#and like. of course!! i'm not a hypocrite - i like story posts without reading them too because we only have so much time in a day

[softpine]

This might be juvenile, but do you have any tips on not comparing yourself to others? (Especially when it comes to note count or popularity.) I’ve been posting a story for over a year and it hardly gets any traction. It’s tough for me to see new creators post and get hundreds or even thousands of notes. I hate that I’m doing this but don’t know how to quit it!

this is not juvenile!! i struggle with this myself, especially knowing that i hit my peak years ago and i've been on the decline ever since – but only by numbers alone! i'm more proud of my story than i've ever been, i'm more attached to my characters, i'm putting more love and thought into everything, but i had to be realistic with myself and understand that i'll never pull even half the notes i did in 2020. gone are the days when i would wake up to 3 new anons about my story and dms from people every day (i can't believe i used to get overwhelmed by it...) and i would be lying if i said it didn't make me sad sometimes, because we're humans and our brains are practically wired to crave the hit of happy chemicals you get from seeing the stupid number go up 😭 it does feel demotivating. it makes me feel less urgency to post quicker if i convince myself that no one is waiting for me anyway, which means i post less, which means even less people stick around, which makes me post less, and on and on. it's a tough thing for me to come to terms with in all honesty.

but it helps to remember that i would be writing even if no one is reading. and i know that, because i have! i've written entire novel-length fics that i've never published, i've written countless short stories in the frozen pines universe that i'll never post, i've created alternate universes that will never be shown, etc. i do it because the idea is in my head and it needs to Get Out and i'm kinda just a conduit for that. that might not apply to you, and that's okay! everyone is different. the important thing is to really sit down and think about WHY you write and what you get out of it. which part of the process makes you happiest? what makes you feel a sense of fulfillment / satisfaction? play to your strengths. try not to spend your time doing things you think other people will enjoy and instead, spend more time on the things that make you happy. for me, i haaaaate editing and i always have, so lately i've been trying to speed through it a little bit quicker even if it means the final product won't be as appealing to others. (this is still a work in progress for me...) i have more fun when i experiment with different writing styles, which might not appeal to others because it takes longer and i don't really have a recognizable style, but i don't care anymore because i'm having fun! ask yourself what YOU want from your story, and then write for yourself and only yourself.

essentially what i'm saying is: there will ALWAYS be people more popular than you, and there's no guarantee that when you find the popularity you seek, you'll be able to keep it. so you need to find some sort of intrinsic motivation to continue or you'll just keep comparing yourself to others forever and you'll deny yourself the joy of creation! "comparison is the thief of joy" could not be more true!!

#this might be the most honest i've been lmao #i guess i've been thinking about it more after i posted a poll a while ago asking about something that happened in a story post #one of the options was ''i don't read your story i just wanted to click a button'' and so many people clicked that #not to be dramatic it just sort of feels like a gut punch when you realize that even the likes you DO get aren't all from readers #they're from people who want to click a button / show support / wish they had time to read but can't / etc #and like. of course!! i'm not a hypocrite - i like story posts without reading them too because we only have so much time in a day #but ever since then i've been trying to just say fuck it. i'm here for ME #i literally put my simself into my story because idgaf anymore. i've found my reason for writing and it isn't notes or engagement #those are awesome and i will always be grateful when i do get those things #but it's not my reason for being here anymore #lowkey i'm here because my story saved my life but that's not an easy thing to explain in an advice question fskjdsjd #asks #anonymous #nonsims #brandi answers

[mercy-misrule]

I wanted to briefly elaborate on why I'm pro Louis being a brothel and casino owner in the new series vs a plantation owner in the book.

there's the obvs, i don't want to see slavery in my vampire series, and like i said in my original post, once we move past them living there, its just not relevant or even spoken about in the series again, and I think that's a big failing of the narrative, because something so huge should be relevant! shouldn't just be flavour text! especially when every other focus character has their human life be relevant.

so why do i think this particular switch up is better? because no matter what, Louis money should come from the exploitation of others.

It is a cornerstone of Louis' character that he's a hypocrite. Just like it is for Lestat. They aren't good people, these aren't stories about good people. If that's what you need from your fiction you won't find it here.

The vampire as a drain on life, on converting suffering to power, the power imbalance is replicated over and over in different ways in the VC books

It's both metaphor and reality.

But also, the series is fallible, of course, huge flaws and missteps. The point of a good adaptation is to see the skeleton of a text, to see the broad themes and see how they can be represented in a different medium, how the same fundamental story can be told, even with huge changes.

Take my favourite show of all time, Hannibal. Huge departures from the original text, but it takes its source material and elevates and innovates.

Or my current obsession, Kinnporsche. It takes story beats but the characters were hugely altered and fleshed out and the story now plays out around these new interpretations and its wonderful.

And I could see people being like oh hannibal and kinnporsche's source material had some truly gross stuff, the adaptations not including it or altering it was a great idea!

You think that the vamp chrons are free of that? I'm not talking about the existence of slavery being in the books, that's real history.

But there's shitty stuff about rape apologism, ableism, the way Anne describes any person of colour, the truly dumb 'vampires get whiter as they are older and more powerful'. Anne that's truly a garbage piece of world building. Anne, you didn't need to do that.

The best thing the movie of queen of the damned did was cast Aaliyah and not whiten her. It was right, she was magnificent.

I think good adaptations should be brave, should make changes. It should challenge the audience, it should be accessible for new fans, it should surprise long term fans.

This is why I am pro the proffesion change in the amc iwtv series. This, and the interviews (lol) that i have seen and read from the cast and writers make me believe they will present a story true to the core of the narrative even as they are re-interpreting it.

Also, and this is just me swinging for the rafters but I hope they wildly vary from the story in any potential new series after this, and add a lot more Louis content. My constant gripe with the series, since 1997, when i first read the books, is that Louis gets sidelined and without him Lestat doesn't have a strong narrative foil. Please. I'm craving that epic divorce guys energy

#interview with the vampire #iwtv #vampire chronicles #vamp chron #lmao 'briefly' #i got alotta opinions

[paramorearchived]

January 27, 2011

Transcript:

bible belt.

 can't believe i'm gonna post about faith. 

but it's all that's been on my mind lately. and i think, just with my blog and with a few people here, it's come up enough times to dedicate a little more time to. i'll start by saying this... i never thought it could get any harder to live in the south, be a Christian, and do what we do. but lately, it has. and i'll finish starting by saying another thing... this post is about as personal as i could possibly get with all of you. to me, this subject matter is like ripping off a bandaid... or super gluing your lips together and then tearing them apart. (jeremy had a friend do that once, how bloody does that sound?)

disclaimer: i realize that only a few of you here share the same faith as me, so you'll have to read this all like it's my totally private diary. like i'm writing it just for my own eyes. and also, i am not using this entry as a way to make you "see the light" and start believing whatever I do. in fact, this is almost the opposite. 

so here are the basics: Christians are supposed to love everyone. we are supposed to be a clear representation of God's heart for humankind. without quoting scripture and getting myself into a storm, it's easy to see when reading the Bible - particularly the New Testament - that God's desire for his creation is love. that's a broad statement but hopefully you follow. sure bad things happen, life happens... but in the end, there's grace. there's love. and at least to me, that's God. 

so if Jesus walked the earth, showing grace to everyone, hanging out with "sinners" and even being condemned for it, all in the name of love...what's so hard to understand that as Christians, we should strive to do the same? i mean, duh, as a human being living amongst other human beings, i'm not expecting perfection.. but that's just the point. Jesus didn't expect perfection from us so why do we expect it from one another? why is it that Christians are known for being the exact opposite of how it was written that Jesus lived his life? why are we known as a bunch of hypocrites? i'm getting tired of the representation we've got out there. seems like the only Christians that speak up are the crazies. and i guess that's why i'm so not into talking about all of this all the time. i don't wanna be one more name you can add to that list.

the million dollar question that i'm wrestling with lately is this: what's the difference between someone who says they're a Christian but shows no love and someone who has nothing to do with God but shows love? who would you rather be around? ... that's what i thought! 

ugh, so i know i'm rambling and rambling. unfortunately i don't think i have a total point for all of this. i'm not expecting anyone to have an epiphany about what i've typed up. just so angry lately at people who make believing in God look like hate. figured that you guys would understand because i bet you all might have your own stories of condemnation and harsh judgement. i call those stories "playing god moments" - only call them that to myself of course to avoid seeming ridiculously narcissistic! but now you know, so if you have a "playing god moment", please share it if you can. 

and you know, maybe my point is that whether or not it goes down in history, i just want to be able to be known not for being "a Christian" but for being someone that tried to be real with people. sure, i'm not happy all the time. that's not what having faith is about anyways. i just want to know that i loved people right. or as well as i could. i really believe with everything in me God would actually be pleased with just that. and before i end this, i just want to say that i hope none of this comes off as self righteous. that would bum me out so hard cause that's exactly what i'm trying to speak out against.  okay, so i'm going to quote one verse - 1 Corinthians 13:13 "Three things remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." 

thanks for reading this one. i'm sure it was confusing - and i didn't even proofread :/  love, hayley

#paramore #hayley williams #2011 #livejournal

[thechaseofspades]

✍️🐇💘

✍️ What’s your ideal writing setup?

(Got this question on another post but I'll answer differently on both because why not)

I always write on my chromebook. Tab 1 is the document with the story on it. Tab 2 is the document with my ideas and notes. Tab 3 is youtube playing the designated playlist or song for the fic/chapter. Tab 4 is typically on the Ducktales wiki. Tab 5 is a fresh tab for me to type words into the search bar to spell check them but not actually hit enter because I don't want my search history to just be a list of words I was not confident in my spelling of so I just have to trust that the autofill had my back on that one.

As for the music, I make playlists for my multi-chapter fics. And then obviously the OMAM one(s) I end up listening to the album(s) while writing. As for Dream(s), I think I literally did just listen to Dreams by Fleetwood Mac because I really like that song. I used to go to sleep to it.

🐇 Do you write for yourself, for others, or both?

I've never really thought about it as one or the other. I guess it's more writing for myself than not. I'm of the mindset that I'll just write what I want to write and if people like it and read it or maybe even don't then that's cool. Not that I'm immune to the almighty numbers of course, but I don't think I'll ever write a story without wanting to do it if that makes sense. Like I'm not writing Beneath the Skin just because My Head is an Animal was well-received. It's because I personally wanted to continue the story, and also it helps that it got good feedback.

And also it's probably a psychological fact or whatever that when people get good feedback, it makes them feel better about the work they did. And getting that validation is pretty neat. But that's what posting on tumblr is for. I like to think I hold the actual writing I do to a higher standard than my silly hellsite posts.

💘 Is it easier to write angst or fluff?

I have a love/hate relationship with angst. Or should I call it a hurt/comfort relationship? Idk, words are weird.

I'm a huge hypocrite when it comes to this kind of stuff. I'll look at an angsty story or post and think "gosh that's awfully angsty for a disney kids show about the funny ducks" and decide that's not what I'm into because I like seeing my favorite characters be happy all the time forever like they deserve.

But then when I go to write my own stuff, it does get pretty angsty. I don't even realize it when I write it, because that's just where it ends up naturally. So in that regard it really is easier to do angst just in the sense that the conflict/plot/themes/reasons-for-the-story-to-exist are easier to come by.

On the other hand I've struggled lately writing because I don't want to get too angsty. I've already written some pretty tough stuff in my opinion, but I just don't want it to get too wrapped up in that to where I miss the point of writing the funny ducks. It's weird, and I'm working through it so hopefully it won't be a huge issue.

Basically, an ideal world would let me write the fluffiest fluff ever. But my insistence on there being a compelling narrative and character exploration makes angst so much more natural to write in service of that. I think that was my point? Idk

Thanks for the ask!!

#that's a lot of words #but hey i'm a writer doing a writer ask so idk what you expected otherwise #fanfic writer ask game #ask game

[shiro-sideblog]

About your post on what cards to get, dia, tickets etc.:

Keep playing. And don't worry if you can't max all the cards you want to immediately, the items and tickets tend to accumulate when you're not looking. :D And use your audition scout tickets for more exp tickets. And you in a Society in-game? The society shop has 10 gold exp tickets weekly (but prioritize unlocking score boosts).

I know it's difficult to skip cards you'd like to have but try to think of the ones you *really* want. At least I like just looking at the event/card timeline and planning and daydreaming, hehe. Collecting Memorial Coins is slooow but it feels so good when you're finally able to get the card you wanted. Getting event cards and skipping gacha is more cost-effective, not only because gacha is luck, but event cards take a year to arrive to Memorial Shop and gacha cards only three months until they are in general pool. That doesn't guarantee anything of course but there's a chance every time you pull at least.

I'd imagine we'd get 100 whistles for SS Finals. And having event songs boosts the points (but 5* cards start from 3.5 mil unlike regular tours). But the event requires time. Do you know its structure? It has two tour maps (21 days) which means two bonus 5*s (one for fine, one for Eden). If you pick Tori and Hiyori as bonuses, you have to grind 4.2 mil points (Eichi is at 3.5 mil and Nagisa at 4.2 mil). There is a dia calculator (it's for JP, so result dia needs to be multiplied with 10): https://s-asakoto.github.io/es-calc/music.html?lang=en

Unfortunately there's no get rich quick scheme but besides dailies, be sure to play every song on every difficulty (if you're not good on higher difficulties, you can still get something), check the song missions in Main Story (you can chip them away little by little if you don't have strong enough original teams for later ones), be sure to always at least unlock the stories when they are open to read to get the dia... and don't miss logging in on character birthdays. And there are Christmas and New Year campaigns soon which means stuff. \^o^/

If you are ever able to use little money, use it for the VIP I (5$ monthly pass) that's most worth your money and has the godly 30 max BP.

Try to stay strong for the cards you really want. Ahaha, I'm very hypocritical for saying this at this point because I like too many characters and am a collector but I'm rooting for you! HappyEle is very mean for putting fine and Eden back to back, it was the same with Tempest and Conquest! D: That's why I didn't get Conquest Hiyori but I'm only two Memorial Coins short now. (Later I've surrendered my bank account to HappyEle...)

Don't worry, it's ok to feel fomo/sad not getting your fave pngs but hey, at least there are goals to work towards.

Ahhh thank you so much for putting the effort to tell me all this. I really appreciate it!

Sometimes it's a bit frustrating when I can max all the cards I want, but I will keep playing to get more tickets. Also, I'll try to check out the society shop. It's really helpful. Thank you!

This part was a bit confusing and I'm glad you explained that to me. I'm talking about the gacha cards and all. I looked everywhere for some tips and all, but mostly people were saying I must pull for the bonus cards to be able to get 3 500 000pt. So even without pulling for the bonus cards I can still get the 5* cards, I see... I didn't know that haha.

I think yeah... HappyEle is really mean when putting fine and Eden back to back. I still don't have Tempest Wataru and Conquest Hiyori because I didn't play the game back then, the same goes for fist of Idol: Togenkyo Yuzuru and Tori... sigh... But... my goal for now is to get Bogie Time Ibara haha... I hate that I didn't play any of these events... Wish I found out about Enstars earlier... I know how it feels to get any card after saving the memorial coins, I couldn't even explain how happy I was when I got my Tempest Eichi! :D

But this time I think HappyEle went crazy... I'm talking about Getto Spectacle 5* Hiyori [I don't have him...], Sanctuary fine/5* Wataru, and now Solid Eden/5* Jun...

I always a little envied people who were able to only choose one unit or character... I love them all so much...

I don't really talk about my beloved Akatsuki or Undead coming after Eden event... I'm glad that there are no Valkyrie or Alkaloid events in the near future...

When I first heard about SS finals and that there would be four 5* cards I got scared... Also thank you for telling me the structure I didn't know much about it. Ah... 4.2 million pt is too much, but I already know I have to work hard until it will happen and save as many dias as possible for this because I'm sure it's worth it. Also, I love these cards so much and both songs are literally everything to me.

When it comes to playing the songs on each difficulty I might be only able to play the hard mode and not always... I can't play the expert mode... sigh I at least will keep playing on normal mode and hard mode. Yeah, I still have to read SS stories as I only read Secret Service and Sanctuary before, and need to reread them on Enstars. I already read Sattelite and got some dias. Thanks to those stories being longer than the other ones I can get much more dias. Ah, it also reminds me that Ibara's birthday event is coming so it means dias haha XD. I wanted to try to pull for his FS1 card, but I should ignore it and just keep saving dias. Sometimes it's really tempting not to pull on their birthdays, I also had a hard time with Shu and Kaoru not pulling for them...

Hahaha, I'm glad I'm not the only one who likes too many characters. Thank you for all this, it helped me a lot and I will be also rooting for you! Hope you'll also be able to get all the cards you want in the future!

#shiro replies

[candlelightreader]

Wow ok I just read through some of what you said about Castle and I feel like we watched a completely different show. First of all, Andrew Marlowe created this series and made something amazing. It would not exist without him. Also, him and his wife Terri left in season 7. I believe this is because they did not like the direction the show was headed in- as in Nathan Fillion wanting to continue the show without Stana Katic. It was a love story and you can see in seasons 7/8 they are already preparing to kick her out. It would not have survived with out Kate/Stana so fans rallied to have the show cancelled. They were actually supposed to get married in season 6 but Nathan suggested the plot where he has the crash and goes missing (which I hated). As far as Kate show glimpses of different versions of herself, she is at work and being a professional, the glimpses we see of how she once was or who she can be is not unheard of. Everybody has contradicting traits and we are all hypocrites in some way. This show was very good at writing these characters realistically. And I thought the writers did amazing! Especially toward the end when Nathan and Stana didn’t want to even speak unless they were filming a scene, I thought they did a great job still giving us great stories and Caskett scenes. But I will say the first 5 seasons were my favorite. And honestly the show could totally be watched without the last season since season 7 ends without a cliff hanger. Season 8 pisses me off because I know what they’re doing. I cannot stand the fact that these people are supposed to be here to tell a story and yet they are more concerned with keeping Nathan happy since he pulls in a big audience. I get that that’s how it works but don’t destroy a beautiful story in the meantime. 😡

Trying to remember what I wrote and I think I had very conflicted views after my first watch that may have come across as heavily critical... Is that what you're referring to? Cause I actually loved the show. I just had a thought or 15 on elements I felt could've gone better. :)

I completely agree with your take and hated everything after the melodrama of the Great Disappearance. And Fillion was responsible? Of course. What a waste of time. And I only looked up the bts mess after I'd watched it (and after writing my rant) and feel so sad for Stana Katic and fans that things went down the way it did. Like with X-Files, I understand the leads would end up rubbing each other the wrong way after so long. I imagine they spent longer with each other than with their family or partners on such a show. But unlike with X-Files, Fillion had considerable power over her and used it? What seems to have happened to Katic is just tragic and I seem to have heard that Quinn (Alexis Castle) is alleged to have been of the opinion that since the show was 'Castle', anyone else was expendable (and one could read it as a jab at Katic, which fans seemed to have done). Another sad point.

I would have loved to see them explore their couple without trying to blow them up the minute they got together. Cause you're right. Caskett moment post S5 are really nice. I truly chuck that to the writing room not knowing how to write happy couples in dramas (and frankly this was also a comedy--dramedy?). It always seems weird to me that shows need to end once they get together, when there are entire shows build around couples which go on forever. Yes, those tend to be sitcoms, but they do indicate there is a formula to keeping a settled couple fresh, just as there is one to keeping the chase fresh. And as you say, anon, the first 5 seasons were really good (and I also love them) because the show was ultimately a love story.

Didn't know about the creators basically fleeing. I do like Nathan Fillion (or think I do) but the more I find out he worked on a lot of Joss Whedon projects, the more I'm disappointed. There is something to be said for the company you keep... Not alleging anything, but could speak to character.

I also keep reading a lot about how the souring between K and F may be because they dated early on, then cut it off, then she went back to her longtime ex (pre-F), etc. Whatever it is, seemed nasty and seems to have unfairly disadvantaged her professionally.

Anyway, I rambled. I think you were responding to me critiquing the lack of continuity. Everybody will have an opinion, I guess and that was my raw one. I loved this show and rewatched it again right away before it was removed from Prime (though second time around I deliberately skipped the start of S8 and ended up not finishing it the season). Shame they let it fall off a cliff after it did well so long. But even the best falter, eh?

#caskett #castle abc #richard castle #kate beckett #behind the scenes dramas ruin good shows and that is inevitable and sad #not the first show to have an unsatisfactory ending #but shout out to fans for having ralied and got us that epilogue instead of whatever they planned to do without Beckett in S9

[lavendersage]

i saw that post from the girl who's girlfriend isn't quite ready to be out. if ur blog didnt seem to celebrate love of all kinds (and i'm not talking straight vs gay, i'm talking happy vs sad) i would have kept this to myself, but between ur response and the op's story itself, i think im going to take this chance of sharing a burden on my heart, maybe to help someone else, or just for the shot at becoming at peace with it. a couple weeks ago, when u asked for everyone to send u stories of their lovers, i wrote most of this out but didnt send it.

i (21F) am a college student (god, is this reddit?). my entire life, i have cultivated the cleanest good girl image that i could. my parents sacrificed so much for my sister and i to grow up far more comfortable then they did, so i have tried to honor them with a little golden child they could brag about. straight As, never missed school, did community service, perfect SATs. i worked tirelessly to be on-paper perfect.

one of the reasons i've worked so hard to earn Good Noodle Stars is to make up for the fact that i am terminally homosexual. i realized real early that i could literally cure cancer and the first comment on the news video will be, "okay, she cured cancer, but at least I'm not gay like she is." i could raise thousands for charity, and my aunts would still say, "our kids may not get off the couch but at least they have sex correctly." so they dont know. few people do, none outside my closest circle.

in walks Mars(21NB). Mars is an anachronism. they are both a romantic with and without a capital R. be still my Dark Academia heart.

we got very close before school broke for Covid. Mars wrote me a letter every other week, encrypted and folded so that the only way to open them was to rip a paper seam that would show if someone had tampered with it. it was intoxicating. it was the first time i felt able to communicate freely about anything. i dont know - i didnt hold back my emotions, emboldened by writing in cipher. i spent all summer waiting for those red sealed envelopes, filled with stories and poetry and honeyed nonsense, and i refused to not respond with mirrored passion.

it was all great until it set in that I was going to have to face Mars again, in person. i prayed our school would decide all students had to stay remote. of course I wanted to see Mars, i want to do much more than just see them, but i knew it would only be a matter of time between us being reunited and them asking me out.

this was a person who crafted a puzzle where the answers were flowers that were a declaration of fidelity in Victorian Flower Language. of course i ate that up with a spoon. u would have too. listen, i know all aesthetics are fads and all fads age badly, but if the cottagecore girls get to learn to sew and bake and grow, i owe dark academia for teaching me the vocabulary and actions of my most treasured relationship yet, and giving me permission to be earnest and vulnerable in this life for 10 goddamn minutes. Mars is handsome and a genius and i was not used to feeling connected to anyone. but for all that joy, i was also drowning with the thought of having to break their heart by explaining i cant date anyone AFAB.

so the semester starts. Mars asks me over for a homecooked meal since restaurants don't exist here at the end of the world. they made me a beautiful dinner with all my dietary needs in mind. just like everything else i ate it up. and i made no effort to stop them from inviting me over for food and conversation again and again and a fourth time just to make sure it really hurt.

they kissed me after the last dinner. and I kissed them back, before stopping. they apologized for moving too quickly, but i explained that they had moved at the perfect pace, just with the wrong person.

there is no nice ending to this. it's real life. Mars took it as a breakup and didnt reach out to me again. i sobbed from halloween to christmas, i swear. i'm the villain in this story.

i started this post off as a sign of solidarity to the other young lady, but now im realizing that this letter would be better read by her fearful beloved, not her. it is 4am where i live, so i apologize if this has all gotten away from me.

love is a garden u have to water yourself. ngl, my favorite part about this blog is all the posts about learning to love yourself, learning to see ur intrinsic value dispite the core facets of u that have been deemed flaws, and trust the relationship between me, myself, and i.

i started out telling myself i was writing this to help the high school kid, but i havent shared this with anyone. writing this out has helped me process a thing or two, or at least start to. i like this idea of lavendersage being a kindly cryptid who will alchemise ur heartache into calm.

i hope you dont mind if i try to make this a thing.

my story is in the shape of a love letter. its tearstained before it even hits the water. i drop it in your river and watch it float away.

y’all are breaking my heart with these stories this week 🤧i feel so sad to read them and so helpless to respond, because i know how deep that pain must run and i don’t know if there’s truly anything i could say or do to take it away. but if i can lessen it from 100 to 99, well, then i’ll have fulfilled my goal of existing on this website. at the very least, i’m glad that writing this message helped you process some things on your own, but i’m happy to share my thoughts anyway.

your mars sounds like a top tier human being. victorian flower language? i’m swooning. it’s no surprise to me that you fell for them, and they were clearly head over heels for you. folks don’t make grand gestures like that for just anyone, that’s for sure 🥺

and i’m very sad to hear about the way things ended. but, anon, i can’t help but wonder if it is indeed over, or if hope exists on the precipice of a great act of bravery performed by you--something i know from experience is much easier said than done, and something i’ve failed to do in the past, so i’m not trying to be a hypocrite here. the ball is definitely in your court, though.

also...it doesn’t sit well with me to hear you call yourself a villain. i understand why you see it that way, as it’s clear that you deeply care for this person. but for many folks...the fear of what our family will say or think or do weighs so heavily on us that it robs us of any possibility of happiness with someone who isn’t the kind of person our family wants us to end up with. i’m sure plenty of folks, myself included, can empathize with this. and i’m sure on some level, mars does too.

my love, as with all things, i hope whatever happens next works out for the best, and that you don’t let this experience darken your heart. if things change between you and mars, please feel free to drop me a note. i’ll always be here to listen 💚💚💚`

#asks #Anonymous

[edwardashley]

hey!i was just wondering what you meant by "antis" in your tags on that last post, since I've only ever seen that term used to mean like, "anti pedophilia / incest" & wasn't sure if I'm missing something

thanks for the ask. generally I use the terms “anti” and “proshipping” just as thats how i’ve seen others talk abt the two groups, the first being more specifically, ppl who believe that dark content shouldn’t exist in fandom spaces. although i concede i dont know if theres an intergroup term for this group of ppl. i am in the latter camp, the proshipping camp, believing that ALL content should be permitted on ao3/etc. and its not our job to police others.

let me explain further my reasoning for this.

Pedophilic or incest stories are taboo subjects, but the stories themselves on principle are not bad STORIES. Narratives about taboo have existed for centuries, they’re the foundation of numerous mythologies around the world, as well as staples of popular culture from books to theater to prime-time tv to Oscar winning movies. In the same way that people love horror stories there is a fascination with these topics that runs through society.

The point of that post (that I agree with) is that media has always had horrendous and dark and taboo topics/themes and that its a bit hypocritical that ppl who decry pedophilia or incest literally ignore things like extreme violence that exists in media when it suits them. Some violent media HAS influenced real life ppl but we don’t censor that. Overall, you can’t regulate and censor media b/c everyone’s concept of what is palpable to them is different and b/c the grand majority of ppl have..... common fucking sense and can tell fact/fiction. Is there a way that media can “normalize” something bad? Absolutely. But the way to counter that is to build a culture that enforces it as a taboo IRL not to police it, b/c in going to destroy you can sweep pieces of human expression in the process. But that’s why we have TAGS and WARNINGS on things! I completely understand why ppl would not want to see content like that where as I would be willing to read it if done right, i want to see a writer or artist or film/tv director explore the trauma and/or motivations of people who engage in these taboo subjects and/or how that taboo would fit into the greater world.

“But some ppl just do it for the thrill and/or to get off to” you may add onto this and again I say. You’re not going to excise human curiosity by getting rid of this stuff, there’s always gonna be ppl out there who wonder/think about taboo subjects. Having a space where they can explore that in art/fiction allows that curiosity to run its course without bringing it into the broader world, where again, if we as a society establish social norms, most ppl know what is acceptable and what isn’t.

to finalize your question. the term “anti” isn’t great in the way your describe it b/c it implies a us (normal, anti-pedophilia/incest) vs them (ppl who LIKE pedophililia/incest) mentality whcis isnt 100% true to reality, but its all i’ve seen used so i don’t know what other terms to use

#sorry for the essay lmao

[theenjoninecollective]

Hey, I'm just asking this out of interest because I want to understand other people's thoughts. So I don't mean to be rude or anything, ship whatever you want. But why did you choose to ship enjonine over enjoltaire, as the later is such a popular one?

Mod @viridescentlights 

Is this your way of flirting, hmm? If it was, it’s not working the way you want it. That aside, you say you want to understand and that it’s out of interest, but if it was, why the question at the end? That’s downright condescending. Simply put, your ask never meant to respect our opinions, in the end. In what way does this benefit you at all, hmm? I ask this because the timing of this ask, though given in January, is suspect. Fandom activity in Les Mis has been quite low, but it always has been given the fluctuating interest of people towards it. Furthermore, there are different factions in the group, and I’ve observed that your group is very active. So why bother us, when your group has enough fan art, fanfic, and whatnot? We’re busy enjoying on our own. It does not matter if it’s popular because that is our interest. Unless you want another fic war because you’re bored? Pfft. You could’ve asked in a better way, you know? We could’ve organized a sort of fic exchange and whatnot! Instead you go ride on your high horse and be demeaning. It’s annoying already. 

So, if you want an exchange, just let us know, mate. It’s not that hard to do. Plus, it’s fun. I’ve been able to do one with a good friend who ships enjoltaire. Why destroy when we can make art, mate? Let this be our enemies-to-friends-to-maybe-partners story, yeah? Haha. But seriously. Do not do this rude ask again. 

Anyway, I’ll let my friend do the nuanced discussion. Ta. 

Mod @decembersiris: 

Just because a ship is popular that does not mean I’m going to ship it. Often times now most of my ships are not the popular ones because in the fandoms I am in, the more popular ones end up being really toxic, I have found. And this includes Les Miserables and the enjoltaire ship as well.

Why I don’t ship enjoltaire: the ship itself

I have watched the musical and read the book. I have also watched multiple films and TV series such as the 2012 movie and the French 2000 miniseries. Of course there are more out there and more that I have watched but I’m not going to go into detail, because the point is that I am well reversed in the mediums of the story itself. And in all that I have watched and the book that I have read, the ship does not appeal to me. In the book, it is explicitly said that Enjolras hates Grantaire. And that immediately puts me off against the ship because why would I ship a couple where one of them completely hates the partner. That does not tickle my fancy, regardless if Grantaire loves him. I understand that there are multiple Greek references to homosexual couples to represent Enjolras and Grantaire, but frankly, I don’t care. And I’m allowed to not care. For me, just because there is symbolism, that does not mean the ship is without a doubt canon.  Because as Hugo wrote, regardless of the symbolism, Enjolras hates him.

As some enjoltaire shippers throw at enjonine shippers, that we are homophobic because it is written in the book Enjolras has not interest in women. Yep, I understand that that is there. However the way Hugo shapes this information leaves a lot to be interpreted. Enjolras may not be interested in women RIGHT NOW because he’s so focused on his revolution. That is very possible and very real, that he may not want to establish a relationship because he knows what is at risk, that pursuing a relationship will only lead to further tragedy because he knows what he is doing is putting his life at risk. The way I interpret this sentence though is that he is not interested right now because of the revolution and also because Enjolras, to me, is asexual. Just because he isn’t interested in women DOES NOT MEAN (and many enjoltaire shippers willfully ignore this point) he is interested in men. Enjolras could very well be asexual and not interested in anyone at all.

As for the musical, I appreciate the friends dynamic and I enjoy the interactions they have. But for me, that is not enough for me to ship them. Often times friendships and especially male friendships are default labeled as homosexual which to me is erasure of genuine male friendships which isn’t right. So I appreciate the friendship between them, but that isn’t enough for me to ship them.

Why I don’t ship enjoltaire: the shippers

A huge reason I do not ship enjoltaire has to do with the shippers. At first I could tolerate the shippers but as they became more and more harassing of pretty much the smallest ship in the Les Mis fandom, I began to get pretty frustrated with them. Which resulted in my hatred of the ship as well. Granted, not all enjoltaire shippers are intolerant fucks, but a lot love to overstep their boundaries. They, for some reason, cannot stay in their lane, and continuously harass enjonine shippers and infiltrate the enjonine tag with their bullshit. It’s almost as if they’re so insecure because not everyone ride or dies with their ship that they have to go and ridicule the enjonine shippers. And they frame in the guise of “enjonine shippers are homophobes!” and cry about it in our tag. Calling us homophobes just because we don’t ship their ship is incredibly ludicrous because shipping is FUN and HARMLESS. I don’t care what you ship as long as you stay in your lane and don’t try to force your ship onto others! Those who can’t differentiate between real life and fiction and real life and shipping need to take a step back and reevaluate their lives.

I think it’s funny because many enjoltaire shippers call us queer erasure in an attempt to come off as “woke” which is quite hypocritical on their part because they know that many of us enjonine shippers either view Enjolras as bisexual or asexual. For them to call us that, to me, shows just how ignorant and pigheaded they are; they are fake woke, bashing us for not believing what they do when people are allowed to have different opinions. They’re the ones blatantly ignoring the possibility that Enjolras is asexual or bisexual or even both which, I could turn onto them and call them acephobes and biphobes. But I don’t go to their tag and post a plethora of reason as to why I hate enjoltaire and call them acephobes and biphobes.

Regardless of whether or not enjoltaire is implied in the text, that does not mean I have to ship it either! The ship does not appeal to me. Even if they frickin kissed in canon, the ship would not appeal to me. Victor Hugo could rise from the grave and scream that Enjolras and Grantaire fucked and I would not care. I would not ship them because I don’t like them! For some reason, enjoltaire shippers have their heads so far up their asses, demanding we ship their ship because it’s “canon” through symbolism. They critique us for “not have comprehension skills of the book” but guess what, there are so many people who don’t ship canon! There is nothing wrong with that! And enjoltaire isn’t even confirmed as canon! As far as I’m concerned, it’s all headcanon because nothing confirms a solid relationship. Symbolism can be interpreted. The great thing about literature is that everything is up for interpretation and not everyone has to believe the same thing. There are so many ships out there that go against canon but for some reason enjoltaire shippers think they should get a free pass and everyone needs to ship their ship because their ship is homosexual. But that’s not how fandoms work. Enjoltaire shippers do not have the  right to ridicule enjonine or any other ship just because they think they’re more woke than others for shipping a gay couple.

There was a point where I came close to multishipping Enjolras with Grantaire as well as with Éponine but that concept sank so quick. It’s because of intolerable enjoltaire shippers that I refuse to ship Enjolras with Grantaire and ship him with Éponine even harder.

Why I ship enjonine

In all the different mediums of consuming Les Miserables, I always found myself absolutely adoring Éponine and that’s because I found myself relating to her more than any other character in Les Mis. She is an endearing character with many flaws, feelings, and complexities about her. When I actively found myself liking a character, I’m most likely going to find a ship for that character because I want my characters to be happy and paired. I was also drawn to Enjolras for the very reasons his friends are drawn to him. He’s inspiring, charismatic, and someone who has his flaws as well, who has done wrong for what he believes is right. Both characters are complex because of their beliefs and who they are and I adore them for that. Because of this I want them both to be happy and why not let them be happy together? Éponine could not be happy with Marius because Marius loved Cosette. She could find that happiness with Enjolras! Yep he might not be interested in women because he is focused on his revolution, but the beauty of fanfiction allows authors to tweak canon to suit their fantasies. And there is nothing wrong with that. That’s the whole purpose of fanfiction. The idea of having my two favorite characters get together makes me happy and anyone who thinks they can police my happiness can fuck right off. This ship has gotten me through some of the toughest times of my life and I’ll be damned if I let other peoples’ shitty and harmful opinions devalue that.

The fact that both of these characters have not interacted makes things even more interesting because of the potential they have! I also believe that if they had interacted, their dynamics would be very interesting to see unfold. Because they are both so headstrong and firm in their beliefs, it would make for such engaging fics and it has. I’ve read many enjonine fics and they are so well written and so fun to read because they feel so genuine and sincere to the characters that it makes me ship them even harder. While sparse, there is beautiful enjonine art out there and as a shipper, it makes me giddy.

Not only that, I have met some very sweet and interesting people in the fandom. While very small, most enjonine shippers are so openhearted and encouraging and because of this ship I have met beautiful people made a few friends as well. They have been nothing but kind and have helped me grow as a writer. Because of them my love for enjonine is as strong as it is. While I may not actively participate in the fandom for now, enjonine is the hill I’ll die on. They are my otp because they have helped me through such hard times and as a result made me so happy. So what if I don’t have canon to validate them? So what if other people adamantly despise the ship? If they despise me too, fine by me. I don’t need that negativity and toxicity in my life. I’ll do me and ship what I please and that’s enjonine.

[cmykayleena]

cf-sims is thinking about deleting her profiles because of you. How does that make you feel? What you and your clique did to her after you banned her unfairly from your server is absolutely terrible. What cause do you have to attack her so hard for? The ban wasn't enough for you? I've reported your twitter and tumblr, and I'm not going to stop until you realize how wrong you are and how much you hurt her. Fuck you!!!

This is getting quite ridiculous. First let me say that I have the right to ban anyone from my server as I see fit. Second I will say that I am a pretty fair person and only ban when I absolutely have to. THIRD - she wasn’t banned because we disagreed with her opinion; she was banned for bashing the server - which, might I add, is against the rules of the server. Let’s get deep into this, because I’m getting fucking sick of this shit and the hate messages I have received for my decision to ban her. (I apologize to everyone who follows me who doesn’t want to see drama on their dashboard. I’m not one for drama so it severely upsets me that I have to make this post. However, this will be the ONLY post I make on this subject.)

Read on if you want, and I ask anyone who does to make your own judgement on this, because I’m not here to sway anyone from one side to another but it’s clear that both sides of the story need to be brought to the surface.

Thursday afternoon is when CF-Sims was banned from S4MM. It started with a member asking for opinions on whether or not it was okay to share CC in a zip folder when uploading a sim for others to download. The consensus was no and afterwards CF added her opinion which was the opposite of the majority. Here are the screenshots:

So in the next screenshot CF derails the subject in what some believe to be an attempt to question my rules. They believe she was preparing to call me out for being a hypocrite when it comes to swearing. I swear on my Tumblr but I don’t allow excessive swearing in my server.

At this point I’m tired of the subject interrupting the main channel and people’s conversations so I shut it down (plus I’m at work during this time and can’t really pull myself away).

Some time passes and I’m shown a tweet that CF posted a few hours after I shut down the debate on creator TOUs vs EA’s TOUs on CC.

So, she calls me a hypocrite because I curse on my Tumblr all the time but don’t allow it in my server. But let me correct her perspective: I curse all the time on Tumblr (all the time outside of the computer) and don’t allow excessive cursing in my server. It’s a place for all ages, therefor cursing should be to a minimum if it’s used at all. So I banned her with this message:

Admittedly I let my frustration get the best of me, and so the ban reason resulted in me mimicking her post on Twitter. We’re all human, and none of us are perfect. After this I thought it would be done and over with, but my sassy ban caused her to go on a tirade of sorts. In the screenshot below you’ll see her next tweet and the responses from some of the mods.

So she gets a few more replies from some of my moderators telling her why she was truly banned and she proceeds with another tweet.

After a couple more responses she deletes her three tweets:

She continues on in her replies to her followers who commented on her tweets calling us rabid dogs, children, and hypocrites all while being a hypocrite herself. I’m being shown all these tweets at this point and just hoping it all blows over. Some people act out when they’re moderated, some don’t. It’s just what you have to expect when you run and/or moderate a Discord server, no matter the size.

I’m not Twitter savvy, so these next screenshots I share may be out of order, sorry for that. (I’m also not blacking out the names of other people - not to rope them in and get them involved - but because anyone can get on Twitter and see these replies. They’re all public.

Name calling and judgement I’m assuming is due to my ban message saying that other members are kind, respectful, and generally decent people. I mean, I’m not lying. 99% of the members in my server are great people! Of course there are going to be some bad eggs in the mix - it’s the internet, it’s inevitable. On to more screenshots.

Key points here: My mods are rabid dogs at this point. I apparently have a clique, and CF didn’t attack us for our views. Let’s pull up that original tweet.

And on we go.

In response to the reply at the top of the screenshot. Feel free to temporarily join my server and judge for yourself if it has a high school vibe. I basically have an open door policy. You don’t agree with something I do in my server, my mods, or how something is handled you can come to me and let me know and I will do everything I can to make sure we’re on equal ground. Now, in that last reply the controversial view is the thing she continues to ride out in this scenario. She thinks it’s fine to upload a zip file on all CC used on a sim or in a lot and share it while giving credit to the creator rather than just linking to all the CC. Kind of a shitty thing to do, but she’s got free speech and her actions and words speak for themselves.

She pretty much is petty at this point and going against the character I think SHE believes she has. At this point it’s pretty clear to me what her character is.

Yea.. she totally moved on. Here I am rolling my eyes very dramatically.

I don’t think I’ve ever given my true age - I’ve just said I’m an adult player. I’m 34, for the record. All my mods range from in their 20s to my age.

So she just goes on, responding to every person and repeating herself.

Are you looking at the timestamp of these tweets? Apparently she’s got plenty of time for this.

So Friday comes along and I decide to open Tumblr when I have some downtime at work.

At this point I’m getting pissed. Why? Because I let her have her little rant all over Twitter without getting involved. My moderators were amazing and stuck up for me without being asked - there really wasn’t a reason for me to get involved and continue this very petty and ridiculous drama. But here I am, with a hateful anon. So I turned off anon asks and deleted this one without replying.

So I take a look at CF’s Twitter and see this:

Now she’s truly spouting lies at this point because I literally told her that excessive cursing is not allowed while cursing isn’t prohibited. I mean, the proof is there in the screenshots! At this point she’s just… laying it on super thick and I’ve had it. I decide it’s time for me to get involved and set the record straight. If only it were that simple.

I don’t have many screenshots for this because I was focused on correcting her lies and even directly responding to people in her threads to make sure they see the truth and judge for themselves what’s right and what’s not. I retweet her deleted tweet first and respond with this. And from here I will leave you to do what the internet does best and dig as deep as you can and want to in these Twitter profiles.

Here’s mine, and here are my replies. A lot of my replies include screenshots of my rules to clarify the swearing and why she was banned without warning.Here are the replies to my ‘clique of rabid dogs’ that attacked her so aggressively before I finally started responding to her: 1, 2, 3, and 4.Here are CF-Sims’ replies.

Note that absolutely NONE of us harass her, none of us call her names, and none of us actually act like rabid dogs.Take this information and judge for yourself what you think is true and what’s not right. I’m not here to sway you one way or another, but to shed the PROPER light on the situation as a whole. 

This is my only post about this. Any anon hate will be deleted, any hate from alternate Tumblrs will be deleted. Yes I’m serious about a lawyer because I don’t put up with lies and slander. And yea… sorry I have to clog up your feeds with this bullshit drama.

#cmykay #cmykayleena #cf-sims #Caoimhe Faerydae #stupid fucking drama #sorry to clog your feeds with drama

[ijaws]

@iriswestsallen

Since you blocked me, I'll respond this way.

Did you literally read any of my post...? At all?

For those of you who are curious:

-‐--------

#1. If you ACTUALLY read what I said you will notice that I am PRO POC and Female Characters.

Do I think that there needs to be some sort of Diversity Quota or, more specifically, MORE POCs or Female characters? Not necessarily.

I don't choose the types of content I enjoy based on meaningless, superficial, aspects of a character. A person being Black, White, Asian, or Female doesn't really mean much to me. If I like the premise and the characters are cool, in depth, and interesting then I'd probably give it a chance.

With that being said, I don't see any problem whatsoever if there ARE more POC or Female based movies/etc. However, if the advertising or main point of a story IS a person's skin color or gender that ISN'T due to the film/series being a historical based movie, then I will most likely not watch it. It is either a propoganda piece or a movie that I feel wasn't targetting me/or piquing my interest. Example: Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, Mean Girls, Devil Wears Prada, Twilight, etc. (I mean... Twilight's Universe and take on Vampires was very unique and interesting to me but the films were... meh? They weren't bad.)

#2. Appropriation of established characters irks me. A lot. Clark Kent/Superman, Bruce Wayne/Batman, Mary Jane, Peter Parker/Spiderman, Hiemdall, Brunnhilde/Valkyrie, etc... Those are established characters and some are established entities of significant Culturue(s) in Europe... Just to name a few anyway. They were introduced as being White and Straight. Some were invented and worshipped, even now, as Dieities. I don't think any of those figures, as well as MAAAANY more, should be race, gender, or sexuality changed.... at all...

If you want a Black Spiderman you have Miles Morales. If you want an Asian Spiderwoman, you have Cindy Moon/Silk. If you want a Female Batman you have Katherine Kane/Batwoman. If you want a Black Flash you have Wallace West/Kid Flash. (His story is a bit complicated.)

You know what's even BETTER than being side versions of characters like Batman, Superman, Flash, Spiderman, etc.? Character's having their OWN identity.

Cyborg is not an side version of a White Character. Cyborg is his own hero. An ORIGINAL hero. Same thing as Static Shock, Black Lightning, Black Panther, Storm, Luke Cage, Blade, Misty Knight, Falcon, FUCKING SPAWN, Katana, Karma, Silver Samuri, Cassandra Cain, Doctor Light, BLADE, Brother Voodoo, etc.

All of those, too my knowledge, are all ORIGINAL characters. They weren't offshoots of White Characters, they weren't reinventions of White Characters, and they aren't token characters. They stand on their own. They don't NEED another White Hero to prop them up and they don't need to DEPEND on another White Hero to make them popular.

Miles is only popular becuase he's a Black Spiderman. (I mean... If he wasn't a Spiderman I honestly dunno if people would know him.) Batwoman is only popular because she's literally the Female version of Bruce Wayne.... (Again, if she wasn't called Batwoman I don't think many people would know her.)

Do you get my point?

Lastly, on this subject, my stance will always remain the same. If a character is introduced as Black, White, Asian, Straight, Gay, Female, Male, and so on, they STAY Black, White, Asian, Straight, Gay, Female, Male, etc. Race changing, Gender Bending, and Sexuality Shifting is not and should not be acceptable. Alternate Universes are one things, paradies are one thing, and all that are unique in those changes, but continuity is something that should be upheld...

You can't create an Indian Spiderman and call him Peter Parker... Peter Parker isn't Indian. Peter Parker isn't bi, or gay, or whatever else you add on to that. Peter is Straight. The same goes for other established characters. Cyborg isn't White. Blade isn't Gay. Mar-Vell isn't a woman. Do you see what I mean?

#3. Lastly, wanting to keep established White Characters as White is NOT racist!

Why?

Well.. Let ask you this:

Are Black People racist for wanting Black Characters to stay Black?

I'd say no. Of course not. They just want characters that were created to be like them and are part of their culture to STAY that way. It is NO different with White People and Peter Parker, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Mary Jane, Valkyrie, Hiemdall, and so on. They are a part of White Culture... How and why is it racist if we want them to STAY that way when Black people AREN'T racist for wanting THEIR characters to stay that way for them?

Does that not seem hypocritical? That there's a double standard at play?

"But Whitewashing is opression. When a Black Person is playing a White Role it is to help represent them and good for the children to see that."

So you're literally saying that Culturual Appropriation and Race-Washing is okay...

You know what would be better? Creating INDEPENDENT and ORIGINAL POC Roles/Characters that are UNIQUE without IMPEDING on ESTABLISHED CHARACTERS!

You want a Black, Asian, or whatever love interest for Spiderman? INVENT one. You want a Black love interest for The Flash? INVENT one. You want an important POC character in a movie? INVENT one...

That way you are not appropriating ANYTHING and are creating original, independent, characters.

Oh... and one last thing...

If you reblog a response to me, but block me before I can even give a response, then you are a coward... I'm sorry, but you are. Either say something to my face or don't say anything at all.

This is just a general statement. Not aimed at anyone. Buuut there it is.

#discourse #dc #dceu #dc comics #marvel #mcu #marvel comics #disney #ariel #iris west #poc #poc casting #whitewashing #unpopular opinion #chat with me #im open to discussions #racism #blocked

[purge-that-urge-rhackathon]

you're wonderful in every conceivable way, I love both your general blog content and tireless posting of your own creative content - I have literally read every single one of your borderlands fics like 100 times each. No pressure or guilt-trip intended, as a writer I fully appreciate the effort I'm asking of you, but also jsyk my heart will explode soonish without injection of chapter 11 of All Sales Final

AHAHAHAH ILU ANON

and thank you this does kind of light a fire under my butt ahaha xD Here’s my dilemma: i really want to start writing that chapter of All Sales Final, but i’m in the zone with Broken Bonds atm, and (like ya’ll reading both) i’m getting whiplash from fun/cool/neato!Jack and total dickhead!jack xD i can keep the stories separate in my head, but i dont want the train to run out of steam, so to say xD (also thank you for this moment to kind of like…talk about myself and general plans, to inform others about whats going on hahaha).

I am, however, at the point where I wanted both stories to be updated to the same chapter count (because i was writing both at the same time and wanted to update them at the same time too :D) SOOOO perhaps i’ll settle and do a big outline for Broken Bonds for me to faithfully follow (and keep myself in line) and also get All Sales Final content arranged the same way :D That way i might be able to stick to a schedule and motivation and script, so to speak xD

….i also though, honestly, dont know where im going with All Sales Final after the heat chapter(s?) so im a little concerned (i mean i know endgame, but yeah). Feedback with Broken Bonds has been awesome and detailed, so it’s helping me put more things/flesh more stuff out into that fic content wise, but All Sales Final hasn’t necessarily been the same in terms of that, and as i’ve said multiple times, i am a freakin’ talentless hack; i rely so hard on input to see what vibes/ideas are being picked up, and it helps me write faster when i need to get it out xD

SO i have the weekend off, maybe i can get some of that shit done :D I’m trying to run around getting house stuff done, i’m paying off my younger sister to help me clean out my car and organize my closet/watch my poor dying fish :( AND i need to do my taxes and also help her with hers. so im getting shit done, and maybe that can be it :D

Just an FYI to folks out there: i might end up doing a content dump with no tags again just to stay ahead on keeping this blog fresh and updated (and i like to expose everyone’s work as well, and i really havent had time to read fic which isnt fucking fair, thank you life xD) and i feel bad for not leaving any tagged comments (cuz theyre fun as hell to read and mean a LOT to content creators like myself) but i figure, this blog has a lot of followers, better to get the content out and exposed than sit on it and not, right? with my apologies for no fun tags, of course D: i know it’s hypocritical to bitch about tags and then not do it myself :/

—> I can reblog with tags and keep the blog’s heartbeat normal, or leave it fallow until i content-dump, and write fic. But i can’t do both, I just don’t have the time, it takes hours to write an update. Think an hour per 1k/2 pages.

And it does get discouraging sometimes, the lack of tasty feedback for the hours put in that could be spent doing taxes/laundry/fixing my car/sleeping.

So…thats my dilemma ahahaha xD

#poisonjack answers #thanks for the opportunity to vent(?)/say whats going on back here anon! XD #also really you're too sweet this is just such a nice nice thing to get :3 ill be looking at it a lot this week :D <3 XOXO youre a peach #i like knowing my general bullshit content is fun for yall and its not like...intrusive or something hahahah

[wigglecoin]

Hey these are some object ocs i have for a little show I’m thinking of! i have a lot so i will put some details about who they are under a read more!

ok so there are three photos here (as you can see) and i will start with the first (I’m sorry its so long)

Teams photo, blue team:                                                                                      this photo is also split into three parts so i will go one by one in this too

Sequin: sequin is a pretty arrogant character, who doesn’t actually do much for the team and rarely participates (before being nagged about it of course but even then not that much) he does have a friend (and alliance member) JoyBuzzer they both goof off together almost constantly. He thinks he is incredibly lovable and is flirty a lot of the time but never gets flirts, who knows how he would react to that ;) (me,i know,he gets flustered 9000)  and anyway all n all he's pretty oblivious about most things actually. ignorance is bliss i guess, he's also pretty narcissistic.

JB/JoyBuzzer: JB is a character who makes kinda dark humor/anti humor on the show (ex: why did Gram cracker fall of the swing? Cause she didn’t have any arms.) he’s also a pretty strong character I wouldn’t want to mess with. He is friends (and allies) with sequin and doesn’t really help him keep with the challenge as the two are usually off to talk about whatever. Sequin seems to be the character he cares most about and actually is a good pal to him, with other people however it’s a different story he sometimes will be at best apathetic about them/their feelings and at worst tease them (which is not the worst thing you could do but is still pretty bad) but sense sequin was able to get on his friend side it is not impossible to become friends with him. I would recommend staying on his good side if you can.

GC/Gram cracker/grammy(only if you’re a close friend): GC here is a quiet and pretty sensitive actually, she trys her hardest to be neutral to basically everything as to not have disagreements. will cry if you call her names. protect her. I’m considering having her be mute but I’m not really sure rn, even if she isn’t tho she doesn’t talk much regardless,she is also pretty indecisive, and probably wears flower crowns in secret.

Feather: feather is an interesting character (to myself at least, she was the first object oc i created after napkin) she is the most motivated of the characters to get the challenge done and done well. she might act bossy but she’s a real sweetheart 

BH/Bowler hat/hat/b-hat: he and cane went on to the show already knowing each other, but got chosen for opposite teams. his half of the opposing duo is a more practical half who originally wanted to be an author but was pulled into this by cane, tho he’s having a good time anyway! also they gay.

Teams photo, red team:

Cane: cane is the other half of the separated inseparable two he is more up in the clouds as they say, and has a more positive outlook then most in the cast actually whoops. he and b-hat treat the game more as a couples competition then a game show

Gum: gum is a more upbeat character but she still understands the goals of the challenge probably has the most friends tho, she more is the mom of the team then anything actually. she keeps sour candy in line most of the time and also is friends with radio she is more confused about why he has to be in his own team then mad about it tho, but she cant help because of the rules she tries to do it in a loop hole sort of way tho.

Key: key is actually based on a key i have in real life! He is a very soft spoken character who is never seen without his scarf which he does chew on sometimes (projecting onto my oc? What, Noooo) and is generally anxious but overall he’s kind of ignored by most of the team unless he is doing spectacularly or very poorly. PK seems to be the only one who recognizes him through the whole show, yet he still tries to help and wants to be more of a part of the group. he also really likes dinosaurs and dragons

PK/Plastic Knife: pk doesn’t really care much about the show but participates anyway, like almost complete apathy. participates i think out of a feeling of obligation. In like the middle of one of the episodes they get a dog because why not. you can’t tell them they can’t have a dog, well you can but they wont listen. what are you gonna do about it.

SC/Sour Candy: sour candy isn't really the friendliest of characters, he has a case of resting bich face. he can let very small things frustrate him and likes a challenge. the thing that motivates him most is spite, he thinks the blue team doesn't do enough for the challenge and complains about it constantly, most of his complaints are toward sequin and joy buzzer, because they don't even do anything their alliance is completely unproductive and not to mention two people is a little short for an alliance, they need somebody to help them become a functioning team! though he's a total hypocrite because he complains so much he doesn't do anything for the challenge either. gum normally is confused about why he even cares about the other team and they sometimes have arguments about why he does. 

Teams photo, green ’team’:

radio: radio is a dude who is pretty talkative, yet thats kind of hard to do when his own team consists of him and only him because tv doesn’t like him and he doesn’t even know why himself. is it unfair? yes. is it going to change? absolutely not. tho even still he’s pretty nice but hates tv because he placed him on his own team but he doesn’t even know why

TV, The host picture:                                                                                         next is the host tv, this picture is not split up in parts so you don’t need a more zoomed in photo of the picture right? if it would be better i could edit the post?

TV: TV is the host of this thing he does not stop smiling for any reason =) all n all he’s a good host to most on the show and is nice to all most everyone except radio who he hates, why he hates him i will keep a secret ;) not much is actually known about him personality wise tho.

Picture with other ocs:                                                                                         i don’t know which team these would be on and also PK’s dog/stool 

Lazer: lazer is a sort of closed off character and well as kinda secretly wants to take over the world. but honestly i would let her??? does not like being called anything other then lazer (not later pointer, or LP, or something else just lazer) she sounds more dangerous that way. probably has a leather jacket somewhere she wears around when she’s alone to practice being tough  

DS/Dandelion Seed/Dandy: a super excitable character lol, very random XD  she also doesn’t have legs if you have noticed and just floats around, an oc that has ocs is probably featured in cringe comps but h8rs gonna h8. brings more light to the whole show actually.

Flag: honestly i haven’t thought about him much unfortunately, he’s basically a wannabe superhero and tries to be one but is not that good, also he can change what his flag is cause why not

Stool/PK’s dog: just PKs dog but idk if it should be a stool or an actual beagle cause it is in the object world. do dogs even exist? what do you guys think? 

also this will probably be in web-comic form if i do this at all because i don’t know how to animate. now i feel really great actually because I’ve been working mostly procrastinating on this for like months whoops sorry (but I’m also kinda nervous about how people will think of these ocs lol)

#myartstuffs #myocs #object ocs #ii #sequin #joy buzzer #gram cracker #feather #bowler hat #cane #gum #key #plastic knife #sour candy #radio #tv #lazer #dandelion seed #flag #stool #what do you think? #I've put a lot of work into this help #i will reblog this again tomorrow to

[m0th-punk]

This is something that's been on my mind for a long time. Long ramble under the cut

TL;DR: Grazer-razor has some of the worst black and white mentality I've ever seen and I can tell he has never critically examined his biases a day in his life.

Because I'm a terrible little gremlin who can't leave well enough alone, I've been reading these posts

Ignoring the absolute stupidity of these statements (I'm pretty sure the lack of rainbow logos is because in many middle eastern countries, homosexuality is a crime and these companies just want to make money. But I'mnot going into the nuances and implications of rainbow capitalism today.), something stood out to me.

Does Grazer... genuinely think nobody has ever criticized the Muslim faith? That we all ignore the homophobia present within the religion just because they're a minority? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen even some of the most staunch leftists criticize things like their horrible treatment of homosexuality or the rampant sexism often sanctioned by radicals. Even other Muslims, especially women and lgbt+ Muslims, have been critical of these things.

It wouldn't shock me if Grazer believedthat anyone who supports Muslims believes they can do no wrong. After all, he thinks any criticism of Christianity is hatred, and dismisses any harmful things Christians do as not being "real" Christianity in a classic case of the "No True Scotsman" fallacy.

Note how he didn't even respond to the first asks comments, just accused them of being me (because obviously any time someone sees his blog it's all my fault /s)

So it seems like in Grazer's mind, there are only two options when it comes to religion: Uncritically praise and defend everything a religion does no matter how heinous it is and justify it because it's done in a God's name, or condemn anyone who practices it as hateful terrorists. Because he doesn't see people doing the former for Christians, he automatically assumes that they're doing the latter, and vice versa for Muslims.

Also note how he gets mad when muslim faith is "respected" (again, homosexuality is criminalized in many of these areas) but then demands a secular children's show cater to his religion for the sake of his precious childhood.

(Also, can we just talk about the absolute fucking cruelty in this answer? There are people out there that had their childhoods ruined by abuse, illness, losing loved ones, homelessness, poverty, bullying, near-death experiences, having their countries torn apart by war, a shitty foster care system, teen pregnancies, and so many other things that can absolutely destroy a life.  Grazer's was ruined by…  *checks notes* a cartoon character supporting gay rights and a drag queen singing a cutesy children's song.  So yeah, if that's the worst part of his childhood he's pretty damn lucky, and the fact that he has the gall to still complain absolutely makes him selfish and ignorant. It's disrespectful, plain and simple, and if he were truly a good Christian he'd have some compassion.)

Okay, so Grazer has some weird "rules for me but not for thee" shit when it comes to religion. This isn't news. Where am I going with this?

Well, turns out he has this opinion about more than just religion. Know how I know this? His response to ESRB ratings and trigger warnings.

So it seems like Grazer sees the ESRB as some sort of moral compass, in a way. Something being rated E or E10 means it's pure and good and wholly unproblematic, while anything higher means it's evil and disgusting and he can't even look at it.

This is further confirmed by this post, where he flat-out states he sees the ESRB as deeming what things are and are not morally acceptable.

Now Grazer, I'm gonna explain this as best as I can, because it seems like you don't quite understand this. Read very carefully.

This is not the purpose of the ESRB rating system.

I repeat, this is NOT the purpose of the ESRB rating system.

The ESRB does not decide on what is and is not morally correct. It simply says "This game contains these topics, and as such is most suitable for people in this age group.". That's it. It's a guideline, not a rule.

Let's take cartoon violence, for instance. It's a very common warning the ESRB puts on games. Almost every game from Mario to Sonic to Crash Bandicoot and even Monster Tale has this warning. These games are all rated E for everyone. Does this mean those games are promoting violence to children, or claiming things like Bowser kidnapping Peach or Pinstripe trying to gun down Crash are perfectly okay and morally correct? Of course not. It's simply saying that these games contain mild, non-graphic violence, but most children should be able to handle seeing it.

On the other side of the coin, let's take a look at the warnings for nudity and sexual themes. Most games that contain these topics are rated T at the lowest and AO at the highest. This obviously isn't saying that nudity and sex are inherently bad or evil. All it's saying is that these topics are best handled by adults (And, regardless of morality, it is illegal to distribute sexual content to minors unless it's meant to be educational, like a health class textbook).

A few extra points:

. Games can be rated different things in different countries. Different countries have different regulations. Do you know why the blood in Danganronpa is pink? It's because in Japan, games with excessive amounts of blood and gore are given a Z rating (Japan's equivalent to an AO rating). They got around this by making the blood pink, securing the game its desired M rating. Meanwhile here in America, Mortal Kombat is allowed to show as many graphic, brutal deaths as it wants and still receive an M rating.

. ESRB ratings are not legally enforceable. I was so convinced as a 16 year old that the employees at gamestop would try to card me or something when I was picking up a copy of Bayonetta, and I was surprised when they simply rang me up in two seconds, no questions asked. It doesn't happen. For fuck's sake, one of the first games I ever played, at the tender age of four, was Soul Edge. A T rated game. The only instance ESRB ratings are legally enforced is in the case of AO ratings, as these games often contain incredibly graphic violenceor sexual content. If this outrage is coming from the idea that certain ratings will keep younger people from playing these games from a legal standpoint, don't worry. A nine year old is not gonna get arrested for playing Among Us. Just don't buy them GTA San Andreas or Leisure Suit Larry and everything will be fine.

. No two consumers are exactly alike. While one 13 year old may be perfectly fine with the jumpscares in Amnesia, another may be too scared to even go near the piano in Super Mario 64. That doesn't mean either of these games is rated incorrectly. The ESRB is there, once again, as a recommendation for the average consumer, and doesn't take individual experience into account. An individual experience is not their responsibility. It's also on parents (or you yourself!) To decide what the consumer can or can't handle.

"But Haley," I hear you say, "What if this piece of media DOES contain something morally bad?"

Well it's simple. You are allowed to like things AND still criticize the bad parts of it.

Hold on now, I'm not telling you that it's perfectly alright to enjoy things like Birth of a Nation or anything like that! Contrary to popular belief, there are some pieces of media that are truly too steeped in hatred and morally reprehensible things to be supported, even through a critical lense. The only merit things like that have is to serve as a warning: This is a terrible thing made for terrible reasons, and we should not allow it to happen again.

But outside of those rare circumstances, it's not so cut and dry.

Let's take a piece of media i actually enjoy, for instance, so you know I'm not a hypocrite: Persona 5.

Persona 5 is easily one of my favorite games in the Persona series. It does a lot of interesting stuff, the artstyle and soundtrack are (in my opinion) the best in the series, and overall it's very enjoyable for me.

But, like anything, it's not perfect. I'm incredibly uncomfortable with the hypocrisy the game has in regards to the sexualization of teenagers. While Kamoshida is rightfully condemned for his sexualization of teenage girls and Ann's persona awakening comes from rejecting this objectification, the game and story undermine it by not only putting Ann in a sexually revealing outfit, but also making light of Ryuji's sexual harassment by adult men (Allegedly Persona 5 Royal tries to fix this by making the men drag enthusiasts who think Ryuji would look good in drag and giving them more sympathetic personalities, but it's still really weird and hypocritical of the game to do this.). The teenage protagonist is also allowed the option to date adult women, including his teacher, and the game rarely if ever touches on the problems with this.

The game's homophobia also left a bad taste in my mouth. Aside from the aforementioned men who sexually harass Ryuji, the only other canon LGBT+ character is a bar owner who is either a drag queen or a trans woman (or both?). Sure, she's portrayed as being kind and protective of the protagonist, but there isn't much room to interact with her or learn more about her. On top of that, not only can the protagonist not romantically pursue his male friends (A feature that even the SECOND persona game had), he's not even allowed to give them gifts or platonically show affection towards them without the dialogue mocking him. The game that allows a teenage boy to date his teacher won't allow him to simply give his male friends a present.

And yet, despite those criticisms, I do still enjoy the game. I don't consider the game irredeemable garbage based on those poorly handled topics alone. And I also understand that for some people, those topics make them so uncomfortable that they don't want to play the game at all, and I completely respect that.

Criticizing the things you enjoy is not only normal, it's oftentimes healthy. Being able to step back and say "I like this thing, but I don't like the bad things it's done. This thing would be better if these issues were fixed." Sure, sometimes some people tend to complain a bit too much about the media they supposedly enjoy, but for the most part being able to acknowledge the bad with the good is a good skill to have.

Oh, wait, all of this means nothing because Grazer thinks that critically enjoying things is nothing more than an excuse to consume media he doesn't personally agree with. Okay then.

So if he can't even realize something as simple as "it's okay to criticize some parts of media that you otherwise enjoy", how can he be expected to look critically at a religion that he's been raised in and around all his life?

Soooo yeah, Grazer has some serious problems with black and white thinking that he refuses to acknowledge, further worsened by the fact that he's practically been brainwashed into believing that Christianity is the ultimate moral compass that everyone should follow. I understand that this tends to be an issue for neurodivergent people, but it's not an excuse for the actions he does that are related to these things (sending death threats to the ESRB, antagonizing others, etc.

#dirty napkin #long post

[ratthewrodent]

So this actually happened a few days ago, my temp suspension ran out so I'm not circumventing the suspension or anything.I was casually browsing reddit, and came across a post and in the comment thread people were discussing SFW subreddits that sounded dirty and sexual but really aren't and just have to do with cats or animals. Subreddits like /r/PocketPussy, /r/BlackPussies, /r/GirlsWithHugePussies, and /r/tightpussy, which are all entirely safe for work, but you wouldn't know by looking at the name.Well, there's another joke subreddit that exists, a few actually, that sound REALLY bad, but in the same vein as the rest are actually just innocent pictures of kittens and baby animals and is NOT SEXUAL in any way. These subreddits have existed on reddit with no issues since 2012, and have been allowed to exist through multiple reddit purges.But apparently me ONLY linking to them was considered sexualization of minors, despite no minors being involved and the subreddits have been allowed to exist for years with no issue. Not to mention the context of the thread I was replying to being about joke subreddits, and me putting "completely SFW too" in my comment.My comment read as follows:Haha Don't forget /r/████████████ or /r/████████████ (Completely SFW too)Obviously I had the real subreddit names, but I'm not making that mistake again. I just posted in one of them warning others, so check the post history of this account if you're curious. Apparently it's ok to post there as long as you don't say it's name. Might as well be considered Voldemort as far as Reddit is concerned.So the next day I get an automated message telling me that my account has been temporarily suspended for breaking Reddit's Content policy, claiming I was sexualizing minors, with no way for me to actually respond to explain the misunderstanding or double standards of a subreddit being allowed, but linking to the subreddit not being allowed.I'm thinking "What the hell? How is it that the subreddit I linked to doesn't break Reddit's content policy and has been allowed to exist for 8 years, but apparently me simply linking to it in a comment does?"So I look into how to appeal it and request an appeal.A bit later I get a text from my roommate: "Bro, we need to talk."Some context on this part, a few months ago we had a power outage and my phone died, and I signed into reddit on his phone to connect with other people in our area to see what was up. I accidentally left it signed in, and apparently him and his girlfriend used the app to browse reddit occasionally and never bothered to sign out. That's fine because I don't use that account to comment on porn or anything I'd be ashamed of really. Or so I thought.Then I get an automated message from reddit that my appeal has been denied. Not even a real person replied, and I still can't get a hold of someone to explain it.I get home and him and his girlfriend demand I give them my phone and computer, and tell me that they will be going to the police. I ask why, and they said they saw the message from reddit that I was sexualizing minors. They told me reddit caught me visiting underage porn subreddits and they were incredibly upset, called me a hypocrite for speaking out against human trafficking in the past.After I explained to them what happened, they did a 180 and realized the mistake, but apparently his girlfriend had already told our neighbors who told a few others, and one person said in a group chat "He should be reported to the police," and now my anxiety has me worried someone anonymously reported me to the police and I'm going to have to deal with that. I haven't done anything wrong, but it's 2020 and my faith in law enforcement is at an all time low.She's currently trying to rectify it, and I'm pissed at both of them for jumping to conclusions, but it is what it is, this pandemic and political atmosphere has made everyone crazy. But still, now I have to explain to people what happened and why I'm not a pedophile.Now I'm currently for the first time in my life trying to look into getting a lawyer or attorney to protect myself and my career, trying to work my professional contacts to get a hold of a real person at Reddit(I work in an adjacent industry), and added to my already horrible anxiety and depression from the toll this pandemic has done to me and my career.Talked to a friend of a friend who's a lawyer who told me to get a papertrail of me attempting to fight this so if I am put on some sex offender list it shows I didn't sit by and idly let it happen.tldr: I linked to a SFW and legal joke subreddit that sounds really bad but is just pictures of kittens, got accused of sexualizing minors, roommate and his gf accused me of being a pedophile, now I'm having to look into lawyering up so this doesn't somehow ruin my life or career.Edit: So I’m getting a lot of hate for my roommate and his GF. The thing is, I don’t agree, but I get it. Based on the very serious and threatening message reddit sent about the suspension, and the fact they were looking for advice on how to handle a potential pedophile they were living with, I get it. I’m not happy, but I get it.The reddit suspension message was basically this:Your account has been temporarily suspended from Reddit for minor sexualization due to your comments mentioning “/r/████████████” and “/r/████████████”.Reddit does not allow any sexual or suggestive content involving a minor or someone who appears to be a minor, including fantasy or other content (e.g. stories, “loli”/anime cartoons) that depicts, encourages, or promotes pedophilia, child sexual exploitation, or otherwise sexualizes a minor or someone who appears to be a minor. In some cases, depending on context, this may include minors that are fully clothed or are not in overtly sexual acts.If your behavior improves, you shouldn’t hear from us again. If this behavior continues, further punitive action may be taken, and in some cases reported to law enforcement. You can learn more about how to avoid future suspensions by taking a look at our Content Policy.This is an automated message; responses will not be received by Reddit admins.They saw that large description of prohibited conduct thinking that was a list of what I was banned for(and not just a general copy/paste list), looked at my comment linking to said joke subreddit, of course they didn’t click it because they thought it lead to child porn, and to them the dots were connected that I was posting pedophilic stuff.I just think it’s more fucked up that Reddit did that in the first place, without actually looking into the subreddit I was linking to or reading the context of the thread I was in, hell not even the part of my comment that says “Completely SFW too”. I don’t even know how their suspension system, whether it was automated or reviewed by an actual person, couldn’t figure out that the subreddit I linked to was active, SFW and about kittens, and allowed, and further when I explained that in my appeal it and STILL got denied.And you know what, even if my comment does technically break the minor sexualization content policy, my issue then would be that wouldn’t the subreddit itself also be breaking the content policy by existing? Why allow a subreddit to exist that no one is allowed to link to? Does that make sense to anyone? Punishing anyone who mentions it but leaving it up for people to link to?Edit 2: Ok, y’all need to chill about my friends, trust me, I know them better than all of you do haha. When it first happened, yeah I freaked out, but 5 days later and we’re laughing about it. I guess made it sound like I was still freaked out about them having called the cops, when in reality I’m freaked out that some shady reddit content monitoring algorithm put my main profile on some list or something to monitor.Like if this post is all you have to go on, I get it they seem like assholes, but if you lived this exact situation you’d see how they realistically came to believe it. That reddit message was a really convincingly frightening message, and all of you saying she should have verified, she thought that message WAS the verification because she couldn’t comprehend someone getting banned over something as inconsequential as saying two words out of context. That’s why I say if anything I blame her naivety that big companies don’t automate this stuff and mistakes.Like I can talk to my friends and prove my innocence to them because I’ve literally done nothing legally wrong, but I can’t talk to Reddit apparently to prove my innocence, so that’s what is freaking out. via /r/tifu

#IFTTT #reddit