cosmosinfinity23

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🚩Cult and cultlike/toxic behavior: red flags in fandom 🚩

A non-exhaustive list inspired by my 10+ years of experience in fandom, both personal and second-hand. By sharing this, I hope to make other people more aware and able to protect themselves in the future. No fandom space or friend group is worth your mental health.

They claim they have secret information and use that to lure you in

They might either lovebomb you at first or make you (feel like you have to) prove your worth

The leader(s) of the group might not feel super approachable, at least not without fear of saying the wrong thing

They seem to create or point out a divide in fandom you’d never noticed before. Likely this divide isn’t actually there in wider fandom, or the need for it is wholly unnecessary.

They create an us vs them (outsiders) situation. Their group has the most knowledge and expertise, if others critique them it’s simply cause they must’ve heard false rumors. They are always the ones who are “misunderstood”.

Questioning statements from leaders/people with high regard in the group, is not without risk. You can get dogpiled, your intelligence put into question and gaslit about your own words and feelings.

You see discussions happen and get more heated, and at the end of that discussion the person on the receiving end of the things mentioned above ^ starts apologizing profusely and/or believes they are indeed stupid. However, if this person does keep defending their stance, they might get bullied or kicked out of the server/group chat

Too much emphasis on Being Right/having the correct take or theory – it may seem it has a higher priority than empathy and tactful communication

You need to have an opinion (their opinion), because silence equals condoning or agreeing with the “other side”

Everything is a moral issue. When everything is made out to be a high-stakes issue or reflective of everyone as a person, it's easier for the leader(s) to manipulate you.

You find yourself excusing people’s behavior because you agree with their point. The way they bring their argument forward and the tone they use, become subordinate to finding out the truthTM

There is such a thing as The TruthTM in every theory, discussion or analysis

If you don't Get It, it's cause you haven't "worked on yourself enough". Or it's cause you're not trying hard enough, or you haven't done enough reading, or you have blind spots only they can see.

There is a lot of conspiratorial thinking – maybe actors are trying to send us secret messages, maybe there is a Whole Lot You Don’t Know But We Do, Trust Us, maybe this or that person in fandom has tried to attack us and are planning a bigger attack,…

You barely/don’t have fandom friends outside of this group and if you do, you tend to intentionally (whether subconsciously or not) hide your experience from them. They wouldn’t understand the way they talk, they wouldn’t understand the way it works etc

They want to know a lot of your personal information. - might only happen once you get into higher ranks

You might get (more and more) specific “tasks”, it starts becoming a part-time job instead of a hobby/fun space to hang out with friends

Of course, these red flags are not always immediately visible let alone advertised when you join a group chat/discord server/twitter or tumblr bubble. They can also be nonexistent at first and show up later. Here are some general ways to stay vigilant:

Periodically check in with your values, if they might be changing & how you feel about that.

Keep an eye on the way people (and yourself) are being treated. Is it kind? Is it fair? Do you feel on edge all the time when you’re having conversations? Is your body more tense when you’re in this online space or when certain people are around? Be honest with yourself here.

Ask yourself: Is this space becoming my only coping mechanism? Am I spending too much time here? There’s no shame in spending a lot of time on things you enjoy, but do check in with yourself sometimes whether you are actually still having fun and if you are taking things too seriously or parasocialising a lot.

There's a lot of fun to be had in fandom and a lot of good that comes out of it - don't forget that. Keep seeking that. It's why we're here!

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How to Ditch Amazon

Support your local libraries and the small businesses that are actually making the products you want.  Fuck Jeff Bezos and the systemic, universal worker abuse, gaslighting, and brutality they live off of.

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Doodled fem!Edwin/Edith. I didn't like the other ones, but this one is cute I think.

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This didn’t come out the way I wanted bc I’m still getting the hang of editing but. Happy late destiel day

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i always think abt my cousin in greece who's like obsessed with american culture, bc ill say that im going to a barbecue and she'll be like "wow.... a real life american barbecue... will there be red cups?" you bet your ass there'll be red cups. take my hand. have a hot dog. all your dreams can come true here at the real life american barbecue

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Charles Rowland in Dead Boy Detectives (2024) Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins (1964)

inspired by a post from @themirokai

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Everybody's complaining about Memories by maroon 5 playing after V dies, but like none of you see the vision. I think it was perfect. Its SUPPOSED to be stupid, thats the point. And Venom would LOVE IT

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next season, first episode starting as a montage of Crystal, Charles and Edwin being in separate locations doing different things that all lead up to, what the audience assumes is A Case (books frowning)

Except then it takes a turn, and it looks like only Edwin is the only one researching, and Crystal and Charles looking like they're getting ready for a date. (makeup hair clothes fussing)

EXCEPT THEN we realize

• Crystal is getting ready to go back to school for the first time since before David.

• Edwin is just actually reading for pleasure.

And Charles

• Charles is getting ready to tell Edwin he loves him back, the same way Edwin loves him.

of course all 3 of them get derailed by an actual case, and now B plot is school, and confession.

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charles + hands

for @iammissdistress and @purgatory606

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BEFORE & AFTER COLOURING CHALLENGE

A small eternity ago, @mellxncollie and @stark-lord tagged me to do this before and after colouring challenge. It's taken me forever, but I finally did something! Olly's post can be found here, and Scout's is here- go take a look, they do absolutely amazing things!!!

I've been changing up my process again recently, so I decided to do a timestamp roulette for it, so that I could practice on different scenes. Here's the gifs without the before and after.

No pressure tags: @crystalpalacesasaki, @fear0phobia, @c-rowland and anyone else that wants to do it!

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loving a character so much will unlock such vulnerable and cringe parts of you that you try to suppress so bad but you can't like it's so humbling

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OMG THE CRAZIEST THING HAPPENED TO ME JUST NOW.

So, in honor of November 5 (important supernatural date) I wore a red plaid shirt, a leather jacket and some baggy jeans (a la Dean). So I went to the grocery store, and I'm the salt section there was someone wearing a suit and A BEIGE TRENCH COAT. We looked at each other for a solid 10 seconds and then I heard him say "Hello, Dean." I WAS ECSTATIC. I just responded "Hey, Cas" and we both just started laughing. Then, he got serious OUT OF NOWHERE and started saying "I cared about the whole world because of you... You changed me Dean..." Naturally I responded: "Why does this sound like a goodbye...?" He said: "Because it is. I love you." And instead of saying "Don't do this Cas", I said: "I love you too, Cas" the way it should've gone in 15x18. He let out a sad smile and left.

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some of u should have an OnlyClowns account