#HONESTLY. like if they're not endgame WHAT WAS THE REASON | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bonny-kookoo · 2 months

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bonnyyyyy +1 chance!couple were so cute omg does kook win in the tournament? i feel like he'll immediately take oc out on a date to celebrate if he does, gotta flaunt his feathers while he has the chance cuz she also plays the same game

"I'm sorry it's just in the hotel room-" Jungkook fumbles with his words as he lets you inside, hair having just dried from the quick shower he took after his tournament.

He'd won, and he'd expected that, honestly- he'd been well prepared after all, and his teammates were just as good at the game, leading to a relatively easy win. Still, he knows this game will stay in his mind as the hardest he's ever fought- because he'd been sweating buckets, knowing you're somewhere in the crowd, watching him play.

That's one of the main reasons he had to shower before meeting up with you. God knows his shirt was soaking afterwards.

"No problem- you know I could've waited too, it didn't.. have to be today." You reassure him, but he shakes his head, and leads you to the small table in his rather spacious hotel room, windows to the balcony opened, fluttering the see-through curtains a bit.

"No, I wanted to see you right away." He says, and it's clear from the way he licks his lips and plays with his piercings that he's nervous. "Do you..- the menu is on the table there, for room service I mean. We can order something and chat if you like." He offers, and you nod, taking the menu for yourself to read through it.

God, you became even prettier over the years, he realizes. He himself has been trying to take good care of himself, but the constant attack of the blue light from the screens and his honestly surprisingly stressful life sometimes does take a toll on him- his skin currently not the best, and it's making him nervous.

If you both do end up liking each other, and wanting more, will you be able to handle it all? The constant flying around, the constant practice, the hours and hours and hours he has to spend trying to perfect what he already can do- can you handle that? His cranky attitude whenever he fails? His sometimes snappy answers whenever he's irritated about failing at a basic mechanic ingame? His obsession with perfection?

He's not an easy guy. Relationships have constantly failed because of this tricky cocktail of his job and his personality.

"You almost lost the lane, in the first half." You suddenly chirp up, watching him walk towards the table now, sitting down across from you. "They really had you in a chokehold for a little." You giggle, and he nods, smiling to himself.

"They did." He answers.

"But you really gained a lot of momentum during the endgame." You say, resting your cheek in your palm, elbow on the table. "They had no chance."

"I'll take that as a compliment." He chuckles, realizing that you really do seem to know the game quite well, with the way you speak of his performance. It makes him a little giddy.

His past girlfriends didn't game very much. Or if at all, all just very laid back simulation games. Maybe your shared interest could help you both connect better?

"It definitely is." You giggle. "I might pick up some of your odd item choices to make my own games better." You tease, and he dramatically gasps at that, taking the room service menu from you to look at it himself.

"Excuse me, my choices aren't odd. They're very much calculated." He shakes his head playfully, before he looks at you again. "What do you eat?" He wonders, and you pull down the menu he's still holding, to lean closer and tap on the things you want. But when you look up, you realize he's not looking at where you're pointing at all- but instead, his eyes are entirely glued to you, being just a little closer to him than before.

"You're not even looking." You accuse him, but he instead licks his lips, and leans back, trying to appear confident.

"Well, that's a tough thing to do when you're in my face like that." He tells you. "Can't help but look at you instead."

"Huh, I'll lean back and give you space then." You say, suddenly laughing to yourself when you realize that despite all this time having passed, you both really just fell right back into place, as if your friendship never really ended at all. You just feel so comfortable with him despite his physical appearance having clearly matured and changed, it's a little odd.

"What're you laughing about?" He wonders, visibly happy however that you're happy, no matter why.

"Nothing." You shrug. "Just.. Happy. To have run into you again, I mean." You admit, and he grins at that.

"I.. yeah, I feel the same." He nods.

"Do you think.. we could be friends again?" You wonder, and he shrugs.

"I'm not sure." He tells you, taking in a deep breath before he shoots his shot. "What.. if I want to be more?" He suggests, and you look at him for a moment, before you lean back into your seat, tilting your head to the side in thought.

"I guess..." You say, before your eyes meet his again. "You think we could work out as a team?" You wonder-

and he instantly gets what you're trying to say, bright grin spreading on his face, as his heart beats faster than ever before.

#bts imagine #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook imagine #jeon jungkook x reader #jeon jungkook imagine #bts jungkook imagine #bts jungkook fanfic

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extasiswings · 21 days

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i don't understand how some people see this as the death of buddie romance like this is literally the first step to buddie...you gotta have at least one of them show interest in men. they're not doing this for shits and giggles, they're doing this because they absolutely intend make buddie canon.

No fr it’s an absolutely batshit take that doesn’t make any sense and I honestly think it boils down to homophobia/biphobia and purity culture. These people claim they want Buddie, but what they actually want is a super sanitized version where Buck and Eddie are each other’s one true loves and therefore can’t possibly experience attraction for anyone else because god forbid they aren’t each other’s first and only. God forbid they be sexual and not just domestic soft boys, and if they must be sexual well okay fine maybe that’s okay sometimes but ONLY with each other because wanting or having sex with anyone other than whoever you’re spending the rest of your life with is sinful and bad and wrong, ESPECIALLY if it’s *gasp* queer sex—

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 anyway, I grew up with that shit and have no patience for it anymore. People are people. Most people date and experience attraction and have sex. Most people do those things with more than one person in their lifetimes, hell, many people fall in love with more than one person in their lifetimes. That’s life. Idk if the people clutching pearls in my inbox are purity-culture-poisoned or ignorant or what, but shockingly enough people can and do date other people while having feelings for someone else all the damn time. I’ve certainly done it!

It’s also just extremely bad media literacy. They have spent years telling this love story for Buck and Eddie. Years. The audience knows them, the audience loves them. The writers would be the biggest fools on the planet to throw away their own hard work like that. Tommy isn’t going to be an endgame LI for the same reason that none of these other random women were endgame LIs—because in order to get the audience on board for that in the face of such a long and developed arc with Buck and Eddie, it’s a huge lift that requires them to be SUPER well-developed in their own right, and the writers haven’t shown any interest in even attempting to make that effort. And furthermore, the complaints about making Tommy a carbon-copy of Eddie are like…that’s the point? Buck likes those things about Eddie. Buck is attracted to those things about Eddie. But Buck is too close to this situation to figure it out—he needs to have his queer awakening with someone else to be able to see what is right in front of him, namely that he’s been in love with his bff for years, which is an experience that has afflicted countless bi people before him, including myself. You don’t have to be a genius to see the vision, you just have to stop approaching the subject with the absolute most bad faith imaginable, and also stop assuming the writers are approaching the subject with the most bad faith imaginable.

Because I guarantee you, even if it’s for the purely selfish reason of wanting their names to be attached to the love story that made tv history, the writers are not going to throw years of storytelling in the garbage for no reason.

#chapel talks #anonymous #ask

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watermelonsugacry · 1 year

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been thinking a lot ab what h said during the mp press conference about wasted time and how that can feel regretful like “if we were braver, we wouldn’t have wasted so much time” etc. and it got me thinking about him and yn and if at this point in their relationship where they’re finally together and so happy and in love, if either of them have moments where they get a little emotional and think about how many years they wasted just kind of tip toeing around each other. i can picture in the moments where they’re extra grateful for one another one of them being like “fuck this is so amazing i can get to experience love like this/what a beautiful relationship we have it sucks we didn’t get to experience it earlier” (obviously i don’t think this is something they would dwell on! it’s in the past and they can’t go back and i def think they’re more focused on their future together and focused on what’s behind them, plus everything happens for a reason and the time “wasted” was important for their journey as a couple, but i think at some point this crosses one or both of their minds and they’d do a really great job at comforting one another 🥰)

ok but this actually made my eyes water ngl this is honestly so thoughtful

But you're absolutely right lovie. It's not something they like to dwell on a lot because they're too busy being love-sick idiots but it does come to mind every now and then.

...

Before the two leave Europe to go to the States for the rest of their tour, they spend their day off at his house in London. Harry spends a good half hour awake, not finding the strength within himself to untangle himself from his warm love as she continues to peacefully sleep deep in the crook of his neck. Already used to waking up so early, he decides to go down to the kitchen to make the two breakfast.

By the time he's whipped up a little something for the two of them, he looks over his shoulder to see her sleepily shuffle into the kitchen with only his shirt and a pair of cotton panties. After knuckling at her eyes, she automatically walks into his open arms and presses her cheek to his bare chest.

Harry's reminded of their time in Jamaica, the time when their journey from friends to more truly began. They were in a similar position, her snuggled up in his warm chest in the middle of the kitchen. Instead of imagining ducking his head down to press his lips against hers, he does it without a second thought as he mumbles a raspy, "G'morning, baby."

He watches with so much love in his heart as she moves around his kitchen with ease, opening cabinets and drawers with the confidence of knowing what's behind each one.

He thinks about how many years they both spent dancing around the idea of being with one another, depriving one another of the unexplainable warmth of happiness in their chests.

He knew that she was his endgame the first day he saw her at his battle of the bands competition. He knew that he wanted her in his life for the rest of his life at their XFactor audition when they were merely sixteen years old.

It almost knocks him out of his seat when he realizes that he hasn't loved anyone else since then. Twelve years of loving the woman sitting next to him, her knees to her chest as she scoops out a spoonful of honey and stirs it around in her tea. His shirt that she's wearing bunches up at her plushy hips, the red ink of his handwriting on her upper thigh barely peaks out. When she pops the spoon in her mouth, she gives him a playful raise of her eyebrows.

"Take a picture, Styles. It lasts longer," She sarcastically mumbles around her spoon as she goes about setting up her eggs on her toast.

And all he can do is rest his temple on his fist as his eyes bounce all around the features of her face with a fond smile.

"Yeh so beautiful," He hums. His chest gets all tingly when he sees her cheeks get the tiniest bit pink and at the way she slightly purses her lips to hold back a love-sick smile. He has to admit, it's a boost to his ego at the fact that he's the only one who can break her witty demeanor and get her blushing and flustered in the way she does with him--she doesn't even have to try.

YN reaches out to push his overgrown curls behind his ear and he takes the opportunity to keep her hand against his cheek, barely shifting his head to press a kiss to her palm. She shakes her head with a sigh.

"Oh merde, je suis tellement parti pour toi."

Oh shit, I'm so gone for you.

Harry isn't fully able to pick up what she said, but it puts a smile on his face regardless. From the number of years they threw away from their shitty communication skill, neither wanting to tell the other how they really felt, they both knew they never wanted to go back to that. And while their communication skills have gotten better since then, (practicing what they preach) YN confessed to her love that she sometimes still feels scared to tell him how she feels. She was never one for lovey-dovey talk type shit and he knew this more than anyone. So as a way to keep from taking steps backward, he suggested for her to tell him in another language.

While he can't understand her half the time, it still gets him feeling like a schoolboy.

So as they go about eating their breakfast, he can't stop all of the thoughts racing around his mind:

Does she still get butterflies in her stomach when he calls her lovie?

When he rubs his thumb on the corner of her mouth to wipe away the crumbs and she playfully nips his finger, does she feel the electricity tingling at his touch?

Does she know that when she reaches out to take a sip of his coffee mug, he'd do anything to give her the world?

The thoughts spinning around his head come to a stop when she's the one staring at him. Well, his lips more like, but what has him chuckling is how she focuses on them with a dramatic furrow of her eyebrows.

"What?" His shoulders bounce as he lets out a giggle, feeling the heat rush to his own cheeks.

"It's just," YN wiggles her finger vaguely around her mouth. "It looks like yeh got a little somethin' there. Don't worry, I got it." She pushes away his hand from his face, cupping his jaw before planting her lips on his.

As they share kisses mixed with giggles and obnoxious smiles, there's only one thing certain in both of their minds: there is no other way they would want to spend their mornings. And fortunately for them, they get to do this for the rest of their lives.

SINCE 2010 masterlist

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bebx · 6 months

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Honestly, I don't get how people can think that Sylki won't be endgame. Are they forgetting that it's Disney? Or that the writer is a Sylki shipper? Let's be realistic. I agree that it would make zero sense, but this argument is lame, because we know Marvel doesn't care and they're capable of doing that. I wouldn't be surprised if they rushed it and pulled "actually Sylvie has been in love with him the entire time, but she's been hiding it, trying to push him away, because she thinks she doesn't deserve love. But she got over it now." Not to be rude, but I feel like everyone who believes that Sylki won't happen is delusional. I really want Lokius to happen, not Sylki, but even the idea of Sylki not happening is too good to be true. I feel like those leaks are true.

the leaks, which came from several people who claimed to have seen the entire season (and they all said the same thing), were correct about Marvel’s revealing that Mobius has 2 sons in episode five. I know it’s just a “rumor” and there’s no way to know if they really did see the entire season, but tbh I expect Marvel to pull the Sylki endgame in the finale (like how those leaks also said they would do that, getting Loki and Sylvie back together in the last episode).

if I had to guess, I’d say it’d go exactly the way you said, that Sylvie was always in love with Loki all along, but didn’t think she deserved to be loved, hence why she tried to push him away.

I would love to be wrong, but I guess we’re all finding out soon.

also I wouldn’t call anybody delusional for thinking Sylki won’t be endgame or that Lokius will be canon, unless it’s in a joking manner where I’m also making fun of myself. but in all seriousness, I don’t think anybody is ever “delusional” for having opinions about which direction the show will go based on what was actually showed so far in the series. because if this weren’t Disney, I’d say Lokius would absolutely go canon, after all those hints and everything they gave us so far. Sylki parting ways as friends and Lokius going canon as a couple are very highly unlikely, but it’s not entirely impossible either.

as for the writer, if you mean Eric Martin, dude’s a troll (and I say this with respect lol nothing against him, I’m sure he’s a good person with good sense of humor), he’s always liked both Sylki and Lokius posts because he knows fans monitor his likes and I fully believe he’s doing it on purpose just to (playfully) mess with the audience. so I wouldn’t take whatever he liked on social media as a “confirmation” of anything, not even his personal opinion about which ship he thinks is “better”.

*and even if he does personally ship Sylki, it’d still be unfair imo to assume he only made Sylki endgame solely because he personally liked the ship. if he’s a professional writer, I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt and believe that he had other reasons behind his writing choices that had nothing to do with his personal feelings, since after all, the characters belong to Marvel, not him. so his personal preferences shouldn’t be the only factor in deciding which direction things should go. (to be clear, what I mean is: it’s perfectly okay — and it is a good thing — to write a story based on how you, the writer, personally prefer, but I don’t think he’d make Sylki endgame just because he liked it without any other reasons involved when it’s still Marvel’s show and he was hired by Marvel, not his show, if that makes sense.)

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acourtofthought · 6 months

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Buildup Means Little

Honestly, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what how much buildup anyone thinks two characters have. It doesn't matter how many moments from two books back you think support your endgame ship.

There is buildup for every single pairing around. Tamlin is STILL in love with Feyre as of SF, that's buildup over the entirety of the series and his only goal has ever been to protect Feyre (leading him to make really shitty decisions) but I don't see anyone shouting that they're going to be endgame.

Hell, Feyre was so inappropriate with Lucien in ACOWAR that for half a second I thought SJM was changing her love interest yet again

SJM has proven that characters can be engaged yet end up with someone else. She has proven that the FMC can call the MMC her "home" yet still end up with someone else. She can have one all but confess her love for the MMC only to turn around and give up her virginity to someone else, sleep with many after that then turn around and end up back with the confession of love guy.

So the events of the past, to a pretty major degree, are not all that matters. All that matters is where we're at now.

And as of SF, SJM went out of her way to show us how extremely similar two female characters are only to then demonstrate how only one is going to be the right one for Az.

"I don't need to be coddled. Only spoken to like a person"

"You do not decide what I can and cannot do, Nesta." / "You can't have it both ways. You cannot resent my decision to lead a small, quiet life while also refusing to do let me do anything greater." / "I am not a child to be fought over."

Gwyn snorted. "Try me"

Nesta looked at her from under lowered brows again. "Get out of my sight."

Gwyn grinned, a broad, bright thing that showed most of her teeth and made her eyes sparkle in a way Nesta knew her own never had. "Oh you're good." Gwyn turned back to the stacks. "Really good."

"Oh, fuck you," Nesta snapped, and then choked.

Elain blinked. Nesta blinked back, horror lurching through her.

And then Elain burst out laughing.

Howling, half-sobbing laughs that sent her bending over at the waist, gasping for breath. Nesta just stared, torn between questions and wanting to throw herself into the icy Sidra. "I - I'm so sorry-"

Elain held up a hand, wiping her eyes with the other. "You've never said such a thing to me!" She laughed again, "I think that's a good sign, isn't it?

Gwyn was probably good at this. Gwyn was good at everything, actually. It didn't irk her, though. For whatever reason, Nesta wanted to crow about her friend to anyone who'd listen.

- She had purpose, and joy, and friends: those two half-wraiths who worked in Rhysand's household. But those things had always come easily to her sister. Had always made Elain special. Had made Nesta fight like hell to keep Elain safe at all costs.

The priestess had been pretty in the library, but with that joy, that confidence as she aimed for the three priestesses, she had emerged into a beauty to rival Merrill or Mor.

Elain had easily been the prettiest of the three of them, and when she'd been turned High Fae, that beauty had been amplified. Nesta couldn't put her finger on what changes had been wrought beyond the pointed ears, but Elain had gone from lovely to devastatingly beautiful. Elain never seemed to realize it.

"Promise me we'll face it together."

Nesta couldn't stop her tears then. The chill wind froze them on her cheeks. "I promise," she breathed, stroking Gwyn's matted hair. "I promise."

Gwyn sobbed, and Nesta let herself sob with her, squeezing her tightly. Letting her stroking hand come to rest of Gwyn's neck.

A pinch in the right spot, exactly on the pressure point Cassian had shown her, and it was done.

Gwyn went down. Unconscious.

forged over common goals: protect Elain

"The first five months I was at the library, I barely spoke. I didn't sing. I went to the priestess who counsels all of us, and sometimes I just sat there and cried, or screamed, or said nothing.

"Weeks, while you wasted away, refusing food and drink. While you appeared to hope you'd just wither and die."

And when Nesta finished, she braced herself for the disappointment in their faces, the disgust.

Gwyn's hand slid into hers, though.

Nesta was wrong, Cassian realized, to think Elain as loyal and loving as a dog. Elain saw every single thing Nesta had done, and understood why.

"Because I don't ever want to feel powerless again," Gwyn said softly.

Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so silently that they all twisted toward her, "Using me." / "Find me when you wish to begin". / When Feyre had offered to let her remain home, Elain had squared her shoulders and declared that she was part of this court

"I blame Cassian for this. He's too busy making eyes at Nesta to notice such mistakes these days."

Azriel laughed. "I'll give you that."

"You put them in your ears, and they block any sound. With Nesta and Cassian living there with you..."

He chuckled, unable to suppress the impulse. "No wonder you didn't want me to open it in front of everyone."

Elain's mouth twitched into a smile. "Nesta wouldn't appreciate the joke."

Silver Flames Gwyn and Silver Flames Elain are basically one in the same, they even have innocent hobbies (bracelet making and baking / gardening). . So why then, is there such difference in how SJM wrote Az responding to each?

Her breath curled in front of her mouth, and one of his shadows darted out to dance with it before twirling back to him. Like it heard some silent music. / Could have sworn his shadows sang in answer.

Elain sucked in a soft breath that whispered over his skin. His shadows skittered back at the sound. They'd always been prone to vanish when she was around.

Azriel dipped his head in sketch of a bow, something restless settling in him. Even his shadows had calmed. As if content to lounge on his shoulders and watch.

Wrong - it was so wrong / Until he felt nothing. Was again nothing at all.

He wouldn't go so far as to call Gwyn a friend, but....(statement made after knowing Gwyn for a few months and ONLY through training)

He knew she had no idea that he had done unspeakable things that sullied his hands far beyond their scars.....(statement made after knowing Elain for 2 years and being able to chat with her whenever he wanted).

Something sparked in Azriel's chest, but he only nodded his thanks and left. He could picture it though, as he ascended the stairs back to the House proper. How Gwyn's teal eyes might light upon seeing the necklace. For whatever reason...he could see it.

But Azriel tucked away the thought, consciously erasing the slight smile it brought to his face. Buried the image down deep, where it glowed quietly.

Still waiting on a scene where Az thinks anything about Elain's happiness.........

And this would be the time where the other side loves to throw in the super classy argument of "well Az hasn't wanted to get down on his knees and taste Gwyn" but people.....it's called RESPECT. He knows her past, he's not treating her like a sexual object (really, the only way he looks at Elain considering he said he hasn't planned anything with her beyond his sexual fantasies). Az looked at Mor with hunger and yearning. Tamlin wanted to have sex with Feyre rather than try to help her escape. He also wanted to sleep with her rather than talking through his problems. Focusing on Az lusting over Elain is really not supporting your defense.

"You'd know if she'd died," Azriel said, pausing hsi work and looking up at Cassian. He tapped his brother's chest with a scarred hand. "Right here - you'd know, Cass." / The shadows deepened around Azriel, his Siphons gleaming like cobalt fire. "You - we - trained them well, Cassian. Trust in that. It's all we can do.

"There is an innate darkness to the Dread Trove that Elain should not be exposed to"

People will say that Az responds differently because he loves Elain but if the way Az treats Elain is true love, then I don't want it and I don't think SJM wants it either because his behavior towards Elain reads exactly like Tamlin's towards Feyre. It's way too clear that SJM wrote Az having healthy responses to Gwyn because she is the right person for him. The one he thinks is strong all on her own. The one he believes doesn't need his protection. The one he likes for who she is rather than fixating on her as a sexual object.

Also, if Az loves Elain then why did he sulk for 3 days after Solstice and that was the end of it? Why were there no more glances towards Elain? No longing? Why instead was there admiration and amusement for Gwyn? It's been over two years that Lucien hasn't gotten a fulfilled bond with Elain yet he's still struggling and looking at her with longing.

Az was over it in less than a week!

And not only that (and this is what I mentioned above), for all their similarities, SJM really hammered home the important differences, keeping in mind that Az works from the shadows, talks to the shadows, has an icy rage, can torture using a symphony of pain, likes his space and has his found family in the IC.

Gwyn donned the leathers without thought versus Elain refusing them in ACOWAR. She embraced dagger handling and asked for lessons while Elain "walked away and did not look back". SJM made it known that Gwyn is one of Nesta's people while Nesta calls Elain a dog and Feyre calls her only a pleasant companion. And despite Elain claiming that she's part of the NC, it means something that through Cassian, a completely neutral party when it comes to Elain, thinks how the color black (symbolic for the NC) sucks the life out of her while Gwyn came alive while training to become a Valkyrie. Gwyn embraces the night, choosing to stay up late to train, while we know Elain wants sunshine. Gwyn feels most comfortable in the safety of the library, a place full of shadows and away from the bustle of crowds whereas Elain is happiest by sunny windows, watching the liveliness of the city and at balls and parties. Gwyn witnessed Az slaughter an entire group in front of her and plotted / led the beasts to attack the Illyrians while cruelty bothers Elain.

How can buildup (which doesn't actually exist to the level some believe it does) possibly compare to all the new information we've been presented in the most recent book of the series?

#elucien #pro elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #anti e/riel #pro gwynriel #gwynriel #pro elain archeron #pro gwyneth berdara #acosf

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bedlamsbard · 13 days

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I know this is kind of out of nowhere but for the longest time I was super weird and mentally dismissive of your burning out of Star Wars because I was someone who survived the OEU's insanity back in the day and managed not to burn out of Star Wars in the face of ridiculous nonsense like the Yuuzhan Vong and Killiks, so if I could survive that, you were of course entitled to dislike Star Wars but I still found it silly. Anyway I just finished watching Tales of the Jedi(Resolve) and I Get It Now.

...I recognise that may not be the most hinged thing to say to someone I don't actually know, and apologise for my mild to moderate insanity; I slept three hours, am very sick, it's shark week, and my brain seized on you as someone who'd Get It and who I had been hard on in my thoughts in the past, but, like, none of that actually affected you until I randomly said it? So anyway sorry for babbling at you like that lmfao, I'll stop talking now

Okay. I've been thinking about these since I saw them; I saw the first one before the second one arrived, which was a hell of a thing to wake up to since I saw it first thing in the morning. While my usual policy is to leave messages along these lines in my inbox, I was genuinely upset and wanted to respond once I had a more coherent reaction than "why me, gods, why does this always happen to me."

So, first of all, I'm sorry that you had an installment in canon that didn't do it for you; it happens to the best of us and there are very few people in fandom who uncritically (or even critically) enjoy everything in canon, especially in a fandom as big and long-running as Star Wars.

It's also very common for people to fall out of love with a fandom, even a fandom they've been in for a very long time; I would say that fen who have consistently been in one fandom for an extended period of time are probably rarer than those who haven't. It's not always because there is one installment that is just The Worst; often that's just a tipping point for fen who have been on the edge for a while. (Ask your average former MCU fan who left after Avengers Endgame.) Other times fen just drift away from a fandom without a reason to push them out. Maybe their favorite characters have died, maybe the canon is no longer telling stories they're interested in even if none of those stories are "bad," maybe it's a closed canon and without new stories there's nothing to keep them there; there's any number of factors.

I had a very dramatic breakup with Star Wars three years ago, and it was about three years after I really should have gotten out of the fandom, because I had not been having a good time for a while at that point. And honestly, considering that I hadn't had a healthy relationship with either Star Wars or the fandom for a while before that, for various reasons that go well beyond what was happening in canon, arguably I should have gotten out even earlier. However, I'm monofannish to a fault and I really needed something that would actually kick me to a new fandom -- which meant it couldn't come from Star Wars.

I don't really dislike Star Wars as a whole. There are individual installments that I quite dislike, there are some that I still love, and the vast majority of Star Wars I'm neutral on. I do however have a very fucked up relationship with Star Wars, including the canon, the PTB, and the fandom itself. I have gotten regular abuse on Wake and Gambit for the past ten years, which really screwed up my relationship with AO3 and with the prequel era. There is canon that I really, really dislike, some of it because it personally does nothing for me (the ST), some of it because from my point of view, it completely fucked over a story I love (Rebels S4, TCW S7, some other stuff that contradicts stuff from the EU I love; I came out of the EU too), some of it because I just plain don't like it (THR, most of the comics), and some of it because watching it just plain made me feel like I was being gaslit, which is not something I say lightly (Mando is the worst offender, but there are others). A lot of these are problems that could come out of any fandom, especially a large, long-running, multi-media fandom; I know a lot of Marvel people who have very similar problems, though I think the scale tends to be slightly different there just because the canon is set up differently.

When I switched fandoms, I had to recalibrate my entire relationship to fandom, to canon, to AO3, and to how I interacted with all of them. I still have to check myself in most of those places because my relationship with Star Wars had screwed me up so much. I had to train myself into being able to post on AO3 again; I do talk regularly about how a lot of what I write is shaped by trying to avoid getting the kind of reactions I got and still get from my Star Wars fic, even years later. I have to make conscious decisions not to engage with every part of the canon without feeling like a failed fan, especially the installments I'm pretty sure I'll dislike, because I tried to do that in Star Wars and it regularly messed me up. As a cosplayer, I still have a fairly bad reaction to even seeing the word "approvable," and it took a while for me not to have a similar reaction to "screen-accurate." I'm still destashing most of my Star Wars merch and right now, my reaction to seeing new Marvel merch isn't "ooh, would I wear/use this?" it's "when I inevitably have a horrendous breakup with this fandom will I be able to resell it?" which is not a really healthy relationship to have with a fandom. (I have mostly moved off this but not entirely.) I knew that Star Wars had screwed my relationship with Disney World, when I had a panic attack on Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind because I was so terrified that it was going to be ~necessary canon, even though Marvel has never operated that way; Star Wars does with Galaxy's Edge, which I don't really like being in anymore either.

And yes, I'm aware all of these are an extreme overreaction to getting out of a fandom. I'm not happy about it either and I wish it wasn't happening. It's better now than it was a couple years ago and I'm frankly glad I'm not in the fandom anymore; I'm happy for people who are or who have gotten back into it and are having a good time. I am not one of them; I may some day be one again, but probably not anytime soon.

But even if I didn't have this specific fucked up relationship with Star Wars, a fandom I have not been in for three years at this point, sometimes people just burn out on a fandom. I'm not a CSI:NY fan anymore, either. (Which my last big fandom prior to Narnia, which I just drifted away from. I've only been in five big writing fandoms over twenty years.)

#thelearnedsoldier #bedlam replies #I haven't been in star wars fandom for THREE YEARS #THREE YEARS

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aeon-borealis · 8 months

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Random AleHeather Headcanons

-I honestly think Alejandro and Heather would be childfree by choice. Heather isn't fond of her younger siblings and her parents were more than ready to push her out of the house. Alejandro has a very strained, tumultuous relationship with his family.

I like to think they'd build a found family between each other, friends, and others they meet along the way. Both are trying to work through personal shit as well as Total Drama baggage. Neither wants to put a potential kid through what they've been through. They both have wants, goals, and ambitions that don't leave time for kids. Neither wants the stress that'd come with pregnancy and a crying baby either. That's just my take, though.

-Heather wants a big house with a walk-in closet and filled with lots of nice, posh furniture and luxury items. Both Alejandro and Heather have a few high-fashion outfits and at least one Louis Vuitton bag.

-Alejandro was already gender non-conforming in World Tour with his shoulder length hair and earrings. In All Stars, he said he put time and effort into "manscaping." He already has femme-leaning gender expression, so I think he'd go further into "fuck gender" as he gets older. He'd have some skirts in his closet. He wears make-up. He carries purses and calls them purses. His style is low-key, but he slays.

-Both Alejandro and Heather are Sims fanatics. They're the kind of gamers that Sims is the only video game they're interested in if/when they have time. Heather's favorite Sim is Dina Caliente and she has a laundry list of reasons to justify Dina's gold-digging leanings.

Alejandro's favorite Sim is Nina Caliente. He's a hopeless romantic at heart and when he feels charitable, he makes Don Lothario give up womanizing and realize he likes the idea of a quiet, domestic life with Nina. Alejandro also has a soft spot for Olive Specter. He loves her "Gothic love story" with the Grim Reaper.

-Both Alejandro and Heather want a huge, grandiose wedding. Only a few family members are invited; the rest are their short list of friends. It's a destination wedding and they foot the bill for their guests. And they're a very happy, sappy couple.

A wedding is after years of therapy and overcoming trauma together. If I dream up endgame Aleheather, they're gonna be a healthy hetero couple that learned how to work together. I think more media needs that shit in general and I'm gonna include that in my fan works because I want more of that, dammit.

#aleheather

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mikesbasementbeets · 2 years

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i’ve been thinking a lot about elmax recently and how it seems like the show is genuinely setting them up romantically, while also consistently establishing max and lucas as a romantic pair

keep in mind, this is the show that has been setting up byler since season 1. they seem to know what they’re doing when it comes to queer coding, so i refuse (for the purposes of this analysis at least) to believe they’re unaware of what they’ve been doing so heavily and blatantly with elmax, and also with max in particular (el too, but i’m focusing on max).

i've talked about why i think mike wheeler is gay. this is why i think max mayfield is bi. and elumax should be endgame.

queer coding of max mayfield

right off the bat: her name. max. just like el was at first, due to her shaved head, max is mistaken for a boy by those who don't know her. first the party, who see the name madmax at the arcade, and later dr. owens in season 4 (he might even assume that she's el's boyfriend). when she's first introduced by mr. clarke using her full name, maxine, she quickly corrects him. it's max.

this leads into the larger point of queer coding around max. her androgynous fashion sense, the way she carries herself, distancing herself from performative femininity, ie, playing video games ("girls don't play video games,"), skateboarding, making friends with an all male friend group, her general "tomboyish" presentation and attitude - all of it reads as heavily queer coded to me. i'm not saying that any of these things is necessarily queer, or mean that a person in real life is queer, but the way it all comes together in max feels like a purposeful character choice.

i'm not an expert in queer coding so there's probably a lot i'm missing, but one of the biggest signs for me is max's constant association with rainbows. the other characters have their color palettes, and max has rainbows. literally. as many times as mike and will have been coded with rainbow imagery, max is drowning in it.

and then there's the most important piece of queer coding... her relationship with el. i'll come back around to that though, because i want to talk about boys first. because clearly, max does like boys.

this shot is largely played for comedic relief, but it actually does something important for the narrative i think. it establishes again, with a max that has (once again) broken up with lucas for reasons she doesn't seem to have really explained, that max is attracted to men. my optimistic reading of it is honestly, "hey, we know what we've been doing here with max, so just in case you were thinking she's a lesbian... she's not." ...or if you want a different fun read of it... max realized she likes girls recently (i'll get to that) and is just making sure she still likes boys. ladies dig it? do they steve? oh, wait, yeah.

she's also talked about other boys with el in the past, showing pretty unambiguous interest in them

(these scenes are still so gay though seriously... "you must be an angel".... contrasting milven's scene where el didn't like mike's singing... rainbowsrainbowsrainbows... talking about kissing and then emulating a spin the bottle game, later introducing el to wonder woman while they're in bed together, waking up together always rainbows come ON)

and of course, the other most important part of this, her relationship with lucas, which is shown continuously to be one of real, romantic attraction. in season 2, this was mostly established through contrast with her relationship with dustin, who also had a crush on her. max and lucas start off by becoming close as friends, and then begin to develop a romantic connection. max and dustin, meanwhile, are established several times as not clicking in the same way that max and lucas do. they have heart-to-hearts that feel intimate and genuine, and, as steve and dustin discuss, are layered with the kind of "electricity" that denotes mutual attraction.

at the same time though, while we understand that it's genuine on both sides, we're shown that max and lucas' relationship is far from perfect.

for a couple that reads as endgame and has parallels with several of the other endgame couples, they also parallel a lot of the obviously not endgame couples. i'm gonna come back around to that too. first, the other thing.

romantic coding of elmax

elmax. honestly, i can't even get into everything i want to, because it's literally everything about them.

first of all, the start of their friendship is byler romantic coded

"i just walked up to you and i asked... it was the best thing i've ever done."

this sequence in particular though. this is. so bi coded i'm going insane. (also rainbows rainbows rainbows)

not hopper, not mike. you. (there's more to life than stupid boys. *HOLDS HER HAND*)

the next sequence is also pretty gay imo but is also kinda just gals being pals, so i'm gonna focus on the song, Material Girl by Madonna. this is definitely meant to be about eleven here, finding herself, away from mike (and it's also just a great shopping montage song), but the shot layout also subtly indicates that it applies to max and lucas too.

"some boys hug me, some boys kiss me, i think they're okay." and what about girls, max? what do you think of them? el? opinions?

(the clothes are emulating a literal rainbow flag behind her ok red yellow blue green purple and max is the orange she's part of the flag like shut UP i can't do this anymore)

and. okay. look, i'm not going to fully explain this one but i need to point it out.

getting back at the straight girl bullies (shown flirting with a boy) in front of a burger king. max taking off her sunglasses (we've talked about the symbolism of mike's shades in season 4) as they run away holding hands. taco bell coming soon. "there's more to life than stupid boys." like. am i reading way too much into this? (yes)

even back to their first meeting though, i'm seeing the seeds being planted. go ahead and read this as purely platonic admiration if you want, i don't care, but there's no way in my mind, especially after seeing seasons 3 and 4. like imagine you're a young bi teenage girl who's been hearing stories about this awesome girl with superpowers who saved everyone's life and then mysteriously disappeared, and then she suddenly mysteriously reappears, saves your life too, and walks in looking like this

personally, my tiny gay heart would stop.

yeah

but let's actually move on to season 4 for a minute.

season 4 was setting up canon bisexual max

i'm going to argue something here that i don't have a ton of actual evidence for: i think one of the reasons max broke up with lucas after season 3 is that she realized her feelings for el. max's arc in season 4 is all about her dealing with the trauma of last season, and guilt for her role in what happened. the guilt is extremely important to this. it's a big part in why vecna chooses his victims: not just kids with trauma, but kids who feel shame surrounding their trauma. most of that for max obviously has to do with billy's death. but i think there's something else that max is dealing with too.

as soon as i started season 4 i was struck with strong “queer max” vibes. first of all, her more feminine and rainbow splashed outfits from season 3 have been replaced again with the more tomboyish, androgynous style of season 2. and then there's the first sequence we get to running up that hill (which starts, funnily enough, on a scene of el walking down the hall at school, upset). the first time i watched this i was literally shocked because it read so explicitly queer to me.

first, max looks at group of girls (thinking about el, most likely)

her gaze trails after them, and then, next shot, max looks at a couple kissing

and then max looks at lucas

only after watching it again did i realize it didn't necessarily have to be queer coding (if you take it as max missing her friend and then, separately, her ex-boyfriend) but holy shit, if that's what they meant, they did NOT have to put the couple making out in between those two shots, with further shots of max looking away almost guiltily. we all know that lucas was max's boyfriend. they didn't have to precede that shot of him with the shot of the couple. that's already their established dynamic (and we haven't even learned at this point that they've broken up).

what's not been established yet though, is the idea of max and el as a couple. and i think..... that's possibly what's being hinted at here through max's perspective. the sequence of shots is so telling: 1. girl friends, 2. couple kissing, 3. ex-boyfriend. guilt. what i'm getting from this sequence of shots is that max's friendship with el is something she's thought about in a romantic light. max is making this association. and feeling guilty about it when she looks at lucas. whom, despite their closeness still at the very end of season 3, months after starcourt, she has since broken up with. the reason the show establishes for this is that max has been pulling away from everyone since billy's death, dealing with the fallout in her family, her mother's emotional absence and alcoholism, etc, and her own grief, guilt, and trauma around it. that makes perfect sense, and i'm not saying it's not true. but i think el moving away was also a factor.

it wasn't until season 4 that max was shown to have really pulled away, after el moved to california. maybe it's a reach, maybe it's nothing, but max as a character is so similar to mike, who was shown to have exactly this response to the byers' moving away: isolating himself and pushing away his friends, suffering his depression alone, and talking to no one about it. meeting el in season 3 showed us a new, bubbly happy side to max (that, yes, probably also came from the rest of her friendships and lucas, but el's is the one we were shown). max and el spend almost the entire season together, and max is undoubtedly going to be affected by her best friend moving away. especially if, like mike, it feels like she's losing more than a friend.

it's not just those shots though. when lucas tries to talk to her later, telling her he knows something's wrong... as soon as she turns around, there's a rainbow.

"right, yeah, there must be something wrong with me because i broke up with you."

then in dear billy, lucas confronts her again. and the language reminds me of karen's speech to mike in season 1. and jonathan's to will in season 4. "you know you can talk to me, right? i'm here for you."

guilt and shame are a big part of max's plot this season. the two characters most associated with that for max are billy and vecna - max feeling guilt over billy, and vecna using that guilt against her.

and those scenes also feel intentionally queer coded to me.

and then there's the dear billy flashback sequence.

while she's trying to escape vecna using her happiest memories, max is also comparing her relationships with lucas and el. they are both friendships. and they are both romantic. she thinks of them in alternating flashbacks. lucas, then el, then lucas and dustin, then el, then max's face, then lucas and dustin, then el, then max's face, and then this particular sequence: lucas, el, mike.

this may a reach, but... if she has feelings for el, she's probably feeling guilty around mike, too. this is the only shot of mike in the sequence. after this, in quick succession, it's lucas, then lucas, then lucas, and then el.

then lucas, then lumix snowball kiss, then max's face, then high fiving el, then her eyes open, and she breaks free

there are more shots of lucas than of el, but that's just the thing: max keeps trying to just think of lucas (because, as shown by the shot of mike, the way she's thinking about el makes her feel guilty, which is the opposite of what she wants), but el keeps coming back in. she thinks of her first kiss with lucas, and then thinks of high fiving el after they "dumped their asses." and that's the shot that breaks her out.

(and the song itself? 1. birthdaygate coded, 2. ROMANTIC. baby, darling, angel. you must be an angel. the voice of an angel saving victor creel from henry, el saving max. i'm reaching again. but. seriously.)

and then the flashbacks in episode 9 (and i'm not even touching el's flashback montage here). it's so difficult to be brief about this because they're literally doing SO MUCH here. i'm might have to make a separate post with every shot in this sequence because it's so good. (edit: here)

literally just. go back and watch the entire thing if you need to, but i need to go through this. elmax is unbelievably romantic coded this episode. there is no getting around it.

max chose the snow ball as her happy memory to hide from vecna in, but it didn't work. when vecna finds her, he says, "you can't hide from me, max." max turns around and, with a determined look, closes her eyes. closing her eyes almost seems like she's trying to keep hiding, but facing the door where venca is feels more like defiance. she's not going to try to hide anymore...

in the first shot, she spins the bottle in her mind, and her memories flicker from her first time meeting lucas, to the movies with lucas, to the start of her friendship with el, back to the spinning bottle, and then. the last two shots repeat. movie date with lucas, el approaching her in the street. but the lucas shot flickers shorter, and the el shot lingers, and then it's max's mom tying her hair too tight for the snow ball.

like maybe... this wasn't her at her happiest. forced conformity is killing the kids, right?

and the bottle flickers in again and it's el. it's max dancing in el's room, you must be an angel...

and then we come back to max's face and there are rainbows reflecting in the light

"is mike a good kisser?" el laughing, more rainbows

after that, she gets distracted by vecna and broken out of her memories, and when el shows up, max asks,

"are you real? did i make you?" she was thinking so strongly of her memories with el, she thought that it had worked.... and everything is romantic coded, there's nothing even to argue for here, it's just. there. seriously, like. just watch the episode. it's elmax.

after this the focus goes back to el mostly and it's still extremely romantic but i can't get into it anymore, i need to focus on max.

the way it all ends brings me back to the elumax question again. because right here, i'm clearly seeing elmax/byler vs. lumix/milven. paralleling mike's love monologue failing to help el, lucas' protection, both physically and in her mind, was not enough to save max.

that was el. that was el that saved her. (of course, she saves your life because of "friendship")

el's love for max is what saved her. not mike. not lucas. elmax.

going back to the latter half of season 3... el and max's relationship progressed very quickly through shared trauma, and max is the one there for el all season... and when billy dies, el is the one who holds her.

season 3 also made it clear that max's relationship with lucas wasn't without flaws.

all of the romantically inept things that mike was doing with el? lucas was doing them first, max was breaking up with him, and lucas was later advising mike on how to fix it. and especially by the end of the season, max seems much more like she's in el's corner than lucas'.

why i think it's possible max and lucas might end up as friends

after she's broken up with him in season 4, lucas spends most of the time just trying to be her friend again. he doesn't even seem bothered by their breakup (although we don't know how long ago it was), he seems to really just want her in his life again, to talk to him.

and, yes, they spend season 4 rebuilding the relationship in a way i think would be beautiful to see work out romantically. but i don't think it's inevitable. (remember that they also rebuilt stency this season.... as much as they might like each other, we've been shown in past seasons that their romantic relationship was flawed.)

i wish i could get into all the parallels, because they're the biggest part of what confuses me on the show's endgame goals but i really can't because it would take up an entire post. the duffers love parallels, obviously, it's one of their main narrative techniques at this point. and i think they usually work really well, because they're not trying to show that each of these characters or couples is exactly the same. they use parallel situations to exemplify the small details that make each character and relationship unique.

for example, milven and stency often parallel each other, but they're not quite the same. i don't think mike ever had genuine romantic feelings for el. he thought he liked her, but ultimately he's gay. nancy, on the other hand, did genuinely have a crush on steve (hc her as a lesbian if you want, i fully support that, but i think the show thinks she likes boys). that is the show's example of a teenage crush that sparks and then fizzles, not turning into deeper love.

whereas lumix, which also sometimes parallels these two ships (for example, their habit of sitting across from each other rather than beside. not always though... they're inconsistent), i believe is an example of a love that is real and genuine... but might not be meant to last forever. because in addition to those other two, they also parallel byler, jopper, and jancy, which i believe are endgame ships.

to be honest... all of this makes me believe even more firmly in gay mike too. because unlike mike’s complete lack of romantic feeling for el, or nancy's naive crush on steve, this is a narrative that sets up genuine, but possibly not everlasting love. a bi character discovering her sexuality by falling for her best girl friend while she’s dating a guy she also really likes. i think lucas is max’s first love, but not her only.

however

all this said, i also think it's very likely that lucas and max will end up together, and el might end the show on her own. lucas and max are NOT milven or stency, and whatever flaws they have don't necessarily spell out a doomed relationship. there's a lot of good there too, i just didn't get into it here.

and el's whole character arc has been about family, friends, and finding herself outside of other peoples' influence. i think this could still work if she were with max, since max has always been the most supportive of el's independence and self-fulfillment, but i can really see the show ending with el on her own, and it being a natural and positive conclusion to her journey

either way though, i think with everything they've been doing, they might actually confirm in canon that max and el have romantic feelings for each other (...or indicate it so obviously that they think it’s undeniable and then later confirm in interviews when most viewers don’t get it because they’re too subtle for their own good)

anyway, here's how elumax can still happen

look, i don't really trust the show to be able to pull this off, mostly because it just. isn't something that's done. not in popular media like this. but honestly, it's hard for me to grasp all of this because it feels like the show is telling me that max belongs with both el and lucas. i think most people assume she will end up with lucas after the way their relationship was rebuilt in season 4, and i think that absolutely makes sense. but i truly think elmax has been built up just as much, just a lot more subtextually. it's just that no one expects it to actually happen. 1, because lumix not ending up together would feel pretty disappointing after all this build up, and we don't want to see lucas, who truly loves max, end up alone. especially when max loves him too. and 2, because of heteronormativity - most people assume elmax are only being set us as friends, regardless of whether they're picking up on the romantic coding. and the "norm" is one romantic partner per person. but max needs el just as much as she needs lucas, and the ending season 4 proved that. lucas holding max in his arms, thinking he's alone with her, but then we see that el is actually there too. right alongside lucas. el saved max's life after she died in lucas's arms.

i could just give up and assume that elmax is platonic and they're giving max both a romantic and a platonic love story, but as i've already talked about, max is queer, and her dynamic with el is romantic. (theres so much evidence of this from el's side too that i just didn't get into)

going into season 5, max is in a coma. we already know that lucas is spending his time at her bedside. and i think it's fair to assume, based on el's priorities after the pizza dough freezer, ignoring mike completely to stay with max and lucas, and to revive max, she's going to be very focused on max too.

this is already way too long but i'm almost done, i want to briefly talk about lucas and el's dynamic from season 1. of all the party members, lucas was the most skeptical and deeply wary of eleven. he didn't trust her, and she ended up inadvertently hurting him when he fought with mike. but over the course of the season, they both learned to trust each other, having moments together than felt just as important as el's friendship with mike.

if season 5 is a return to season 1 dynamics, especially seeing the way season 4 left these two characters (sharing the same priority - max), i think lucas and el will spend a decent amount of time in season 5 together, or at least share a plotline (around max?). now that they're finally being given the chance to actually spend time together, i can see them growing much closer next season, maybe even leading to a mutual understanding and acceptance of both of their feelings towards max (maybe even falling in love?). and if max wakes from her coma to discover that the guilt and shame she's been suffering around her feelings for these two people is actually unnecessary, and that they can all be happy with each other, in whatever way they decide, even if other people might not understand?

*slides the duffers $5*

that would be an absolutely iconic ending.

#elmax #max mayfield #byler #honestly though i would sell my soul for canon elumax #if they could pull that off in season 5 i could die happy #also i'm giving the duffers a LOT of credit here i'm just choosing to give them the benefit of the doubt #this got SO LONG i'm sorry #mikesbasementbeets posts

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aotopmha · 1 month

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The FF14 community has a sarcastic saying along the lines of "great community btw", which is used in cases whenever someone or some group of awful people pop up doing something shitty and which I find annoying.

I think it is really obnoxious because having a great community does not mean there will never be any awful people in that community.

Especially when you get an award for stuff like having a great community – something that in many spaces is usually based on popularity or earned via nebulous committee vote.

That's just not how people work. And putting that strange standard on every single person in that community is really unrealistic.

In fact, I think it would be creepier if occasional assholes didn't pop up. Actual cult behaviour entails a situation where nobody is frustrated, critical or says anything bad about each other ever.

And this is doubly so for stuff that is popular.

We have 30 million accounts in the game now. Do you honestly expect not one of them to be made by an awful person?

The second frustration I have is tying social media with the community. Yoshi-P and his team, don't, even in fact, straight-up can't really, moderate what happens on social media, on Twitter, Reddit, Discord etc.

And as far as I know their official accounts keep it pretty basic and chill.

So, a lot of the bad stuff is just the nature of social media and the internet.

Now, this actually does not mean the dev team bears no responsibility because what they can do is minimise the poison within the game itself.

FF14 is probably the cleanest multiplayer community I've been apart of ever. The most I've gotten is generic insults in French.

The lack of gamerwords in my 3 months of time surprised me the most, and so did the occasional actual compliments. We just either talk about the game or what issues there are with us doing the mechs or disband when stuff isn't working out and time is getting wasted.

But I also know many haven't been as lucky and some of the security features were dated even by the time the game re-released back in 2013.

The friendlist is a mess because it doesn't block properly, and I know stories of people who had to go to another region to escape their stalker.

The GMs, while preferrable to any automated moderation, still don't catch everything, sometimes for years, especially whistleblowers who signal stuff in specific codewords and technically aren't breaking the rules.

Unjust massreportings can happen.

Reporting can be clunky and from what I've explored is hidden behind some menuing instead of just being an open option like in many other online games.

So they kinda can't control Twitter or Reddit at all and they can't change human nature, but I think they can modernise a bunch of the social tab.

I also haven't experienced the game as a non-sprout/at endgame yet, which I'm told can make a difference. Part of the reason why I find the game so rewarding is because you find so many different experiences and opinions in just Duty Finder and you just sometimes get to talking with them about the game and then various other things.

Recently, many gathered to honor Akira Toriyama in many of the data centers and people were just kind of talking to each other about DB and other series.

And I've never seen anything like this in any other MMO or any multiplayer games. I know it happened for Kentaro Miura, too, when he died.

So clearly, the social element is a huge part of the identity of an MMO, so if they mean they're improving the MMO in the MMO, I hope this also includes the social tab features.

#Final Fantasy XIV #Final Fantasy 14 #FF14 #FFXIV #FF #Final Fantasy

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maybeamiles · 2 months

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Alright it's time for PART TWO OF MY ONE PIECE OPENING ANALYSIS. Turns out you can only add 30 images to a post lol.

Anyways you can find part one here, but if you've already seen it or just want to skip to the good shit, Hi. I'm anime only but have seen manga spoilers for Kid, Law, Kuma, and Bonney, so that will affect my analysis.

Anyways remember last time when I talked a bit about the line "When random contexts / Start to make sense on their own" and the deliberate parallels between the fights with Luffy/Lucci, Kid/(manga spoilers), Law/Blackbeard, Zoro/Seraphim Mihawk, and Garp/Kuzan? Well those continue here except it's Sabo and the Revolutionaries against the ENTIRE WORLD GOVERNMENT. These random contexts? They're all tied to the fight Sabo is in right now.

"When random contexts / Start to make sense on their own / The threads of time are spun back together"

This sequence of shots gives me chills every time. Every single time. The parallels between the Revolutionary Army's crows and the World Government's seagulls? The falling papers and books. Fucking Wapol??? The FUNERAL???? and the SWORDS??? God if those swords in front of the world government's throne DON'T end up being used to stab someone by the end of this story (either in the past or future or maybe both) I will eat my shirt this is CHECKOV'S SWORD THIS GOVERNMENT WAS FOUNDED ON VIOLENCE AND CONQUEST I SWEAR-

*ahem* Anyways. "The threads of time are spun back together." All of those "random contexts" we saw before? The fights that are paralleling each other and driving towards a single end point? To stick with the string metaphor, the world government has unraveled the thread of history. Everything happening now is going to spin it back together into a cohesive narrative. Time is running out. The end is in sight. Their string is going to be cut.

Again with the parallels. All of the men who Luffy impacted in the past, Sabo, Kid, Law, and Coby. They're all rising to take on this enemy. They have been beaten, but they will rise again, and they will charge forward into the future (at least, that's how I read the storytelling here). I think this theme of rising from major defeats is going to be a huge one in this arc, especially for these four. They are going to get stronger and be Luffy's competition. The Whitebeard and Garp to his Rodger, if you will.

Also, speaking of the men who Luffy impacted, HOLY SHIT IS THAT VIVI

Law, Coby, Kid, and Sabo may all be rising from defeat, but you know who's charging forward? VIVI. Vivi is going to be so fucking important this arc just you wait.

And listen- I saw a theory a few weeks ago that Vivi *might* eat a certain devil fruit that I will not name because (manga spoilers), but looking at this picture, with the way she's reaching out towards that specific shape? Yeah she's totally gonna eat that devil fruit. Wish I could link the theory but unfortunately it's deep in my youtube watch history by now and i didn't save it.

EDIT: As a couple people have pointed out, it might be Bonney in that scene and not Vivi, as indicated by the pink highlights on the hair. That honestly makes a lot more sense than Vivi eating a random(ish) devil fruit.

Finally, I want to talk about this last shot. The Theme of this opening. All of these separate, winding paths, leading towards one final destination: Laugh Tale. The truth of the world. Law, Kid, Luffy, Sabo, The Revolutionaries, the Marines, Coby, Garp, the World Government, everyone is on the path to Laugh Tale, we're in the endgame now, and everyone is going to be vital to whatever lies ahead. I imagine some of the poetry is lost in the english translation, but there's a reason that the music keeps repeating the words "all of us"

"All of us" are going to reach Laugh Tale.

#one piece #one piece theory #one piece spoilers #one piece reaction #egghead

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theteapotofdoom · 4 months

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Don't you think it's funny cause actual canon gay characters in BL manga will say "I love you" but only the shounen bromance can spew out some of the most romantic shit akin to a 19th century poet writing a letter expressing his surpressed love for his lover 😭.....

I honestly never read or watched BL but I still feel this so hard.

You said it best yourself, it's about the "suppressed" aspect of it all. I think one of the reasons that fans go so crazy for the shonen bromance is that it has to maintain a certain level of hype and intensity about all the aspects of its plot (including character relationships) BUT can't ever be anything more than a friendship (I mean objectively and realistically because we can fly close to the sun but I would be REALLY surprised if shonen jump ever allows an explicitly gay romance in one of its series).

So you find yourself in a situation where the author has to write a character dynamic that is just as hype and epic and intense and powerful as the fights they draw, without ever dropping the explicit "I love you" bomb. And just like you said, that's how we end up with a 19th-century poet confessing his secret suppressed love type of dialogue.

I definitely think that it's part of the appeal though. A lot of people CRAVE the suppressed love stories, with yearning and stolen glances and intense emotions that can never be shared. That's why we still love Jane Austen and gothic love stories centuries later. It's all about the slow burn babyyyy!

It also goes to show that people will go extra crazy for romance if there's a good plot attached to it. There are a lot of great stories where the relationship is the only focus and it's still amazing. But a love story being part of an ever bigger plot with higher stakes can make us go fully feral and that's what happens in Shonen.

FMAB is a pretty good example. Contrary to a lot of other shonen, it doesn't have a super strong homoerotic rivalry between two guys (unless you count Ed and Ling, because Edling is a GREAT SHIP but they're not exactly rivals like bakudeku or narusasu) and yet most of the main m/f ships are beloved by the fandom. People go crazy for Ed x Winry and Roy x Riza, because they fit a lot of the same tropes as your traditional shonen bromances. The yearning, the intensity, the slow burn, the saving each other in life or death situations ... both ships are canon and endgame BUT they are well developed and within an already great story with high stakes.

To conclude:

"I love you" = boring, done before, no spice ...

"I would go to hell for you if you asked me to" or "I will break every bone in your body if this is what it takes to bring you home and save you from him" = holy shit oh god holy shit hold on hold the fuck up holy shit oh my gooooooooood ..........

#idk how to tag this #fullmetal alchemist #this applies to spinaraki as obviously #destroying the mont fuji for love

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isagrimorie · 10 months

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I'm rewatching Endgame right now and I've completely forgotten the way Admiral Janeway couldn't even talk about Seven when someone from Starfleet Academy brought it up:

And it's not that Admiral Janeway hasn't had a life, her crew is home and is her family and they've stayed in contact.

Almost everyone's lives have flourished. B'Elanna is the Federation liaison to the Klingon Empire, and so it seemed is Miral.

Except for Tuvok and Chakotay.

Tuvok's mental illness has progressed to the point he could barely function and Chakotay died the same year this happened... And it feels like Chakotay's death was Admiral Janeway's impetus in going for this plan.

A world without Seven of Nine is a world neither Chakotay nor Admiral Janeway accepts.

I first shipped Janeway with Chakotay and was so frustrated when Voyager ended and Janeway/Chakotay never happened when it was so obvious on both their sides.

And then I shipped Janeway and Seven but I could never accept Chakotay/Seven not only because it felt shoehorned but because they barely spent time together but to Jeri Ryan and Robert Beltran's credit they did what they could selling it.

For a first real-life relationship, Seven could do worse than Chakotay. He was respectful and did seem fond of Seven by the time they started dating and was ready to follow Seven at the pace she set.

But I've also come to believe the reason why they were together is because they couldn't be with Kathryn Janeway. In this alternate timeline, I believe Seven and Chakotay did come to love each other enough to marry but also there's an element of guilt involved with Chakotay after alt!Seven died because the person he also and still loved was Janeway. But guilt on Chakotay and Janeway's side prevented them from ever becoming something more.

I also believe Admiral Janeway loved both Chakotay and Seven and didn't want to choose, and their getting married is the safer choice even if it broke her heart because that meant she didn't have to choose and commit.

She'd rather have them both near and alive and untouchable, and in the end, she lost them both.

Honestly, Janeway didn't need to choose.

Anyway, Janeway's time travel adventures might be why my favorite time travel stories are the ones where future versions meet the past versions.

But also the first time Admiral Janeway sees Seven of Nine again, after two decades of not seeing her.

"Hello, Seven."

Admiral Janeway looks like a sailor who hasn't seen the sea for years, or a traveler crossing the desert who has stumbled into an Oasis.

Also, Seven looks so awkward she didn't know how to deal with two Janeways in close proximity to each other.

Please, she's just a poor confused ex-Borg drone taking the smallest steps toward romance.

I do love that amidst this we have scenes between Tom and B'Elanna and how they both called Voyager home. They're the most low-key OTP and I kind of love that for them.

But also, I do love that Admiral Janeway gets to spend a few moments with both Tuvok and Chakotay.

This moment when Captain Janeway muses on the strangeness of witnessing her future self talking to both Tuvok and Chakotay

And not knowing how precious this moment is to Admiral Janeway that she can be beside Tuvok, working and still in possession of his mental faculties, and Chakotay laughing and full of life.

Part 1, 2, 3

#kathryn janeway #endgame!admiral janeway #star trek voyager #ship: chakotay x janeway #ship: janeway x seven #seven of nine #chakotay #tuvok (star trek)#liveblogging voyager

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takearisk-xo · 8 months

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This might be a strange question but I’m curious to hear your thoughts. What do you say to hinny haters? People who say they’re boring or came out of nowhere? Those seem to be the most common arguments that I see.

me, personally? i would probably say nothing? because i typically don't engage with people who actively dislike something that i like? i have no desire to seek out reddit posts or anti blogs and try to convert people over to my point of view. if someone thinks harry/ginny is boring that's fine, they're within their rights to think that. i obviously don't think that so as long as they respect my point of view then there's nothing else to say.

however, if someone came to me and was like "why is hinny interesting to you? isn't teenage sweethearts kind of boring?" i would say that is a very surface level examination of their relationship and a disservice to both of their characters.

like, yes, they are teenage/high school sweethearts but that's not why i'm interested in them as a dynamic. there are lots of other people out there who have used in-text examples and book quotes to prove that they're endgame/understand the other perfectly/made for each other/etc.etc. but i think for me the most compelling thing about their relationship isn't necessarily how they interact together, but their separate journeys when they are apart.

in my opinion (because this is truly honestly an opinion, i am not trying to imply what i am saying is fact or even authorial intent) harry and ginny work because there are quite literally no other characters in the text that are more directly impacted by the antagonist.

like even if you throw quidditch, and sense of humor, and physical attraction out the window. they have SHARED TRAUMA?!?! sign me the fuck up.

they might start out as friends to lovers or teenage sweethearts but they don't end there. the reason that they last is because when it comes to the bad, they're is no lack of understanding of what the other person has gone through and is going through. ginny doesn't understand harry's tendency to be emotionally guarded by accident or instinct, or even by choice. it's because she's been through some shit and she gets it. adversity, betrayal, loss... you can't explain how trauma and grief changes a person, and their response to conflict, to someone who hasn't experienced it. and that is so so interesting to me.

also they are set up for some of my fav tropes: second chance romance, power/battle couple, and height difference.

#hope this helps #lol #hinny #anon #answered

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itsryuworld · 6 months

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i'm honestly so tired of this shit. every episode is a "fuck u topmew fans" it's always "i don´t give a damn about them, they're boring" i'm so so so tired of this. i love them so much and i'm not even enyoing the show anymore, i'm stressed out bc they keep cutting off their scenes and then gave us nothing. no relationship development or character development, no fucking chance to built up their story. it's heartbreaking, i mean… i love forcebook so much, and i love topmew too. why can't we have anything good?

i'm so tired of the lack of develompent of top, what about his trauma and back story? he seems to be very interesting and complex, but atp he's just the villain, the duchbag, the asshole. mew seemed interesiting too, not innocent but smart, right? but now he keeps acting so annoying saying he wants top back but then he's playing mental games with him again? why he needs to make top suffer that much? he loves him right? why he keeps acting so confusing? why do they need beoing to come to the picture right now? it's not fair, i'm so fucking annoyed.

don't cut topmew scenes, don't mistreated them like that. we love them so much! they getting so much hate for no reason, i can't stand it anymore. give me my topmew endgame, give them some fucking development!

#topmew #mew witsarut #top tanin #only friends the series #only friends series #ofs #forcebook #THEY DESERVE BETTER #give them fucking development #i want them to be happy

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anexperimentallife · 1 year

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Again, I've studied this academically, and these people are spitting the same kind of rhetoric and using the same tactics as 1930s-1940s Nazis. That's an indisputable fact, as anyone who has studied 1930s-1940s Germany will attest. Some of these people even proudly wave the swastika and proclaim themselves to be neo-Nazis, so saying no one should make comparisons is ridiculous.

And if we wait until they get to their endgame before we say, "Okay, we can now acknowledge what's happening," it'll be too late to stop it.

So yeah, both as someone who has studied the topic AND is part of a group the original Nazis targeted (although that second part shouldn't matter), I will, in fact, point out the similarities between the beginning of that genocide and what's happening now.

Hell, I saw this sort of thing coming about a decade ago--it's a big part of why I finally managed to get out of the US in 2018-- but very few people believed my warnings. I should have seen it sooner, honestly.

(I wasn't sure exactly what group the first modern "round 'em up and kill 'em" laws would be passed against, but in retrospect, I should have known they'd go after queer folks first.)

A big part of the reason for pointing out the similarities between then and now is that these same tactics and rhetoric WORKED before, and led to over fifty million deaths, including six million Jews, and about four million Romani, neurodiverse, queer, and simply dissenting folk, among others.

Another reason it's important to point out the similarities is that people KNOW the kinds of horrors the Holocaust inflicted, and they need to understand that the people pushing these laws are the ideological descendants of those who perpetrated those horrors.

Is it a one for one comparison? Of course not; it's been nearly ninety years since the Nazis started out. No organization or ideology remains exactly the same for that long.

But I'll tell you seriously that anyone who tells you not to point out the similarities in rhetoric and tactics, or not to point out that the US far right has allied themselves with literal flag-waving neo-Nazis, is someone you should be very suspicious of, no matter what their identity--especially anyone who tells you that "no one is allowed to raise the alarm, not even members of groups the earlier Nazis targeted, unless they're a member of MY group."

Because who exactly benefits from pretending the similarities don't exist? Who benefits from not pointing out that the people working towards this genocide share ideology and tactics with the engineers of the Holocaust, and in some cases self-identify with them?

The fact that I'm part of a group the Nazis rounded up and slaughtered doesn't make me qualified to make comparisons and raise the alarm; the fact that I've studied the matter does. And I'm not gonna play "oppression olympics" with anyone, but I mean, if I have to play that one card this ine time to be heard, okay.

Again, the Nazis didn't START with death camps. They started by demonizing already-targeted demographics, and claiming only they had the will to protect "good, honest citizens," by passing laws to persecute thise demographics, and linking them in the mind of the public to others that they wanted to eliminate, so that when they went after those other groups, a significant portion of the citizenry would not object.

It's the domino effect as propaganda strategy. If you can convince the public that queer folks are a danger to children, then associate Jews with queer folks--like the original Nazis did, and like the American GOP is going to do eventually--that makes it easier to exploit existing antisemitism and tip people over who might be on the fence. (It was not the only, or even the primary strategy they used, but they did use it.)

The modern US GOP are going after all the same groups that the original Nazis did.

They've been demonizing Jews for decades (witness the "lizard people" dog-whistles, the allegations that Soros funds the "anti-American" left, all the "jokes" about how Jews control the world.

Hell, even their "support" for Israel is rooted in anti-Semitism, because the religious component of the far right believe that practcally all Jews have to return to Israel and die there in order for Jesus to return). They just can't get away with publicly passing laws against Jews... YET. But they will, if they're not stopped.

So they're going after softer targets for now. Casting queer folk as pedophiles (which has been a long-standing accusation), associating neurodiverse people with those "child-grooming" queers (see Missouri's recent legal moves setting the stage for that), Muslims (and by extension everyone who might look vaguely Middle-Eastern) as terrorists, black and brown folks (especially immigrants) as criminals, associating intellectualism and education with being "anti-American," and...

It just goes on and on.

Don't just take my word for it. Please dont just take my word for it. Read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Read They Thought They Were Free. Read Mein Kampf (if you can do so without throwing up). There are a lot of sources, but if you just read those three books, and look at current patterns, you'll see the similarities, too.

Or maybe you'll think I'm being an alarmist. Like the "alarmists" who spoke up in 1930s Germany.

#rob gets political

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