#dicourse kind of

[melodygatesauthor]

Sick of people asking me "when", and I'm gonna talk about it...

If you aren't in the headspace for a post more on the "negative" side then don't read this, but I need to say something about this before I lose my fucking MIND.

The entitlement coming from some of my readers has GOT to fucking stop, and I'm so goddamn serious right now. You have me at my fucking limit on what's supposed to be a fun hobby. So here's what's happening, and I'm not going to be nice about it because I'm so fed up I want to cry:

Over the last few days, I've woken up to messages in my inbox that are all being demanding, entitled, and downright fucking RUDE. Some of you saying you're "disappointed" that I haven't updated certain stories or just saying "where is the next update for x story". Fuck the FUCK off okay? (This is in NO WAY directed at the majority of my readers. The majority of you, fortunately, are very kind and leave me such nice comments and I love you *forehead kiss*)

---

First of all, don't you think that if I had the update ready I would post it?

I don't get paid for this (a point that I will be touching on more later, don't you worry.) so my "payment" is the gratification I get from reblogs and comments. If I don't post, I don't get "paid." So just know that I want to post my stories as much as you want to read them. I think I speak for most writers when I say that. I'm not a fucking dragon hording my fucking stories and chapters in google docs and laughing while you all suffer. I have the stories in my head and I'm crying while I suffer because I don't have enough time to get them all out onto paper before you all start turning into nasty little gremlins over them.

Secondly, you demanding asking for more is not encouraging, nor is it motivational.

Again, I think I'm speaking for most writers with this. When you demand or ask for more, THE ONLY THING *taps megaphone* THE ONLY THING you're doing is reminding the writer that they haven't updated and it gives us a little pit in our tummies at our "failures". (a little note to my fellow writers reading this, you're not a failure, but I know it can feel like that when people come into your inbox like this, despite it not being true). "HoW dO i MoTiVaTe A wRiTeR tO uPdAtE mY fAvOrItE sToRy ThEn?" Well you entitled asshole, I'm SO FUCKING GLAD YOU ASKED. (Because that brings me to my next point).

Third, I'd be willing to put the $200 in my savings account and the change at the bottom of my purse on the fact that YOU HAVEN'T EVEN REBLOGGED MY STORIES.

Sorry, feeling called out? Fucking GOOD. I hope your pillows are warm and moist af on both sides when you're trying to sleep because literally if you're coming into my inbox, acting like THIS and then you have the AUDACITY to not even reblog my work? You're one of the worst kinds of people and I wish you nothing but the worst. It's the ONLY thing I ask for in response to my hard work and I'm sure you can't even manage that. You should be embarrassed.

Fourth, let's talk about how much money I make doing this shall we?

$0...I make ZERO DOLLARS and you are talking to me with more of an attitude and entitlement than a Karen in a fucking grocery store during Covid. Get a grip bro. Wanna start paying my bills so I can write fanfiction full time? DO IT, and THEN we can chat about WHEN something isn't getting updated or WHY it didn't get updated. Until then, shut your fucking mouth and enjoy what I put out, or get off my page. I don't care anymore, I'm so done being nice about this.

Fifth, I LITERALLY UPDATE YOU ALL WEEKLY TO LET YOU KNOW WHEN THE FUCK I'LL BE UPDATING WHAT THE HELL!!!!

With the exception of this past week because I've been so goddamn busy, I post a WEEKLY update letting my readers know when I'll be updating something. I have a busy work schedule, and it's summer, so there are lots of things going on in my life right now. I try to help mitigate the questions you have about "when" and "why" by doing this. What makes me annoyed is that you all seem to be on my page, noticing that I'm not updating and getting upset about that, but you don't take the time to look at the fucking information I put out in your face to avoid having to answer the same questions ten fucking times. Omg and for the love of god FOLLOW @melodygatesupdates FOLLOW THAT BLOG RIGHT NOW OR SO HELP ME. If I have ONE MORE person ask me about my tag list after reading a fic that says "I don't have a taglist anymore so follow @melodygatesupdates" I'm going to lose it.

So here's a blanket statement as to "why" I haven't posted whatever chapter or story you've been waiting for. Pick one of the options below because either one or more are accurate.

I'm working too many hours to have time for updating regularly so am only working on fics that are currently inspiring to me.

Another Adderall shortage so I'm having a hard time focusing.

I don't feel like it today, and despite what you may think, that's a perfectly valid reason not to write something.

I'm working on something else.

Something bad happened in my personal life.

My personal life got busy.

Going forward, for my own sanity, I'm no longer entertaining questions about "why" I haven't updated or "when" I plan to update something. 9 times out of 10 I'll let you know if something is going to be delayed or if it's not in my current scope of interest, but otherwise, just don't ask.

If you're nice when you ask, I'll probably just ignore you and delete your inbox ask. I feel bad doing that to those of you who are kind when you ask, but I just can't take it anymore, especially when I'm telling you right now that you don't need to ask me.

For those who come in hot like "why haven't you..." or "When are you going to..." I'm blocking you. Consider this a warning. Even if you come in on anon, you can still be blocked and I won't fucking hesitate. Learn some manners and then come talk to me, but until then I'm not going to entertain this behavior any longer.

I'm a grown woman in her thirties just trying to pass the time with something I enjoy, and waking up to this every morning over the last few days while working 60+ hours a week fucking sucks. So for my own mental health, I have to start putting my foot down. You're ruining my online experience and making this less fun for me.

Thanks for reading, I love those of you who read this whole thing and who AREN'T the people this post is meant for. You're the real MVPs.

#melody talks #melody is fed up #thank you for coming to my ted talk #dicourse kind of #frustrated #venting

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

Unpopular opinion: they got better as books went on, but the original PJO trio was such a Harry Potter ripoff in the first couple of books. The outsider with the tragic backstory and the prophecy? The brainy girl who knows everything? The funny best friend who has grown up in the magic world and has all the inside info? Percy, Annabeth and Grover are Harry, Hermione and Ron.

oh friend, i'm sorry, but i fully and wholeheartedly disagree with you. I find the PJO books SO much more compelling and entertaining, and the PJO books aren't just copy and paste plotlines, like how the HP books are.

(also i personally really, really dislike it when people compare PJO and HP, as i don't like HP and think PJO is a much better series altogether)

The PJO trio goes through different challenges every book, and things are always changing up. Characters are added into their adventures, and it doesn't feel like a last-minute decision. The PJO trio welcomes people helping them, whereas the HP trio always felt very closed off to anyone who wasn't connected to their group.

Unlike Harry, Percy isn't officially the prophecy child until Titan's Curse, and he isn't the "woe is me i'm the Chosen One" like Harry is. Also, Percy isn't even the one to finish the prophecy in the end, it's Luke. Percy also knows that he needs to let people help him, and Harry is very much "no i need to do this on my own without anyone 😔"

Annabeth doesn't necessarily know everything, yes she's smart, but she acknowledges her shortcomings in knowledge and recognizes when the people around her have other plans and ideas (something that I do think Hermione struggles with)

I'm not going to comment on Ron, because I have my own issues with him, but if I had to choose between Ron and Grover, I'd pick Grover every time.

if anything, the PJO Trio is MUCH better than the HP trio.

(also i feel like i can connect with the PJO trio so much better than with the HP trio. The PJO trio feels more real, they've got regular personalities, they don't try to put themselves up on a pedestal or be something that they're not)

#sorry friend #if you can't tell #i have many many opinions on these kinds of comparisons 😅 #dicourse #kind of idk how to tag this lmao #percy jackson and the olympians

[electraslight]

God being still in love with ben 10 but also bored out of my skull with it is so hard. I have the drive to create for it still, I have do many ideas I want to do something with, but this fandom is so trash that I actively stop myself from making the art I want to make. Every creative idea is "um actually"'d to hell and back, every time I try and do something new all the feedback I get is "that's not canon/the group consensus" or begging for free art that fits into the same uncreative niche as everything else. If they share it at all that is, or even like it. Every time I make art for any other fandom I get people putting things in the tags, sharing shit, sending me asks, fucking interacting at all, and then i go back to b10 and its nothing but radio silence and the occasional homophobic 14 year old. I know other people shouldn't be my drive to create, but its not even that, its that this fandom is such a creative tar pit it makes me actively decide not to draw things just bc why bother, you know? Not to mention stupid dicourse around drawing NSFW of characters I age up and give adult features, or one time just a comment someone else left on my post that was somehow my fault. Idk I'll probably walk all of this back and go to posting as normal but I really am kind of miserable with posting right now.

#kevin speaks

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hi BPP! You seem kind if level headed about most things so thought you might have some advice. Since getting into bts I've mainly used twitter to keep up with things, but have long found it too stressful with the fanwars, the negativity to bts, some army loving dicourse too much and demands from some about streaming/voting (which I do anyway, but the guilt trip posts start to stress me out) etc plus reactions to anything seem amplified there. I've tried several times to curate my timeline, only follow official accounts and trusted update ones, but still a lot of nonsense ends up reaching me. I've even tried deleting the damn app, but always end up back because I've not found anywhere better for updates yet. Maybe its because I already suffer with anxiety that a lot of these things effect me more then they should, but with all the enlistment stuff I really think I need to find better places to spend my time. I used to use tumblr years ago (before I was into bts) and since blowing the cobwebs off my account and going through my old posts I remembered how much calmer being a fan on here felt, so I'm thinking this might be a good platform to try and spend my time on instead. My only concern is that I'll miss actual news and translations as twitter just seems a better platform for that real time. How do you manage your fandom experience? And are there any good blogs here you'd recommend? I just don't think I can handle each of their enlistment periods putting up with both kmedia nonsense and armys instant reaction to it like you said on one of your previous asks. I know it won't do me personally any good and if I'm just stressed all the time I'll start associating feeling stressed with the boys, which I dont want. Honestly finding your account where you actually discuss things in a calm manner has felt a blessing when I've been both over stressed by twitter and feeling a bit lost on tumblr so thank you.

***

Hi Anon,

I hear you on all this, but I think the way I 'manage my fandom experience' might not work for you because going by everything you wrote, I suspect we have very different personalities. Plus the way I stay updated is mostly from actually talking to people, friends in Korea and outside Korea, rather than checking in with update accounts and things like that. Like most of the time I'm online for k-pop, I'm online with friends on Daum... not Twitter or Tumblr. This is what I sort of organically developed over the years and during significantly crazier times in k-pop.

Occasionally I get asks wanting advice on navigating k-pop or fandom in general, and it kinda stumps me because fandom is just a microcosm of wider society so just do what works for you out there, in here. It's a process of trial and error, but eventually you'll create an environment you like staying in.

You're also doing all the right things already. You seem self-aware of your limits and how staying longer in an environment you find toxic could impact other things such as how you view the tannies + the fandom. You mentioned checking out different online platforms and I agree with you that Tumblr better allows you to isolate for what you actually want to see, way better than Twitter does. Tumblr, rather than Twitter, is the best platform to create an echo chamber which is essentially what you're asking Anon. I don't follow many accounts here and most of the accounts I do follow are pics accounts for the rapline and jikook, but one account I'd recommend that updates with current events for all BTS members very promptly, is @jung-koook.

On Twitter, I have notifications set on the official BTS accounts and usually add new events to my calendar right away (but this is also something I do generally for other events to stay organized). The people I follow on twitter outside of official accounts are friends who I've known for an average of 3 years (from all sorts of fandoms), as well as some producers and music magazine editors. I look out for people who seem genuinely interested in the music over anything else. I have a fairly big account on Twitter but I'm also a vintage twitter user (think circa 2007) and so I'm very comfortable navigating the madness happening on there daily. And this brings me to one big point: if you plan to spend any time in fandom, any fandom, you might have to work on your tolerance.

Basically, you can try to curate your online environment as much as you like, but so long as you're dealing with people or are anywhere you expect to interact with strangers, then you need a higher tolerance baseline. I answered another ask recently where I said fandom probably skews higher than the normal distribution of freaks in a population, so no matter the platform you're on, you're just going to have to expect to see weirdos. Like you might be surprised to learn that even with my apparent 'reasonable' approach with this blog open for less than a year on a 'calm' site like Tumblr, I've had my fair share of weirdos and manufactured drama. It's unfortunate, but also just par for the course.

The basics: block people you don't want to interact with, mute words you don't want to see or that add to your anxiety. You don't need to explain yourself, but also understand you'll still see things you don't like. With my personality it's easy for me unlook weird shit and focus on what makes sense to me, but for others I can understand if they need hard limits on that sort of nonsense.

*

TL;DR

Tumblr is better for creating echo chambers than Twitter. Tumblr is better for controlling what you want to see than Twitter is.

One account I'd recommend following here is @jung-koook who posts frequently and promptly for all the members.

On Twitter I have notifications set on the official BTS accounts. I mostly only interact with a handful of friends on Twitter though I have a fairly big account on there.

There's no shortcut to creating a space that works for you. It's trial and error but you seem to already be doing all the right things.

Develop a higher tolerance for weird. Fandom brings in all sorts of people, pay attention to things you like, block things you don't, and eventually you'll find your people. That's not a platitude, it actually generally works.

Goodluck Anon. 💜

#bts #fandom behavior #bts army #bts fandom #army fandom

[gascon-en-exil]

I like the twins /Alear thing but i don't like the whole "having the same dad without being siblings nor even half siblings is the new FE dicourse" so I am thinking of rewritting the twins background to save myself. What's better ? them simply coming from original Sombron's universe and being part of their kind or the twins still being from an alternate universe but they are Lumera's kid and Lumera is a fell dragon ?

You could just go with the simple alternate universe explanation, and with all parties hating their father it's not like there's much of a familial connection anyway. Some more alternate dimension perspectives:

Nel and Rafal is basically what would happen if Morgan married Lucina and traveled to a timeline where his mother married Lucina's dad. Or if Morgan married Owain and traveled to a timeline where Robin married Lissa and where she is married to Inigo when in her timeline she Inigo's siter. Except it is canon and that the twins did not exist in the original universe. Now let's watch the world burn.

We will be once again dealing with suspension of disbelief and bounding the rule of the universe right ?

The rule of the universe can be accepted. For exemple, the rule of the universe that Alfred and Celine are sibling are accepted therfore the players have no problem pretending that little pixel man is name Alfred nor in suspending their disbelief that he has Celine has a sister when the man really exist on his own. Same thing with suspending our disbelief into thinking that the small red haired boy in the banner is a child/young version of Eliwood and that they are the same characters.

However here the game wants us to believe that because the twins are the children of another Sombron and not our Sombron they are not Alear's siblings as a proof in their universe Alear is not their siblings while in Alear's world the twins don't even exist and could not because Sombron's kid did not match by pair of twins unlike for another Sombron's. That is a bit far-fetched however if we want to respect the rule of the universe, we have to suspand our disbelief into believing that. Which is why any member of the fandom against those ship because they read it as incestuous will have problem relying on the FE wiki since this whole bullshit led them to not include Alear and Veyle in the list of relatives, and I doubt they could find a fittin label. I personally don't view it as incestuous but there is no way I won't raise an eyebrow at someone telling me that marrying the children of your father's counterpart from another world. WHY IS IT SO DUMB ??

"My point is not that there isn't a non-incestuous explanation, because regardless of any ambiguity that would be covered by the playable Alear and Nel being from different dimensions."

What do we do when the non-incestuous explanation is canon but the fans don't want to listen to it and that pointing out that even believing 2 characters are "literal siblings" is only part of suspension of disbelief doesn't work and that even though it is jus an option they feel like they need to make it everyone's problem ? Avoiding twitter won't be enough, will it ?

I am genuinely confused by the number of people who don't know how paralel world tropes works. It's pretty obvious that Sombron and another Sombron are separated entity just like Zephia and Zelestia aint' the same so why do they think Alear and the twins are related ?

Can we talk about how we all got crooked ? We did not get Zephia, Griss not Marnie, we got new character that are SUPPOSED to be them but it's not them because they don't have the same personality. I wanted Marnie to reunite with Mauvier !! *snif*

For that last one - I haven't seen their supports yet, but I'm sure they play with that. It's not as though FE hasn't pulled this before, with Yen'fay in Awakening.

#Fire Emblem #FE17 #Fire Emblem Engage

[asexual-means-no-attraction]

Fun fact. Loving and being kind to everyone does not mean accepting and agreeing with everything they say. It's important to still have critical thinking.

#dicourse #cuz apparently this needs to be sad #and some people dont agree with this #you can still be kind and not accept someone's harmful identity #you can still love someone and not ve ok with something they say #you can still be a descent human being regardless of anything #loving someone or being kind to everyone doesnt mean you have to agree with everything someone says #youre allowed to still have your own opinions #even if theyre bad takes #even if theyre good takes #even if the topic doesnt effect you #even if you arent apart of [x] group #even if you havent done a whole lot of research #youre still allowed to have an opinion #even if you love the perosn #even if youre trying to ve kind #its ok to disgree with something #that doesn't inherently make you a bad person #or a mean person #it just makes you human

[loki-hargreeves]

I hate to say it but I'm just now realizing that the Loki era pre the show is dead and gone :(

The fandom is still here but it's so different. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different.

#it just feels so different #guess that's what time does to everything #I just kind of miss tumblr #even the Ragnarok discourse #don't mind me I'm just rambling #if you like shipping characters then that's totally okay #I'm not against ships #I ship characters too #I just miss it when the Loki tag wasn't the marvel version of the Reylo dicourse #antis and shippers just fighting #and everything else just disappeared

[hteragram-x]

The idea of Roman Sanders being a stereotypical sport-loving jock in any highschool story is always so weird and unrealistic to me... This guy didn’t even want to leave the house to buy a video game and you think he would just wilingly spend his time running around on the stadium? The only scenario where I see him being involved in any sport-related event is him coming to the game to watch cute muscular boys.

I mean... sure. He’s strong and probably quite athletic. He needs some stamina to swing this samurai sword all the time. But I simply cannot imagine him being actually invested in something like rugby.

Roman is a stereotypical jock only if you believe that hunting monsters and climbing towers to rescue a sweet captured prince is basically the same thing as football.

Also... I am really surprised with the amount of pictures of Roman wearing a letterman red-white jacket. He looks great, true. But he’s too flamboyant and expressive to wear something like that all the time. His costume update can be summarised as “there’s no such thing as too many gold accents”. His letterman jacket - if he had one - would be probably covered with glitter and shiny buttons.

---

(To be clear - I’m not saying that you cannot make headcanons like that about him. Who am I to forbid that? You do you. But I am always suprised how popular this portrayal of Roman is when it seems very out of character. Just like making Logan a shy nerd who lets other people beat him up after school. It’s so NOT like them. But I feel like it would require another rant and that was supposed to be only about Roman, so I’ll stop for now.)

#sanders sides #roman sanders #logan sanders #ts logan #ts roman #fandom dicourse #fandom criticism #i mean... not really #but kind of #text #my post

[starfxckersinc]

apparently Brian May is upset bc people don’t like Bohemian Rhapsody & it’s kinda like guys I get it I think it was really cut and dry and it basically shut out Freddie’s sexuality which is so fucked up but for Gods sake what are you gaining by bitching at Brian May for it when he can’t change it. the awards have been won, the movies out and mainly forgotten, why are we doing this

#aberdeen spoken word #he is being kind of a jerk about it but #hes a 70 year old man whos using instagram and isnt used to receiving hate on a mass scale which i think is fuckinv reasonable?? #like why would you even come to him about not liking the movie when the problem cant be fixed #it is what it is #i dont even mnow much about this dicourse i just skimmed it but its already making me tired and im not even into queen that much #queen

[wingsfreedom]

Azula can have an amazing arc because she is unique character but there are major mental road blocks exist in the leadership of the franchise. Think of how Smoke and Shadow really pushed the "domestic abuse" narrative for Ursa,Mai and Ty Lee and also Zuko in The Search. Think of all Azula is an "domestic abuser" dicourse. Coincidence? I think not!!

Bryke I ask you one think you have ONE JOB leave Azula ALONE

I know right? It's kind of disgusting they do that on a literal child.

[sunfoxfic]

hi! it's the anon who needs a name. :) i've just come from your latest fic, with senti!adrien, and felix. (i haven't been on ao3 much lately so sorry i'm a bit late.) wow. it was really well done. i'm on the fence about senti!adrien being canon—i'm a bit confused to its origins and there's so much dicourse—but you wrote it beautifully. i loved how many little details you fit in. i'm sure you do this often but i noticed especially the notes about the cold, and how the Miraculous protected them.♡♡

Ahhh thank you Needs-A-Name!! You're too kind. And yeah, there's a lot about the sentiAdrien discourse -- it actually originated when the episode Ladybug released, except then pretty much everyone was mutually in agreement that it was maybe a cool idea but nowhere near canon -- and I don't think everyone should be completely caught up on it all the time. (Man, I wish I wasn't caught up on it.)

And I try to use temperature when I can in stories just because I find it a very grounding sensory detail to use, so it's awesome that you noticed! My concept of the transformations is that they protect the holder from any extremeness, including temperatures, and I feel like it would be so jarring to feel the cold but not feel the numbness that goes along with it. (Also, it's starting to get cold outside, and maybe I was wish fulfilling a little bit about cold not making you numb.)

Thank you so much!! Have a wonderful day!

#asks answered #anonymous #sentimonster adrien agreste #sentimonster discourse

[bigskydreaming]

Height discourse confuses me so much, because I, a 4'9 21-year-old Asian perceives anyone taller as tall. But reading international posts saying 5'6 is small makes me double-take, like, "Wut?"

LOL, ahh yes, the infamous “How Tall IS Dick Grayson Actually” discourse. I feel you. And I can definitely see how it would be bemusing as hell given your perspective, lmao.

And I mean, its definitely up there on the list of “Things I Can’t Believe There’s Actually Discourse About” buuuuuut I’m not really judging because I know damn well there’s a fuckton of shit I’ve Discoursed about on pretty much everyone else’s “Things I Can’t Believe There’s Actually Discourse About” list. 

*Shrugs* But I also do get why it exists, if you scratch beneath the surface - as is often true of a lot of seemingly inane discourses. Its not really about height so much as it is about the why’s of writers specifying certain heights for him, and stereotypes associated with height.

On the one hand, you’ve got the fans who look at writers who make a point of writing Dick as particularly short, or the shortest of the Batfam once all of them are adults, and think: this is because of fandom’s fixation with writing Dick as effeminate or the least ‘manly’ of the Batfam, and thus I dislike it and do not trust this writer’s take on him.

Then on the other hand, you have the fans who look at objections like this and think: this is because of bullshit fostered by the toxic masculinity and sexism that’s so present in society, even women can be guilty of perpetuating the idea that there’s anything TO object about there, that a man being effeminate or less ‘manly’ than his brothers is some kind of insult or slight against him in the first place.

But then go back to the first hand.....

And on the one hand, of those fans, you’ve got the fans that don’t actually think there’s anything insulting about a man being effeminate or less manly themselves, but given that the bullshit fostered by the toxic masculinity and sexism in society is so everpresent, even women can be guilty of perpetuating the idea that ‘shorter = weaker’ etc, etc.......its not him being written as short that’s objectionable to them, its what they believe the writer is implying by making that distinction that they’re objecting to, like that it reads to them as though its being used as a smokescreen to create associations in readers’ minds, with the idea of him being weaker or softer or whatever the fuck compared to his brothers, without those writers actually having to SAY what they’re getting at there and spell it out. Plausible deniability kinda thing.

And then on the other hand, you have those fans who object to writing Dick as short because they actually DO buy into that bullshit and they ARE simply objecting to the idea itself because of toxic masculinity and sexism and etc etc.

But then go back to the original second hand.....

And on the one hand THERE, you have the fans whose responses to people objecting about writing Dick as short are based on exactly what they say they are......pointing out that its only objectionable if its viewed as insulting and the only reasons its viewed as insulting are toxic masculinity and sexism which they’re calling out as being perpetuated here.

And on the other hand there, you have those fans who DO buy into the associations between ‘shorter = weaker’ and actually ARE writing things that way with the intent of hoping to form that association in the minds of any readers who similarly buy into those lines of thought or are susceptible to it......and are simply using ‘arent you the REAL misogynist here for thinking shorter equals more feminine which equals weaker or frail or whatever’ arguments that are simply typical flipping the script tactics and hiding behind buzzwords they don’t actually believe in themselves but know are effective in getting people to back down, etc, etc. The plausible deniability thing.

And I’ve been out of hands here for awhile now, obviously, but you get what I mean. Round and round and round it goes, with the true point always hidden juuuuuuust beneath the surface, and more than a little tedious to have all unpacked and catalogued like here, which is a major factor in why so many people rarely dig beneath the surface of a seemingly inane discourse to get at what people are REALLY arguing about but nobody wants to ‘lose ground on’ by being the first to admit to.

As for me, again, this really isn’t a dicourse that I spend much time on because I’d rather cut straight to the point of an argument in general, and this isn’t an discourse that’s particularly amenable to people doing that, obviously. 

And also, I honestly just don’t care that much. LOL. Yeah, I often read works where Dick is singled out as being distinctively shorter and feel an author is trying to ‘imply’ something and its the implications of that which are the source of any ‘Not Good, Scoob’ feelings rather than because I agree with what’s trying to be implied. But y’know......when an author IS playing that game and they actually do buy into toxic and sexist stereotypes.....I mean, there’s literally always other indications of this in their work, giving them away all over the place. So there’s honestly never really a time when his height itself is actually what that hinges upon, y’know?

So my big takeaway from all of this is: headcanon and write Dick as whatever damn height you feel like and if you want to imply something about him just fucking say it directly and if you want to accuse someone of something just fucking call it out directly.

*points to the above unpacking of this particular discourse and how fucking tedious and unnecessary so much of it is and all just because people won’t just say what they actually came to say or lay claim to what they actually said*

ANYWAY.

Personally, regardless of how Dick is written in a fic, I will always headcanon him as somewhere between 5′10″ and 6′1″ for reasons that are entirely irrelevant and meaningless to anyone but me, pretty much. LOL.

In my head, Dick obviously has to be that height because he’s walked a runway as a model before. That’s it. That’s the whole reason my mind automatically goes to that span when picturing him or reading something about him.

(As most people who have followed me for a bit know, I spent a number of years working in the TV industry. There were a couple years there where I did a little bit of print modeling too, nothing major at all, but enough to know that the fashion industry has a Very Definitive Thing about male runway models and height: If you are a male runway model, you are between 5′10″ and 6′1″. If you are not between 5′10″ and 6′1″, you are not a male runway model and you never will be. Its a Thing. And not one the industry is shy about. 

Because of the fact that the fashion industry is mostly centered around women models with name recognition, and very few men who model have star power specifically in terms of modeling, rather than because of crossover/overlap with acting, there’s a major difference in how designers tend to approach designing for models. Most designers designing runway looks for women do so with specific models already in mind. Most designers designing runway looks for men do so without specific models in mind because there simply aren’t enough male models with the kind of branding/name recognition that does a designer any good. 

So designers literally JUST design runway looks for men in that height range, and anyone outside that range would require tailoring that could feasibly throw off an entire runway look. So they just don’t do it, to the point that an agent or manager sending them someone outside that height range to consider for a job means that agent’s not getting called back, because they just gave themselves away as a clear amateur by not knowing better.

Of course, keep in mind that my experiences with modeling are based on the industry re: ten years ago, so it could be that things have changed in this regard since. But that was the status quo then.)

So yeah. Dick Grayson walked a runway for Cheyenne Freemont, thus in my mind he’s obviously between 5′10″ and 6′1″ lolol, because any up and coming designer trying to make a name for herself would absolutely know better than to send out someone shorter than that and still think anyone in the industry would take her seriously.

LOL. I told you it was inane. But in my defense, plenty of people headcanon that Dick HAS to be small because he’s a gymnast, and uh.....that is not how that works. Anyone can be an amazing gymnast, its just that smaller body types lend themselves to gymnastics better than bigger, bulkier bodies. And thus the competition oriented gymnastics SPORT heavily favors cultivating and training gymnasts on the smaller side, because coaches and endorsers are looking for literally any advantage possible.

(Being shorter means you have a lower center of gravity which is a help when balancing, or stabilizing yourself. Its easier for a shorter gymnast to keep their balance or to stick a landing. But it doesn’t become impossible just because someone’s hit six feet tall. It HELPS to be shorter. It doesn’t determine whether or not you can do a trick at all, much like being short and having a lower center of gravity by no means GUARANTEES you have good balance.)

And of course, though Dick excels at a ton of gymnastics, he is not and never has been a gymnast per se....he’s an acrobat. From a family of acrobats. Who have been doing this as a family business generationally, thus.....why would they have future height requirements when training their son in the family business? And being from a family of acrobats doesn’t ensure you’re going to be short, if your family members are not already short to begin with. Evolution does not give a fuck about future employment opportunities when selecting which gene sequences to flip on while in utero.

The correlation is ‘most gymnasts who excel at gymnastics feats are small,’ not ‘to excel at gymastic feats, you must be small.’

I am absolutely and completely just rambling now and have been for awhile so I’m gonna go beat up my insomnia until it caves and lets me go the fuck to sleep.

[bard-llama]

honestly seeing you interact intelligently with hashtag dicourse over something so hilariously disproportionate right after losing your father? jfc. thats a lot and i hope you've got some slightly more positive distractions around, too.

Honestly, because it’s so ridiculous, it’s actually... idk, kind of calming. I genuinely love having conversations where we all share information and maybe find out that our viewpoints are not so different. That’s not really what this is, but... idk, it’s making me fondly remember some of those discussions. 

#thank you for being so sweet #Anonymous

[ganondorf]

outdoor cat dicourse baffles me like nobody in their right mind would argue for letting literally any other kind of pet free roam outside

#if someone said dogs or rabbits or birds should be allowed to free roam everyone would lose their shit #as they should #but cats? whatever

[ratherthepoint]

My old youth pastor and his wife have the sweetest family with FIVE (5!) kids and I’m friends with them both on Facebook for the adorable kid pics

But SOMETIMES I get gems like the wife posting a long and beautifully composed essay on why we, as Christians, need to support immigrants and condemn the border camps. And then, when some dude jump in the comments to provide and alternate view “in the interest in dicourse” about how the Bible is about “following laws and lifting yourself up before helping others”, the pastor leaps in the fray to valiantly quote bible verses and destroy the dude with kindness and love and true Christianity

They’re such an inspiration. The couple that slays bigots with scripture together

[welcometomy20s]

October 8, 2019

The Secret Commonwealth

Stopped at Page 73

All I wanted to do was to come back.

If you do not The Secret Commonwealth is the second part of Book of Dust, a complementary trilogy of His Dark Materials, both by Phillip Pullman.

As with everyone slight older than my age, I think I was enchanted by the slightly magical charm of Lyra’s Oxford, and I was trying to snuggle myself back.

And for the first 68 pages, it does. There’s a murder mystery. There is sleuthing. (Wonder why fantasy is best done in a detective environment?) It was grand.

Then chapter 6 enters, and... well, I need to elaborate farther. If you didn’t know about this world, every person in that world has animal counterpart named their daemons. Kind of think of like a conscience, a mental projection (no! stop!)

Anyway, Lyra, the heroine of the His Dark Materials, now twenty (how fitting for this blog), is having a hard time with her daemon, Pan. One of the big reason is this book, which is mentioned in the first few pages. What is the book about?

Oh... what is the book about?

I didn’t realize a book could punch a wallop. I had to lie on the floor for a while.

I mean I understand why the book was there. Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Material was talked about for its anti-religious message, and it probably attracted bunch of atheists, including a fellow Oxford professor... Richard Dawkins. Right.

But still, this was... oh, god.

I mean what if Roald Dahl decided that Matilda has a cousin and he was Ben Sharpio? (If you are deep into to The Dicourse, as I have, it’s a very pointed joke.) I mean Roald Dahl is a sick man, he would do that in a heartbeat, if he were alive just ten year ago, in fact Ben might his new hero, I fear.

Now I’m rambling. The Discourse. The Discourse.

But don’t worry. Pullman obviously has a distaste for this people, as the prose carefully indicates. It’s just... I write stories sometimes, sometimes fantastical stories, even science fiction stories, but even then I try to, at most, graze over The Discourse, because I don’t want to write and read fiction in that place, unless I was fully prepared, like I was in An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and Lindsey Ellis’s book. And I did not prepare to read that kind of book today.

It’s not that this book became rotten for me. It’s just that I need to be in a right moment of time. I don’t when I will finish this book, but I will. Don’t worry.

#the secret commonwealth #book #politics