#this trend has always been super funny to me

[love-and-ejoy]

“He’s a 10, but...”: Pharmacy Edition!

-He’s a 10 but he asks why it takes you so long to pour some pills in a bottle and slap a label on it

-He’s a 10 but when you tell him that you’ve sent a request already and that he should call his doctor, he says, “Isn’t that your job?”

-He’s a 10 but he insists that you don’t know what you’re talking about, the doctor prescribed it, of course he needs this medication, remove the prior auth immediately!

-He’s a 10 but it’s your fault, personally, that his doctor didn’t give him more refills.

-He’s a 10 but “The doctor said it would be ready when I got here!”

-He’s a 10 but the computer is lying and he’s never ever had a copay in his life and he’s calling corporate when he gets home. No don’t put the Xanax back he needs it.

-He’s a 10 but can you ring his entire cart up with 29 coupons and a complaint already formed for the front end manager

-He's a 10 but if you whisper the word tadalafil behind a paper while nobody else is in a 25 mile radius, the entire country will know he's taking Viagra, how could you be so insensitive

-He’s a 10 but [excruciatingly loud truck noises in the drive thru but refuses to pick up the phone to talk]

-He’s a 10 but “How do you spell that?” “J-O-H-N Szierbajeck”

-He’s a 10 but he swears a coupon card is cheaper than his insurance.

-He’s a 10 but “fill my entire profile”

-He’s a 10 but “no no don’t run through the errors just get me whatever’s ready” “Where is med, med, med, and med? How was I supposed to know there were errors?!”

-He’s a 10 but the concept of offering vaccines to consenting adults who make their own decisions is obviously a crime against humanity

-He’s a 10 but obviously the pharmacist is absolutely overjoyed to not be able to fill his prescription and, despite pharmacist trying for over 2 hours to get authorization, pharmacist must be withholding his medications.

-He’s a 10 but the concept of time is a social construct and therefore he needs a refill of her controlled medications

~~~

#this is not gender specific though #literally all of these have happened with both men and women #besides the Viagra of course! #Some of the more tame ones aren't the end of the world for us #We don't hate you for asking about a coupon card for example #But please trust us when we say [generic coupon card] will not beat your insurance's $1.30 copay #Also we don't mind trying to help you get your controlleds! Sometimes I hear people super apologetic for asking #If you're polite and understanding of when we can't do something you're just fine #this trend has always been super funny to me #feel free to add more lol #pharmacy #pharmacy tech #retail pharmacy #tales from retail pharamacy #he's a 10 but #work #work stories #tw vaccine discourse? #only thing i can think of #honestly i know some people are opinionated but i really dont mind people not wanting to get a certain vaccine if they adhere to the rules #like okay you're an adult that makes their own decisions #if you make the decision not to get your flu shot or booster shot that's on you #but the minute you try and make ME feel a certain way or endanger MY customers #nope. you're out #you make decisions for yourself fully knowing that mask rules or travel restrictions or whatever else will apply to you #you dont want it? ok. say no #unless you're looking for input or advice don't tell us your life story please #rant #vent #after work vent

[genericpuff]

Genuinely I would give anything to hear your thoughts or read more critical analysis of yours on other webcomics writing (*slides you Marionetta* I like the webtoon but there are some things in the writing that I'd like to see be discussed critically more often but the fandom focuses way too much on shipping. sighs..)

Anyway, you probably have been asked this before but are there any webtoons in particular you would recommend? :D

Oh lord, you don't know how many times a week I get asks in my inbox asking for my opinions on webtoons they're reading. It's really sweet that people wanna hear me talk about other works outside of LO, but unfortunately I just don't have the time to read as much as I used to, even keeping up on LO lately is getting really difficult 😅 I'm definitely keeping a list though of works to check out!

That said, I try not to read series on the basis of criticizing them because frankly I just... don't want to spend time reading something if people are only looking for me to rag on it? 😆 Of course I know that's not the only reason, I know there's also just the element of seeing me talk extensively about other works the way that I do with LO, but it's not really something I can turn on and off like that, I have to get really into a series to want to talk about it to that extent. So it often comes down to just luck of the draw :'0

Right now the series I'm keeping up the most on (or have completed and would absolutely 100% re-read):

Alfie (18+, it's porn with plot but the plot is REALLY GOOD , I SWEAR LMAO the art is gorgeous, the characterization is IMMACULATE, and it ironically tackles the subject of purity culture way better than LO ever has lol)

Theia Mania (the creator is often in my comment section / neck of the woods, she's been working on an Abduction of Persephone retelling for a long while now and has also tackled other myth retellings in her style! I always love seeing new pages of her work in my feed :' ) <3)

Tales from Alderwood (if you like fantasy and comedy, this one's great, the plot's really starting to get interesting and it's just got this really great sense of humor about it)

The Black Parade (this one's REALLY interesting, it's a comic-stylized version of My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade, using the songs as narration and sometimes even dialogue to tell a visual story, it's really cool and the art matches beautifully with the lyrics and style of MCR!)

A Tale of Two Rulers (this is a Legend of Zelda fancomic that poses the question, "What if Zelda and Ganondorf got married to solve their political crisis?" It updates a lot slower than most of the other comics I follow but the art and writing is so worth it <3)

Dogs of Future Past (and p much all of Lynx's Undertale comics which can be found in the link, seriously, THESE are the comics you wanna read if you wanna get into Undertale fanworks, they are PEAK)

Tamberlane (this one's an anthro comic, I normally don't read anthro but this one actually gripped me by the throat, the art is gorgeous and the character arcs so far have been great!)

The Mafia Nanny (okay it's legit so funny that I'm including this one here but I've been reading it the last couple days after seeing it basically beat out LO at the top of the trending tab for a couple days, so I figured I'd give it a shot, at first I was like "great more tropey shit" but the more I read it the more it's actually started to get pretty good, I'm holding out and hoping to god it stays that way LOL it's not especially deep or anything like that, but it's really fun and cute to read and the shipping of the main character within the narrative isn't too self-absorbed which I can always appreciate, I'd honestly be 100% fine with it if it didn't turn into a romance)

City of Blank (I talk about this one a lot here, but it's one of my favorite Originals right now, the art is super polished and the writing has gotten INTENSE, go check it out if you want some fun action / sci-fi storytelling!)

Time and Time Again (a time-travelling vampire and his werewolf boyfriend get into all kinds of misadventures, what more could you ask for?)

Touch of Divinity (like the Mafia Nanny, this is one I just started reading, it's got a very interesting premise so far and I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes!)

#if i ever do read marionetta then y'all will definitely hear about it LOL #ask me anything #ama #anon ask me anything #anon ama #recommendations #reading reccs #reading recommendations

[welcometomyoasis]

end of year appreciation post

this year has been an emotional rollercoaster, but i wouldn't change a thing because i found svt and all of you 💕

sending a huge thank you from the bottom of my heart to those who interact with my posts. whether you follow my blog, like, reblog, send asks, or leave comments, just know i appreciate every single one of you. 

as for my moots. thank you all for the laughs and interactions. i love you all so so much. so to express my appreciation, here's a list of which svt member i think you all would be because what fun is being carat if we can't do things like this.

@brownsugarbaybee Kari as seungcheol. Need I say more? In the way that seungcheol is the naturally protective alpha who babies his members, you do the same for me. You’re like the older sister I never had. You make me feel so safe, protected, and loved when I talk to you. I’m really socially awkward irl and am actually always afraid that I’ll say the wrong things, but with you, you never make me feel bad for sending too many asks, or spamming you through dms. You really create a safe environment for your followers and friends and I cannot thank you or express my gratitude enough for that. You were the first person i talked to ever (on anon) on tumblr and our friendship just grew from there. I love how we check in on each other frequently and randomly pop into each other’s asks just to say we missed each other. I’m always so happy when i see that you’ve sent me an ask/ dm. We’re like two magnets that can’t stay away from each other. I love that so much. Just like I love you. Here’s to a lot more love and interactions next year! (and yes, i’m dming you more mushy stuff later shhhh) 🤭

@wonijinjin Gigi as joshua. You're my actual other half? My soul sister? Like you notice there's no jeonghan on this list because you're my evil, lovable twin (okay you knew there was no jeonghan I texted you about this a month ago). FR THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN US? From our bias lists, our need for perfectionism, our food cravings, us getting distracted all the time when we’re supposed to be doing work, to even the fact that we have the same frame for our glasses and hair colours. I could go on. Joshua suddenly appeared in my life and took over when i saw him in the anyone special video, kind of like the way you popped into my dms. We’ve literally talked everyday since then. All your messages, your words of encouragement, your comforting words, the random things we talk about (like the tote bag dilemma? Or all the possible collabs we could work on? OR ALL OUR TALKS ON SHUA AND HIS HANDS). I want you to know that I truly treasure each and every single one of our conversations. You’re one of my comfort people. Thank you for popping into my life because I cannot imagine my life without you rn. Yes, I’m not done but this is already very long so expect a lot of love coming your way in your dms. ILYSM SERIOUSLY. PLEASE LET’S MAKE THE SHU X GIGI MEETUP HAPPEN ONE DAY BUT NOT IN THE MIDDLE IT’S TOO DANGEROUS.

@haecien Cien as junhui. My timezone buddy. Like Junhui, you’re crazy and incredibly fun to be around. I’m not going to lie, I thoroughly enjoyed watching you spiral into loving new things and new groups. Sure, it’s entertaining, and I found it really endearing. I absolutely adore how you fall for other groups so quickly and how you’re so open about falling for them. You’re not afraid to go all out and show your affections towards them. You love with all your heart and that’s such a great quality to have. Your fics are super adorable and you were literally a trend setter because so many people followed your prompt generator idea. Junhui has the ability to be adored by everyone and you have that same effect on people. 

@weird-bookworm Sky as soonyoung. Extremely easily excitable babies who always bully mingyu (see Zanna’s part). You get so happy and excited over all the little things. Your tags when you reblog posts gives me life because they’re always so funny and sweet. Not to mention, you have this bright energy around you that draws people to you. You’re so easy to love and interact with. Seriously, you’ve made such a big impact on everyone’s lives here on tumblr whether you know it or not. You might be the glue that is holding the mess that is tumblr together rn. Yea, you also give off major squishy vibes like Soonyoung, it makes me want to protect you more. With consent, i would love to mush your cheeks together and give you so many hugs. Love you Sky. 

@woozvc-main Nora as soonyoung as well. In the short span of time that we've interacted, you really remind me of soonyoung and sky haha. You're easily excitable, you're funny, you're honest, you're great at writing your fics (like how soonyoung is great at dancing). You're so real when writing your little thoughts out on tumblr. You're so smart too? Like you're doing physics? And you randomly do math when you're bored? It's like when soonyoung randomly does little dances when he's bored or excited. Plus, you love pandas like soonyoung loves tigers! Okay, maybe not as extreme as that, but you get the point. We're both panda lovers. Why did we take so long to talk, I have no idea. But I love that we are talking now and here's to talking more in the coming year!!

@babyleostuff Natalia as Jihoon. You both write masterpieces. I think I’ve read through your masterlist a couple of times at this point. The way you manage to convey everyone’s personalities and emotions perfectly is amazing. More seriously though, you were one of the first people I approached on tumblr. Thank you for giving me advice before on how to start writing because it really helped a lot. Your advice was one of the reasons why I even started in the first place. You were also my first official moot on tumblr. I sincerely hope that life will treat you kindly, that you’re doing better, and that the next year will go smoothly for you. 

@addicsvt Ari as dokyeom. Literal balls of sunshine?? Idk when I talk to you I can just imagine you smiling in the same adorable way that dokyeom does, with his eyes curled up into crescent moons. I hope you never stop writing because your fics are lovely. I really like the way you write! It’s so fluffy, and it makes me feel all warm and cozy. Your mood boards are also amazing!!! You’re seriously such a sweet angel. I can’t thank you enough for loving my writing, you have no idea how much that means to me. Love you and let’s talk more!

@fairyhaos Yena as dokyeom. Yena = a huge reason as to why I started writing in the first place. Yena = one of the first people I ever messaged on tumblr. Yena = ray of sunshine. Yena = one of the best fic authors on tumblr. You just remind me of Dokyeom so much maybe because you're both so in love with Joshua because you're both the happy angels of the group who find so much joy in simple things like Joshua, being around your friends, doing what you love, watching the pretty scenery around you, and you're so musically inclined? You also have this maturity about you that Dokyeom has? Like you know when to be serious and when to have fun which is such a great quality to have. Keep being you!! You'll do great in your upcoming exams!! Thank you for being such a kind person because the world needs more people like that. The only thing, you call Joshua a Shuamoroll. And now I call cinnamoroll that too...

@idubiluv Arya as minghao. Artist duo. I know we haven’t actually talked much but I do know that you love photography and art. I also don’t exactly know why, but I associate you with having this very calming, chill energy that is similar to minghao’s. Perhaps it’s the comfort that your fics give me when I read them? Maybe it’s because you’re so sweet, attentive, and supportive of everyone? Whatever it is, thank you for being my moot and I hope we can talk more in the future! 

@slytherinshua Zanna as mingyu. HMMM WHERE DO I BEGIN FOR YOU ZANNA. You’re both always bullied affectionately. You’re both social butterflies. You’re literally everywhere on tumblr in this fandom and that fandom. Idk how you do it because you stan so many groups, write for so many groups, manage both caratsland and the kdrama label, etc. It’s definitely a talent. You’re also one of the sweetest people ever. Like you’re so happy to talk to anyone about anything and everything under the sun. It’s really cute, so please never stop. ONE THING THOUGH. Like mingyu, i feel like you’re always up late… i know timezones are a thing but PLEASE GO SLEEP EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE???? Seriously, i cannot count how many times i've seen "please sleep" on your posts and in the group chats... 🤣 

@wheeboo Rania as seungkwan. My fellow criminal minds enthusiast, angst, and purple colour lover. I’ve never actually known anyone else who loves criminal minds so this is a really big deal for me. ANYWAY. I’m not just associating you with seungkwan because he’s your bias, though that is one reason. Seungkwan has this warm, inviting, witty, very accepting personality that is similar to yours. Idk if this makes sense but you write the way Seungkwan hosts. You’re fics are very cozy (even the angsty ones). You develop the stories so well. You put in splashes of humour or fluff, all while still keeping the readers in suspense until the moment is just right for everything to unravel. You’re also always so open when replying asks and responding to feedback on your posts. Plus you want to be a therapist one day? You’re seriously the best and the sweetest. You’ll do great. I’m extremely sure of it. Let's write more angst too!!

@askdacast Askdacast as vernon. LISTEN. YES I'M TAGGING YOU IN A SEVENTEEN POST, NO WE AREN’T MOOTS ON TUMBLR BUT WE ARE IRL SO HEAR ME OUT. Vernon is that one quirky member who does the weirdest things and embraces his quirkiness to the fullest extent. He just does what he wants, when he wants. At the same time, he's such a lovable guy who is adored by everyone around him. That's you. I've always admired your ability to just embrace being yourself even if you do face your own demons. You deserve everything that you've achieved and I'm so proud of you. I'll send you all the other sappy stuff privately... and let's go out to you know where. i mean we just discussed it yesterday? ALSO I HAVE TO PASS YOU YOUR PRESENT HHEEHEHE. BUT JUST KNOW THIS IS MY PUBLIC DECLARATION OF LOVE FOR YOU. I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR BEING MY IRL FRIEND FOR WHAT 6 YEARS NOW? ❤️

@mangocustard16 Mango as Dino. Honestly, I just got to know you last month but you’ve been such a joy to be around. You’re constantly putting out 11/10 content and reblogging stuff. Your incorrect quotes are hilarious. Your fics are so fluffy I want to melt in them. Your reblogs, especially the reblog chains you have with other people are so funny. You have a great sense of humour and you give this vibe that you’re just so happy to be here. I’m happy to have gotten to know you! 

@eightlightstar Vittoria as Dino. We've only really talked once since we just became moots. I guess in that interaction I get Dino vibes from you? You're my fellow grad student who seems wise beyond her years just like Dino. You want to be a professor and get your PhD too! Dino is ambitious and that's how I would see you. You're going to do great! Let's talk more soon!

@glosskirt Gloss. If I were to liken you to a svt member, I would say you're a little like jun because you remind me of cien and you're kind of unhinged as well from what I've seen. But you're more of a bts stan. So, I'm doing this specially for you. My bts stan days were years ago, but I'm going to say that you remind me of Jhope. Happy, hopeful, sunshines of the group who are really funny. You care so much for others and you're so happy to interact with other people. Idk I saw your post about moving out of your lonely kpop phase and that made me feel something? Because I felt that way too after starting tumblr. I'm so glad we found each other through tumblr, and I hope we can interact more next year!

As for the rest of my moots, I'm sorry that we haven't interacted much. Sorry if you didn't want to be tagged. Here's just my little ramble for all of you because I'm still so thankful that we're moots and I would love to interact with you all more next year!

@amxlia-stars Amelia as Mingyu. You give me puppy like vibes and you just genuinely seem to be enjoying yourself here. Thank you for always liking my posts, it means a lot to me!

@mirxzii Roxie as Soonyoung. Idk the post of you horanghaeing in a museum really stuck with me haha. You're really nice and the aesthetic of your account is so sweet! Sorry that I haven't reached out much. Thank you for reblogging my work, I really appreciate it!

@icyminghao Noelle as Jihoon. Your posts are so so good? The way you write is so amazing. Actually I think your posts were some of the first I ever saw when I first started reading fics on tblr. It made me all giggly and happy. Major serotonin boost when I read them.

@aaniag Aania as Vernon. We haven't interacted much, but you remind me of Vernon because you can get very excitable and you're also really random? Like sometimes I see a huge wall of pictures on Sky's account from you. You're really nice and sociable too!

@staranghae Cherry as Seungkwan. I see you popping up everywhere to send those cute chain messages to everyone. You seem really sociable and fun! We just became moots so i'm sorry idk what else to say, but thanks for being here!

@seokminded Artai, @hrts4hanniehae Sadako, and @ryuwonieebae Ryuwon. I'm sorry to group you all together since I really don't know much about all of you at all. Hmm, I guess you all remind me of Vernon and Dino in some ways. I love the aesthetics of all your accounts. I mean that's the point of tumblr because we can express ourselves here. But your accounts and the things you all write just seem like you? Thanks for being my moots! Let's interact more in the future!

#i love you all so much #thank you for a good year #i guess this can be my moot page? jk i'll prob make another one at some point when i'm not being lazy #shu's daydreaming ☁︎ #shu's moots ᰔᩚ #kari ⋆˙⟡♡ #gigi ⋆˙⟡♡ #cien ⋆˙⟡♡ #sky ⋆˙⟡♡ #natalia ⋆˙⟡♡ #ari ⋆˙⟡♡ #arya ⋆˙⟡♡ #zanna ⋆˙⟡♡ #rania ⋆˙⟡♡ #yena ⋆˙⟡♡ #mango ⋆˙⟡♡ #amelia ⋆˙⟡♡ #roxie ⋆˙⟡♡ #noelle ⋆˙⟡♡ #nora ⋆˙⟡♡ #gloss ⋆˙⟡♡ #artai ⋆˙⟡♡ #sadako ⋆˙⟡♡ #aania ⋆˙⟡♡ #cherry ⋆˙⟡♡ #vittoria ⋆˙⟡♡ #ryuwon ⋆˙⟡♡ #askdacast ⋆˙⟡♡ #yes askdacast you get a tag too #welcome to kpopblr

[blankvort]

tangentially animal-related hcs 4 the mean girls crew bc i am now responsible for giving a goldfish daddy issues

cady

inexplicably allergic to dogs and always in the first four stages of grief about it. don’t @ me about the medical semantics i just want her to suffer a little

tried to get a job at petco the second she turned eighteen but learned of the above information in the most destructive job interview since janis’s application to be the local coffee shop’s cool gay barista (they were worried that she’d swear at fighter-jet-takeoff volumes if she touched hot coffee) (she did, but only because they started playing a shitty pop cover of one of damian’s fave show tunes) and came out of the building a puddle of mucous and tears

grossly fascinated by the grossest of primitive functions. her insta page is all dope and authentic until you find a selfie taken using the back camera 0.5x with the corpse of an effervescent snail and a bunch of reels telling you how to narrow down what bird species are destroying your garden by the splay of their shit

has a miniature aneurysm whenever movies get stuff wrong about animals. artistic liberties are granted to janis alone. like sure if she’s in the theater she’ll sit through the movie fisting popcorn down her throat but as soon as she gets out of there the entire mall becomes a soapbox for dissecting the bullshit sexual dimorphism of giving female animals eyeliner

thus while i know the headcanon of her loving the lion king is basically canon i think she’s absurdly secretive about it. like she’s burying her merchandise and blu-ray copies under her bed in the dead of night while secreting more sweat than should be possible. she could come out to her parents and elope to antarctica no problem but liking the lion king which implies that lighter manes = stronger lions is a death sentence

probably got banned from a bunch of zoos for interrupting field trips 

janis

had one of those angel/wolf/dragon/whatever hybrid phases as a kid like all good artists. did those like. not quite furry but not quite human animal art commissions on twitter for a while for the funnies but discovered a lucrative market and never turned back

does not know how to hold human or animal babies. like she’s good at taking care of them in terms of general physical and intellectual nourishment but that limp wrist is not supporting any necks properly

mercilessly makes fun of the whole “would you love me if i was a worm” trend. she doesn’t even love most humans what makes you think she has any answer for you regarding that other than that she’d turn you into a super deep art piece museums would purchase for exorbitant amounts

that being said she feels like a vivarium girlie to me. she’s nocturnal like a pillbug and post-canon constantly tries to convince the plastics that her pacman frog is poisonous

feeds her meticulously decorated ant farm gourmet meals every day. anyone else gets microwavable mac and cheese at best

this one probably won’t make sense unless you’re a jenny nicholson fan but she has a fake id for buying wine and turning the corks into those hallmark craft animal sculptures (and selling the open wine bottle to mrs george in back alleys)

damian

his grandma owns the most omnicidal chihuahua in the state of chicago. it’s how he learned to dance with such mental and physical dexterity. how else would he have survived visits to the nursing home

^ attempted to adopt the chihuahua’s children to have his own bruiser woods moment. turns out, even with his classically trained tenor voice, puppies and janis respond to the “drop it” command much the same way. that is to say they do not drop it and the puppies ran away with ninety nine per cent of his anastasia-inspired music box memorabilia

has a love-hate relationship with cats the musical. like memory is one of his top ten karaoke songs but he’s not going to admit it until he’s several fruity seltzers into the night. wishes all the actors in the movie had been replaced with real cats picked off the street before anything else was approved

played milky white in a scammy local production of into the woods and so so so embarrassed about it. he had to be on stilts the whole show

stuck a fish in regina’s backpack sometime in sophomore year but found karen feeding it and talking to it about her worst fears and greatest dreams felt too guilty to continue with the next phase of his plan (sticking a very hot picture of janis in regina’s backpack) (karen probably would’ve tried to talk to the photo too)

regina

musical specific but i think she didn’t Exactly do a matching animal costume with gretch and karen because 1) what can you dress up as when your friends are going as a cat and a mouse. cheese? 2) had cady not moved into the neighborhood, she’d have gone as a sexy lion to ease into the prospect of. you know. with shane oman but going as a sexy lion when your shiny new homoerotic frenemy has a lion pin on half her clothing isn’t quite a non-questionable choice

had a warrior cats phase she keeps under lock and key in the very depths of her closet. her closet is an iceberg of issues that goes shein -> homosexuality -> warrior cats and climate change is doing a number on it

fried a couple of janis’s ants alive with a magnifying glass sometime before middle school. she’s never flirted normally in her life

the bulk of janis’s furry commission clientele. she has so many emails for alternate accounts that she could get every american president ever suspended from twitter if national security let her. that’s including the dead ones

remember the nigh-rabid chihuahuas damian had. yeah she’s been raising those in secret for a few years now. mrs george doesn’t notice because regina hides them in her hair and extensions are, like, totally in or whatever

had a horse girl phase. all her drawings of horses came out like this meme tho. the art freaks nickname was born out of jealousy

gretchen

chose to be a sexy cat for halloween to match with karen because she has no sense of identity. also because she remembers regina’s warrior cats phase

actually a guinea pig person. i’ve never met a guinea pig person but she feels like one. they’re both in dire need of daily interaction and likely polyamorous

but also peri-canon gretchen could not keep a pet alive she’d spend every cent of the wieners fortune on buying the animal’s love

speaking of. her family bought a stable to fuel “her” horse girl phase. she just wanted to make regina happy and couldn’t stay on a saddle if there was an escalator that plopped her right on the horse

cares about the puppy bowl more than she cares about the superbowl

instinctively pets cute animals. if they bite her then she deserved it

karen

chose to be a sexy mouse for halloween because tom and jerry was having a media marathon and she’s into that sort of power dynamic

believes in unicorns more than she believes in horses. this is because she had a horse girl phase for the hottest of seconds before realizing that none of the ponies at the apache trail sale had horns and thought they had their horns cut off for aesthetic reasons

animals love her so much. survived a jellyfish attack because the jellyfish sensed she just wanted to pet something shiny and absolutely respected that. pests of all shapes and sizes evict themselves stat when karen says her mom doesn’t appreciate her hundred thousand dollar lotions being invaded by peril-bringing insects. strays follow her 24/7. gretchen is jealous (of the animals)

thinks tigers are very sick zebras

thinks blobfish are cuter when they’re all flesh putty out of their natural habitats but would also break into a zoo if she thought the animals were being mistreated

was banned from australia at the age of eight because she tried to have a sleepover in a kangaroo’s pouch

aaron

mean girls insta described him as a golden retriever so i’m also hcing him as being allergic to dogs <3 equality

becomes deeply fearful of all fauna after falling into a research rabbit hole for the sake of connecting with cady. what do you mean buffalo are some of the deadliest beasts on the planet and not just a type of chicken wing

kevin g

a preteen vsco girl in her granola advocacy era stuck in a teenage boy’s body. he has saved more turtles than any natucate volunteer by repurposing his rejected business cards to make a selfie stick long enough to stick him in the same selfie as gretchen wieners. the selfie stick has been in progress since daycare. he has also gone to the hospital more than any natucate volunteer do not trust this man with shop class equipment

#mean girls #cady heron #janis sarkisian #janis ‘imi’ike #damian hubbard #regina george #gretchen wieners #karen smith #karen shetty #aaron samuels #kevin gnapoor #kevin ganatri #these r so long for no reason #who wants goldfish pics btw

[ghenry]

What do you think of GHMs more "Mainstream" titles such as LC, SoTD and NMH3 compared against their more underground works like Killer7, Silver Case and NMH1. I find the latter has a sense of mystique and weirdness that's missing from the former when the studio seemed pigeon-holed in a brand of "Sex, Violence and quirky"

I've been meaning to write about this here, so good question! I gave it a lot of thought after finding a JPN copy of Killer Is Dead and seeing this within the box;

Here's a quote of Suda reflecting on the production of said game;

Suda was not interested in eroticism when it came to his company's games. However, the more mainstream games GHM made (without his direction) were full of instances that were little more than eye candy. Sex appeal for the sake of it. And much of that was against Suda's will;

Paula running around in a thong (and even tits out a couple times if you played the NA version) throughout Shadows of the Damned also reminds me of Tim Rogers recalling his time working at Grasshopper as a designer in the late 2000s. He sat in a lot of meetings with Suda talking to EA and mentioned a time Suda talked about a save function idea he thought of while reflecting on Travis always using a toilet to save in the NMH games.

An early idea was Garcia going to bed with a woman every time he had to save. This was likely when the game was still going to be open world-ish and Garcia was single. From how Tim Rogers talked about this, it was pretty much the only idea Suda had that EA actually showed interest in. Obviously this idea never panned out, instead saving being delegated to a little demon that poops to signify a saved game. Funny that it connects to NMH's toilet save function in that way.

Something else worth bringing up would be the "gigolo missions" from Killer Is Dead. This also derived from a concept Suda had for Shadows of the Damned where Garcia was gonna take girls out on dates, bring flowers, and it'd actually be cute and romantic. At least, from how he described it.

(These screenshots are from Feel the Magic, a DS game where you played mini-games as you tried to win the heart of a girl throughout the story)

This idea was repurposed for Killer Is Dead, but, according to Suda, the sexual aspects of it were conjured up by Hideyuki Shin, the game's director. Therefore, it devolved into x-ray glasses, staring at boobs, and giving gifts to a robot that repeated animations. A cannibalization of the original concept.

Suda seemed afraid of Grasshopper's reputation being mutated into an identity he didn't consent to. Sex appeal is not something he really thinks about when it comes to making games. It's not his style;

The only times Suda has shown sexuality in the games he directed is when it's discomforting or deeply disturbing, almost never for eye candy.

I still appreciate games like Shadows of the Damned, Killer Is Dead, and Lollipop Chainsaw. As much as this era of GHM was railroaded to chasing some mainstream trends and trying too hard to be quirky, they still had unique aspects that help them stand out above other games of the same subgenre. But I can't help but notice a fissure between these games and the ones he actually directed. The nuance, mystery, and thought-provoking stories are most prominent when he's the one directing.

I'm not going to fault people for liking eroticism and such in video games. I've played plenty of horny games too, and there's obviously an appeal there. But anyone still expecting that from Suda is barking up the wrong tree. Looking at how he's been handling everything since 2018 makes it even sadder when you reflect how these publishers tried cramming Grasshopper Manufacture into this box they didn't want to be in.

One last thing I have to retort, though. I don't lump No More Heroes 3 with the quirky "mainstream" games the way you did in the question. Sure, NMH3 definitely went for a more mainstream marketing plan and the game got super silly at times, but it still has an interesting narrative with a ton of nuance. Way more than any GHM game between 2010-2016. Hence my 4+ hour long analysis of the game;

Many people even rejected this game outright because the eroticism and scantily-clad female cast was mostly absent. This was likely expectations they built after experiencing games like NMH2, SotD, LC, etc.

Speaking a bit more on the sense of eroticism, it's funny to think how that was admittedly present in NMH1, obnoxiously expanded upon in NMH2, and then mostly done away with in NMH3. Going as far as turning Naomi--and her balloon tits--into a goddamn tree!

However, I don't believe Suda turned Naomi into a tree for the sole purpose of removing her sex appeal. I believe this just further accentuates how that aspect is not something he's interested in or finds important for the game itself. He likely didn't even think of it that way, but instead "Hey, she should be a tree now."

And then there's Kimmy, whose death was not only a very harrowing moment in the game, it was also depicted in a sexual manner. Similar to Bad Girl's death in the original NMH. Note the motions and angles in her death scene.

Like I said, this rather disturbing sense of sexuality is more Suda's vibe. And I'm happy to see he hasn't lost that edge, so many years later. Anyway, thanks for the question! I had a lot of fun writing out this answer.

#suda51 #grasshopper manufacture #killer7 #nmh3 #no more heroes #no more heroes 3 #lollipop chainsaw #shadows of the damned #killer is dead #the silver case

[yarameijer]

Hi, I've been reading accidental reversal and I really like your 'what if' scenarios with tenma and the gang, and I've had a fic idea I've been considering for a while that I'd appreciate your input on

I've really gotten attached to the idea of a Deaf Tenma, making the decision not to go to a Deaf School (The only Deaf school in Japan that I can find is Meisei Gakuen, which is located in tokyo, which is extremely close to if not the same city where Raimon is) so that he can play for the soccer team that inspired him, only to find the whole fifth sector mess going on.

naturally, he starts the whole revolution, because hes putting the quality of his education on the line to play for raimon, and he isn't about to let that sacrifice for nothing.

tsurugi notices straight away, and when he goes home he immediately starts learning JSL, because first of all he is Not ableist (for obvious reasons), and second is because if he's going to be monologuing at this kid, he's going to make sure he can be understood (he ends up being to go to interpreter when aoi/shinsuke isn't there)

shunsuke asks aoi to teach him and they bond

endou is surprisingly good at JSL when he picks it up (good with his hands + has a very expressive face), kidou, not so much (obscured face, not very expressive anyways)

due to the tension among the team in the first few games, it takes a good chunk of raimon an embarrassingly long time to realize that he isn't just wearing earbuds, and that he doesn't just have an odd accent, and that him looking directly at peoples mouths isn't just a quirk (shindou/kirino/sangoku being like 'How did you not realize? it's so obvious, we've just been learning independently')

also because I've noticed a trend in the show that these kids sure do like to monologue on the soccer field, and I think it's funny if they keep getting interrupted by a kid that just, does not seem to care (its difficult to lip read from a distance, they won't always be facing him, and it seems like a bad idea to wear hearing aids while playing a sport where kids can whip up fire tornadoes, because the average cost of a pair of hearing aids is approximately $4000, or ¥592,560)

anyways it's just an idea I've been considering

Whoa, I love that idea? It sounds so great! I’m a huge fan of rewriting the old story with just enough of a spin to give it a new flavor, and this one’s super interesting. Kinda reminds me of an idea I had at some point in which Tenma is mute and uses sign language. Also lmao Tenma pulling the revolution because ‘’I did NOT sacrifice my education just to get stuck with this crap’’ sounds like such a Tenma move, ngl.

Also yes, Raimon is located in Inazuma Town which is somewhere in Tokyo, it’s on the wiki if you want to check it out!

Okay so I’m not sure what exactly you wanted my input on, so I’m just gonna ramble! Feel free to send me another ask or comment if you wanted something more specific. Anyway, some things that immediately come to mind when I think about this:

1) One of the reasons Tsurugi takes his JSL lessons so seriously could be because Tenma reminds him of his brother. It’s not the same situation but in a way they’re both dealing with disabilities and Tsurugi has seen firsthand how hard it can be for Yuuichi, so he’s a bit softer towards Tenma because of that.

2) Depending on how much of a little shit you want Tenma to be: imagine him turning off his hearing aids at comedic moments, like when someone starts gushing about Fifth Sector’s goals. Tenma just nope’s straight out of that one. Or, although this might be a bit later when he’s more comfortable with the team, him turning off his hearing aids when someone starts scolding him. Absolute power move. They don’t even need to know he does it, maybe someone eventually finds out, cue comedic moment.

3) Since you mentioned accents… Tenma’s from Okinawa and as far as I could find, Okinawans have at least a bit of an accent. Deaf people are also known to learn how to speak by copying the lip movements of the people around them… so if Tenma grew up on Okinawa, it could be assumed he’s grown up speaking Okinawan Japanese and has the accent to match. I imagine non-deaf Tenma would have worked out most of his accent after he moved to Okinawa town so as to not stand out, but deaf Tenma would have had a harder time doing so/might not have even realized he had an accent in the first place. (There is a difference between Okinawan Japanese, which is a Japanese dialect, and the Okinawan language, which is a whole other language altogether and only a few people speak it (mostly the elderly) because it stems from a period before Okinawa was Japanese territory, so if you make use of this idea, maybe look into that a bit. It’s a bit of a complicated situation but I think it could really add something to the characters). This does depend a little on whether Tenma was born deaf or not, I think (that would also influence his lip reading/sign language skills - was he born deaf or has he only been deaf for a few years?)

4) Find subtle ways to mention it throughout the story instead of using full paragraphs. I like comparing it to writing someone who wears glasses. Small details are glasses getting fogged up when going from the outside cold into a warm room, or when drinking tea. Smudges on glasses that annoy the character. Pushing them up when they slip down their nose. These are all small, subtle actions that add a lot to the story and ‘remind’ readers of this detail without putting too much focus on it - you could try and do the same thing with Tenma’s deafness: lip reading is really difficult so Tenma might misunderstand or ask for clarification, or little habits he has (like you mentioned, watching people’s mouths rather than their eyes).

Anyway, I’d definitely recommend doing research on writing deaf characters because it’s very easy to accidentally make a mistake and come off as disrespectful. I’ve read a story or two in which there was so much focus on a character being deaf that it seemed to be their only character trait, and not only does that take away from the story, but it’s also not a good representation. Being deaf is not a defining character trait; it’s just part of their character, like wearing glasses or having asthma. An important thing that should be acknowledged but not constantly mentioned/made to be the center of their life and character.

Some questions that immediately popped into my head:

1. Was Tenma born deaf or did he lose his hearing?

2. Does he shout or say the name of hissatsu techniques? Would he even bother with that?

3. In fact would he even bother trying to learn the names of hissatsu techniques (since they can be super weird + it’s during a match and he’s not wearing hearing aids, so these both make it hard to lip read) and instead just come up with names for them himself? Imagine him referring to Sangoku’s Fence of Gaia as ‘’the rock thing’’ or Kami no Takuto as ‘’Shindou-senpai’s lightshow’’.

4. Does the entire team learn sign language (and how good are they at it), or does Tenma speak and lip read more with certain members of the team and use sign language with others?

Of course the amount of detail you put into it all depends on how long you want the story to be! I hope this is sort of what you wanted, and again, feel free to ask something else if this isn’t what you hoped for.

And in case you decide to write the story, best of luck!

#inazuma eleven #inazuma eleven go #ina11 #ie11 #ie go #fanfic #matsukaze tenma #raimon

[jahiera]

I think there’s a definite problem though with the amount of art and fics being HEAVILY Astarion with cis women. That reeks of his queerness being erased. There should be a healthy balance of Astarion with different partners, but the “default” in the fandom is always him with a woman. As a gay man it’s very frustrating.

Okay so. in however much any of this matters. 1. Shoving this under a cut for people who are tired of seeing the discourse (I am too, I tend to scroll really really fast past it.) 2. I know the fandom discourse machine looooves super firm and snarky opinion jabs summed up in 169 words or less but I am literally incapable of not elaborating so. sorry YOU asked. since it’s also probably relevant, Im coming at this with the Mega Dyke with the fuck around and find out perspective irt my life experiences and queerness. I don’t generally care about niche queer internet discourse and I don’t generally care about fandom discourse, so you can tell how bored I am at work rn that I’m deep diving into this. tldr yeah you’re not wrong I agree that astarion’s queerness is erased in certain spaces but that has nothing to do with being attracted to women. my funny hot take is once again that astarion is a he/him evil femme to me so. let’s MOVE.

I received the second one within the first few minutes of the first, and I’m goingggg to proceed on good faith and with the idea that I think we’re all in agreement for the most part, because I think we are. But I’m going to address the most obvious thing that. I don’t really…. think is necessarily the point in this. first of all, I empathize that it suuuucks to not see as many works made for your main pairing of choice (there’s generally a deficit for literally everyone BUT astarion to boot too.) however ultimately fanworks are exactly that: fanworks, and they’re made For Free and posted by a Fan Author who has done this As A Hobby, “a problem nobody is addressing” in this context is……. you are one google doc and keyboard away from writing what you want to see in the world. or, I don’t know. encourage + comment + follow up on fic authors that write what you enjoy. fic is not paid content and the fic authors in bg3 are writing for themselves and what they put out, that they wrote for FREE, is up to them. I once again empathize with not seeing as much of a specific thing as you would like, and I definitely empathize with seeing a popularization of specific characterization that makes you want to scream, cry, throw up, etc. which brings me to what I can actually comment on and critique here. (general note: if you proceed to misread me on the basis of “people can do what they want!!” I assure you. you can do whatever you want forever. I do not care. I am not mad. I am minding my business 90% of the time. do I like domstarion? no. but it is NOT my concern nor my judgement.)

“That reeks of his queerness being erased. There should be a healthy balance of Astarion with different partners, but the “default” in the fandom is always him with a woman.” <- so! now that we have “it’s all for free man idk what you want me to say here” out of the way. we CAN critique something real in this that I do agree with. the sort of…. honestly kind of fascinating (derogatory) trends of what I’ll call Straightifying astarion for lack of a better word.

this brings me to the point I kind of offhandedly made in the previous post, about how there IS nuance to be said on astarion’s queerness getting erased. I do actually agree with you that in some spheres of the bg3 fandom, his queerness has been heavily sanitized and he’s become something of a placeholder for Sexy Vampire Boyfriend romance tropes. he’s mostly there to be a stand-in for a sexy dom vampire man; MANY of his complex character traits that have literally Nothing to do with romance have been basically entirely removed to serve a specific idealized idea of him that suit the scene. it’s frustrating! I find it frustrating. I also agree that within this specific Brand of Mischaracterized Astarion, he’s been so……….. reduced down to this that his more overt queerness is basically entirely removed. however, the issue is not that he’s with a woman in this? the issue is that the writer is not incorporating a sort of.. overarching queer lens, for lack of a better term, to the characterization they’ve got going on. you can write whatever you want forever, but it’s not written in a vacuum, I agree.

Since these are all popular straight romance tropes, he falls directly into the pit of Sexy Man (straight) very quickly, and his attraction toward others (let alone, good god, his complex relationship to sex, sexuality, desire? good fucking luck finding something thoughtful in there about that) tends to fall by the wayside as a result. It is what you would expect but it’s not without room for critique in what I think we’re aligned on; which is seeing astarion’s queerness erased is maddeninggg. And it is EXTREMELY frustrating to see if you’re someone like me, or possibly yourself, who’s into 1. really analyzing characterization and 2. really into exploring queer dynamics in writing + lit + media many different formats. THIS—the sanitization, the removal of astarion’s queerness—this is what is irksome as a queer reader.

however. the issue I’m seeing is that ^^^^^ this brand of mischaracterization is 1. being conflated with simply that he’s with women, and 2. the frustration of having less content (understandable) is turning into a very WEIRD dialogue in which the extreme of “well actually he wouldn’t even want to fuck women!!” is the stance to take (very weird) (kind of misogynistic) (kind of also reeks of continuing to talk about women as sex objects that astarion would not or would want to fuck) (astarion himself doesn’t even want to fuck for about 90% of his romance so maybe we should talk about that too) — rather than that it would be nice if his queerness would be addressed more openly and with more nuance and clarity than it currently is in That Particular Sphere Of Astarion Characterization. and, of course, the idea that it would be nice if he was portrayed with other kinds of partners! which I agree with and equally appreciate.

but there is no default. literally, there’s no default. what you’re seeing is what people are making of their own tavs, and maybe you would like to see more of another kind, but it doesn’t hold up as an actual fandom critique. what holds up is when we dive into how people write him; how do they write his personality, what traits are being exaggerated and what traits are being ignored; IS his queerness remembered within the text at all? and beyond that, how is that queerness treated when it is written? because I’ve seen the other extreme in which it’s The Homophobic Gay Stereotypes That Maybe We All Agreed At One Point Were Equally Offensive To Exaggerate To The Point Of Horror. half the discussion I see AROUND his queerness amounts to “omg he’s such a slutty flamboyant little fag” but in a quirky haha internet way. very “fruity is a nice alternative to saying queer!” “calling a gay guy fruity in the real world will get you punched out.” vibes in here sometimes and it is EQUALLY weird.

anyways. Astarion’s a multifaceted character which means the first thing everyone did was pick one or two traits to exaggerate and cling to and these color the entire reading of his character rather than taking in the whole. i agree that means his queerness got put to the wayside in some formats of him, and that’s deeply unfortunate + very frustrating. but fanfic is free, so I’m not with you that there’s a Problem That Needs Addressing so much as that’s what people are creating, and you should add to what you want to see in the world.

I’m not going to go on a tangent about how “oh let m/f be a thing!!” because I ALSO agree literally no one needs to be told “m/f is okay to do ❤️” we live in the real world here. and it’s really mindboggling how in some iterations he’s been turned into Straightstarion rather than his CANON QUEERNESS being applicable in every format of every relationship dynamic he could ever possibly be in. However. However. the answer to that is not? acting like the baseline attraction to women is the problem. if the way you’re talking about attraction to women feels rooted in upset about not relating to it and feeling like you’re forced to either relate to it or simply not engage, I do Get It, but at the risk of opening up an entirely different can of worms that needs an entirely different essay to address, gay men are not immune to misogyny and if the language used while talking about women is also objectifying or belittling women to some extent or acting as though attraction to women makes his queerness lesser. newsflash. that is still misogyny (and biphobia). it is not about defending straightness here, it’s entirely that reducing women down to sex objects even in the conversations about not seeing women sexually is alive and well (and repulsive), and that’s what I mean when I say I can hear the “lol I don’t fuck WOMEN that’s DISGUSTING” behind some of the other side of the conversation here. also this is an entirely separate essay but queerness will almost never exist in an easily consumable binary and trying to type him by his character traits is also. kind of weird. just as a thing.

#critical / #this feels like such a I will die on any hill. I am going to forget about this now #like again I’m not even disagreeing with some of you but other things in here. it’s a little bit deeper than that #or as deep as fandom discourse is anyways. #now that the high of soap boxing has worn off as I write these tags I’m like good lord. #I will NOT let inanities ruin this game for me. #sorry that’s once again not really directed at you anon but in general #good faith! we keep good faith!

[whinlatter]

Hi! I wanted to ask you what's your take on clothes and how wizards dress? I've been thinking about this since the 'gettin ready fot the party' scene. What's a typical wardrobe for typical wizard in te 90's? I always imagined that they just dress like muggles (or maybe the younger generations?), and i when i read the books i always had a hard time imagining them when they are trying to pass as muggles, you know? Like what, they don't understans which clothes are for a specific event? Because Harry says that he could tell thay dress a bit diffrent, like out of place. I mean, it's probably just meant to be funny, but, how isolated are they to not knowwhat muggles wear? I guess it also has to do with how they are raised, i imagine blood-supremacists (is that how it's called?) use only 'robes' (whatever that is, and, also, what's under those robes? like, a thong? do they wear muggle underwear? SO MANY QUESTIONS)

So, i was thinking about this instead of working🤠.

I liiive for that part with tonks' clothes, i even got a litlle "oh i wanna be thereeee and try everything and make everything fit with magic!"

And this how i imagine wizards dress (according to jkr) in the muggle world

ok please know that this image made me howl

thank you for the super interesting question! i have thought a bit about typical wizarding wardrobes and familiarity with muggle fashion among wizards in the 90s as a worldbuilding question in beasts. it's definitely true that wizarding familiarity with muggle dress is another one of those worldbuilding points in canon where the text is unclear and at times inconsistent. i know people have different views on how much wizarding and muggle culture interact, especially in matters of popular culture and fashion. i've heard very convincing arguments that the cultural insularity and physical remove of the wizarding community from muggles would mean most children raised in wizarding households, especially pureblood families like the weasleys, wouldn't know that much about how muggles plausibly dress, what they listen to, or what forms of media are popular (books, music, sports, even less so tv and film).

while i do agree with some aspects of this, in my approach to wizarding youth culture in the 90s, i think young witches and wizards on the left know more about muggle fashion than they do about many other aspects of muggle culture, and that interest and ability to pull off muggle fashion depends on a person's background, politics, gender (because mostly, it does all seem to be about trousers - i reckon pureblood supremacists, as you say, are in their undies most of the time), but especially generation and the politics/patterns of consumption in the time period when they were a teenager. i think your desire and ability to wear muggle clothing varies a lot if you're born in 1950 vs 1980, partly because of changing wizarding politics and the difference between growing up in peacetime vs a world at war, but partly because muggle fashion changes as a market in the second half of the twentieth century.

basically, i think these young progressive millennial wizards would wear more muggle clothing because of changes in muggle fashions/consumption that allow for greater availability and access to muggle clothing by the 1990s, as well as access to information about fashion and trends, and i think they would want to because willingness to embrace muggle fashions would be a way of showing their commitment to their own politics and forms of teenage rebellion that were distinct from those practiced by generations prior living through the first wizarding war. a longer discussion with my reasoning for this is below the cut!

so - in general, in canon, gen X wizards and older (so the youngest of them born in the 1950s thru 70s, and everyone older than that) seem to dress in muggle clothing really only as a protective measure to prevent exposure/risk breaking the statute of secrecy. when bob ogden goes to the gaunts' house in the 1920s, even as the head of a major ministry department dealing with law enforcement, he does a terrible job dressing as a muggle (the bathing suit, pls bob, i beg). if you look at all the wizards trying to dress as muggles for the world cup, it's clear that the adoption of muggle clothing, for most wizards, is a strategic, defensive move more than anything else. in PoS, mcgonagall - herself a progressive woman in her politics - disdains wizards who are celebrating the end of the first wizarding war by celebrating in the street "not even wearing muggle clothes", which she thinks is reckless and risks wizards' exposure (love when mcgonagall dresses like a muggle briefly at grimmauld place in OotP and it freaks harry out lol). there is no enthusiasm or interest in it - there's just conformity for self-preservation.

for that reason, i think you can see why those on the wizarding right in the mid-twentieth century, especially those drawn to pureblood and wizarding supremacy, would come to see dressing like a muggle as a disgrace, a sign of submission to a lesser people, in a way that would become extremely loaded in the years preceding and during the first wizarding war (1970-1981). when harry sees snape in the flashback to his first trip on the hogwarts express in the early 70s, he notices snape is already wearing his wizard robes very early on in the journey, which harry's narration supposes is because snape's happy to be out of his 'dreadful Muggle clothes' (DH). those muggle clothes were a sign both of snape's poverty but also his outsider status in muggle tinworth: special, because he's a wizard, but otherwise socially inferior to other children in every other way. snape, of course, is raised in a wizarding household with knowledge of magic but has been wearing muggle clothing to avoid detection for his entire childhood, in ways that imbue the wearing of wizarding clothes and casting off of muggle garms with great political significance. in canon, we see that the vast majority of wizards, while not death eaters or rabid pureblood supremacists, tend to be small c conservatives in their view of wizarding cultural norms and tend to think they're better than muggles even if they don't necessarily want to go out and kill them all. for that reason, they remain loyal to wizarding traditions, and continue to wear robes, partly as a symbol of their proud cultural identity as wizards, in ways that they would likely only cling to as their society moves towards open war over muggle-wizard relations (as you say, robes seem to be worn without trousers underneath, so most wizards are just wearing underwear under their robes and going about their day. slay, honestly).

so, if the right hate muggle clothes, then the willingness of gen z+ wizards to engage with and adopt aspects of muggle attire and culture might map onto a progressive political outlook and a disavowal of wizards-first ideology. but a person's politics alone doesn't mean they know how to pull off muggle clothing, and in the years of brewing tension then open war, most wouldn't bother risking their lives to be caught wearing a pair of bell bottoms. arthur weasley is the best example of this. arthur is theoretically interested in muggle clothes because he's a progressive man who disavows wizard supremacy and believes in principles of tolerance towards muggles. now, he's not good at knowing how to pair a plausible muggle outfits. this is because he still lives at a reasonable remove from wizards, he's extremely busy with a demanding job and seven children to be staying up to date with changing fashions, and at the end of the day still spends most of his week among wizards in a civil service that demands a certain level of professional conformity. but i think it's also because arthur weasley is born in 1950 and therefore spent his young adulthood trying to raise a young family during a war. arthur instead channels his politics into support for muggle protection legislation rather than in wearing muggle clothing, which he might see as a limited individual act of symbolic resistance that would put his family at risk and also cost time and money he doesn't have. (if we look at the marauders, as an example of a progressive bunch in the interim generation between arthur and arthur's children, especially someone like sirius with greater financial freedom, it's very telling that sirius shows his politics off through riding a cool muggle motorbike and sticking up muggle soft porn on his bedroom walls, but not noticeably through fashion, as far as harry's photographs show).

but if you look at arthur's children, progressive wizarding millennials, it seems like more confident familiarity with muggle fashions and culture is generally more common. i think we can include someone like tonks in this, raised in a mixed marriage household by a blood traitor and a muggleborn dad. harry says that the weasley children are better than their parents at dressing like muggles. when harry sees bill weasley he doesn't think 'this is a man who looks like he's done a bad job dressing for a muggle rock concert' he thinks 'this is a man who looks like he could be going to a rock concert'. this suggests to me a difference, say, between bill and his dad. arthur likes muggles and believes engaging with muggle culture is important, but doesn't really succeed at it, but his eldest son manages to marry both a political commitment to embracing muggle culture with an ability to dress plausibly as a muggle so much so that he's able to ape a subculture in a way his dad doesn't really try to often and has never succeeded at.

why? i think there's a few things going on. one is that the majority wizarding millennials grew up in peacetime, after the fall of voldemort, in the 1980s and 90s, where wearing muggle clothing was less likely to get you killed and more likely to symbolise an individual act of rebellion against more low-level societal norms and cultural pressures rather than against a murderer in a mask. this, plus having the time and disposable income to follow muggle fashions more closely, as well as the opportunity to access about muggle fashions and celebrity styles, has a big part to play. bill weasley has more time and ability than his dad to stay up to date about muggle clothing tastes, as do his siblings. characters who went to hogwarts in the 80s and 90s also did so at the peak of a mass print consumer culture (one that was already on an upward ascent since the 60s) that was designed to be be accessible, inexpensive and create an appetite for following trends among consumers, and that could very easily be of appeal to progressive young witches and wizards. this is why in beasts i have ginny know about the spice girls and their iconic lewks from a copy of smash hits magazine because that seemed like the kind of inexpensive and highly portable source of information about muggle culture that a muggleborn or halfblood student (or even a pureblooded student with a parent with a progressive interest in muggle clothing) would be able to take to school and pass around a dormitory. on the gender point, too - donning muggle clothes, especially the more permissive and sexy clothing of the 80s and 90s would be a great way for a rebellious young woman raised in a wizarding household - eg. tonks or ginny - to stick it to the conservative gender norms in the wizarding world.

moreover, the changes in fashion as a market in the muggle world would make a certain base style of comfortable and inexpensive muggle dress much more readily available to younger witches and wizards than ever before. for kids born in the late 70s/80s, changes in muggle clothes consumption - aka. the globalisation of mass factory production of textiles, especially garments, and the early forms of fast fashion we now recognise today - would also have an impact on the ready availability of certain basic forms of cheap muggle fashion, including the ubiquity of cheap jeans and trainers/sneakers, that emphasise comfort and ease of daily wear at a low cost point produced in such high volumes such that if you wanted a pair of jeans, you could easily get your hands on one. this would have made a plausible muggle clothing a lot more accessible (there's only so wrong you can go if you're just wearing jeans, t-shirt, a jumper, and a pair of trainers, really), and explain why the clothes harry wears in the muggle world don't seem all that different from the clothes he wears in the wizarding world (admittedly usually under his robes), or indeed that different from what ron seems to wear most of the time. passing as a muggle in 1920 with little effort - à la bob ogden - would be a lot harder than doing so in 1990.

so - yeah. that's my take! i think it's mostly about generation, but also about politics, about war and peace, a bit about gender and a lot about capitalism. i hope this helps!

#wizarding culture #meta #analysis #wizarding clothing #beasts #hp meta #loved answering this thank you so much!

[ac-liveblogs]

The interview between Kinoko Nasu (head writer at Type Moon) and David Jiang (producer Honkai: Star Rail) is quite interesting. Though Jiang is not a writer himself and he himself doesn't get involved in story creation, so I do wonder why he was talking with Nasu...

The interview was mostly about what's taken into account when creating FGO and HSR.

Honkai Star Rail's director is a huge Type-Moon fanboy and has always been influenced by the Fate series since he was a teenager - even/especially in Star Rail, while Nasu plays Genshin Impact and is currently playing the Belobog chapter in Star Rail.

And yes. Clara and Svarog are a reference to Illya and Berserker, we been knew.

There was some interesting commentary early on from Jiang that said that the story-writing and gameplay divisions worked separately, which caused issues early on that needed to be resolved. Receiving confirmation about this is interesting, because it would explain a lot of the issues present in Genshin Impact that are mostly absent in HSR - a world that feels totally divorced from the playable characters that live in it, and - up until Fontaine - a lot of playable characters feeling somewhat disconnected from the plot they're meant to be in.

It was also very interesting to see Jiang start talking about marketing, surveys, meeting modern trends, design vs generating revenue etc. versus Nasu talking about his thoughts as an author and the importance of prioritising your ideal creative vision even if you end up needing to take those things into account as well... and how FGO doesn't incorporate modern trends but instead tries to create something that will be meaningful to the players.

It was also extremely funny seeing Nasu talk about how meta wasn't an important factor in FGO (true) - he just wanted people to care about the characters, and Jiang going "oh yeah we do that too!" ...like a liar.

Something Nasu said in response to Jiang talking about how the character designers at HYV take surveys or add character elements that they think 'might attract a new user group' into consideration struck a chord with me though;

Nasu-sensei: This reminds me of an interview I read about "Street Fighter II," where the interviewer asked, "Why did the game include a character like Zangief?" And the response from the interviewee was, "Once you have a character like Zangief for comparison, characters like Ryu with an average physique become even more eye-catching." In other words, a creative work cannot only have popular characters. If we make a fetish black hole, the diversity of the world suffers.. In terms of results, even protagonist-like characters that are somewhat lacking in personality can have their own unique features.

Which speaks to an understanding of a need for variety in design and personality that HYV consistently fails to achieve. HYV has no characters like Blackbeard, Zhang Jue... or even Li Shuwen. It has pretty girls, pretty boys, and younger characters.

Jiang talked proudly about how HSR risks lowering their revenue by daring to include characters like Qingque and Guinafen in the hopes they might attract a new market, but Nasu says 'well, we think about the themes of our stories and what the characters need to be, as well as the kinds of characters we want to write'.

Nasu also plainly outlining the variety of different elements a writer needs to incorporate into a story - including the importance of each character having their own storyline to engage the players, super simple stuff! - is something I dearly hope HYV keeps in mind. HSR has less of an issue with these concepts than Genshin does, but there are several shared weaknesses between the two works.

I can only hope that HYV is taking notes instead of nodding like it already understands the things he's saying - because it does not, and it could stand to listen. I believe that the world Nasu created in Fairy Britain, despite having a lot less to it, is stronger than any single region in either Genshin Impact or Honkai Star Rail because it, the stories told in it and the characters there, are all thematically consistent and inform each other in interesting ways at all points during the chapter.

I think Belobog achieved a base level of cohesion, but Xianzhou Luofu was a shitshow and Penacony... better pick up soon. Haha. (Jiang describing Xianzhou Luofu as "captivating" though. Bro. Bro Xianzhou Luofu was terrible, what are you talking abou-)

I like reading Nasu talk about the writing process and the things he's enthusiastic about. I don't always like or agree with Type-Moon's decisions or products, but Nasu always strikes me as a down to earth guy that's truly passionate about what he creates and the works he consumes. Jiang seems to have had a lot less to say, though that seems to be because he is... as he himself admits, not a writer.

The two companies seem to have been in talks, so I'm curious to see what comes of it.

#ac plays fgo #ac plays hsr

[mermaidsirennikita]

I’ve started watching The Artful Dodger and loving it, it’s far better than Bridgerton at actually capturing the essence of a romance novel (my first thought upon seeing Jack and Belle interact was that it could’ve been ripped straight from a romance novel). Do you have any recs for tv shows or movies that have the vibes of a romance novel?

Ooh yes!

Oldie but a goodie and if anyone hasn't seen it they should (and really, the whole trilogy--the second movie gets a bad rap, but I personally so enjoy it, and I love the third movie for a lot of reasons but the "REIGNITE. OUR. LOVE." sequence is absolutely one of them, the "we are gonna FUCK THIS SHIT OUT" vibes are sooo romance novel for me). Bridget Jones's Diary. Mark Darcy is just an amazing hero. Bridget is a legend. Hugh Grant as Daniel Cleaver is PEAK Hugh Grant, and his introduction in that film is one of the greatest character intros I have ever. Seen in cinema. I see some people knock on it because of things that have aged--Bridget worrying over her weight because it's the early 2000s and super skinny was the trend, the workplace harassment. I don't give a fuck. If you haven't seen Bridget Jones's Diary, you are doing yourself a disservice.

(It is based on a book, but that book is not a romance novel. The movies are.)

Ummm speaking of Hugh Grant, Music & Lyrics is an underrated BANGER and absolutely fucking reads as a romance novel. A washed up has-been pop star begins a creative partnership with the messy neurotic woman who waters his plants? He does a flop attempt at defending her honor to do the guy who did her wrong. There's a grand gesture/grovel moment ffs. It's GREAT. The music is AMAZING. POP! Goes My Heart!

This one is borderline because it is more of a girls trip comedy, but the romance is truly centered so well and is a swoony romance and it features peak Richard Madden and it is again, so underrated. Netflix's Ibiza, dude. Buttoned up marketing girl goes on a business trip to Spain, her two best friends (who are both much wilder than her) accompany her and they go to the club one night and see DJ Richard Madden (LEOOOOO WESSSSST) and he and the main girl have this amazing meet cute that involves someone drawing a dick on her face in glow in the dark marker and him coming to the rescue, but then he has to go to a gig in Ibiza and she and her friends decide to track him down because some people are destined to go to the moon, but her destiny is to FUCK. THAT. DJ. But Harper and Leo's connection is more like love at first sight than pure horniness? I just miss movies that like, unabashedly capture zany happiness and the flutters of first love (and the sex scene is so good???). This movie is amazing and I adore it.

Bros. Look dude. I know Billy Eichner fucked up the marketing for this one. I know he's annoying as hell. Bros is objectively a romance novel movie lol. It's not as inclusive as it could/should be, I will agree with that always--but the romance arc is so good, and it is legit funny, and it has a FAILED GROVEL which we all know is one of my favorite things. And I do think it has a deeply true heart and soul and is really amazing.

Brown Sugar. PEAK Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan. It's a slow burn friends to lovers movie in which there is sooooo much sexual tension and so much angst and so much follow the fuck through. Also, Taye Diggs has one of the most magnificent line deliveries of all time with "riCHARD LAWson".

Imagine Me and You. The sapphic romcom we deserve. A bride falls in love at first sight with hot florist Lena Headey while walking down the aisle to marry her groom, as you do. What follows is a woman desperately trying not to cheat on her husband while experiencing extreme sexual tension with Lena Headey. Surprisingly soft and super romantic.

Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022). Required viewing for historical romance novel fans. Obviously based on a book, but again, that book is not a romance lol. The movie is. And it's one of the hottest movies in recent memory. Jack and Emma did the WORK. The kiss right before he goes down on her is maybe my favorite movie kiss of all time.

Obviously. Pride and Prejudice (2005). I shouldn't have to include this, but to be fucking clear lol. I will always maintain that while P&P (the novel) is a predecessor and a shaper of romance novels, it is not a romance novel. It is a contemporary novel with a lot of social commentary and a good love story. This movie? Makes it a full, sweeping romance with some of the best tension ever committed to screen.

Faraway. Omg, an amazing slept-on movie that is a rare romcom featuring a middle-aged woman! Basically, right when her mom dies she finds out her husband is having at min an emotional affair with his younger employee, and she also discovers her mom had a secret property on a Croatian island. She goes there, and is immediately courted by this younger real estate developer guy, but why is she constantly butting heads with the gruff guy who's been living in her mom's house????

Far and Away. Hate to recommend a Tom Cruise film, BUT it is is very romance novel, and it does star Nicole Kidman as well, and I hate to say it but those two did have bomb chemistry when they were married. The Irish accents are rough, but the plot is delightful because he's a poor guy who ends up getting roped into her scheme to leave for America (after his harebrained revenge scheme against her dad fails lol) and they live in a boarding house together pretending to be brother and sister... But like, everyone can tell they aren't because of their extremely obvious sexual tension lol.

When Harry Met Sally. Cliche, but it is a classic every romance lover should see. I'm not a big Billy Crystal fan, but his chemistry with Meg Ryan is MAGIC in this, and you really do get the sense of two people slooowly falling in love without even realizing it until suddenly they do all at once.

#romance novel blogging

[being-of-rain]

I thought I'd continue my usual trend of writing my thoughts down on new Doctor Who episodes, by talking about The Star Beast. As usual, I set out to write something quick and concise, but the Wrarth Warriors busted down my door and told me that I legally couldn't.

Apparently I still have the impulse to describe Doctor Who episodes as 'fun', but by and large it's a fun show! And a fun episode! Even if I'm not as obsessed with him as a lot of fans, RTD has a charm which it's hard not to enjoy, especially with lots of little jokes and bits of physical comedy (I love little bits of physical comedy). And it's a funny episode, I was laughing from the moment the Doctor picked up a box, saw Donna, and put the box back again. Well that's not true, I was laughing from the moment I saw David Tennant just standing in green screen space like he was about to tell me the exciting new direction he intended to take the company. I'm glad everyone else seems to find that as funny as I did.

Another word I could use to describe the episode is a bit surreal. Having Beep the Meep and the Wrarth Warriors on screen was a little surreal, but strangely I found it even more so that the Doctor was walking around not knowing who Beep the Meep was. I mean obviously that was always going to be the case, but all Doctor Who mediums just live together inside my head and it was just weird to see him not recognise an iconic enemy. Maybe that was just me. Oh but Beep and the Warriors looked fantastic! It's hard to believe they're all physical effects! I really wasn't too interested in the UNIT gunfight that didn't really do much for the story, but if the new big budget lets aliens look that good then I'm fine with it. Other slightly surreal or strange things involved finally watching Doctor Who again after more than a year's break, watching it on Disney Plus rather than Australia's ABC channel, and seeing Ruth Madeley on-screen as UNIT's scientific advisor when she's also playing a companion of the Sixth Doctor in the audios at the moment.

Oh and, of course, having the Tenth Doctor and Donna back on-screen, and the TV show doing what fanfiction writers have been doing for 15 years. That was really surreal. I definitely like the two of them, but I don't have the same rampant nostalgia for their time on the show like lots of people do. I'm glad lots of people are enjoying the nostalgia aspect, but I'm also glad this is a mini-series rather than a full one. And already there's some aspects back of RTD's writing which I'm not super fond of- like conclusions that try to use technobabble and music-swelling emotional moments to smooth over the fact that some things are just happening without much cause or set-up. RTD's usually pretty good at that too- that's how the whole DoctorDonna thing started in the first place, after all- so Donna and Rose just 'letting go' of the metacrisis did feel like it fell unusually flat. Especially with it being paired with a 'women are better than men' moment which felt more like something from a Moffat script (I say this as a fan of both these writers).

Okay, that was just me trying to get all of my negatives out of the way! On the flip side, Rose inheriting the metacrisis and saving the day was a wonderful revelation, and I love that daughter/mother and loving family relationships were so important on the whole. Seeing Sylvia stumble with pronouns but still try was so lovely, as was Donna being so aggressively supportive of her daughter. And Shaun was a small role but so hilarious.

The chat outside the Tardis was great too, with Shaun dunking on the Doctor, and Donna being genre-savvy enough to stop her daughter getting into the Tardis but not enough to save herself. The new Tardis itself was a little empty to me (I'll always prefer more homely interiors) but was still extremely cool. All I want is for the show to come up with excuses for creative ways to use the mood lights. And I couldn't imagine a better ending to the episode than the console exploding because Donna spilt coffee on it, 10/10 no notes.

I know basically nothing about the next episode, and it seems that's the case for most people, so I'm terribly excited about it! It seems potentially scary spooky 👀 I'm so here for that

#my thoughts #As usual I'm dumping all my thoughts here! #donna #ten #rose noble #beep

[irlcats-bracket]

bracket 1 FINAL BATTLE

RUSTY versus PRISSY

RUSTY

Rusty used to be a stray and then he had An Accident and now he has three legs (he had been living at a vet's office for a month when submitter adopted him). But he's doing great! Submitter taught him how to climb stairs and built him some steps out of cardboard boxes so he can get on their bed whenever he wants. They think he could be anywhere from 6 to 12 years old, it's hard to say ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. To their pleasant surprise, he does not mind wearing a harness at all, which is good because he still loves the outdoors. He often gets his ear turned inside out while bathing and weirdly prefers dry food over wet.

PROPAGANDA

breaking: semi-feral baby learns to cuddle, becomes addicted to laying on my face

and here he is chillin on the patio with me!

vote for rusty #1 best at sticking out leg

when i first got Rusty he could not go up stairs... but he could go down, so he would get stuck at the bottom of them and meow for help. Of course he also hated being picked up and carried up the stairs.

but now he just goes ZOOP up the stairs doing audible damage to my carpet the whole way, which is so valid of him because i hate carpet on stairs

and something that is not quite propaganda for rusty but important words from rusty's human nontheless

For this semifinal I am going to do a different kind of propaganda.

Next time you are looking to adopt a pet, please consider getting an older animal or one with special needs, if you are able, or even just a shy, timid one. The reason my vet friend came to me about Rusty was because cats like him are usually overlooked in shelters. It wasn't just his injury--behaviorally, it was like he didn't know how to be a pet. For about three months he spent 95% of his time sitting in one spot, doing nothing, mostly indifferent to human attention. And now, after less than two years, he is super active and follows me to bed every night for cuddles. There are so many pets like Rusty who just need somebody to give them a chance, and give them time. If you can be that person, it is the most amazing thing to see what they bloom into!

Thank you for reading my spiel, now here is a picture of Rusty sleeping in the cat equivalent of a T-pose for some reason:

PRISSY

If she's quiet she's either sleeping or somewhere she shouldn't be. Or Both. Openly favors submitter, tolerates others. Very autistic cat: anxious of bad noises, very picky eater, kneads with her right paw out for no reason, must walk a circle around the room before going somewhere, has Specific eating spots for mealtime, etc. She probably knows more English than she lets on. Disobeys authority when she's bored or hungry. Loves the outdoors but she needs her pretty pink harness or she'll run; her favorite activity is playing with grasshoppers. She's a little brat but you can't help but love her when she squeaks at you.

PROPAGANDA

As you can see, she likes tight spaces (it's the 'tism -u-). She has access to larger, roomier sleeping spaces, but she always gravitates to places where I can't understand how she could possibly be comfortable. That round thing in the top right pic? She sleeps on top of that for the night even though a whole leg falls over the side. We've debated getting her a bigger one, but I don't think she'd like it.

She is also a lover of people food; we tried not to get her used to it, but somewhere along the way she broke down our walls. Whenever I snack on cheese puffs on the couch, she's always gotta get up in my face to try to get some of that delicious cheese dust, going so far as to stick her big face in the bag right in front of me while I'm holding it. And if you've got salmon, she will go nuts. I think salmon is her favorite food with cheese as a close second. ...but she'll also beg for chicken nugget.

[Image description: a photo of OP sitting at the dining table over a plate of chicken strips and ketchup, OP on one side of the chair and holding a piece of bitten chicken and Prissy sitting on the other side of the chair with one paw on the table eyeing the bitten chicken strip. OP's face has been painted over with a black spot.]

As for speaking English, I've caught her saying Hello and Mama clear as day, and is working on pronouncing Outside and Water (I mean it, just from her tones and "syllables" of her meows, it's like she's trying to speak).

Sorry for the spam, but she really is that photogenic. And also sorry for the stuff on my bed, but my legs were injured at the time and needed extra support. While they were injured, I also spent a lot of time on the couch, where Prissy frequently sat by my side and especially on my lap. Now that I'm better and not sitting there anymore, she now claims that specific corner of the couch as her own; she's even stolen that spot from me when I get up to do something really quick.

I've also trained her to hop on my lap when she wants to eat, instead of jumping on the table, but at the end of the day she still does what she wants lol. She's always been by my side, from the first day she got here at 3 mos. old and took a nap on my lap right in the hallway.

#catfight one #polls #cat #cats #catfight one finals!!

[flightfoot]

I know fandom wank has always existed, but do you see an upswing in people being obsessed with character accountability and purity of character? I'm a fandom old and I could be wrong, but it seems to me that fandom in the last 5 - 8 years has been on this strong accountability/morality obsession.

Like there has been so much Alya hate popping up lately. I saw a thread on another sm site where they were ranting about how horrible she is for her pushiness in Reflekdoll and how she was not held accountable for it. Someone said that the writing for her is all over the place because she behaves as she does in Reflekdoll and then is a good friend sometimes.

My response to that is "Have you met PEOPLE?" People who have positive traits and negative traits and demonstrate them on a regular basis? Human beings with flaws?

The defenders feed into this purity of morality obsession too. When 'Targeted Character' is besmirched, the defender of that character will jump to say "No actually that character is not to blame. Blame this other character I like less instead!" or "Targeted Character did nothing wrong!"

Well, sometimes 'Targeted Character' was wrong. Alya is a bit pushy in Reflekdoll. She could have done some things differently.

So what?

Alya has also demonstrated bravery, determination, loyalty, intelligence and restraint. Flaws are often a dual side of a strength. Alya can be pushy because Alya is brave and initiating. But I guess all her strengths go out of the window when she displays a flaw. Especially if it's a flaw where no accountability was shown in episode.

But writers don't just write characters demonstrating flaws with the intent to show accountability later. Sometimes they write characters demonstrating their flaws to further the plot and/or show off the character's personality. There is nothing wrong with this, especially not for side characters. Not every minor problematic thing a character does needs to be addressed. Even Marinette and Adrien have shown their flaws in several episodes to further the plot or embellish them with no in episode accountability.

I just don't get what these people want. A super sanitized cardboard-scape where no one does anything problematic ever unless there is a pointed lesson to be learned? That sounds extremely boring and I'd hate to read these peoples' writing. They seem to want to suck the humanity out of characters and story. I get it's a kid show, but is it necessarily smart to teach kids that "good" people are never to show their flaws ever? That everytime they step one toe out of line, the waiting hand of justice will strike? Fandom discards much easier than they used to.

Yeah people tend to go WAY overboard. I dunno if this is a recent phenomenon? I didn't run into it in my older fandoms, namely Digimon and Kingdom Hearts (mostly Kingdom hearts), but that might have more to do with those specific fandoms than a trend over time (especially since Kingdom Hearts is a remarkably peaceful fandom, considering its size).

Funny thing about Alya in Reflekdoll, I actually wrote a fic several years back called Divergent Points - Reflekdoll specifically addressing her behavior in that episode in order to use it to develop her character, to explore her more and use it as a learning opportunity.

“Adrien? Marinette? Where are your Miraculous?”

They both looked slightly uncomfortable, patting their bags.

Ok. So they weren’t wearing them right now, but they were close by. This would be fine. It was only going to be for a little bit, less than an hour. Surely Hawkmoth wouldn’t attack during this tiny little window of time.

Right?

…Maybe she should call for back-up. You know, just in case.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alya just wanted to help Marinette with getting some good modeling photos for her website. Getting carried away with Adrienette shipping, accidentally neglecting one of her friends, and donning the FIRST Miraculous Marinette had attempted to give her had NOT been part of her plans.

Here's the thing: there are a lot of cases where I agree that a character (and this comes up for Alya in particular) demonstrated some kind of flaw.

What I do NOT agree with is the response to exhibiting that kind of flaw. I can agree that a character wasn't perfect and messed up in some way without making them a terrible person - like you said, human beings have flaws, and if everyone in the show was always perfect it'd be boring and the characters would feel less like people. Now I'd like some more development concerning some of the flaws, but callouts aren't required for every little thing, and something like "Alya was so caught up in trying to wingman for Marinette that she didn't realize how badly Juleka was taking the situation" is not something she deserves to be raked over the coals for.

A lot of times people jumping on the characters for not being perfect, for having some kind of flaw, for Miraculous, and for Alya ESPECIALLY, tends to go way overboard. If people were just saying that there are some traits she has that can cause difficulties and it'd be good if there was a storyline addressing them and having her grow past them, I'd be on board with that. Heck, I've WRITTEN that, as you can see above.

But taking a microscope to anything even minorly grating that she has done, while ignoring all the good she's done as well, just to bash and demonize her as a horrible person and try to justify writing her as some horrible human being, in order to justify then having her get some extreme comeuppance? On a regular basis for the past several years?

No. Just...no.

#ask #ml fandom salt #leave alya alone challenge

[calwasfound]

h e y, so i've been watching a lot of mcc clips lately and have been really enjoying all the illumina ones. are there any videos/streams of his that you'd recommend?

OOH! yes!! time to take up the mantle!

first of all, i'd like to direct you to @oceantail-oceantail's fruitninja guide (and honestly the rest of celia's blog) because she'll always be the master of compiling illumina & fruitninja moments! her clips tag also has a lot of fun moments from streams.

BUT, if you want my personal recommendations...

so, for starters, getting into illumina's content. namely, he's got a youtube channel (illuminaHD), which mostly features stream highlights (speedrunning), mcc highlights, and other miscellaneous minecraft gamplay. (oh, and a few world records!) he has a vods channel too, but it's run by his mods.

oh yeah, his twitch: illumina1337. could trick the fae multiple times over with the number of names we have to tag him by

here's my personal favorite youtube videos of his - or videos that feature him:

this is my Dream SMP application [Stream Highlights] / Probably my most watched highlights video of his, though they're all hilarious. General speedrunning fails and clutches, crafting shenanigans, funny commentary. All his highlight videos give a good sense as to what his streams are like!

the minecraft bingo/lockout series with SmallAnt - I challenged Minecraft's Best Speedrunner to a test of skill and Minecraft Lockouts Are Surprisingly Brutal.. / GREAT series. had me on the edge of my seat. the first video was uploaded to ant's channel, the second on illumina's, but illumina has the vods for both streams saved on a separate channel. i won't get into the twists, but... it was a ride.

Minecraft: fruitberries VS Illumina / Minecraft manhunts... everybody's heard of them. Well, this one was done with fruitninja over two years ago (wow!) Imagine being hunted across multiple dimensions but your assassin is really, really chill. Oh, and also with the expected cracked gameplay from a manhunt as well.

and as for my favorite streams...

Speedrun Showdown w/ Fruitberries VS Dani & Fireworkss (then 1.16 RSG) / So, speedrun showdown! This was the first time the tournament was hosted, which was almost two years ago. Currently, season two (?) of speedrun showdown is taking place, with the finals happening tomorrow! Charity event, super cool, two duos race to the end to kill the dragon. (Both Fruit and Illumina are participating in the 2022 run, but on opposite teams. Fruitninja aren't allowed to team very often. If you watch this vod, you'll find out why.)

Minecraft Championship 13! w/ Punz, Krinios, & Eret! / Classic. All-time favorite. There would be something wrong if this video didn't show up on my list. Illumina's first MCC win! Team vibes were great, they absolutely dominated (with one of the most nerve-wracking dodgebolts I've ever watched. Live!)

MC Championship 17 w/ fruitberries, Vixella, & Zeuz / Another staple. I think we crashed twitter when the fruitninja MCC team was finally announced. The "Unpopular opinion, but I don't think the Simmers are going to win MCC. They've been paired with Fruitninja, which is going to be difficult no matter how good they're going to be (/c)" copypasta was going around a lot. Another team with great vibes and another very close dodgebolt!

1 on Mouse, 1 on Keyboard w/ Illumina / Warning, I think you're going to notice fruitninja being a consistent trend with my recommendations! (This is all part of the fruitninja conspiracy, in which I try to get everyone to watch their content with my art. So far, my success rate is pretty high!) Fruit & Illumina are roommates and they did a stream where one person controlled the movement via mouse and the other person controlled the movement via keyboard. (Un)surprisingly, they actually did extremely well! Great fun, one of my favorites, bonus IRL content.

Diversity 3 Playthrough! / Illumina plays through a minecraft adventure map for almost ten hours straight. He parkours, he kills mobs, he participates in a space mystery adventure. It's all here. He even speedruns (kind of.)

Okay, onto miscellaneous! As I've mentioned before, celia has a youtube channel with fruitninja & illumina clips. Also, this video from Illumina's MCC 28 parkour warrior run made me laugh. And also this video on Fruitninja interacting in MCC 24. Uh, what else.. Illumina's latest MCC highlights video was really good (though I really also liked the full stream, which is up on his twitch but not his vods channel. Watch it while it's up, I guess!) And also the fruitninja Tubnet Craftmaster Showdown vod had its great moments (also on twitch. Fruit's POV of this event is also really funny, too.)

And a small self-plug - I post a bunch of fruitninja stuff on my sideblog @calwasntfound. Mainly WIPs, though all my finished art is up here! There should be enough to provide a fun scroll. And check out the other artists in the illumina tag, they're all incredible!

#cal answers #illumina #fruitninja #fruitberries #reference #mcsr #illuminahd #illumina1337 #yeah... getting in all the tags #THANK YOU FOR THE ASK !! :D #i really wrote this all in one sitting so i hope i didn't miss anything. #both fruitninja follow me on twitter so i MUST keep my clowning to a minimum there but follow me too.. i guess #okay enough self-promo!!! hope this gives you a good place to start !!! #let me know if you have more questions! years ago i was the only person consistently posting illumina art on tumblr #so seeing all this interest is really a :] <3 !! moment for me

[formulacherry]

Ok Cherry! The differences between a Carlando vs. Maxiel wedding. Go. C/M anon 🍒

i’ve been sitting on this ask for 3 days so obviously i went over the top with my response

maxiel

max and daniel’s wedding would be super chill. definitely still extravagant but in a comfy and casual way and most importantly it would be FUN.

i feel like they’d have it on the farm in perth at sunset and max would have to talk daniel out of using like a sheep or something to be the ring bearer “cmon maxy it’ll be funny!” “daniel i am of course not having a sheep at my wedding.” (they use their nephews and niece instead, much to max’s relief)

one of their friends would officiate. maybe seb or someone that watched their relationship blossom from the start. they’d definitely write their own vows and they’d be a combination of really sweet words and dumb jokes and jabs at each other. daniel would be like “i love your ass and what you let me do to it” and both their mothers would let out a horrified gasp from the front row while max just furiously blushes.

their wedding photos would be really jokey; them grabbing each other’s asses and jumping on each other’s backs and stuff and the photographer would be so over it. but then when they thought they were done they’d be leaning into each other like they always subconsciously do and share a quick kiss and that’s when the photographer gets the money shot. it ends up hanging above their fireplace back in monaco.

they’d do a bunch of traditional cringe wedding things too. like come up with a hashtag that they make everyone use (it ends up trending #1 worldwide) and they’d play games that has everyone in hysterics. they’d make two bouquets specifically so they both have one to throw. (daniel aims for lando. max aims for carlos. no one fights them for it.) daniel would insist on trying to remove a garter from max’s thigh with his teeth which proves extremely difficult to do whilst max is wearing suit pants.

they’d have so many of their friends and family there. everyone who they love would make the trip over. all the drivers they’ve ever shared the grid with would be there, including the ones from before max’s time and after daniel’s. maybe they have someone like lando MC it so he can just tell embarrassing stories about them. everyone is happy. there are notable absences (eg: jos. maybe zak because max is still holding a grudge even if daniel is over it) but everyone is having such a good time that they barely give it a second thought.

their first dance would be so sweet and they’d just be laughing and kissing the whole time. there would be absolutely zero skill involved and would mostly just be them swaying together. max would twirl daniel around and then daniel would try and dip max even though max is significantly bigger. no one can take their eyes off them.

the food would be a serve yourself buffet type of situation. with like mini pizzas and sliders and stuff. just good wholesome food that everyone devours. the cake would have multiple flavours and they’d have something like donuts to go with it. they’d end up chasing each other around trying to smush it into each other’s faces.

they would have an obscene amount of alcohol. reds, whites, champagne, beer, spirits galore. they’d probably be really cringe and have a signature cocktail named ‘the maxiel’ and it would be gin and tonic mixed with honey served in a red bull can or something ridiculous like that. all the guests would be hammered, especially the grooms.

the night would end with everyone barefoot on the dance floor (martijn would DJ), daniel would be shirtless and everyone would be jumping around screaming the lyrics to bad wedding music while max and daniel are kissing in the middle of the crowd without a care in the world.

i don’t even think they’d have a proper send off because they’d also host an after party for the guests who wanted to keep going and they’d be up and partying well into the next day.

when they finally fall into bed together at like 3pm they’d just look at each other and be like ‘fuck. we finally did it.’ and they’d kiss a bit and then pass out wrapped around each other and sleep for 16 hours.

carlando

ok firstly, i think carlos and lando elope. i reckon they’re planning this huge, extravagant wedding and it’s stressing them both out and one day one of them is just like: what if we just.. got married today? so they call a couple of their closest friends and do it on a boat or something idk but they don’t even tell their families and it’s casual and fun and suits them perfectly. they both cry reciting their vows and everyone else who is there would be crying too.

onto the actual wedding. i think it would be much more formal and classic and traditional. with the ceremony in a church maybe, or like some nice gardens. i think their mothers and sisters would be the masterminds behind the whole thing and carlos and lando would just go along with all their ideas. i feel like it’s not at all what THEY would’ve chosen, they’d want it more casual, but their wedding ends up being more of a show and they’re ultimately fine with it because at the end of the day they just want to show their love to the world. they’d probably have a bunch of important people there. CEO’s and friends of their fathers and stuff so they just want to make a good impression, and if that means having it be a little stiff then so be it.

lando would definitely sneak into carlos’ room before hand and carlos would be like “aye, mi amor. you know it is bad luck to see each other before the wedding!” and lando would shrug and be like “we’re already married so figured it doesn’t matter.” laughing. kissing. sex. just time spent together before they have to go and perform for everyone waiting outside.

they’d use pre written vows, but it wouldn’t matter because they already said everything they needed to say to each other on the boat. carlos would start crying during his anyway which would make lando cry and everyone would be cooing from the audience. their first* kiss as a married couple would be through huge smiles and tears, holding each other as close as humanly possible.

their wedding photos would be absolutely STUNNING. maybe they’re using some of them for an article in a spanish magazine or something (‘our exclusive look inside the CarLando wedding!’) idk but they’re gorgeous. posed perfectly and they both look beautiful. they’d definitely struggle to choose which ones to use and would end up having a different one in every room of the house. (their favourite photos are still the candid ones their friends take throughout the evening though)

the reception would be less stuffy than the ceremony but still incredibly formal. caco would MC which would make things a bit more casual (daniel would be put out and they’d have to explain that without even seeing what he would’ve said, they know it would not be appropriate for this kind of wedding.)

the food would be michelin star but also kinda boring. three courses. a choice between chicken and beef (carlos suggested chicken and fish but lando was horrified. “carlos i’m not having FISH at my wedding!) and it would be served to them and stuff. the cake would be super rich and decadent and they’d cut it together and lando would smush it into carlos’ face even though they agreed they weren’t going to do that. (he then wipes the icing off carlos’ lip and pops it in his own mouth, sucking on his finger. carlos can barely contain himself and lando has to tell him that “no, we can’t leave yet” and carlos would straight up whine.)

they’d have so many friends and family there. there would be mclaren team member reunions and stories swapped about them. so many claiming they knew they’d end up together and that it was obvious from the start, how lando was ‘so obvious’ in the way he looked at carlos. which would have lando blushing and carlos pulling him close for a kiss.

they’d spend the whole evening trying to have a moment alone together but they’d keep being separated by different people needing different things and eventually carlos would be so fed up that he’d grab lando and drag him outside and behind the venue. they’d end up having their first dance as just the two of them. carlos humming some song under his breath while they hold each other close and sway together. it’s perfect. completely perfect.. until caco interrupts them and tells them they have to do the real one in front of everyone now. some choreographed thing that lando feels ridiculous doing but carlos is surprisingly good at.

the send off would be extremely welcomed. everyone waving them off into the night with well wishes and sparklers. by the time they’d turned out of the venue they’d both let out such a huge sigh of relief. shrugging off their jackets and undoing their bowties. they’d probably stop at mcdonald’s drive thru or something on the way home in their fancy ass car. lando would be leaning out the window to place the order. “carlos baby, do you want fries? yeah my husband wants fries!”

when they finally make it home and into bed they’d be so exhausted but sated and happy. they’d crawl into bed and have slow, lazy sex with carlos whispering “mi amor. mi esposo. te amo.” the entire time.

#c/m anon #my beloved #carlando #maxiel #ask #weddings

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 11/10/2023

Loopdeloop Griddy

Season 7 Featured on: siivagunner's highest quality rips: volume

Ripped by ChickenSuitGuy

I'm not ashamed to admit it - I think Griddy memes are immensely funny.

I'm really unsure where this trend of mildly annoying music tied to bizarre dance moves truly got its start...like, of course there's always been dance moves iconic to certain songs, and of course there's always been music we've retroactively labeled as annoying or cringe. But in recent times, perhaps as a combination of Gangnam Style's everlasting cultural impact and the heighted pace of media spreading due to TikTok and other social media, it feels as if the entire process just keeps happening again and again. Due to its auditory nature, though, its clearly not something SiIva ever shied away from, as we've seen with both Gangnam Style itself and other so-bad-its-good songs like Now Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).

A lot of these songs, when featured on SiIva, receive special attention as part of the joke - its funny to hear mildly trashy music being arranged with far too much effort, such as with It's Everyday Bro's use in rips like THE NEW TEAM 10 FORT​!​!​! [Francis Flow: Original Mix]. Sometimes, though, its equally as funny to just hear a mashup with simple pitchshifting applied - with mimimal attempt of suppress the glory of the original jam. Such has been the case with most rips on SiIvaGunner using Right Foot Creep, and such is the case with Loopdeloop Griddy.

Really, its a rip that wholly speaks for itself as to why its good. Its funny!! It takes a song that's already very silly, and places a silly song attached to a silly dance on top of it entirely for laughs, but still goes through enough effort to still make it sound at least somewhat as if its part of the same tune. Be it the added beat to the original song's flow, or the Raft Ride-esque high pitched notes that the singer suddenly hits due to the pitchshifting...I don't believe Loopdeloop Griddy is going to fool anyone into thinking this was how the music always sounded in Super Mario Galaxy, yet it may very well be enough to make people bust a gut laughing from the absurdity of the mashup and how shockingly okay it sounds. Speaking personally, its still able to make me laugh even when I know what to expect.

#todays siivagunner #season 7 #siivagunner #siiva #ChickenSuitGuy #super mario #super mario galaxy #mario #mario galaxy #rosalina #princess rosalina #mario music #mashups #mashup #griddy #right foot creep #Youtube #Bandcamp