#but overall I think one too many people in this fandom have caused me way too much stress

[dollypopup]

I think it's interesting to look at the 'Mr. Bridgerton' scene as a backdrop for the eventual mirror scene. Firstly, in the fact that I think we've kind of misinterpreted it.

So many people are of the mind that scene's purpose to 'drag' Colin, but really, that scene has 3 primary functions. The first is to inform Colin that Penelope is aware of what he said of her, thus opening the door to clearing the air between them and providing an avenue for which Colin can apologize. The second is to establish the ground that they are currently on: Penelope has given up on the dream of Colin Bridgerton, in particular the perfect prince that can do no wrong, and has made it clear to him. It also creates distance between them that they will bridge.

But the third, and to me the most wrapped up in the mirror and the inner workings of their relationship is that it reveals how Penelope feels about *herself*. It's not necessarily an echo of what the ton considers her as, after all, we have a lot of evidence indicating that, for all intents and purpose, people aren't *unkind* about her, but rather that they ignore her. Audience members recognize this as Penelope's own shyness being the cause, she is often sitting off on the sidelines or not really talking to much of anyone, in the books she's referred to as the 'one who doesn't speak', and her LW business takes her away from being a character in the action of the ton to a bystander, kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts that perpetuates itself. Pen felt unseen so she became LW to have some power, but then LW herself must remain unseen and Penelope continues to be by design of her own making.

No, I think what it really reveals is that Penelope has incredibly low personal self esteem. We as a fandom has lauded that scene as her dragging Colin, saying that he's cruel and calling him Mr. Bridgerton is absolutely meant to create distance between them, but I don't think she's dragging him.

Because the person she is *actually* dragging here. . .is herself. And it is a general theme in her life. In Whistledown. Aloud. Even with Marina, when she complimented her, she assumes that she's lying. When Edwina says she's wearing a pretty dress, Penelope puts herself down and doesn't believe her, even when the compliment is genuine. In truth, Portia is not seen as being particularly unkind to Penelope. At least, speaking as someone who's mum was *awful* about my size and weight and outfits, Portia is. . .overall rather mild. She's not KIND and loving, not by a long shot, but she's also not targeting Penelope only. She's plenty mean and critical to Prudence, too, even to the point where she foists her off to her own cousin as a pawn piece. Penelope has low self esteem because of a lot of reasons, she's bullied by Cressida (I think a lot of girls are, she was pretty mean even to Daphne in S1) and her family isn't very tender to her, and she's not being pursued at every turn, but part of it is also her own perpetuation.

Listen to what she says "Of course you would never court me" "I embarrass you" "I am the laughingstock of the the ton". She sees *herself* as an embarrassment. She puts *herself* down. Arguably, more so than the ton does. She's meaner to herself than anyone else is, aside from Cressida. And honestly? Looking at Colin's face there. . .he is HURT that she considers herself this way. That she's projecting that onto him. Yes, he's hurt that he hurt her, of course he is, he never wants to hurt her. And yes, he's ashamed that he said he wouldn't court her the way he did and that in doing so, he validated her fears that she is unloved and unwanted, but also because. . .she already feels that way about herself. She's felt that way for years. And it's painful to care about someone, to see them as wonderful, and realize. . .they don't feel the same about themselves at all. I don't think Colin is out here feeling so wounded over the fact that she called him cruel and won't refer to him by first name anymore, but that he's most hurt by what she says about herself.

Because he *doesn't* see her the way she accuses. She says she never expected him of all people to be so cruel, but he feels the same way. He never expected her to be so cruel to *herself*. He wants to go somewhere private, not because she is an embarrassment, but because he wants to have a private conversation with her. Maybe assure her. Maybe explain himself. Maybe hash it out. But god Luke Newton's acting. . .he is *aching* for her. And it feels like he's going to do those lessons not in atonement for what he said (thank god) but to genuinely help his friend who thinks badly of herself. To lift her up. It's not about him at all, not about earning forgiveness, but about elevating Penelope. And that's. . .fuck, I just find that's just so heart stoppingly beautiful.

You can see, in that scene, how much he cares about her. How deeply and genuinely he adores her as a person. And just how painful it is for him to know he has validated, whether on purpose or otherwise, how poorly she feels about herself. How low her self-confidence really is. She is giving him a glimpse into the cracks of her heart, and when he sees them, he wants to reach out with both hands and make it feel better. Make her feel better.

After she says 'even when I change my entire wardrobe', he looks so fucking crushed. So 'don't say that'. So 'you really believe that?'. So 'God, I hate that you think that way'.

Because regardless of it all, he does love her. It's not romantic yet. It's not sexual yet. But he genuinely, truly, from the bottom of his heart, thinks she's wonderful. That was evident even in the 'purpose' scene. Every time Penelope opens up and reveals a facet of herself, he likes it. He likes her barbs and her dreams, he likes talking to her. He likes her. And he feels awful that he hurt her. And he feels awful that she's hurting herself. He loves her. He wants her to love herself.

And that's where the mirror scene comes in. Because the mirror scene isn't about sex, not really. Not entirely, at least. The mirror scene is about *intimacy*. The mirror scene is about being seen. Not just her seeing him, or him seeing her, but for Penelope to see *herself*. In a way, through his eyes. Because hers are biased rather negatively toward herself, which is evidenced in the 'Goodnight Mr. Bridgerton' scene, and in so many little moments we've already gotten where she's literally looking down on herself, feeling down. She doesn't necessarily *like* what's in the mirror, but he does. Because he likes *her*. And he wants to show her that he does. Show her that he finds her beautiful and have her recognize that in herself.

The 'Goodnight Mr. Bridgerton' scene is about Penelope revealing how she sees herself. The mirror scene is about Colin showing her how *he* sees her. The Goodnight scene is about Penelope thinking she means nothing to him, that he thinks of her the way she thinks of herself, that this is how everyone thinks of her, and the mirror scene is a direct response to that: No, he doesn't. No, he doesn't think she's embarrassing. No, he doesn't think she's a laughingstock. No, he doesn't think she's unappealing. And he doesn't think she should, either.

And he's going to show her that. Not just tell her, but show her. The mirror scene is so often a focus on Penelope, so much of Polin is in Penelope's focus, but approaching it from Colin's perspective and his motivations is so fulfilling, too. It's a glimpse into them in conversation, and a demonstrate of how Colin loves her. How Colin loves in general, openly and earnestly and altruistically. How he encourages her to be braver and more confident in herself, bolstering her because he just likes her *that much*. How he finds the most fulfillment and satisfaction in caring aloud. The mirror scene is a demonstration of his heart in reflection.

When Luke Newton said the first word that came to mind with the word 'Mirror' was 'Exposed', he doesn't just mean physically. He means emotionally, too.

God this couple is so fucking good.

#polin #colin bridgerton #penelope featherington #Bridgerton #i love them #but honestly? i think i read too deeply into them #this is the only post about them i'll keep up #but after everything i've seen in this fandom and the promos and the synopsis- i don't think these two are friends #and i think i have given them more nuance and depth than they actually will get #and so i guess they're my dream #this version of them #the version of them that loves each other deeply and sees one another and has tenderness for each other #but everyone else in the fandom was right- we won't get this #we will get penelope needing external validation through the ton's opinion and we won't get colin being a full character #we will get a story based on suffering and holding scorecards against each other #we will get groveling and cold shoulders and drama in place of real growth #i suppose it's just sad for me #because i read so much of what i've thought of these two and i *see* the love i have for them #but bton and this fandom don't have that same love #so i have to let go of that dream #and that's for the best #but as a memento: have this #i've written a lot of love letters to this pairing- consider this one of them

[statementlou]

i feel like i can talk to you about this because you have rational opinions. so louis bought a starbucks coffee at the airport and the fandom on twitter are eating him alive, calling him evil and wishing he goes to hell. i’m disappointed since starbucks is on the list of brands to boycott but i feel like this reaction is too much? someone even said jay would be disappointed in him, but people said that was taking it too far. i don’t know, i love louis and i’ll keep supporting him and his music but the fact he can be a careless millionaire is disappointing

1. thank you sweetie I would boop if I could 2. oh my god it's a fucking cup of coffee and if people think that's the worst thing Louis, a multi millionaire, has ever done financially they need a reality check! His money will be handled by bankers who are putting it into all kinds of evil fucking shit that he won't even know about, it's actually very hard to know or control that and there is no way trying is even on his radar. That's a passive thing and not on purpose; but the fact that people don't bother to know about that or care really speaks to how performative this kind of online approach to activism is, that they only care about image rather than effect (the effect of his investments would be easily thousands of times more than any number of coffees or even of the promotion Starbucks might get from him holding it.) But furthermore buckle in cause you hit a nerve: Starbucks isn't even an actual organized boycott target as concerns Palestine because THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT financially! The official BDS movement calls for boycott of very specific and pointed targets of which Starbucks IS NOT ONE it's literally just an online trend which is not the same as an actual boycott to materially impact a target! Losing them money is always great, they are a crappy union busting small business killing corporation, but it has zero direct effect to help Palestinians unlike supporting the meaningful boycotts called for by BDS. I don't think Louis has decided to buy starbucks because he has this analysis, but to me it's a pretty important point. Him crossing an actual picket line (playing Israel, playing Eurovision [lmaoooo that thought tho], waving an Israeli flag god forbid) would be a very different situation and something that would trouble me so the distinction matters to me. But I get that to people on twitter, that's what they feel like he has done. To which I would say...

There are so many fewer ways to help Palestine than we would wish, and it's SO hard to deal with feeling so powerless right now in the face of such horror, so I love that people feel so strongly about doing whatever they possibly can. But worrying about consumer spending, even on BDS targets, is perhaps the least effective of the things a person can do. Note that BDS boycotts do not mostly focus on asking people not to buy things; they list the products that are especially complicit, but the main work of the movement is to get large investors (corporations, public institutions, whole governments) to divest from the companies targeted because that actually hurts them enough that it becomes less profitable to continue to collude with Israel than to drop them as clients. Consumer spending is not enough to do this. It's easy and doesn't require doing actual work but it's basically virtue signaling, not organizing. Just NOT doing something (yes including voting) is not enough! I personally choose not to give my money to certain corporations because it feels bad to me and I can't stomach doing it, even if they never notice me doing it. But if I was running out of fuel and the only nearby station was a Chevron, I would spend a few bucks there and not beat myself up about it because it will have zero impact on their overall profit reports but a LOT of impact on my life. And if I was in the airport for the second time in mere days after circumnavigating the globe and playing a massive show and doing press and fan service before even having time to adjust time zones and about to get on another flight to another country I might buy a fucking coffee from whatever coffee shop was in there too! But Louis isn't me and I'm gonna be real honest I would be real surprised if he KNEW there was a boycott or gave a shit- he is not a political activist! It's reasonable to be disappointed if someone behaves not how you want them to, but just in general responding to being disappointed in people by lashing out at them is... not it. Not useful, not rational, and not actually an okay way to act to other people. Louis is an awesome sweet caring person who I believe tries hard not to have a negative impact on anyone directly and who cares very much about others; if that's not enough for someone to be a fan of him, okay then they should not be a fan of him! But warning: they're not going to be able to be a fan of anyone else either. No one is pure and perfect... maybe that energy would be better spent trying to make a meaningful difference in the world, and a great first step in that IMO is to recognize and challenge your inner cop. The better world I want to live in doesn't include policing other people, not on twitter and not anywhere.

#anyway just read the BDS link! #I'm pretty sure starbucks dont even have stores in israel. this whole 'boycott' is such a fucking waste of energy istg DO SOMEtHIGN USeFUL #comrade louis.... or not lol #to be clear... that tag is a bit of a joke to me. he's a fucking millionaire! the rich are not our political saviors! #he cares and he tries and he is better than 99% of people. but he is not john brown okay #if people had class analysis wrt to capitalism rather than just image concerns... well. it would be better. #palestine #long post #sorry :( #starbucks discourse

[rist-ix]

The sparxshipping teasing from Iginio got me wondering.... if we ever did get canon sparxshipping explored, whether in a reboot or new adaptation, how would you like it for it to be done?

I'm gonna try to answer both of these in one post cause they overlap a little, but first of all thank you!

Buckle up fellas I'm bringing discourse.

This is gonna be a bit of an unpopular opinion I think, and it’s that I don’t want sparxshipping to be canon at all.

Feel free to get the pitchforks, but until then imma talk. I have villainships that I think not only add something to the overall plot, they kind of define it too. Reylo for examples, with its themes of redemption, masks and compassion, or Darklina and how important their relationship is to the war and Grisha oppression, or Lotor and Allura with its symbolism of breaking the cycle of abuse, making peace, reclaiming a heritage thought lost and so on.

To put it very briskly: an established Sparxshipping relationship adds nothing to the plot. It would have to be a plot of its own, and while there are tons of fascinating plot threads you could weave back into Domino, Bloom's family and the war before the Fall, it is simply, plainly, and rightfully so not the story Winx Club is telling.

Winx Club, at its core, is about the girls and their friendship. That is the show I love, and that is the show I am invested in. Fanfiction is a separate thing, I’ll get into that later. But canon, commercially produced and globally aired Winx Club is what we are talking about now. And the one defining truth of Winx Club is that it’s about the Winx. Their boyfriends are the side note, the Kens to their Barbies, to cement them as the cool popular teenagers younger kids are supposed to see them as. If Bloom and Valtor had a lasting serious relationship, Valtor would inevitably have to be shoved into that category as well, and that would ruin the entire appeal of him.

To boil it down even more: if sparxshipping were canon, either Winx Club would have to shift away from its intrinsic premise and formula, or Valtor would have to be diminished beyond recognition. So my longstanding opinion has always been: don’t make sparxshipping canon. Just don’t.

What I, personally, would do if I were ever to gain access to the mythical and likely overcrowded writing room at Rainbow SpA, is this:

Tease the fuck out of it.

Lean into their fucked up little hate-obsession. Every time they share the screen they have to be radiating unresolved sexual tension. Their chemistry has to be so off-the-charts it sparks a million fanfics before the season even ends. If there aren’t so many crappy amv's set to angsty Taylor swift songs it brings down the YouTube servers by midnight you have failed. Because canon is bound to certain limits, but fanfiction is NOT. The goal of any show should be to create something that will awaken an inescapable need to build on it, to continue where it left off, or to wonder but-what-if? To make people text incoherent keysmashes to their fandom buddies with shaky hands in the middle of the night and be unable to sleep until they’ve confirmed their buddy has seen it too.

I would want to see Bloom go fully I-have-lost-sight-of-everything-but-revenge until her friends manage to pull her back, I would want them to fight so vehemently the structures around them collapse and they don’t even notice. They should be in situations where they are UNDENIABLY going to die if they fight on and they still do it, they literally CANNOT stop, they don’t care to. To the point that everyone around them is seriously concerned and talking about their terrifying obsession with each other, more or less out in the open. And after a season full of epic fight scenes, high stake conflicts and frankly obscene tension between them, I would want Bloom to kill him.

Straight up.

Give her that moment of calm self assurance, at peace and perfectly in control, while Valtor tries to gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss his way out of this, contrasting the way her support network and genuine, unconditional friendships strengthen her while Valtor, who is always sabotaging everyone around him, is forced to confront his own powerlessness in the face of the power that created him. His manipulation attempts have nothing to latch on to. They have one last exchange where Valtor is visibly furious at her denial of him / his own failure — to really drive home that this is Bloom's triumph — but the last words they exchange are cordial. Maybe a comment at her growth, or a warning about his mothers, or another way to foreshadow future threats — if he couldn’t defeat her, no one should. He ends on a high note, but he does end, and it’s at Bloom's hands. She retakes the corrupted spark into the Flame she is guarding, and that is that.

And then, and this is important. He fucking haunts her for the entire next story arc. The next season, the next two seasons maybe, because she has learned a fuck ton of things from him and it is really, really difficult to move on knowing everything she does, knowing everything he implied or hinted at, or simply knowing so many really, really cruel ways to get her way now, which isn’t who she wants to be, but it would be easy, quick and effective for the greater good, right?

Boom, character conflict for the next season established, lots of potential for future flashbacks or visions, Valtor stays on his high horse of forever-the-juiciest-fucking-villain-of-the-franchise and the story can move on.

The End

Cue three decades of mind-blowing fanfiction. We all say Thank you Rainbow and cry ourselves to sleep thinking about what could have been.

#sparxshipping #asks #the ugly truth is that a perfect piece of media that gives everyone what they want is not a piece of media that inspires a lot of fan works #fandom to me is so much more fun there is that gap. that whole of teased-but-unexplored potential #with enough canon material to sustain it and go of #but even more questions and what ifs and theories and fuck it I’ll do it myself #you feel me?

[decepti-thots]

That post about aileron reminded me of how I think of nautica trying to erase skids from her memory like she just doesn’t know how to cope with death and loss cause she was removed from the wild ass war! It’s a weird beat in the comic but it speaks loudly to me

Ohhh yeah. These two are definitely a couple different perspectives on a theme, as it were.

While I have critiques of Nautica's arc in execution there (it's… got a LOT of flaws and IMO does not stick the landing at all, to put it pretty mildly; hence why I find exRiD overall better at exploring these ideas), I think it's a real shame that unlike so many other arcs in MTMTE/LL with issues or incomplete resolutions or whatever, there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in taking the core emotional idea and running with it in fandom spaces? It feels like a really toothy emotional hook to latch onto that a lot could be done with as a part of the canon that is definitely a font of massive missed potential and lingering threads. (God, it really kills me ever since it was first pointed out to me how Nautica and Brainstorm's relationship might change because he's watching her do what Chromedome kept doing.) Nautica gets stuck in a kind of Cheerful Generic Girl Best Friend mode in fandom that skips past uhhh. A lot of her actual canon presence, when you really look at it!

It's especially interesting to think about because as a species their feelings about death are very different, right? Which IDW1 does address, and MTMTE specifically mentions this, with Cyclonus talking about how there's one version of the Guiding Hand myth that states Cybertronians are "immortal" because they killed Mortilus. Like. They don't have a lot of context for death as a regular, natural part of life that everyone comes into contact with in the day to day. Caminus isn't just full of civilians in the way you or I might be a civilian during peacetime; if you're a civilian for these folks, death is an abnormality period, a freak accident or whatever at most. (And even then: you're so hard to kill, it can't be common.) Cybertronians in the war are the weird ones for being used to it as a regular occurrence, and for both Aileron and Nautica it's not just that their friends experience traumatic and violent deaths, but that they die at all. It's got to be existentially destabilising in a way so many of the characters on that ship just can't relate to. (Tailgate likely could, but he's uhhhh, he's got other stuff going on at that point, so we will forgive him being too busy, lmao.)

Hell, I mentioned Brainstorm. He's an MTO. MTOs are the first of the currently living generations of their species to grow up with no memory of a society in which people do not regularly die; even once peacetime sets in, we see that they have reached the point in their species' lifespan where death by old age is becoming increasingly common and thus part of their cultural landscape. Those are a lot of Nautica's friends, who maybe want to help but have no easy way to really understand why she's reacting so strongly, you know?

Ohhh I love Nautica so much. Can you tell. Someone hug that poor woman good lord.

[mcytblr-archive]

Early MCYTblr Interviews: georgeeehd

today's interviewee is reese/georgeeehd/lmanburg/tommyofcolor! dreamlying member, mcytblr og, and the person who discovered that dream wasn't registered to vote. below is a transcript of questions and answers!

Q: What was your experience in wider MCYTblr?

A: I don’t have much experience with wider mcytblr. Maybe I used to reblog Grian stuff on my main blog, before all this DSMP shit. There wasn’t much of a Dream community when I started posting, much less one for DreamNotFound (surprisingly, Dreamnap was the popular ship of the two early on????? so bizarre to me), so I dug out my microcosm immediately. There was never a wider myctblr for me.

Q: What was your experience in critblr/dreamlying specifically?

A: The notion that dreamlying is the spawn of critblr is interesting to me, because I agree with you now, but I wouldn’t have at the time. Critblr was a tumblr community. Dreamlying was a friend group, predating critblr. I considered myself dteamblr for a really long time— I never felt aligned with the critblr movement because that was always Jason’s territory, really. I don’t mention it to nitpick or to scold, but like, I’m into this archiving thing, too, so I wanted to opine on how we label these groups. Maybe there should be a distinction made between what we considered ourselves vs. what we actually were.

My experience in proto-critblr was pretty cushy because it was all mine. Me and my contemporaries had a following, we were respected, we had smart things to say, we were funny, established, etc. Think, “The School of Athens.” I definitely grew a bit of an ego with how popular I was, which I’m sure will come across in this interview, haha.

At times I felt a little unchallenged, like people were only agreeing with me not because I was right, but because I was saying anything at all. At the same time, I was incredibly defensive and insecure, so the little pushback I might have gotten would bother me terribly. I was probably overreactive and mean. I was fifteen then, and I’m nineteen now, so there’s lots of things I would’ve handled differently, if I could.

In terms of my experience with dreamlying, I like what Ozzie had to say. We were all just very, very good friends. There’s not much else to it. In my first discord server, “dream lying” was a hidden messaging channel where we could critique Dream Team freely. “Dream lying” was supposed to parody the phrase “dream truthing.” So we were basically this tiny little secret society, at the start. There was no way we wouldn’t have hit it off.

Q: Are there any events that stand out to you?

A: A lot. Too many. Some are more personally relevant than historically relevant, and I don’t really know where to draw the line. The voter registration fiasco was a big one, but there were other smaller things… I was always in some fuckin’ controversy or another! The magic 8 ball says, Ask again later.

Q: Was being in MCYTblr an overall positive or negative experience for you?

A: Undoubtedly positive! I don’t even know where to start with this question. I met a lot of wonderful people that I still keep in contact with today, right? But beyond that, I feel like being in this community helped me grow a lot, like, personally. I was thinking and writing a lot. I learned so, so much, about people, about the internet, about fandom, about myself. It was such an expansive experience.

I guess I should mention that my time with mcytblr was incredibly stressful. My involvement in the fandom weighed heavily on my mental health. I felt very watched, and I still do. At my worst, I was hospitalized. (I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t mention my mcyt-induced mental hospital stint in my mcyt interview.) None of that really moves me, though, ‘cause it was all just part of the experience, and I find it all pretty funny, looking back.

Q: A few people have mentioned the account mcyttruth in relation to you, specifically around a callout post. What happened there? [I had misremembered-- I meant to ask this to Jason lmanburg, not Reese lmanburg.]

A: The mcyttruth callout wasn’t about me, but my discord server, dteamblr 2. I was not as involved here— at this point, critblr was in full bloom, and this server was like a rendezvous for people who liked dreamlying and modcord blogs (modcord was another friend group, like dreamlying, but critblr-based).

Regarding that callout specifically, I don’t know. Probably, there were too many r-slurs, too many jokes about hating Ranboo, the usual. There were a lot of callouts (for me or for people I was friends with), and I never really took them seriously. I mean, honestly, the url “mcyttruth” alone is derivative. Do you know how many times I’ve read the words “mcyt” and “truth”? Everything about this is a blur to me.

Q: I suppose I would ask-- given the current events surrounding many of the creators who were popular in 2020/2021, do you feel that dreamlying has been vindicated in their criticisms of creators?

A: Yes, but I would have said yes in 2020, because who these people are was as obvious to me then as it is now. Our criticisms weren’t like, headcanons that we made up to be mean, they were plain old observations. Wilbur was openly mentally ill, creepy, and generally dismissive of other people. Not to say that there aren’t good things about him either, but, of course this is the kind of guy to make his girlfriend clean up after him. There’s a million cautionary tales about guitar stringers with floppy hair under a beanie, whiny song lyrics, and a masturbatory approach to self-loathing.

Dream’s not this person anymore, so that’s not why I bring it up, but think back to when his old Reddit account was exposed for being active on r/The_Donald. That was everything we were ever talking about! That was Dream being exactly who he was— a young white man from Florida. I love Dream, always have, always will. Acknowledging that he is/was a whole person with flaws and unsavory politics, I think, is truer fanhood than the idolization everyone puts him through.

You use the word “vindicated” to acknowledge that we were heavily criticized ourselves. Most of that was on the basis of privacy— you know, whether or not it’s okay to speculate on people’s personal lives. It doesn’t matter that we were “right” so often, that we still are, and always will be, because people will focus more on the original sin of having speculated in the first place.

I used to love vindication because it made me feel smart, like I could see things that no one else could. Now it just makes me sad. I don’t think it has anything to do with smarts, nor would I care if it did. I think people just don’t let themselves think that far. You know, “I don’t want to make assumptions,” “It’s none of my business,” “It’s not that deep,” etc. Maybe there’s no instinct to look deeper at all. It really just makes me sad.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like to add/have archived?

A: I’d like to ask everybody to stay critical. The hivemind response to recent events have shown me that this fandom remains as shallow, unthinking, conformative, elementary… as it was four years ago.

Thank you for conducting these interviews in the first place. It's nice hearing everyone’s voices again.

#early mcytblr interviews #Volume 13 #georgeeehd

[kyouka-supremacy]

Ngl sometimes I feel like Asagiri doesn't know what he's writing. Like in many many interviews I feel like he straight up contradicts what him and harukawa are doing in the manga which often just makes me go ????

Like the way he treats Akutagawa has never been framed in a positive light, he has shown how desperate akutagawa was for his recognition. The cycle of abuse is a constant theme in the manga...

That interview just baffled me so much that I can't help but wonder if asagiri just really sucks at expressing himself or idk because I also feel like if some sentences would've been slightly changed it would've fallen more in line with the manga and it wouldn't have sounded like excusing the abuse Dazai had put Akutagawa through.

... I honestly don't know how to answer to this. I sincerely don't think the author's words contradict what already slipped through the manga? As I said, I think the statement was just a very unfortunate case of intersection between 1) abuse apologism and 2) Dazai idolization... But that's both things bsd ALWAYS had.

Chapter 39 Portrait of a Father is right there; the author's framing of Akutagawa and Dazai's relationship in the interview is precisely the same case of “the abuse you went through actually shaped you to become a better person, and your abuser always acted in your best interests and should even be regarded highly by you, like a father / meaning to your life”. So, nothing new on that front. About Dazai, I guess that's harder to pinpoint, but I do believe bsd has a bad case of Dazai is omniscient / perfect / flawless / can-do-no-wrong syndrome, something someone already made a very interesting elaboration of here. That explains why the author could never admit that Akutagawa was Dazai's failure, because that would be admitting Dazai can fail, and it's evident that the author doesn't agree with that.

I'm not really sure Dazai's treatment of Akutagawa is portrayed as cruel, either. Like, if it was, then why didn't Dazai stop treating Akutagawa that way when he joined the ada and started doing good? That sounds like implying that Dazai didn't stop because he is doing Akutagawa's good. When you think about it, Dazai acts very coldly to Akutagawa in chapters 36 and 51, treating him with condescension and vague contempt; and yet, those scenes are framed as being either endearing or comic, never cruel. Overall, I can hardly find the interview to be inconsistent to the manga when it's basically just expanding on what Akutagawa already told us here:

and where in the past one could have suspected this was only Akutagawa's biased perspective¹, this new interview simply confirms the author thinks it the same way too.

¹ I'll never forget my sister saying, when I was live reacting chapters 84-88 to her, about this exact passage: “That depressingly sounds like an abused person trying to find a meaning in the pain the abuse caused them, something able to give a sense to the pain and excuse the abuser”

I was extremely surprised by how everyone reacted to the interview, because I found it saddening, yes, but people are acting like it's something new and surprising when... I really don't feel the same way? I always thought bsd was full of problematic stuff and fucked up worldviews I don't agree with, from the moment I was watching the first season for the first time. And like, it kind of sucked initially, but I came to terms with it because there's other aspects I find enjoyable to explore and dwell into! (And also simply because I don't get to pick what I hyperfixate on). Personally, I assumed that people in the fandom either agreed with the author, or turned a more or less conscious blind eye to its issues in favor of more compelling stuff, or did like me and acknowledged its problematic stuff while also believing that doesn't necessarily have to get in the way of your enjoyment of the media (we're all just here to have fun). But I never thought... People just didn't notice? Like, the author's world views are all there and they've always been there, what changed exactly? Again, seeing it put so plainly and with no shame is saddening, but can't be deemed surprising. Yet somehow I've seriously seen people say stuff that sounded worryingly like “the abuse defending manga author is defending abuse in real life, how did this happen” and I'm. ?????????¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿????????? I'm sorry, and forgive me if I'm sounding somehow pretentious, but I swear most sincerely that I just don't get it. When in two years the author is going to make a comment of the kind “no female character will ever be as complex as male characters because women simply don't have it in them”, will everyone suddenly be surprised because the author of the sexist manga revealed themselves to be sexist?

It's just... As someone who as it turns out has done this (deeply disagreeing with bsd's themes, but hyperfixated on it nonetheless) longer, very humbly, allow me some words of advice: you're here for entertainment, you're here to have fun. That means you get to decide what parts of canon are worth focusing on and dissect and enjoy, and that doesn't in any way hold you from acknowledging bsd's problems when they're at and overall having a critical approach to reading the manga. I think that's a good advice for interacting with all kinds of media actually! In the words of another old answer of mine:

I don't know who needs to hear this, but someone definitely does: “I love s/kk!!” “the bsd storytelling has many compelling aspects!!” and “I recognize the bsd writing has flaws some of which actively harm an already disadvantaged part of society” are statements that can and should coexist, and if anything - and I know you hate to hear this, I'm sorry, I'm sorry - it should be kept in mind when deciding to support the franchise by buying its products.

And lastly, but most importantly: bsd stopped giving you joy? Walk out!!! The world is full of beautiful stories. Read The Promised Neverland.

#I think y'all took death of the author too far... #But at least now you can understand why in the past year and half I always twisted my nose– #whenever I found one of those “author is such a genius!!!!” posts ahah #ryūnosuke akutagawa #osamu dazai #bsd #bungou stray dogs #mine #people asks me stuff #Feel free to shoot me right to the head if I ended up sounding pretentious in this

[lifmera]

OH MY GOD I TYPED UP A WHOLE THING AND ACCIDENTALLY LOST IT OH MY FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOD I HATE IT HERE- anyways *ahem* attempt no. 2 of me asking you for a Hazbin Hotel match because I have never done this kinda thing before and I'm curious :)

GENDER AND SEXUALITY: I'm non-binary, they/he/she pronouns. I generally don't have a preference between the three tbh but I do appreciate ppl mixing it up! I'm sex-repulsed asexual and gray-biromantic. Again no real preference lmfao

APPEARANCE: White, dark blonde hair, green eyes, just below 5'3, pretty basic looking all things considered. I've got a pretty angular face I think. I'm afab and don't shave cuz it's too much work. I wear pretty much exclusively graphic tees(band shirts, dumb jokes, fandom stuff... that kinda thing) or button ups with funky patterns paired w/ the comfiest pants I can find, but occasionally I'll pull myself together enough to make a dencent(?) outfit, typically reminiscent of shit scene kids in the early 2000s would wear. I also like dying my hair but usually don't bcuz I procrastinate on it for too long.

PERSONALITY: If I had to describe it in one word? Unhinged. I am unhinged. 7/10 people will agree I am a very frightening person to be around. I say out of pocket shit(ranging from vile sex jokes to just straight up threats of violence) pretty regularly. I also like to sneak up on ppl and make very loud noises just to see their reactions... *ahem* anyways, despite all that, most of my friends would also describe me as caring and loyal! I have low empathy, so the only way I ever understand any of my friends emotions is by using my own experiences to compare and contrast until I have a decent idea of what's going on in their head, but I AM very good at psychoanalyzing people and providing objective, unbiased thoughts & advice on their situations. I would also literally go to war for my friends. Like, if you hurt one of them say your goddamn PRAYERS because I am coming to your location with a knife and murderous intent. I'm kinda awkward & shy at first, but at my core I AM an extrovert. I just don't know how to talk to ppl bcuz I am ✨neurodivergent✨(autism & ADHD) and have a hard time approaching ppl bcuz I don't know if they'll like me or not. Typically I make friends by making very loud jokes and waiting for somebody to approach me because they like my sense of humor. Which speaking of, I am very funny! Most people I interact with regularly would agree I am a very funny person!!! I'm also really good at media analysis and making arguments. I don't do well in debates because I choke under the pressure(gotta work on that tbh), but I'm good at writing argumentative essays. Plus, I'm pretty good at just bold face lying to people so overall I can be pretty damn convincing. I like adrenaline rushes and try to actively seek out new experiences as long as I'm confident they won't cause me any significant damage(socially or physically) in the long run. Which is unfortunately not many because I am INCREDIBLY paranoid. Like to the point of accidentally staying up til 3am cuz I'm convinced someone's gonna break into my house and kill me... I also have depression, severe dissociation issues, and existential dread which is. Fun. That's fun. I also have a tendancy to go down random rabbit holes and obsess over inconsequential details in shows I like to the point of making whole ass conspiracy theories :)

LIKES: Cartoons, drawing, writing, acting, singing, reading fanfic, watching YouTube, long drives, listening to music, jumpscaring ppl, being funny, ziplining, problem solving, video essays, ghost hunting shows, supernatural stuff in general, psychology, media analysis, frogs, sharks, ferrets, cats, violence, chocolate, Drawfee(YT channel), glitter, and just. So many fandoms. Just so many.

DISLIKES: Slimey shit, being touched(most of the time, there are occasional exceptions), being touch starved DESPITE not liking being touched, ppl insulting my interests(only I get to do that), media illiteracy, projects I'm not invested in, ppl putting preasure on me, mosquitoes, existential dread, dissociating, being tired all the time, being wrong, taking risks, feeling vulnerable, and stories with a lot of potential that just. Don't do anything with said potential.

PREFERENCES?: Uh. Someone significantly taller than me(shouldn't be hard Hazbin characters are fucking huge) that'll listen to my insane rants and is able to match my energy.

Akdncksmfnsmdsn I rlly hope I did this right again it's my first time doing anything like this-

HEYYYYYY!!! FINALLY GOT TO YOU 😜

Honestly I was debating on like a few different characters BUT!

I’ve decided to pair you with… LUTE!

Honestly I think she’d also be sex repulsed. She’s definitely more of a romantic lover! Though she doesn’t show it.

I think she talked to you at first because your style choices reminded her of Adam- and obviously, she misses him like crazy

If you did dye your hair often with her, she’d probably want to help you! I think she’d apply the color so it doesn’t get messy :)

She LOVES your personality. She thinks you are similar to her in many ways!

She also would need to experience it herself. She’s pretty stoic and doesn’t show her emotions. She’d probably think it’d make herself look weak.

I think you both would definitely fight back to back 24/7! You both would fight to the DEATH for each other.

She loves how caring you are for other people- it gives her a different sense of pace. Someone new!

I think Lute would see a TINY BIT through your lies. Lute is very observant with EVERYTHING.

She’d love if you made jokes. She need’s something less boring in her life than just standing there.

Adrenaline rushes? Totally join the exorcists- and you can be her right hand!!

She’d try to help you through paranoia, but you shouldnt worry much. She’s STRONG asf!

She’d LOVE TO HEAR CONSPIRACIES!! she would think they are SO COOL.

Although she isn’t much taller- I think she’d around 5’8 personally. She just looks small bc shes always next to Adam who’s HUGE!

She may not be able to match your energy, only because she’ll need to come out of her shell more- she’s always listening. She has ears EVERYWHERE.

~~~~

HOPE THIS WAS OKAY ❣️

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin alastor #hazbin angel dust #hazbin charlie #hazbin cherri bomb #hazbin husk #hazbin nifty #hazbin vaggie #hazbin adam #hazbin mimzy #hazbin art #habin hotel #hazbin lucifer #hazbin vox #hazbin spoilers #hazbin vees #hazbin hotel adam x reader #hazbin velvette #hazbin carmilla #hazbin rosie #hazbin sir pentious #hazbin emily #hazbin zestial #hazbin sera #hazbin lilith #hazbin lute #lute hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel adam #hazbin hotel charlie

[spade-riddles]

I agree this situation is unpredictable, and as an old hand at this, I feel like you do. This could go either way. But one thing that is clear - and of some interest - to me is that Taylor is really throwing Joe under the bus here.

That decision alone gives credence to the idea of him as the 🎃 recipe thief. How many times did we here in the fandom say Toe seemed like a nice guy overall? That he was the best of all the beards? That message about people pretending to be nice is certainly one I'm looking at in a different light, given the actions of the last few days. It's impossible to know how pre-planned the decision to strike at Deuxmoi could have been - but the release of You're Losing Me, "Sweet Nothing was about Paul and Linda", and Jack poking holes in the Toe narrative, all feel very much orchestrated.

The normie interpretation I'm seeing, IRL, is that Toe were on the rocks for a long time because Joe didn't value Taylor's emotional needs. People are connecting "I wouldn't marry me either" with the "pain and trauma" Tree says the marriage rumors caused, and turning on Joe hard. MH and TK are being interpreted as rebound relationships. Moving too fast and being too public out of nowhere. Fans have turned on Joe (which I think was the intention) but pushing these stunts so hard in the aftermath of the "break up" has made it look like Taylor is still hung up on him, and trying to make him jealous. Which I don't think was the intention.

The casual fans I know had mostly forgotten about Joe until the events of the last few days. All this drama has thrust him into the spotlight again in their minds. I know some in the fandom are saying Taylor did this to erase Toe and give an upcoming TK "engagement" more legitimacy - but if that is the plan, I think it's backfiring. Everyone and their mother is going to believe she's rushing into an engagement to make him jealous. It only adds to Joe's perceived importance in her story - and again, I'm not sure that was the plan.

If it was me, I would tone down the Travlor and give people something else to talk about. Now would be the perfect time to poke some holes in the feud narrative, by having Jack or Blake or someone post some unseen Kaylor images. That maybe hint the pretender wasn't the real muse for Reputation. Hit him where it hurts by stripping away his connection to the album that made Swifties so besotted with him. They're already reevaluating their perceptions. Why not blow their minds a little further? We already have one perfectly meme-able image of our understudy side-eying the real muse, just waiting to go viral, if Tree wants to pull that trigger 😘

(By the way, if Joe is the recipe thief, it's been staring us in the face all along. The recipes = the songs. We witnessed that particular theft happen in front of our eyes with his "producing credits" and the Grammys speech. We even speculated at the time that it was what his team demanded as the price of sticking around during the pandemic, when he lost work and stunting opportunities were limited. And speculated again that he'd jumped ship early before the Eras Tour began. Maybe we should have gone with our gut and teased out those suspicions a little further.)

Just some thoughts, percolating as we await the next move.

[akookminsupporter]

I honestly don’t care too much about the whole jk 🚬 thing, just like I didn’t care with V nor with Suga. I can not like something and still love/like and respect the people who chooses to do those things. Like me not liking the idea of vaping and my sisters doing it — you do you I guess 🤷🏻‍♀️. Also, don’t know why people are so surprised about the fact and the possibility of him and any other member/idol smoking, because just like drinking is very popular in Korea, as far as I know smoking rates are kinda high too. So yes I was surprised at first, for reasons like the ones you’ve mentioned (his voice, health and smell sensibility), but overall I was like “oh, okay so he does that too”. We also need to remember and understand that even if we see it on footage and/or by hearing them talk about it —still we will never know the pressure, exhaustion and stress they go under on a daily basis, and because of that, it is never our place to judge how they choose to enjoy and release themselves, specially if it’s not affecting/hurting anyone. Now, the only thing that intrigues me about this whole thing is why now are we being bombarded with so much… idk a good word so I’m just gonna name it “crude/sensible/private moments” of them (all of them in a way). Like the V and Jennie video, I just don’t see how 10 years in the industry have been so relatively “smooth”, but now in this second chapter it feels like we have had one revelation after another ? I’m not saying it’s planned, but I also don’t think it’s entirely coincidental, specially with how the members (like RM and JK in recent lives) have been expressing themselves and slowly removing/breaking the “idol standard” frame.

Let's talk a bit about the last part of your message.

I think I mentioned in one of the Asks I posted a couple of hours ago, that I think the reason we are seeing more of the guys' private lives is because fans are not respecting those moments like they used to. I don't think it's because the guys are now doing this or that, I want to believe that no one is naive enough to believe that before those 7 men stayed at home doing nothing, apart from working. Now the lack of content has caused many to look for any way to find out about them. And now they are quicker to justify why a video or photo etc. spreads much faster. Many don't care about the guys and respecting their private lives, many care about feeding the parasocial relationship they have created with them. Or feeding that obsession. That addiction; because what's the point of knowing what they do in their spare time if we're supposed to be fans of their music and variety content?

"specially with how the members (like RM and JK in recent lives) have been expressing themselves and slowly removing/breaking the “idol standard” frame."

As for this part, I think it's because they really understand the power they have, not just in Korea but in the industry in general. I don't know much about other kpop groups but it's clear to me that no other group has the power that bts has. And it's important to clarify that I'm not talking about popularity, that's something different although no one has the popularity that bts has but in this case, I'm talking about power. Of influence.

Although there are some groups that are quite popular globally they don't have the power and influence that bts has and this is proven by the participations that bts has had in important stages outside of music. Yes, those appearances are also due to the popularity of the group but mostly due to the power and influence they have. Even if that influence was only on their fandom, that would be huge because bts fandom is huge and that's something that I think everyone with full knowledge of the facts recognises.

And BTS knows it. The members know it. They are positioned enough in the industry and society I think, to shake up the status quo - once again - of what it is to be an Idol. A kpop artist and even a Korean artist. I think that also applies to their relationship with the fandom. Joon and jungkook particularly, they're more vocal in expressing what they don't like, in calling out the fandom for doing or saying something they don't agree with and that's important. I think they've understood that the image that we had of them and that maybe they were projecting was a little bit unrealistic and in this new stage of their careers, they're trying to be more honest or honest enough. Real.

#anon #ask #bts fan opinions #rosie's thoughts

[ciaossu-imagines]

Khr for the 20 questions meme (you can choose the numbers if that’s a lot) Thank You!

Thank you for the request, my lovely anon! I didn't really manage to do all of them, though I explained why I couldn't do particular ones while answering and I hope you'll enjoy my thoughts on the ones I did do!

which muse is the easiest to write?

Honestly, I think I've answered this a couple times on this blog. But for those who might have missed those answers, the honest truth is that there isn't a single character left in KHR that I consider 'hard' to write about anymore. I don't think I write the best Reborn, Hibari, or Mukuro, but I do try my best. I will say, I do find Gokudera always naturally flows pretty well for me but overall, KHR is the easiest fandom for me to write about and I enjoy all the characters, in their own way.

which muse is most likely to go to jail?

Well, let's see. Mukuro, Ken, Chikusa, M.M., Birds, and the Bloody Twins are all canonically either currently in jail or they have been in jail. But if that's too much of a cop-out answer, Naito would definitely spend at least a night or two in jail here and there because he's an idiot and a loud one and gets himself into silly situations or causes a public disturbance. If it wasn't for the fact that they're protected by the Mafia and have so many resources at their disposal, the Varia should also be spending time in prison for multiple murders.

which muse would be the best parent?

That's a really hard one because, honestly, this cast is so huge, and there's a lot of characters I think would make excellent parents. There's no way to settle into best either, since I think they'd all have vastly different parenting styles. I will say, out of Tsuna's family, I think neither Gokudera nor Hibari want children, nor would either of them being particularly great parents, each for their own reasons. The only person in the Varia I see wanting their own children is Levi, though I also think Squalo could be a good parent if it did become a thing for him. Out of Mukuro's gang, I don't think Mukuro nor Chrome want their own biological children. They could all potentially be good parents, but out of them all, I do think Fran would make the worst parent, though even he has moments of being a really good parent.

what would your muses be the deities of? what are your favorite icons for each muse? what song do you associate with each muse? what sort of youtube channel would your muses have?

Okay, this is just an absolutely huge cast of characters, so I hope you don't mind that I skipped these questions, my dear. The resulting post, if I was to do the entirety of the cast, would take hours upon hours to write (and like I said, these prompts are supposed to be fun and fast in between the more serious waiting requests), and would be extremely long for any of these questions, though I'd be happy to do these with a narrower group of characters in KHR.

which muse would you most like to meet irl?

Oh, there's so, so many characters from KHR I do wish were real and were in my life. Shouichi, Spanner, Byakuran after the future arc, Yamamoto, Gokudera, Haru, Kyoko, Chikusa, Shamal, YamaPapa, Squalo, Skull, Enma…the list is literally too long to count.

which muse would be the MOM friend? DAD friend?

Mom friend? Both Bianchi and Kyoko definitely show signs of being mom friends to those in their lives, though each in their unique ways. I also do think Luce, Aria, and Yuni all are or were 'mom friends' and that, even before she became a mom, Nana was a 'mom friend' to those she was friends with. Now, I'll show myself as dumb here but I didn't really know what a 'dad friend' really meant, so I had to google it. I think Yamamoto and Reborn both have some 'dad friend' energy, as does Kusakabe and Romario, right off the top of my head. Of course, YamaPapa has the most daddest of dad energies though, just saying and is a father, so maybe that helps. I also think Timoteo was always a 'dad friend' to people, from the time he was a kid all the way until he becomes an old man, when he gains 'grand-dad friend' vibes.

which muses are cat people? which are dog people?

Okay, so again, this is a question that if I listed all the characters from the wide cast of characters that fit into both categories, the post would be very long and would take a very long time to write, so I'm just going to go with the first ones that popped into my head. Hibari would definitely be a cat over dog kind of person. While animals really love Hibari in general and he tends to get along best with animals rather than people, he's not really a fan of dogs, to be honest. They're too clingy and require too much attention. Gokudera, Chikusa, Julie, and Kikyo are all very much cat people too. However, Yamamoto, Skull, and Colonello to me are all very much dog people.

which muse would you want to have a sleepover with?

Of course, a sleepover with the girls (Chrome, Kyoko, Haru, Hana, Bianchi, and I-Pin) would be so much fun. I also think sleepovers with Byakuran would be a blast and though I know he's really unpopular, sleepovers with Naito would be hilarious and full of crazy stories for the ages.

which muse would try to befriend the others? which two muses would get along the best if they met? which two muses would immediately fight each other if they met?

Now, I'm treating all of these questions in terms of how I write the various characters in my crossovers and AU's. Again, if I was to write this thinking of all the characters, I could make each question a very long, thorough, time-consuming post, so I went with just my first thoughts. I would happily answer these questions more thoroughly, if anyone would like, with a narrower group of characters. In terms of the crossovers/multiverse AU's though, Tsuna is always the most accepting and the one to make the most friends. While not as outwardly extroverted and friendly as Yamamoto, there's this charisma to Tsuna that does draw people to him. Hibari, Byakuran, Mukuro, Gokudera, Bel, and Xanxus get into the most fights in these stories though.

which muse is physically the strongest? which muse would win in a fist fight against the others?

So, keeping this strictly in universe, the Varia are all considered elite assassins and fighters and I think most of them would survive a fist fight with any of the other characters to at least a draw. It's canon that Hibari is the strongest, battle-wise, of all Tsuna's Guardians, and the Arcobaleno are the absolute best of the best, with Skull in particular actually being known for his strength, something a lot of people seem to forget because honestly, canon and fandom does him a little dirty. In just plain out hand to hand combat, I think Skull can hold his own against anyone, even Hibari, if push came to shove. I'm also adding Knuckle and Ryohei to this category, as fist-fights are their specialities and something both really excel at.

what is a plot you’ve been wanting to do for [muse name]?

I mentioned this to a friend the other day in messages, but I honestly, if I had the time and artistic ability, would love to write light novel spin-off series for KHR, something that would never happen as those have to be approved, I'm pretty sure, by the original creator. But I would love to do light novels exploring so much - the Arcobaleno's individual pasts, how they each came to chosen, their experiences with the occasion that turned them into Arcobalenos, and the immediate aftermath of being turned into infants and how they adapt to life after that. I'd love to do light novels exploring all the prior generations of the Vongola Bosses and their Guardians. I'd love to do one exploring YamaPapa's past, especially his relationship with his sibling disciple of Shigure Soen and the creation of Shinotsuku Ame.

which muse would spend a night in a haunted place for $20?

Gokudera will do it for free. No kidding, legit, he might even pay for the privilege. I honestly do think Bianchi actually does share some of her brother's passion for ghosts and she would be interested in spending the night in a haunted house as well. Byakuran and Mukuro would both do it, just because it would amuse them, and both are enough of skeptics to not even be scared.

which muse would you not let into your house, under any circumstance?

Honestly, it's Kikyo. I do see him as being really judgmental, especially with anything aesthetic, and I do think he'd read my interior decorating skills and aesthetic to filth, despite how much I love my apartment and how it looks. I also don't think I'd much like Bel in my apartment…too much chance of me being murdered for my comfort, thanks.

which muse would investigate the scary noises? which one would hide?

Again, this is one where if I really focused on the full cast, putting them into the groups, I could create a post that would be very long, thorough, and would take quite a while to write, so I just went with my first thoughts. Lambo, Tsuna, Shouichi, Enma would all hide. Basil, Gokudera, Spanner, Byakuran, Mukuro, Hibari, Adelheid, Shitt. P, and Reborn would all investigate, some with less fear than the others.

#replies #prompts #katekyo hitman reborn #khr #headcanons

[fanstuffrantings]

"It's become so popular to cyberbully people in this fandom, especially if they hold any opinion outside the extremely limited and strictly enforced one-way-only 'acceptable' opinion."

This. Fucking this. I haven't experienced anon hate ir any sort of harrassment, but hearing the hate people can get boogles my mind.

You like Adam or dislike how things ended for him? You feel uncomfortable how fndm treats him? You're an abuse apologist. (because the only villains you're allowed to like are the ones WE decide you can like.)

You like Ironwood or dislike how things ended for him? You dislike how his villain arc got writen? You feel uncomfortable how fndm treats his paranoia and prosthetics? You're a terrible person who supports facism, because you dared to do some critical thinking and don't agree with the group by daring to have different opinions (how ironic)

You ship Blacksun instead of Bumbleby? You're a hompohobe, 'cause Yang and Sun are totally the same people so you should be shipping BB too. (Lets ignore how I water down Yang and Sun to 1 surface level trait and that both have different plotlines with Blake)

And now shipping FB is bad? I thought this fandom cared about f/f ships? Guess, not and only care about keeping everyone in line. For god's sake, you're telling me people got shitted on for theorizing that Qrow is Ruby's dad?? Sheez, with this pathern of behavior I can safely assume I would get accused of being a military bootlicker who supports bombing cities because I like Harriet.

For my time in this fandom I learned the only way I can enjoy RWBY, without mentally blocking out the toxic part of Fndm or getting mentally tired in the Rwde side and without getting frustrated by the canon...is to stay in my corner. No matter how friendly Rwby positive blog looks like - I'm staying in my corner. Quick look at their posts about Rwde, Ironwood etc. and I'm taking a distance.

And what sucks more, I do want to talk about RWBY with people. I want to talk without bringing up it's flaws. Once I brought up RWBY to a mutual of mine and they hadn't heard of it before, but said they would check it out.

I was happy because I would have someone to talk about RWBY, but then later I remembered about how Fndm can be, about the war with criticism they have. I would get worried them getting harrassed if they talk about the flaws. What if Fndms toxicity influences them? Maybe, I did the bad thing for mentioning RWBY to them??

I get, Fndm not wanting constant critcism in their dash. Trying to enjoy a show with many pointing out the cracks can be draining. But all this? All these rules of what to think, like and ship? This isn't ok.

I agree that RWBY haters can drive off new fans of the show. but there are times where fandoms are too responsible for this. Congrats Fndm, I'm tired.

Largely since my re-entry into the fandom I've been incredibly careful about separating positive posts from critical ones. I'll tag things as rwde/rwby critical liberally because I don't want to chance a post I make finding someone who thinks it's too negative. I tend to be more critical this days or think a lot about alterations I'd make to canon to enjoy myself more and I'm having fun doing that in my corner of the internet.

I think mainly the part that threw me was to see a harmless post get someone upset, and then a request for people to manage their internet space only caused this to worsen. Last time I posted freezerburn content (2016 I believe) it was treated as normal and not subject to controversy. It felt a bit like getting a bucket of ice water dumped on me because I wasn't ready for a completely angry response to positivity.

The fandoms response to my recent posts about this situation has been overall more positive in all honesty with a lot of support and mutual aggrevation (like this) at how many rwby fans can often live in an echo chamber where canon is law and anyone who ignores said law is out to destroy RWBY regardless of how much they might enjoy the show.

This defensive nature might stem from fans getting incredibly protective of the series because there was a point when it would get a lot of unnecessary hate in the early days for dumb things (animation and episode length when budget was clearly an issue). But even so they now begin to lump everyone enjoying the show differently together and assume the worst which is what isolates so may people.

I do appreciate all of you for being supportive though and it's unfortunate that the fandom got into a state like this, I feel like it's one of the worst versions of this type of thing in fandom that I've seen. But when we get the fans who accept people are going to have differences of opinions and handle their online space to make sure they're having fun it makes enjoying the fandom easier!

#rwde #rwby critical #molten rambles #anon #ask #like at this point i tag anything remotely controversial as rude to keep myself safe

[lilac-udon]

oh no I’m clowning myself again

As a basil defender

Most people stand w sunny and how often I see online is “basil ruins Sunny’s life ” . Would argue sunny ruined his life unintentionally, and basil actively chose to jump into the water with him. I can imagine basil never think that far into the consequences of his actions but the first instinct is to help Sunny. I can’t understand why basil did what he did ,and for me I do felt it’s overkill. My explanation is the writer needs it to be this extreme to connect the plot(and shock value . If sunny and mari are both basils friends, I cannot think of why he would throw Mari into the bus like that(I’m saying, thinking mari is already dead, need to save Sunny, but not in the point or any idea of, saving mari. He see Sunny action , but on the other hand he accepts mari is dead already too quickly in my taste)(I mean I don’t understand basil a lot a lot, I just don’t make sense but also he probably get push to do something because he think he is the only one to rely on when Sunny is suffering at that moment,add the point of he never really have parents supervise him, I guess that add a possibility of him not seeking others (parental figure) help but trying to fix stuff on its own. I have theory of he mostly solve stuff on his own, and no one helps or guides him, and he might be the one taking care of his grandma more than his grandma taking care of him

(((no , I will tell u this, a lot of people don’t like to think about any reason for basil bc they “hate basil” . I read other ship involving sunny and see how many write basil should get hate by his actions))))(((not that u can’t hate a character but , write it from another character lens(besides hero), ok cool?) (ah I know I ask too much, cute ship fluff no canon involved because it’s too much sure whatever)

I want to point out how much he valued to “help ”Sunny in that moment than anything else. Even it’s a very very awful idea. But I also want to say, as passive as Sunny is, didn’t he also ruined basil life. And the lack of people see it this way just annoys me, what did you mean basil deserved it, where if basil never met sunny he could at least had a normal childhood ; but for Sunny , sunny still needs to face the reality of mari is gone, wether or not basil is there to help him “cover up ”?

I always see both of them are in the wrong, even though so many people see them as cute little meow meows , nooo . Especially sunny, sunny is passive, but he is not entirely blank(I don’t know how to explain but I always use “cute” to explain?) this is more of my taste I guess, but I really like to put Omori characters into sunny as well, I see omori as what he is thinking, sunny just has the issue to showing all those thoughts he have. They are good kids but sunny has this attitude (read Omori note) removing it from him making him so cute and eepy as soft is just not how I imagine sunny I guess; ; ( where is his dark thoughts and edginess?

Basil being overall kind ? Huh, there is also this very weird thing of Basil literally shut off himself to only interact with sunny a tiny bit. After the incident he cut off from most of his friends. I think I don’t know how to think about him because there is too little information then from Omori point of view of dream basil (I can believe omocat probably don’t know too or probably very simple but I or the fandom over complicated him) I just always felt he do favor sunny, but that also can be explained he doesn’t know what to do and can only open with sunny because sunny literally causes them both in the dumpster. Or can think as he IS really this kind, waiting for sunny to do something than just snitching sunny, you know if he hate sunny or anything, he can twist the story or just tell it before sunny think through his trauma but he didn’t

Also to point out, sunny at the end of the game did somehow get a conclusion of his thoughts but not basil, just pointing out, we don’t know how he feels, he probably has unresolved trauma +the guilt of hurting sunny, also we are not sure if he is ok sunny just spell the beans like that, he might just want to talk with sunny but haven’t prepared to share it w his friends yet so yeah, I hope they are on the same page (someone reminded me that his something disappeared , so they are both fine)

Add

So sunny eye, I always see it as an apology of ruining basils life, but most people think it’s too much

#my internet cut off and I forgot what I was typing #internet tell me no more hate speech

[blaithnne]

HELLO SADIE!!!!

Writer fanfiction Ask games thingy.

🚀, 👻,💘 and💡

🚀 Do you like to outline your fic first or create as you go?

➝ Outline 100% lol. To the point where it's sometimes a problem! One of the biggest traps I fall into is spending ages writing pages upon pages of planning, and never actually writing anything. But I'm working on improving that!

Having an outline helps me avoid writers block, by ensuring I always know what's happening next. For Plenism, I have an outline containing every chapter and the overall plot, as well as some notes on character development. Some are more detailed than others, and I frequently change things as I go, but yeah! Another thing I do is if my notes aren't detaield enough, when it comes time to write that chapter I'll make even MORE notes at the bottom of my page lol (cause my notes doc is separate from my fic writing doc).

👻 What is your wildest headcanon?

➝ HMM I'm not sure lol?? I mean, basically every Hilda headcanon out there is kinda wild given the state of our fandom and the long ass hiatuses lol. UHHH god I really can't think, does Lauren count lmao??? sketchbook?? If i think of something i'll rb this post with it lol

💘 Is it easier to write angst or fluff?

➝ I think writing light angst is a bit easier for me, I really enjoy it. I'm talking about the sort of... quiet, awkward moments, two people standing in silence unsure what to say. I love writing the little details they notice about eachother, the way one character fiddles with their hair and subtly tries to leave the room, whilst the other tries desperately to think of what to say, but fails. Something about trying so ahrd to make things work but falling short. But I like writing fluff too! Comedic dialouge is a lot of fun to write.

💡 How many WIPs do you currently have?

➝ Not really any unpublished ones lol? Not counting Plenism, ofc. I have a bunch of old fics I started and always meant to continue, but they're so old I wouldn't continue them now. There's alos a couple notes docs for stuff I want to write once Plenism is over, but I haven't actually started writing them sooo idk if they count

Questions are from this Ask Game!

#ty for the ask! #ask game #ask #jetcat-14 #hilda #hilda the series #netflix hilda #hilda netflix #plenism posting #textpost

[yiptsu]

Hey, here's a chance for you to ramble ;)

About who because I have way too much to say all at once

Like for fucking starters the way the fandom took Dreamtale (which quite frankly didn't belong in the UnderTale Multiverse in the first place and I'm 90% sure Joku just wanted to insert her[?] OCs and story somewhere she[?] knew it would get attention) and turned it into something fantastic was absolutely incredible to watch pan out in real-time. Second of all there is nobody in this world who is more in love with Nightmare's design than I am at this point 'cuz there has not been a single day in the last five years I have not thought about him (/srs) good LORD there is way too much to talk about there and I promised someone I wouldn't be un-sfw on here just know I'm on my knees barking for him begging him for a chance a SINGLE chance and that I would pay for.. certain artwork.. of him if given that opportunity..

Anyway I think the fandom's version of Dreamtale both ruins and improves the overall story because quite frankly I have never been happy with how Passive!Nightmare straightup dies but maybe that's just the angst brain y'know I think that Nightmare living but holding a deep hatred and/or jealousy for Dream would have been a better route there but also I understand that the AU doesn't only revolve around them and has to involve other characters and having Passive die is probably one of the easiest ways of doing that. But also if Nightmare killed his own mom how much extra angst potential would there be, right? 'Cuz then we'd also get angst with Dream trying to move on from it and forgive him and that is a whole other topic and I'm tryna stay on track here.

Speaking of Dream I personally think that the way the fandom used to (and still does sometimes) treat him was foul.. absolutely slanderous. UwU little soft boi Dream.. bleh. I think I could understand that take on Dream if it was when he was younger or had just directly come out of statue form but the people who used to write him as just some guy who lived solely to fix his brother and not think about anything else was certainly something. I mean I think you could technically write a perspective like that but it would take such a large amount of effort to fit properly within literally any sort of canon that it just wouldn't be worth it at all unless you're really that dedicated to it. Anyway, I think I'm just glad that the fandom has largely moved past the entire pathetically weak Dream saga that happened. I really fucking love Dream who is still grieving over the loss of his brother but can also accept that he's gone and is focusing on saving the Multiverse instead of trying to get his brother back at any cost I'm so in love with that version of Dream but nobody writes him like that on Wattpad so whenever I'm reading a fic about him it's HORRIBLE.

Y'know what I'm taking the chance to talk about how I don't think there's enough religious content surrounding Dream and Nightmare because I'd like to remind everyone that they are Guardians, which is pretty similar to Gods depending on who you ask. You CANNOT tell me that, whilst Nightmare is out causing havoc and spreading negativity to the AUs and such, not a SINGLE person would start thinking of him as a deity-like figure. Take it a step further and have them praying to him and giving him offerings like that is a banger concept if done correctly.

Take it ANOTHER step further and have it be done with Dream. Sure Nightmare's the Guardian of Negativity so not many people are likely to support him and such but Dream is the Guardian of Positivity, people would 100% worship him. There are so many things you could do with this concept, have him running around trying to keep his supporters happy whilst also protecting the Multiverse from Nightmare, have him be overwhelmed have him be fearful of the way people view him because it reminds him of the times before the Apple Incident oh my God please can someone do anything with this concept

Also side note I am in love with the bad sanses poly ship like that's also something not explored enough within fics I'll get around to writing something about it eventually but LORD the things I would do to read a 150k word fic about their adventures and their love for each other and their arguments and their miscommunications and their flaws and how they love each other's flaws and how they accept each other for who they are without having to drastically change anything about themselves and how they've finally found comfort in other people like them and how they never thought they would so they're super happy and AAAAAAAAAA dude. The things I'd do to read something like that.

Also. Listen to me. Error. I don't think I have to say much else because the large majority of people are already agreeing just based on Error alone but.. Error.

I am a VERY big fan of how his redesign is VERY similar to Geno's design except in negative form with some slight variations and I don't know if anything I'm about to talk about was on purpose or not but we're going into it anyway. First of all I love the idea of a Sans somehow glitching his way practically out of existence and becoming a fucked up piece of code like Error, but God the way his design looks will never get old to me. Never. The way he's all black because it's the negative of white and y'know in computer viruses and crashes they usually portray it as turning into negative colours when something has gone wrong BUT the way that Error's design only uses the primary colours (red, yellow, blue) WOOF that gets me GOINNNNNGGG like YES we've gone back to the basics no more complex colours no more special little colour palettes nothing like that he is basic and he is simple. He is UNPREDICTABLE like a virus he does not have any set opinions or personality traits at least not set in stone he is unhinged he has nothing to properly define him other than the term 'manbaby' and it is SO good because he isn't Sans he isn't even considered one or at least he shouldn't be because yes technically he is one if you look into it even the slightest but he has basically zero similarities because his personality is negative his personality is flipped his personality is FUCKED everything about him is FUCKED and he is INSANE. He is not patient like Sans he is not mysterious like Sans he is not harmless unless heavily, heavily aggravated like Sans he is the opposite he is a FOOL. A JESTER. Can someone draw him in a jester's outfit I think that would be funny anyway I love him he's my little meow meow my little guy my little non-friendly pal ALSO his fucking birthday is a 404 joke and his strings are a joke too for strings of code and it took me FOUR YEARS to figure that out because I'm a dummy but once it clicked?? Wowza it was like a new world opened because I could actually finally understand what his strings were all about.

I don't really have much to say about Killer if I'm being honest with you.. I'm just obsessed with him because he's a crazy extrovert who stabs people to death and also his design fucks hard though I do somehow keep forgetting his Soul whenever I draw him.. which isn't often I really need to start drawing him more he's SO fun his little drippy eye sockets are SO much fun to draw I cannot lie to you guys I would most definitely do a full piece of art of him if it meant I got to draw his eyes.

Fuck it I think Killer and Nightmare's possible relationship dynamics go CRAZY and I will need there to be more content of them. It does not matter if it's ship or not I just need them being them. I need Killer annoying Nightmare but Nightmare putting up with it because he finds it really cute how Killer likes being near him even if it's only to annoy him. I need Killer being patient and listening to Nightmare struggling to explain his own emotions (I also need Nightmare who can process everyone else's emotions besides his own) and Nightmare being so so grateful that he can confide in Killer about it. I need Killer following Nightmare's every word and demand because he wants to please him and when Nightmare compliments him it's all worth it. I need awkward Nightmare and Killer where Killer keeps trying to befriend Nightmare but Nightmare can't figure out what he's trying to do so he's just like "???" until Killer has to outright ask him to be friends. I need not awkward Killer and Nightmare where Nightmare knows full well that Killer wants to be friends but he is afraid of what would happen and he's afraid of putting their team in danger because what if he says something bad and Killer decides to leave ?? What would happen to the rest of his team then ??

I need Nightmare and Killer content where Nightmare is willing to take the risk of befriending him if it means being closer with him. And then I need Nightmare and Killer content which evolves into Killermare content which then evolves into bad sans poly.

I need Nightmare and Killer. Just in general now I just need them no further context.

WHEW the things I could say about Blueberror.. man I only started getting into him like a week ago because of a Wattpad request but I completely forgot how in love with his design I am. I can't really comment on it the same way as Error because, well, nothing tops Error but his design is so so so fun I love it I love how he still resembles his old self I love how not much changed other than he, again, became a sort of negative-like version of himself. I fucking love the stars on his face too I think face markings have gotta be the best thing to ever happen with OC creation in general things just feel incomplete if they don't have something there to draw on their faces

Wait is that the link? Is that what I've been missing???? Blueberror has stars Error has lines, Killer has his drippy eyesockets and Nightmare has his one singular covered drippy eyesocket oh fuck they all have some sort of identifiable feature on their faces God damn it

#undertale au #error sans #nightmare sans #blueberror #dream sans #killer sans #dreamtale #errortale #nightmares gang #sans au #ramblings #i could write a lot more but im sleepy goodnight

[tightjeansjavi]

I need to ask this someone because I want to know if I’m the only one thinking like this…

With strange way of life @ Cannes and people sharing what happens in it (and what doesn’t happen) I just.. I find it so weird how disappointed some fans are that they’re not getting a full on gay sex scene with pedro. Like people are genuinely so disappointed and I find it so weird??

And now there’s some articles about how there’s a shot of pedros naked butt and his shirt hides a full frontal shot etc. and the way some fans react to this all of this is… concerning??

I’m just thinking... if this was about a woman, people would be so freaking mad at the comments some fans are making.

I can absolutely understand finding Pedro attractive and some of the pictures of him definitely have me like “damn! 😍” but the way some fans completely sexualise Pedro and everything he does is so freaking weird. It’s not normal to be disappointed that he didn’t do a explicit gay sex scene. That’s freaking weird… if you want someone to do porn just so you can see them naked and going at it, that’s freaking weird!!

I can’t be the only one thinking like this right???

I definitely agree with the fact that it’s a bit weird that people are getting worked up over the fact that we aren’t getting full on gay sex scene. I think majority of the fandom that is above the age of 18, is focused on what the story is actually conveying and it’s two men finding each other again after being apart for so many years. I’m personally super excited to see this film for many reasons but I think overall Pedro has 100% been overly sexualized for the past 3-4 months.

I’ve been a fan of Pedro’s since he first appeared on GOT and then it went on from there. He is such an incredibly talented actor and I am SO proud that he is finally being recognized in the industry after how hard he has worked. To see it being especially diminished by interviewers and girls screaming “daddy” at him in public is really disappointing. It is one thing to find any celebrity attractive and have a crush on them, but it’s another to harass them in public and minimize them down to their looks and sex appeal.

The tik tok edits of Pedro are overwhelming and the AI voice overs are fucking weird as well. They’re also super harmful because Pedro has not given anyone consent to use his voice AND the technology is pretty terrifying that you can generate someone’s voice and make them say what you want? There’s some really disturbing ones that I have stumbled across and I don’t think people actually realize the harm that they are causing.

I love him because he just seems like a genuine down to earth individual that has always expressed his beliefs and stood behind them. He has so many attributes that add to his wonderfulness and I’m hoping the whole “daddy” hype thing starts to eventually die down.

He’s at the top of his game right now and I’m so happy that he’s booked and busy. Unfortunately, there will always been those few people that just take it a little too far.

#talkswithgi #anon answered #mailbox💌 #going off of the Pedro pascal doesn’t owe you shit post because yes 100% he doesn’t owe us shit