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[orphic-moss]

I just finished tgcf season 2 and something clicked for me. This show has had my brain in an absolute chokehold since I started watching a week ago and I've been thinking, why? Well,

Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are Gomez & Morticia Addams coded.

And I can't not be obsessed with that. Hear me out.

Two dangerous individuals, both very weird in their own special ways, finding home in each other when they're feared and shunned by most.

Loving each other openly and loudly, even when people look at them sideways for it, because they're each other's everything and hiding that feels Wrong on a fundamental level.

It's respecting and encouraging each other's oddities, no matter how unusual they might be.

It's protecting each other fiercely but never out of possessiveness, because their significant other is strong, powerful, capable and they would never demean them by overlooking that.

It's the obsessive devotion, the insane lengths they'd go for their beloved, but never overstepping boundaries and making them uncomfortable.

It's Hua Cheng offering his ashes, the only way someone could possibly kill him, to Xie Lian on a silver platter, expecting nothing in return, just because it's his to keep.

It's Xie Lian wearing it over his heart everywhere, because that's where it belongs.

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I was gonna make a post about how my view of children and kids have drastically changed after I took care of my nephew since his birth. But i keep trailing off talking about how much I love him and his cute little behavior and quirks.

So Imma just put a pin in that post for later bc honestly i'm never gonna get past it. I love my nephew too much to stop talking about him.

I love my nephew and my honorary niece. <3

#I love them #but for someone reason my brain wont let me say 'i love kids' #its still in that transition phase of 'oh ew all kids are gross' to 'Yeah but they are all sweet little humans in their own way'

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Death to settler colonialism, free Palestine!

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Death to settler colonialism, free Palestine!

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heads up: this games charity bundle was finally approved on itch.io! it opens this friday, april 12th, and will run for a week. all proceeds will go to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.

you can check out the bundle on itch.io and follow @vgforpalestine on twitter for more updates!

—

EDIT: as of april 20th, 2024 this bundle is now live!!

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people keep comparing the WatcherTV move to Dropout (for obvious reasons) but I cannot emphasize enough how vastly different the circumstances between the companies is. like astronomically different

• Watcher does not have the years of experience that Dropout/CollegeHumor did. CH as a company formed in 1999. They've been doing sketch comedy since the early 2000s. they were a company, like an actual company with offices and departments and everything. Watcher hasn't even existed for 5 years

• Because CH has been established for that long, not only do they have an established connection to the industry, but they have an established fan base already. People that knew about and were fans of CH for over a decade, before Dropout was even a thought in someone's head.

• When Dropout was in its infancy, CH was still under their parent company IAC, they weren't roughing it completely on their own the way that Watcher is. They were later dropped by IAC, but having that connection and funding in the vulnerable start was important

• CH was still posting sketches and skits on YouTube for free while filling out Dropout's catalog. They didn't hard shift into exclusively subscription based, they continued doing both for the first couple years in order to help get Dropout established. Even now, they still occasionally post full episodes for free on YouTube, including whole seasons of Dimension 20

• They have a large rotating cast that they move between multiple shows. They have a variety of content and a variety of entertainers to be guests on shows. Watcher has 3 guys which the occasional guest

• A big part of this transition is because Watcher's episodes have a high production cost. That's what they claim. That it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to film one episode of Ghost Files. but why?? why does it cost that much?? I get cost of travel for talent and crew but hundreds of thousands of dollars per episode?

• When IAC dropped CH and they went bankrupt in 2020, they only had 7 employees. When Sam Reich bought the company, they only had 7 employees. not twenty five. I'm not advocating for laying off people, but maybe they shouldn't be payrolling more people than they can afford

• also. Sam Reich is very vocal about how Dropout surviving and succeeding was nothing short of a miracle. They didn't get that success because the business model works, they got that success from years of networking, hard work, and pure luck

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sorry i cant stop watching this

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i can’t believe they haven’t done any kind of damage control yet. there’s been no statement, no tweets, no “we hear you and are coming up with a response”, it’s been dead silent other than a single edited comment backpedaling on removing everything. like what are they thinking, putting that out, seeing the backlash (they’ve lost around 60k subscribers just on yt alone) and saying absolutely nothing? when they have a live show next week? you have to think they were expecting a completely different reaction and now are just panicking

literally every minute that goes by that they don't even send out any sort of response makes this so much worse for them. i've taken several classes on crisis communications for school and this current situation could be used as a perfect case study of what NOT to do. like guys this is NOT something that is just going to go away or blow over. especially not with live shows going on in a matter of days where fans WILL ask questions to their faces. if the first time we get any sort of real response from them is via a video recorded by a fan on their phone on the 23rd at the first London show...i literally don't know what to say.

at this point it would be better to just put out a tweet saying "we never cared about you" and this image

because at least then the message would be clear! anything would be better than radio silence.

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One thing that keeps confusing me is that they claim ghost files costs several hundreds of thousands of dollars per episode. I’ve tried to wrap my head around this ever since the announcement because flying a crew of 6 or so people out for two days and renting out the location COULD NOT be costing that much unless they’re either lying or blowing money on first class flights and expensive food/accommodations and even THEN do I not see them breaking 200k on a single episode. Dear lord hire an accountant I’m half convinced someone’s laundering money

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can we just have, like, any feminist movement whatsoever. did everyone just stop caring?

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"i hate small talk. you are a stranger. why the fuck would i want to talk about the weather with you"

i may be a deeply introverted and asocial individual, but even i recognize how many relationships have started with a single innocuous question, forged in the fire of an ember lit by humoring it with an answer.

humans make small talk, because small talk can grow.

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In fiction I love gore and crazy shit. I love a time loop au where the mc goes insane and ends up doing some batshit crazy off the wall things. In fiction I like consuming that type of media because its fun cryptic and ngl I enjoy reading dark shit. And its people like those, who judged, when I was younger and more influential and hasn't experienced that much that got me worried. Worried that I, myself, was as crazy and as disgusting as those who committed those crimes in fiction.

I don't think you could ever understand how much, in real life, i cannot stand gore or even the thought of it. I have seen real pictures of my sister on a medial table with her organs and intestines on full display and her being just an open body with a huge hole in her stomach. She was getting a C-Section and brought my wonderful nephew who is love into the world. But seeing those pictures, I got so sick i sat in the bathroom for 10 minutes wondering if my stomach is gonna fall out of my mouth at any time.

Every time I see roadkill I get so sad and upset for that poor animal.

Every time heard something about an abusive parent I want to cry and get angry. I do cry sometimes. I cry thinking about that poor kid.

Whenever someone has lost someone else the emotional empathy I feel is so strong that I start crying. I don't know that person but i start crying too.

I went to an art expo where they showed bones and taxidermy. I thought it was so cool. But I couldn't stand to even try touching it because I would feel sick thinking about the poor animal.

But I still enjoy consuming the written media. Sometimes I do see some written things and am like 'I am vividly uncomfortable at whats on the table' but I go past it because fiction does not mean shit.

Just because I read something doesn't mean I like it to happen irl. If that were true it needed to be true for every single type of creative media. And I don't think you want me to go digging through your shit.

I'm gonna say it.

It's unhinged to assume that someone's taste in fiction equates to what they believe is moral or good, or is something they want to see or experience in real life.

That is a bonkers assumption to make.

I'm tired of humoring people with long arguments about it when the simple fact is it is a totally fucking absurd reach to accuse someone who enjoys something in fiction of being in favor of it in real life.

I'm tired of pretending like this is a legitimate position to hold-- that they should be afraid of fiction's dire influence on a reader's moral decay or that it's a sign of what the author secretly wants for realsies in real life.

#if it did than all the people playing those first person shooter games all need to be psychologically tested #and god damn there are a lot of them #and my brother would be included #my sweet younger brother who is such a sensitive guy and a lowkey dumbass and who will cry if i refuse to make him a pizza #Dont get me started babe i have fought for the argument of violent video games all throughout school with countless essays and debates #i am not afraid of some confrontation because what purist consumers do is attack doing the same shit you claim that we do #hypocrisy and ignorance is not something i am afraid to battle against

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I am watching Dimension 20: Burrows End, I am watching The Complete Experience and have just finished watching episode 14 (there is 20 episodes) And I am just thinking over the Adventuring Party: Stoatal Recall where Brennan says 'when you're scared you're gonna punch' and while its laughed about and taken somewhat seriously, It makes me think back on a post I've seen elsewhere.

It was a warning for halloween actors who are being people who are hella fucking scary, or jumping out, to be careful. People's fight or flight, even in a fictional setting, is so strong that their body reacts solely on instinct. That people will punch, because that is their fear response. And that is genuinely so real.

In the setting all Tula could see was that this kid she regards as an adoptive daughter is being threatened. These massive, bulky, fleshy monsters that call themselves The First Ones are terrifying. Tula and her family is caught red handed in a forbidden place, a place that has been intentionally hidden away. A place where they are honest to gods backed into a corner, where the people Tula cares the most about (her literal reasons for living) are in danger. There is no way she can see herself finding her way out with her family intact. She has no regard for her own life and will jump in front of any situation to make just her children are ok.

And i just, i love how it played out. But I am genuinely just so curious about what on earth is going on, and have so many questions about why they chose to confront them. Not to mention the genuine uncertainty of 'I dont really know how this continues from here, i didnt plan on this ending in a fight where my guys are swept the floor with like a smear of blood on the ground.' And I know itll be answered in the next episode but imma just marinate in this for tonight and just take a nice long rest.

#d20 spoilers #d20 burrow's end #burrow's end #dimension 20 burrows end #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #burrows end spoilers #tula #brennan lee mulligan #the first ones

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this is my cursed jug i have that bleeds when you pour water in it. 

we’ve done this ten, twenty times now to no apparent change?

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Palestinian activists get their message across on Londons iconic Tower Bridge landmark- one of the cities most historic buildings. We need a ceasefire now.

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I think bringing up "it/its" pronouns is a good test for people who claim to be "trans allies" because it so easily weeds out the people who are only doing it superficially. I've seen so many people who will post "Punch your local TERF #transrightsarehumanrights" and then turn around and be like "If someone says they go by 'it/its' pronouns it's actually good to misgender them because they're just teenager trenders"

#so real like i go by they/them and i dont get or understand much of neopronouns #im fine with many pronouns being used for me but some things i just will never understand because its not for me #and thats ok i dont need to relate or feel connected with it #but I need to understand that those pronouns are as connected to someone as I am connected to they/them #there is a mutual respect and understanding that I know what I want to be called #i know what you want to be called #we are in different departments of the same company trying to achieve the same goal #that is the mutual understanding and we will continue forward #it also sucks that people are so divided over the things that people are dividing us over #within the trans and queer community people who are nonbinary are already being sliced out because 'hey thats outside of the norms' #and then people in the nonbinary community is slicing away others because 'oh you're too strange or weird' and it continues #it hurts and is so stupid #we are stronger in numbers and youre trying to thin an already weak army against the bigger fight? #the fuck kind of strategy is that but go off i guess and try to see if youll win