept in the car. She was wearing leggings, boots and a fur coat that just swamped her tiny frame. She clung to a stuffed bunny in her hands as she glanced up at his Captain and said something with a smile on her face. Fuckin’ hell.  

He could see himself in her and he wasn't sure what to think about it, but then her dark eyes turned to him and they widened like saucers as she stared at him. He remembered Alejandro's words about the mask and his breathing hitched. The idea of scaring his own child cut something deep inside of him, but then the tiny mirror of himself dropped her stuffed bunny and started running at him, not away.

“Daddy!” She yelled excitedly, with so much reverence he knew he didn't fucking deserve after what he'd done. 

She was like a tiny whirlwind as she barrelled at him and another pitiful noise escaped him as he fell to his knees with a heavy thud, just in time for her to fling herself at him, trying to wrap her small arms around his neck. Instinct took over as his broad arms encircled her, a sob stuck in his throat as he lifted her into his arms, holding her as close as possible. She smelt like chocolate and strawberries and something broke deep within him. 

She squeezed him impossibly tight for as small as she was, repeating the word ‘daddy’ over and over. But her excitement gave way to a more watery tone then that would have hurt less if she'd shivved him. She moved her head away to look at him and the tears trailing down her cheeks made him feel sick. What had he done?

“Daddy… I-I missed you,” she cried softly, the innocence of her statement ricocheting like a bullet. How could she miss something that she never even had? But she had missed him. The absence of him, the absence of a father, it had left a gaping hole in her fucking life. 

He kept hold of her as he fought the urge to rip his fucking mask off. He couldn't breathe and the girl deserved to see him and not Ghost yet he couldn’t bring himself to do it, couldn't bring himself to reveal his awful face to her and scare her away. He was a coward. He barely registered as his tears fell under his mask, tumbling down his face as he struggled to breathe. He squeezed his eyes shut, pressing a kiss to her forehead through the mask as his whole body trembled with her in his arms. 

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” he lamented brokenly, moving to cradle her head with his large hand. She moved closer then, burying her face in the crook of his neck as he held her impossibly close.

“I’m here, love. I’m not goin’ anywhere, alright?” he murmured to her, his hand stroking silky soft curls. She nodded into his neck, sniffling as her tears started to ease off but the pain in his chest didn't lessen. He suddenly became painfully aware of where he was and that he was being watched. 

He moved to stand and Beth clung to him so tight, he might have thought she wanted to strangle him. It pained him that she was acting like he might float away and vanish again if she let him go. He held her tight as he got to his feet, nuzzling her hair as he continued to stroke it, wanting to ease her worries. 

He heard a sniffle from beside him and glanced over, seeing Johnny wiping his eyes quickly as he looked away. He might have had a few choice words for the man if he wasn't crying like a mard arse too. 

He noticed Price then, closer than he remembered as he walked over with a sympathetic look on his face and Ghost’s eyes darted to Charlotte. She’d stopped a few feet away, her face stained with tears and her eyes red rimmed, but what hurt the most was the fact she was point blank refusing to look at him. 

Shame and guilt burrowed their way inside of him so deeply, he wasn't sure he’d ever be able to get rid of it. His eyes caught her rings still on her finger as she wiped at her face and he felt winded that she still wore them, even after all this time. He still had his own wedding band, dangling off the chain with his new dog tags as Ghost. 

“Lottie…” he choked out, the lump in his throat expanding with each passing second as he took a step towards her.

“Don’t!” she hissed out, her eyes finally snapping to him and making him stay stock still. Part of him wished she was still avoiding looking at him because the pure loathing and betrayal in her eyes hurt far worse than her ignorance. A fractured sob bubbled from his lips that he couldn't contain and he felt his little girl raise her head from where she’d been hiding in his neck, looking at him warily and then at her upset mum. 

“Hey, sweetheart. Why don't I show you and Mr Snuffles to your room, eh? Bet he’s tired after that trip,” Price smiled up at her, wanting to get her out of the tense situation so the adults could talk. He had the well worn bunny in his hand that he'd picked up from the floor where she’d dropped it. Beth blinked at him for a long moment before nodding with a tentative smile.

“Okay,” she murmured and Ghost crouched to set her on her feet. A part of him didn't want to let her go at all but she didn't need to witness all this. Didn't need to see how he’d hurt her mummy so much. 

As her feet touched the floor, he was stopped from standing upright as her tiny hands grabbed either side of his face. He was helpless, the only thing he was able to do was look at her. His dark eyes flit over her face, memorising every little detail on her pretty little face. Despite her earlier tears, she gave him a smile that cracked his ribs right open and let his insides spill over. 

She leaned in, giving him a little kiss on the cheek of his mask before moving over to Price and taking his outstretched hand. He stayed crouched on the floor for a moment, his cheek burning where she’d placed a kiss he didn't deserve. His head was a mess, a muddle of thoughts and feelings he couldn't quite grasp. 

He’d hoped the others would have taken the hint and fucked off to give him some privacy but they hadn’t, although Johnny had the decency to move over to the others nearer the door. He wondered if they couldn’t help watching this unfold like a fucking train wreck. 

He stood slowly, eyes glued onto Charlotte as she stood there once again not looking at him.

“Charlotte… I’m so sorry-” he started, voice as raw as his insides felt, but he was quickly interrupted.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” she seethed. 

He’d never seen her so upset before and that was saying something because he knew he could be a right bastard at times, he was a Riley after all. But this was different. It wasn't just anger, it was pure unfiltered pain. Such deep betrayal that he felt it himself. She wasn't just mad at him, she was hurt and that broke his dead black heart into pieces. He’d done that. 

“Five years… It’s been five fucking years and you’ve got the cheek to say you’re sorry?!” she asked viciously. Her pretty blue eyes were wide, incredulous at his audacity as he just stood there and listened. He’d take every verbal lashing she’d give him and gladly wear the scars from them. He deserved worse. 

Despite him wanting to give her silence to let her get it all off her chest, his silence seemed to enrage her more as she took a step towards him with such fire in her eyes, he was sure she was about to hit him.

“I grieved for you! For five years I carried around the grief of losing you like a lead fucking weight around my heart! And you've been here ?! You’ve been fine this whole time and you never once thought you should let your fucking wife know you’re alive?!” she bellowed, her voice cracking at the end as it wavered. 

The tears fell in rivulets down her face and Ghost’s hands itched at his sides to wipe them away. He never wanted to see tears on her face, ever. His own tears were still coming hot and fast down his face, not that you could see them, but he had no shame anymore, how could he? He didn't care about the audience he had, nothing mattered but her. 

“Love-” he started brokenly but he got cut off again. 

“How could you do that to me?! How could you allow someone to come to our home and tell me you were dead?! Do you know how broken I was when they handed me your fucking tags and told me you were dead?! That you were all dead?!” she asked, her voice bordering on hysterical with her rage and pain. He scrunched his face up, his brain supplying made-up images as he imagined just how devastated she was. He knew if the roles had been reversed it would have killed him. He knew nothing he said would be enough to soothe the pain he’d caused her.

“I did it to protect you, love,” he whispered, voice low and pained as he blinked through his tears at her. 

“Really?! Go fuck yourself!” she scoffed incredulously and he frowned as he shook his head. She wouldn't allow him to explain further though.

“I know you were going through a lot, I do, but to make me think you were dead ? I get wanting the enemy to think you were dead, but me? Your own fucking wife? You couldn't have just told me you needed to go underground for a bit? Or even at least tell me you were fucking off and wouldn’t see me again but you were fine?!” she asked, the anger leaving her voice as it wobbled and her tears fell harder. He stepped towards her again on instinct and she took a step back, taking pieces of his heart with her.

“I’m sorry,” he lamented quietly. 

What else could he say? He could tell she wasn't ready yet to hear him out, not that he had a good enough excuse as to why he hurt her this way other than the fact he was a selfish bastard and terrified. Grieving and scared. But it was too soon. She’d not long found out about his lie and she needed to process it. She needed to let her pain and anger out. 

“Do you know how I found out I was pregnant?” she asked. The dead and apathetic tone that took over her voice was eerie, as if all emotion had suddenly left her and it made Ghost seize up. It felt like ice creeping down his spine and wrapping around his limbs like vines. Something in her tone told him that no, he didn't want to know how she found out. Something in that cold tone told him she hadn't found out by simply popping to the corner shop for a test after a missed period and pissing on a stick. She didn't care for his response though as she continued. 

“I lost everything . I lost Beth, Tommy, Joseph, Anne… you . I lost everyone I ever had, my family. I had no one left, I had nothing left to live for,” her cold tone made way to a sadness that sent a fierce ache into his chest and he didn't like where this was going.

“I tried to kill myself,” she said it so simply, blinking with an unseeing gaze upon him and he stumbled back like he’d been shot with a fucking shotgun right in his chest. It fucking felt like he had. He was suddenly transported back to 2006.

“You ever wonder what the point is?” she asked after a long moment. He was taking his sweet time tying the bandana off, wanting to prolong the contact he had with her. 

“The point of what?” he asked curiously, eyes flitting to her morose face.

“Living. What's the point in everything, why are we here? What's the point ?” she asked with a frown and he felt something tugging deep in his chest.

“Should I be worried you're gonna fling yourself off a roof, love?” he asked warily, finishing tying the knot in the bandana. His hands left her skin then but he stayed facing her. She heaved a sigh that even he could feel the heaviness to as he watched her carefully.

“I’m not gonna kill myself. I just… everything's miserable, you know? I came out of the womb with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. Almost died. Mum always told me it would have been better if I would have. Maybe that was a sign,” she muttered and the words made a deep ache pinch inside of him. She said it so matter of factly and a frown etched onto his face. 

“That's pretty grim,” he remarked, unsure of what to say. He wanted to comfort her but he had a feeling she didn't want comforting. She laughed then and it startled him. A genuine laugh that felt like bells chiming all around him and making his inside feel like they were about to turn into outsides. She smiled up at him and he suddenly felt unable to breathe. Fuckin’ hell. 

He was brought out of his memories by her voice once more.

“Sat in the bath and slit my wrists, ‘cause what was the point in going on? I didn't even have anyone to write a suicide note to, how sad is that?” she asked, a heartbroken look spreading on her features that had no right in being there. He felt sick, felt his breakfast climbing its way back up his throat, wanting to spill out of his mouth. She’d tried to fucking off herself because of him. She could have been dead all ‘cause he lied like they were in some kind of twisted Romeo and fucking Juliet. 

What’s the point? What's the point? What’s the point? He’d known since the day he’d met her that there was a troubled darkness that lay inside of her due to her past, often wondered if that was why he was drawn to her, because his own could sense it. But the idea of her trying to take her own life, over him of all things, it made him feel sick to his stomach.

“I was done and all I wanted was to be with you. So I slit my wrists and started to bleed out in the bath,” she explained, lifting the sleeves of her chunky black cardigan to reveal identical scars from her wrist to the crease of her elbow. The sight of them burned him up from the inside out and he felt like he couldn't breathe. The tattoos on her right forearm were sliced crudely in half by the marred flesh, not quite matching up perfectly.

“I hadn’t been to work in almost two weeks. Didn't call in, could barely get out of bed with how grief stricken I was. My boss decided to send the police around for a welfare check. Doctors in the hospital told me they found me in the nick of time, told me I was lucky . And… and all I could think was that they needed to hurry up and discharge me so I could try again!” her voice turned shrill at the end, a note of hysteria in it with wide eyes as if she was laid up in a hospital bed once more, going through it all over again.

He knew she’d be hurt when he ‘died’, he wasn't stupid enough to think she wouldn't be. But he’d honestly hoped she’d make her peace with it and move on. As much as jealousy and bitterness permeated his entire being at the thought, he’d hoped she’d find a nice man and settle down with him, someone who could give her all the things he’d never been able to. But here she was, still grieving the ‘loss’ of him, still wearing the fucking rings he got her, still wounded over a lie he told. He’d never hated himself more.

“When they told me I was pregnant, I fucking…” she trailed off, so many emotions running across her face that he could barely keep up with them, but then it settled onto pure anguish and he stepped towards her. She didn't move away this time but a raw sob ripped from her throat that made him still entirely.

“I hated her! I fucking hated her! My own child! Because I knew I couldn’t kill myself then, because it wouldn’t just be me! I loathed the baby inside of me and it was all your fault!” she screamed and he pressed the heels of his palms to his eyes to try and quell the onslaught of tears. 

He deserved this though, deserved to hear every harsh truth of the devastation he’d left behind. He was stupid for thinking she’d be sad for a bit and then move on, stupid because that wouldn’t be how he’d deal with it if she’d been the one who died. 

And maybe subconsciously that's why he’d never sought her out afterwards, never looked her up. The urge to keep tabs on her haunted him every day and night because no matter what, she was his , but a part of him worried what he’d find. Maybe she had moved on and he’d see her happy with someone else, or maybe she wouldn't be around at all. 

“It was only when I had my 20 week scan, when I saw her on that fucking screen and heard her heartbeat that it changed. That I couldn't hate her, not anymore. I loved her and she was all I had left of you. And you’ve been here this whole fucking time, doing god knows what when I’ve been out there raising her alone while trying to grieve,” her voice turned cold again and Ghost hated that more than the pain she’d held just moments before. It scared him, that tone. Reminded him so much of who he was now, of Ghost .  

There was so much he wanted to tell her, yet nothing came out of his useless fucking mouth as he looked down at her. Looked at how her shoulders slumped, eyes tired and red rimmed and face damp. She shook her head and blew out a shaky breath with her eyes closed. When they opened again, there was a mixture of fire and ice in them that made his stomach drop.

“Just know that I’m not here for you, I’m here ‘cause John told me we weren't safe. That Beth wasn't safe. Seems like all this bullshit was all for nothing, right? Since here we are anyway,” she scoffed and the look she levelled him left him feeling two feet tall. And she was right, wasn't she? ‘Cause if he’d done all this and caused all this pain to keep her safe, he’d well and truly failed. He’d fucked up his entire marriage and missed out on his daughter’s life for nothing.

“I wish I could take it all back,” he bit out honestly, wishing he could hop in a time machine and undo everything. She wouldn’t look at him again now, hands shaking by her sides.

“I won't keep her from you, not that you deserve her,” she started and the words cut him deeper than any knife could, even if all she spoke was truth. “But she deserves her dad. I told her all about you, since I thought you were fucking dead, and she thinks you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. So I’ll let you build a bond with her because that's what she needs,” she took a step towards him then and his breathing hitched. A stupid part of his brain hoped she’d reach out, touch him, soothe him, fucking something , but he should have known better.

“Make no fucking mistake, Simon. If you break her heart, I will fucking end you,” she snarled, so much animosity that it genuinely shocked him because he’d never seen that on her before. And while it hurt that she had to threaten him like that, something flared inside of him that burned brighter than the sun. seeing how protective she was of his little girl, seeing that fire behind her eyes. Because despite the ray of sunshine he remembered her to be, something had awoken inside of her after becoming a mother, he could see it in her eyes. It wasn't an empty threat. He had no doubt she’d fucking end him or anyone that chose to hurt his little baby and he found himself grateful that she had a mother like her. 

Before he could say anything, before he could tell her he’d never dream of hurting her, that all he wanted to do was spend the rest of his pitiful life making up to both of them what he'd done, she was already storming past him. His dark eyes followed her as she brushed right past the men loitering at the door, all with wary looks on their faces like they were too scared to get caught up in hurricane Charlotte. She slammed the door behind her as she went inside and he dropped his head as the pain in his chest burned him in a vile way.

“Fuckin’ hell, Mrs Riley is scarier than he is,” Gaz murmured wryly, a tinge of awe in his voice. He yelped after a slap sounded but Ghost was too consumed by his own pain and misery to care who clipped him around the ear. The murmurs faded away as the door opened and closed again and now he was alone, he let out a pained noise, swaying on his feet. 

“Come on, big guy, aye?” Johnny sighed and it startled him, he hadn't realised anyone had stayed behind. Johnny guided him to the bench outside, helping him to sit heavily on it before he sat beside him. 

He couldn't contain it now, his shock had worn off and so much hit him all at once. He had a daughter who thought he was dead her whole life, his wife had tried to kill herself because of him and now she hated him. He dropped his head to his hands as wretched sobs wracked his large frame, unable to care that Soap was seeing him this way. The Lieutenant who was known for being stoic and emotionless had shown more emotions in half an hour than his entire time with the lads here. 

Johnny rubbed his back soothingly, murmuring some shite he couldn’t understand, even if his ears weren’t full of the sound of his cries. He desperately sucked air into his lungs, praying to a god he didn’t fucking believe in that the pain would ease, if only a little.

“I fucked up, Johnny. I can't fix this,” he lamented with a watery voice. How daft had he been to think he could fix this? That she’d overlook his lie because she missed him? That things could just be normal?

“Don’t talk like that, LT, just give her some space. She’s been through a lot and I’m sure her heads a wee bit fucked right now. Just a few hours ago, she thought ye were dead,” he replied carefully, his hand still rubbing his back. 

“Let her process it all, give her some space. Time heals all wounds and all that shit, aye?” he continued and Ghost felt his tears thankfully subside as he was able to breathe as he listened to the Sergeant mirror his own earlier thoughts.

“Don’t think there's enough time in the world that's gonna get her to forgive me this time,” his voice sounded like sandpaper, raw and scratchy.

“You’d be surprised. She clearly still loves ye, if she didn't she wouldn't be so upset. Just leave her be while she figures shit out and in the meantime, you got a little girl to get acquainted with,” Johnny gave him a smile and he nodded, unable to smile back. Thinking of Beth sent a different ache through his chest, one that was accompanied by a burning warmth. He knew he should heed his best friend's advice. Giving Charlotte space, as hard as it would be, would be for the best. She needed to wrap her head around everything that she'd learned before he could talk to her and beg for forgiveness. He wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to get to know his daughter without bothering Charlotte, so he’d hang back and let her take the reins. He'd already done enough damage. 

He just felt lucky that she was gracious enough to not keep him away from her. Despite all he’d put her through, she wanted them to have a relationship and that meant more than anything to him. He hoped in time she'd learn to forgive him, even if she didn't want him as a husband anymore. He needed her in his life, that much was painfully clear. These past five years he’d been walking around like a dead man and now he finally felt alive. And while it was something so viscerally painful, he knew he'd never be able to give her or Beth up, not again. 

#simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x reader #ghost x oc #simon ghost riley x oc #simon riley x oc

[lobautumny]

This toy's been thinking off and on about AI a lot over the last few months, and it's been mulling over a lot of arguments from both sides, and there's been something gnawing at the back of its mind: It detests the concept of AI media generation, yet it finds most common anti-AI talking points to be very ineffective. And this causes the question to keep coming up in its mind of whether it's the incorrect one, if AI art really is creatively valid, if this is simply the future of art. But then, just now, it suddenly had a realization.

Of fucking course AI is not the future of art, and it's not for any deep philosophical reason about the fundamental nature of art or creativity or any of that shit. It comes down to one simple fact: Passionate artists create for the joy of the process of creation, to put themselves into their work and lovingly craft every detail. Sure, you could use AI to massively increase your output, but if you genuinely have a love for creating art, then no matter how good the quality of the AI-generated results get, that's not going to matter to you. No matter what, until the last person draws their last breath, those who genuinely have a desire to create art are going to want to make it themselves, not automate it with a machine. And that's how it is with any hobby.

For a point of comparison, saying that AI is the future of art would be like saying that AI is the future of video games and that nobody is actually going to be playing video games themselves anymore in a few years because they can just get a machine to do it better than they could. Like, even if such a machine existed, there would be no shortage of people who actually want to play the video games themselves, because their passion lies in, y'know, actually performing the gameplay.

This has also led this toy to the realization that the fundamental reason it hates the concept of AI-generated media so much, and the notion that it is the future of artistic expression, is that these ideas hinge on a perception of art that only people who hate making art could have. Anyone who delivers these kinds of lines wants to be seen as a serious artist, but believes that all there is to art is results. They see it, consciously or not, as a consumer product, something that exists to generate capital from a market audience. This is the only framework through which optimizing the process of creating art out of art makes any amount of sense. And it happens to be the same mentality that leads to the tragedy of artists giving up a couple months in because they've bought into any number of lies about simply not having talent, or their art not being worth anything because it isn't abstractly "good" enough. The thought process behind the AI artist is part of that depressive spiral of loathing.

This is why AI, as a cultural/artistic movement, is bound to fail. The technology is still new and extremely novel and improving a lot and there's a ton of conversations going on about it and what it means for the future and its political ramifications, and that means that it's this big cultural event right now, but what happens when the dust settles? What happens when the technology is no longer novel, and it's improving slowly? What happens when the big conversations about it outside of dedicated AI communities slow down? What happens in 5 years when we see flop after flop after flop from big companies trying to cash in on the AI craze by making movies written entirely by AI, albums composed entirely by AI, games programmed entirely by AI? What happens when courts eventually rule that you're not allowed to train an AI on (or use an AI trained on) copyrighted works without the copyright-holder's express permission? This toy doesn't believe this is all actually leading up to anything grand. As far as it can tell, it looks like the hype is going to fizzle out past a certain point, the movement behind it will die, and AI will remain primarily as a niche tool for artists to use in their otherwise-manual process, a way to shitpost, and a way to quickly process bulk data.

#autumn rants #ai #ai art

[sanityshorror]

My basic boundaries & rules, please read - and actually read the entire thing, thanks.

I'm actually a very laid back person, but I'm going to be absolutely blunt and outright here, if you find that to be unacceptable, that's weird.

NO FUCKING RACISM, SEXISM, QUEERPHOBIA OF ANY SORT, OR ANY TYPE OF BIGOTRY IN GENERAL IS ALLOWED. FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT SHIT.

Don't trauma dump/over share, I am extremely uncomfortable when people do this and it puts me in a weird place.

My work is intended for an adult audience and is primarily in the extreme horror genre.VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.

Don't send me asks about Julius and/or Killian's...man parts*. Seriously, it got old a very long time ago. I don't answer asks like this and asking more isn't going to get me to answer.

Don't DM me unless you're 18+, plain and simple.

RULE REMINDER: Anyone who is under 18, block the tag #hellcrew18+ and DNI with anything tagged as such. This has always been a rule but I feel like I should remind people.

If I block you, that means you make me uncomfortable and/or I want nothing to do with you -- don't make accounts or attempt in any manner, to circumvent that. it's fucking creepy, what the actual fuck is wrong with you?

DNI if you aren't capable of comprehending my bio.

Don't ask me if your OC can know Julius and/or Killian -- the answer is no.

No shipping discourse, I find both sides of it to be annoying. I am a splatterpunk author and horror artist, and I am not a fandom creator either, all my content is my original creations. shipping is not my priority as a creator.

Please keep in mind that I am not my characters, and that I am a real person. It's very dehumanizing when people treat me as if I'm just some vessel to the characters, and as if the characters are the real people. This is something I've experienced many times, it's genuinely hurtful and incredibly dehumanizing.

DO NOT bring drama, try to start drama/"stir the pot" etc to my blog and with me in general. I do not have time for drama and want nothing to do with it. It's stupid. If you don't like me or my creations, that's fine - please block me. If I at any point feel uncomfortable towards anyone, I will block them. There is no reason to try to start drama. It's not entertaining, it's incredibly stressful. I want no part of it. If you're incapable of following this rule, you are the problem. This rule should generally apply universally (yes, even in real life), to me, you and your father etc.

If you are going to DM me, PLEASE tell me your own boundaries so I can know and respect them as well! I dont want to disrespect someone else's boundaries, that's why I need others to tell me theirs - so I can make sure I respect them.

Additionally, you need to understand that my work does not reflect me as a person. I DO NOT CONDONE THE HARMFUL ACTIONS AND I FIND THE HARMFUL SHIT MY CHARACTERS DO TO BE ABSOLUTELY REPREHENSIBLE. These dark topics are supposed to be disturbing and meant to be upsetting, make you uncomfortable, etc.

It's fine to be obsessive over my characters/creations (I don't care whether it's positive or negative) but it's extremely not okay to obsess over me - positive or negative, in any manner. It makes me beyond uncomfortable.

Please actually understand what my characters are like in canon before you get too attached. It's fine to HC them in complete OOC and AU ways. But it's not okay to lash out at me in anger when you get attached to my characters through the art and your headcanons, only to find out you're incredibly bothered by the canon - and don't even go there trying to tell me what to do with my characters. I will do what I want, I created them. You have fun with HCs and AUs. IDC if you love my characters but hate me. Just don't harass me (or anyone, for the matter).

I'll add more if I can think of more. I'm horrible at and feel anxious over setting my boundaries, because I often feel guilty and like I'm going to upset people and/or they will not even be regarded (which, yes, has already happened countless times since I set my boundaries). Please be respectful.

*by man parts I mean don't ask about their dicks, for clarification👍

#blog update

[gay-dorito-dust]

But that's why it's so fun though. There's definitely the surface level canon story.

It's fun to think, what if? Especially with easter eggs or vague elements showing the tiniest connection to another. Someone had to create that, so maybe they had an idea the viewer would too. If so, then what would the story look like if this connection is canon. Bonus points if it is canon and theres tiny nuggets all over the place. Im looking at you, eldren ring 😘👅. Overall, it expands the story and adds depth, and who doesn't like that. (Trick question: NO ONE)

Lmao YOU KNOW he was waiting!! The pan away shot was so the audience couldn't see the filthy smirk on his face after saying that. Leon is totally a "fun guy" at heart *snaps finger guns*. Definitely loves to crack jokes. It's just given his surroundings and the situation he usually in, it's totally not called for. Especially his type of...humor, which already isn't that funny in a normal environment. Then when he says it, it's a double "Oh hell no." for me, dawg.

AHHHHH lmaooo you like his jokes! You're more whipped me than! 🤣 I'm shriveling up. A chocolate eclair 💀 we gotta build that up! (I can't talk mine is as tough as extra firm tofu)

Fr I totally understand. I'd feel bad especially since he's trying to lighten the environment, plus I know he hates this more than I do. Replace me with Ashley and all I hear are gunshots, goreish noises, and foreign yelling 24/7...👁👄👁 I'm listening to "Leon's jokes on a 10 hour loop" (some of them). I'd have to scrape up the courage to think of jokes and not hyper fixating on my environment and future death or Leon's back 😉.

I'd either beg Leon for a mercy kill or do it myself. I'm not built for that world. Also if Leon actually said that, he'd get 1 good noodle star, cuz that actually made me laugh.🤡

I'm hollering!! I was thinking the same thing but couldn't find the meme!!! Thank you!!🥹

Leon is a frat party and a Bang energy drink (the only option) with a plate of hooters wings away from being the "you're not that guy pal". Maybe the trauma was worth it.

(Again sorry for any grammar mistake. I can't read or write)

I love a game with little nuggets that subtly connect to one another to weave an story beneath the common storyline. It just gives you more insight to…well everything! It’s one of my favourites that the game developers are like ‘we’re gonna give long time players a treat and new time players a fun thing to unravel.’

Ngl, Leon would single-handedly give me brain rot so bad that I start doing crappy, half asses one liners.

It’s a disease and he’s the cause.

It ain’t my fault that Leon is so unbelievably pretty! My kryptonite is pretty boys and unfortunately Leon is on-top of the list for prettiest boys!

All he’d have to do if flash me a smile and I’d be like; 😩 😳😖🥵🤤🫠

The trauma Leon has been through had altered him so much so that his coping mechanisms are to make shitty one liners to EVERYTHING.

He thinks he’s a cool kid at heart, we know that ain’t true. He’s a dorky dork that thinks his humour is the shit.

Me: Leon go to therapy, you’re obviously not okay.

Leon: Therapy is for losers and I am no loser😎

Me: you’ve missed 6 appointments, the jokes got to stop-

In all fairness he probs doesn’t think therapy would work out for him at all and also over works himself to the bone. I remember someone saying that the reasons for Leon being jacked as all hell in re4 is so he doesn’t get taken by surprise anymore.

My baby needs a hug but he’d probably be so on edge and alert that I wouldn’t be able to without triggering his fight or flight responses.

I’d get too distracted by Leon’s ass and have a deep debate within myself whether or not it’s be inappropriate to slap it. Also Leon doesn’t skip leg day. He’s got nice thighs, and arms…and back…nice tits…

Leon probably would drink bang energy in means of staying up at night. How he finds out about bang is anyones guess.

#resident evil 4 remake #re4 remake #re4 leon #Leon imagines #Leon imagine #resident evil imagines #resident evil imagine #leon kennedy imagines #leon kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #leon kennedy fluff #resident evil fluff

[randomcerealbrand]

Fast Forward sucks.

I know that's not original, but let me just dump this and run.

Sometimes, with TMNT shows, it's 7 seasons, with a "future" season that seems to be written by a fanfic writer. But even then, that would be disrespecting all the good writers.

Then the last season of that is straight shit, with a change of art style and demographic to keep the show running, but that in turn kicked out it's teen audience, which was more than 40% of the fandom at the time.

The 5 seasons we got for 2012 was perfect, but even then, the main story ended in season 4, with an extra season for fun side stories that help flesh out previous seasons. Again, the alternative future special for it came from a child's diaper. Frankly, it was very sexist, only including and having cameos for every male character and completely forgetting about April, Shinigami, Karai, and even IRMA.

HOW COULD YOU NOT INCLUDE OUR LORD AND SAVIOR IRMA?

Next, lemme talk about why the 5 seasons are the best amount and disprove another very hated series that is uhhhh live-action.

5 seasons is the perfect standard for TMNT shows, because you need to flesh out story and characters in the first season, add more plot to the second season, add in spice and some drama to the third season, and the fourth season is where the main story should end and leave everyone in a state of growth before continuing on to the fifth season, which fleshes out the story, like season one, except it answers more questions than it creates, since it's the final season.

A 6th season isn't needed unless the story begins to drag out, and a 7th season certainly isn't need if you're going to change art styles either right after it or during it.

Stick to an art style all the way through, or else it will be jarring for those who were watching and enjoying the previous seasons.

This all circles back to characters, plot, settings, and overall the best rating you can possibly get for a show.

This is why 2012 is the best TMNT show, hands down. It does have its flaws, but it's good enough to learn from its mistakes and create a nice environment for the characters. And while seasons 1-5 of 2003 are certainly better, the final two seasons diminished the reputation of the first 5. You can't judge a show by a certain few seasons and call it a day, or you won't get the full picture.

Now, on to TNM.

The Next Mutation does not help me prove my point, but that's because it's not a show. It's a marketing tool. The Next Mutation is simply there to run off the original fame of the '87 TMNT, have crossovers, and make money in the most sufficient way possible.

How do I know this, you may ask?

UHM

HAVE YOU SEEN VENUS'S DESIGN?

And the thing is that she is drastically different in terms of design. She is the main marketing tool for the show. But around 30% of TMNT fans were female, so they felt they needed to add another female character to be able to sell to these certain genders so that toy sales can go up, and the show can keep running.

Hence, the creation of Venus De Milo.

Now, don't get me wrong, she would've been a great addition to the franchise if she weren't so butchered and bland to the point of where she was never used in another show again, until Rise.

At least, almost, since they were supposed to have 2 secret siblings, one that was Big Mama's assistant, and the other was a battle Nexus champion (not including Leo.)

Then again, it's just speculation, I could only find proof for one claim by one of the writers, saying that Mama's assistant had more story to her, but I couldn't find any proof for the battle Nexus champion claim.

This stupid info dump is basically to say that Rise deserve 5 seasons, but not 7 seasons. Unless you have a show without much plot, like a slice-of-life story, then you shouldn't have more than 5 seasons, or else you'll most likely be dragging out the story so much that nobody wants to watch the show since it's so slow.

I mean, name one show that had more than 5 seasons and actually had a story.

Other than Adventure Time.

It's very hard to pull off, but not impossible.

But yeah. Season one was supposed to be filled with fun antics the characters could get into to introduce the world around them and the characters themselves. 2012 TMNT did that, and everyone loved it. People just needed to give it a chance and not judge a book by it's cover.

If you want an extra season of Rise, and we might not get it, I highly recommend looking for the Cass Apocalypse AU. It's very well made and very fun to read. (Bottom.)

And if you don't want a "future" season, be sure to look out for the fan project ROTTMNT: A New Age, which gives the fandom a great final season to hyperfixate on. (Also bottom.)

And, if you don't want a fan series to satisfy that itch you're craving, a comic is coming out for Rise soon, having all the comics, Sound Off, and an all new story that was never published, called "The Hidden City." Please go buy it, at least, once it restocks. (Again, bottom.)

Lastly, as of writing this, a Q&A between Ron Corcillo and The Cartoon Base will be happening on July 29th, 2023. Please, if you support Rise, join in on the Q&A, and ask some questions. Maybe we can get a season three if we fight hard enough, but that's only if we try. (Just go to the bottom, fool.)

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk.

Cass Apocalypse AU

ROTTMNT: A New Age

ROTTMNT: The Complete Adventures

Cartoon Base's Tweet

Oh, and don't get me started on the MOVI-

#2018 tmnt #tmnt #tmnt irma #irma is love #irma is life #irma tmnt #rottmnt #my post #venus tmnt #tmnt the next mutation #tmnt fast forward #tmnt 2003 #tmnt leonardo #tmnt donatello #tmnt raphael #tmnt michelangelo #rottmnt michelangelo #rottmnt donatello #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #i got bored #tedtalk #cass apocalyptic series #cass apocalypse au #rottmnt season 3 #rottmnt fan season 3

[nitewrighter]

i hate that I'm starting to get those ppl who say shit like "i know it's problematic but I can't not interact w it cuz it's my hyperfixation"

I've been in this overwatch shit since the game launched and stayed even when the fandom was dead like in 2021, and i just feel like I can't leave now even tho everything abt it makes me either sad or angry

Well like, I think it's always been kind of complicated with Overwatch because when it first dropped, everyone was crowing about its representation and its optimism, but at the beginning, so much of it was fan hype. It's never really belonged to just one person like H*rry P*tter. It started out as a completely different game, Titan, passed through god-knows-how-many hands before it dropped in 2016 and became this massive phenomenon. The first big Blizzard scandal was centered on Hearthstone, not Overwatch, and when the sexual harassment and union-busting scandals started emerging, it was clear there were still people at Blizzard who cared about Overwatch and their work on the game and the community it created, they just wanted better working conditions and workplace culture. Overwatch was never the product of one singular asshole, it's always been collaborative, and that's also why I've spent the past few days really questioning my relationship to it--because I poured a lot of myself into this community through my fanfics, and I had gained this wonderful audience from it, but the negative keeps stacking and stacking, and even if you've carved out your comfortable little niche, eventually it weighs on you more and more.

On top of it all, the game was very much designed to be addictive. The sensory overload of the game itself, the euphoria of working with a cohesive team, the exasperation of being on a shit team, the leveling systems, the sounds the game makes as you get a loot box or progress through the battlepass, the challenges and achievements, the cosmetics, the sunk cost fallacy of how much time you've already put in, the way it can be 1 in the morning but you're like "oh that last game sucked, I can't end the night on that note" like--I know it sounds ridiculous but it is a game that really worms its way into your psyche in the same way gambling can.

I think like... the first step to getting some distance from it is giving yourself permission to explore other things. One of the first steps to breaking a habit Like, for me, because I had such a narrative focus on it, I kind of joked that getting into Dune and reading 'Fire and Blood' after months of writing Overwatch fic was like doing lines of coke because my brain was going, "Holy shit, lore." I'm also lucky enough to work in a library, where my magpie brain can go into overdrive. I've been reading a lot of comics, working my way down a reading list I had been neglecting too long, and when I get an urge to play video games specifically, I play a different game like Horizon Zero Dawn or Skyrim. I found that open-world games have kind of helped my brain wean a bit off of they hyper-overstimulation of Overwatch, and it also scratches my narrative itch, too.

Basically what I'm saying is, if everything about the game is making you sad or angry, it's okay to explore other things. Don't make it about quitting, per se, make it about finding something new that makes you happier. And if you're just getting sad/stressed from it, I promise you, you are going to find something new. It might not scratch all the itches Overwatch did at first, but just be patient with yourself.

[valkyrieandstrangeridingaragorn]

Hey! Don't know if you've seen the latest article from The Direct, but it says Marvel Studios reveals that Sylvie is not genderfluid like Loki.

Well, according to the Loki series writers and director, Loki himself isn't genderfluid either! Oh excuse me, I mean the other Lokis "haven't got there yet". 🙄

You know why I think they're erasing genderfluidity from Loki's identity? Because they want the fact that Sylvie is female, the only female Loki, the only "good" Loki, to be what makes her so superior and special. That's it. That's all they've got. Oh, and the fact that she has the most tragicest backstory that a team of writers have ever made up as they went along, and that somehow gives her an element of "specialness" that dumb ol' inferior Loki could only dream of achieving.

I wish with all my heart that they had just let Loki be genderfluid, instead of forcing this poorly written, slapshod "original character" to be the most special thing ever, just because she's female. I honestly wish that Sylvie just didn't exist. I don't know if it's because they think Loki is just a shit character, and that's why they need Sylvie to be so special, and created her with a mix of Enchantress and Sylvie Lushton because being just Loki or just Lady Loki isn't enough? I don't understand why but I don't think I've ever despised a character more than I do Sylvie.

Of course I don't mean this in a misogynistic way. They want us to think that what they're doing is feminism and that it's empowering to girls but it's really not. It's a patronizing pat on the head. It's insulting. The whole "oh baby you're so superior" thing is crap, and it's costing us dearly. It's costing us the characters we love, and it's ruining the potential of other characters.

Anyway, thanks for reading. I just needed to unload after seeing that this morninng.

Hey that's alright. I understand the frustration, believe me 😉

And please, don't worry about the so-called "misogyny". You can dislike as many female characters as you want, in fact, if anything that's what is truly feminist here: to like or dislike fictional characters without a care in the world as to whether they're men or women or everything in between.

I hate the "she's superior because she's a woman" trope too. There's nothing empowering about that, quite the opposite, and I couldn't agree more with you when you call it patronizing.

They give us a woman, tell us she's perfect and she's the only woman that matters (wow, that is so feminist, huh 🙄) and of course she has a tragic backstory because they want her to be complex but they won't ever put in the effort to write that complexity, so the easiest way to go about it is to claim she has a rough past.

And of course, in these cases the woman needs to be compared to a man because no matter how much they try to tell us the woman is the most perfect creature in existence, she still needs to be evaluated against a man so that she can earn her place in the story (you never see this with men). So she's superior to the male lead in absolutely everything -- but she's not going to show that (we know the writers don't really give a damn about her to write her as complex) so that superiority will be spoken, said by those around her and especially the male lead, who will do everything in his power to remind the audience time and time again of how perfect she is -- lest we think a woman has any value until a man decrees it. What of all this doesn't sound feminist...?! 🤦‍♀️

They were never going to have Loki as genderfluid because the entire purpose of the series was to 1) belittle him and abuse him, 2) retcon him to be the most palatable, basic and normative character of all. Genderfluidness would have ruined that. Just look at what they did with his bisexuality: he comes out, Sylvie says not a single one of his relationships were ever real, he falls in love with her and he's then beaten in the time cell. That's what you get for coming out in Disney.

But what can we expect from people who do this...

LaufeySON for a woman (they changed that in the series so bonus points for that, I guess) and they write her race is Asgardian but her birthplace is "unknown". She's the spawn of Laufey, she confirmed she was adopted, how the fuck is her birthplace unknown?!

#loki negativity #she could have been a great character... too bad they didn't give a fuck about her

[enderagenda]

the state of YouTube these days is actually atrocious. creators can't show any brand labels whatsoever, they can't swear, they can't play music, they can't even sing or HUM music?? they have to be completely kid friendly even when their content is intended for adults, they can't talk about being queer (and I assume other marginalised communities experience it too), they get their content demonetised for weeks without explanation or support so they have to rely on sponsors from sketchy companies to even earn money reliably. YouTube themselves have gotten really bad at handling false copyright claims. and they have to constantly fight the algorithm. there's almost zero communication between YouTube and its creators, and they're only able to get help if they have a large audience and cause a fuss about it.

you as the watcher have to pay for a subscription to avoid getting bombarded with ads (and you can't avoid the sponsored content!) and to access basic app features, the algorithm feeds you shit you don't wanna see even when you tell them you're not interested. there isn't even an option to block YouTube channels! I don't want to see another pewdiepie video recommended to me ever again, and there's no way for me to do that.

and now YouTube is setting a terrifying precedent that creators won't face consequences for doxxing other creators. it's become such a hostile environment for creators and consumers alike, no wonder creators are miserable and burnt out. this isn't fun anymore.

I'm considering cancelling my YouTube premium and music subscriptions, but I don't want to be bombarded with ads, and I want access to basic app features like being able to play a video while your phone is locked, or downloading videos to watch offline. I don't wanna have to pirate music.

it's actually disgusting and I hate the atmosphere it's creating. I feel like the entire internet has become this way. it really sucks as a disabled person who can't go outside very often, all of my socialising and queer exposure as a teen was online because I had literally no where else to go. I can't imagine how teens in that position must be doing today. it's all so toxic and hostile, I can see why people lose faith in humanity this way. it's so hard to avoid being exploited in some way. and we've all just become complacent because what alternative is there? to protest and boycott these things would be to avoid going on the internet at all, when it's become necessary in society.

#my post #youtube #vent