#✧ ’ everyone’s a critic ( anonymous )

[pocketgalaxies]

respectfully i have no idea what you're talking about with imogen not feeling like imogen but i also am sick of ludinus showing up every ten seconds so i understand the spirit of the letter

DKFJSKFJSKDF i'll take it!!

yeah idk what i'm talking about either? it's not rly that imogen doesn't feel like imogen anymore bc laura bailey characterization is stabler than the foundation of my own home, i think i just need this campaign to be about the pcs again bc it hasn't felt like that for a long time. even when Character Stuff happens it mostly just feels like a distractor from whatever mission they have to go on next. i'm tired of the pacing i need them to breathe i need to see how they're FEELING! i need these people to be people and not mission-completing machines! do you know what i'm saying!

[thedukeside]

It's hilarious that he made a video talking about Chappel Roan and people being up way too much in his business when nobody is doing anything lol. Like nobody is harassing you, your fan base of 12-15 year Olds want to know why you took a 4 year break from sanders sides without saying anything. I understand why he'd be frustrated with constantly having to cater to a younger audience but I don't understand why he doesn't even try to actually branch out. He's still censoring swearing, still making videos about childish topics, still doing the same shit he's been doing since 2016. Like if you want something different, do something different. Also sorry if I sound sensitive for saying this but why tf are you uploading pictures of you in your underwear on your insta story???? It's not a huge secret that his fan base is (mostly) underage, so why is he just...doing that? Idk even if he's not doing it for gross reasons, he's still doing it, and maybe should fucking know better???? He's closer to being 40 than he is 30 and he's doing stupid naive shit. I used to be a huge fan and supporter of his when I was younger (10-14) but now I'm 18 and seeing through a bunch of his weird shit and it's sucks. He's getting rid of/losing everything that made his channel fun, unique and interesting and it sucks seeing a huge part of my childhood and motivation for me to make art, going to dogshit. Also sorry for like ranting out of nowhere, literally nobody else in this Fandom is like speaking about this.

I'm sorry it took me so long to get to this, but you're correct. Thomas creates content aimed at younger teens. That is not something that has ever changed. Which is why his channel has stagnated. The audience that funded him during his heyday are now adults. Who he also wants to cater to, but he's so afraid of losing what little revenue he has left, he refuses to take the leap.

That is why the finale has taken so long. Thomas has no idea who he wants to make content for. Or even if he really wants to make it at all. This creates a ripple effect. Overflowing into endless controversy, inappropriate conduct, and resentment from all sides. The best thing for Sander Sides to do now is go quietly, but I doubt Thomas has the gumption to actually put down the sick horse.

[northern-passage]

one thing i find really difficult about navigating the IF space is the direct line of contact between readers and authors. we share the same space, and i think that plays a big part in this weird blurred line we have in this community and overall lack of boundaries.

for a lot of people this is a fun hobby and while i personally try to keep it... semi-professional most of the time, it's easy to get wrapped up in having fun on tumblr (or the forums, or reddit, wherever it is that you mainly post/interact) and have a lot of personal interactions with both readers and authors alike - which is fun! i like it more often than not, but i also think that's why a lot of comments in this space can end up being really entitled, over-familiar, and inappropriate.

it's no secret that most authors get really weird messages on here, and while this is also a problem on social media at large and not just specific to IF tumblr, it is still definitely a big problem in this community.

and to be clear i'm not saying that you can't be friendly with authors or readers (i've become friends with a handful of readers myself) and i definitely don't mean to imply that there needs to be a huge divide between us; that's silly - again, most authors are readers, most readers are authors, we’re just people on the internet sharing the same space. but all of us deserve to have our boundaries respected. this is my story, and we are strangers. as a general rule of thumb: if you wouldn't say it out loud to someone you just met, you probably shouldn't be saying it to a stranger online. especially anonymously.

[battle-subway-ghost]

"my meat guy" is what i call ** **** ****** ********** **** ***** ****** ***** ***

[daenystheedreamer]

jahaerys when I get my hands on you omg. alysanne why were you with that man you seemed cool. imagine being responsible for all your daughter's deaths which are all SEPARATE INCIDENTS and then being like I'm just like The Father

and the way alysanne tries to divorce him three times and he crawls back to her and its this like magical romantic thing about how hes the conciliator. maybe go conciliate with the daughter you exiled?ok cunt?

[newpotatomash]

Just saw this interaction on a blog and I feel like I need to rip off my skin.

[utilitycaster]

My unpopular opinion is that Im0dna is a great example of "just because someone knows you the longest, doesn't mean they know you the best". They don't really underwater each other like other people in the party already do

Hi anon,

So the ask meme is done but I don't actually know if this was intended as part of that, as I also have the sort of personality that solicits unpopular opinions into my inbox anyway. (Also I am guessing underwater is a very funny autocorrect mishap for understand; I have been there).

Anyway, yeah. I think my favorite meta I've seen is that what Imogen and Laudna actually ask of each other is just to be there - because it is true that they have both lived incredibly lonely lives. For what it's worth I think loneliness/missing someone is perhaps the most common thread among Bells Hells, with a secondary theme being victims of circumstance/irrevocably altered by events beyond their control, and it frustrates me that a lot of framing of the ship ignores that Imogen and Laudna are not uniquely suited to understand this about each other. But it is true they have experienced loneliness that, in my opinion, is at least partially self-inflicted (also not unique) and that their response has been to be there for each other.

But it also means there's little room for change, because change threatens that status quo, and there's therefore no space to delve deeper. It's a little bit of the classic problem of if you start a romantic relationship with a friend and then break up, you might lose both the romantic relationship and the friendship. But it's more than that - Chetney and Imogen have zero romantic interest in each other and aren't even terribly close within the party, but when Chetney asks Imogen if she's okay Imogen is actually able to answer with some amount of honesty without pretending everything will work out, as she's not worried about making sure he feels comfortable. Deanna, who's known Imogen for less than a week, is able to address Imogen's constant use of psychic powers in a way that's not unkind but is in fact the honest sort of thing a best friend should be able to tell you. Or for another example, FCG's tendency to strongly urge people, including Imogen, to confront their pasts isn't always the most skilled, but it usually comes from a place of good intentions, whereas Imogen and Laudna's relationship feels...unconsciously transactional? I think we saw in the gnarlrock fight that they're just absolutely terrified of being in a fight and don't really know how to resolve conflict in a way that actually moves forward rather than smoothing things over. Like, it's not an unfair relationship - they're both getting the same companionship out of it - but there's not really space for one person to be angry at the other or to feel wronged. There's no room to breathe.

Anyway - I think the party split is really illuminating this! Imogen is benefiting immensely from this arc, as it both spotlights her relationships with other party members and gives her some time to process after being the central focus for so long. While I have to admit that Team Wildemount is the one I'm far more interested in for a number of reasons (fantastic guests, all the main PCs have cool plot hooks to explore, I love Uthodurn and Molaesmyr) I do hope that we get to see Laudna similarly have a chance to branch out (pun kind of intended).

[hs-critical-confessions]

i hate the fandom. i hate interacting with it because the people are intimidating. most of them are mentally ill teenagers. they make those stories their entire life and personality and become completely attached to them. and will never accept any kind of critism about alice/the characters/the ships/problematic stuff regarding it. they always have the same opinions, and don't have any kind of debate/discourse. they'll hate on characters *cough cough ben cough* for the same things they praise the main characters for,and never think about what's on the other side. i genuinely think if they ever go through anti tags they will explode.

this rant is probably not suitable for the blog's content bc it's not heartstopper-related, but i don't want to post this on my own blog

.

[msnihilist]

oh, you're not the only one. I saw your post and went "oh that episode! the one that specified that they broke up" and it's still so weird that he's somehow in the wrong for saying they broke up. Like, what was he supposed to say in response? what was he supposed to do?

which is an opinion I've held in the decade-plus it's been since I saw the episode.

that omniverse had a scene repeating that they broke up always felt weird bc I went "wait, didn't we already go over them breaking up in a previous series?"

To be fair, Ben and Julie did get back together in Ultimate Alien. They were on-off for a little bit there.

[wistfulwatcher]

Did you see the post saying how the wilderness chose Nat and Misty saved her, so the wilderness chose Misty to be the one to kill Nat 25 years later? I am unwell over it tbh. I don't exactly mind Nat dying, per se, not when Juliette very clearly wanted to leave (and maybe they weren't able to give her that till after season one had finished and it was too late to find a good way to do it, that's the only thing I'm clinging to to make it all make sense), I just wish it could've been in a way that wasn't labeled an OD. Though I do like that post I mentioned, it helped me a bit to rationalize it a little more.

i haven't seen that, no. to be honest i'm feeling a little burnt out on the 'i don't mind her dying' takes. i've laid out my reasons why i don't think it was a good narrative choice (even excluding the details like the overdose), and i think i've just seen too many people repeat the same arguments that i explicitly disagree with in my post. (most of whom also treat anyone who doesn't see the """poetry""" of her death very condescendingly, and write us off as lacking critical thought/media literacy.)

i also don't agree that juliette so clearly wanted out, and i'm getting really frustrated on that being a focal point of arguments because at the end of the day it doesn't matter: either nat was always planned to die for the story (which means her struggle with sobriety and depression was always going to end in death, which i find distasteful and harmful), or her death was written because of juliette (in which case death was not their only choice - there are a million ways to write a character off instead of killing them after that kind of struggle).

no offense to you personally, anon, and i appreciate you telling me about the post. i may look for it in a few days, because i can see the value in that concept (had they not crafted nat's entire arc the way they did, which is my fundamental issue)

[pocketgalaxies]

FOR REALLL RE: WHEN MATT ASKED IF ANYONE WANTED TO DO ANYTHING. And then, when they went to Keyleth and Orym said "we want to be useful in the downtime"... my jaw fucking dropped. You all JUST got back from aeor, and right before that you got back from the moon - where your friend fucking DIED. No one wants to process any of that??

From how Matt had framed it, the feywild meeting between Ludinus and the Unseelie was an optional mission they could have delegated to NPCs, yet they jumped right into it with no prep or plan.

[And ohhh, the instant amnesia about why they were there. It was like they completely forgot the intent of the mission, and when Dorian raised that point ("is this what we are here for? To fight?") They all just shrugged and acted like there was no other choice!] I love them all dearly, so my frustration is borne of concern (they just walked into a HUGE fucking fight they are ill prepared for), and I am TERRIFIED Fearne will die now because of it. But also, I wonder - do they even want to be in this campaign anymore?

The way they keep rushing forward...maybe it's bc they've been conditioned by the rest of this campaign's pacing. Part of me feels it's Orym. This whole campaign it's felt like he's been using his pushing attack on the team. [Telling them early on (ep 30s) they need to promise him to be better together, forever reminding them of the ticking clock which means they need to get to Yios, to the malleus key, to reunite post-solstice. Then, an hr into the reunion: they need to keep going to address things "fast and fully". They need to get to Keyleth, to the moon, to stay on the moon even if it's risky bc "it isn't a vacation." Oop Letters died, but let's get back to keyleth, now we need to go to aeor, back to keyleth, and after all of that...well they need to "be useful in the downtime"! That might be too uncharitable? I don't know.

Above the table, I think they are all overworked from making two animated series, running a company, and their professional work outside of CR. It seems like too much. Like they need a break, and maybe subconsciously are running headlong to the finish so they can finally have one. I don't begrudge them that, but it does make me sad for these specific characters that they've been so constrained by the plot.]

yeah for sure, the campaign is sharing space with a million other responsibilities when it used to be The Flagship the single most significant project they were working on. i think it's very likely that both animated series are perceived as a higher priority than the campaign now given the budget, wider audience, etc. which just kinda sucks when the campaign also requires the highest level of emotional and time investment out of all of those projects

orym has definitely played a role in the Always Business No Pleasure vibe of the campaign but i guess i hesitate to put that much blame on him, i think the overall story has been go go go and orym is largely a reflection of that. but also i do agree that it certainly isn't helping and many ppl have made more eloquent posts than i ever could about the space his grief has been allowed in comparison to other aspects of other characters and how that has affected the party and the campaign overall

i really do wish they could've taken this week to recuperate, do something for themselves. literally anything. go shopping. any loose ends they would want to tie up before going into a battle to the death. but they either don't have connections to outside npcs or those connections simply aren't prominent enough. relvin, milo, birdie and ollie, family in zephrah, dariax, etc.? anyone?? imogen v. groon battle was sitting right there? and i just don't understand the necessity of adding in this ludinus unseelie situation it seems like something extraneous that the story could've gone entirely without and now it's just another Thing they have to do?

ANYWAY just struggling a lot about all these things! having a great time!!

[rawliverandgoronspice]

Or the reason you’re overthinking it is because you’re just trying to find a reason to be mad at the game when you could use that energy at something else to make you happy instead of nitpicking at it.

I suggest you block my account and go have fun with the game unfettered by my takes, you have my Blanket Permission! I'm just a rando with a tumblr blog. Worry about your own happiness first.

[alltimefail-sims]

People taking the time out of their day to send anonymous hate really is wild to me.

Welcome to Simblr kindergarten! Before you take your wimpy anon ass into someone's inbox to send some foolish (or downright deplorable) shit, ask yourself the following:

If it isn't one of these things, maybe just unfollow and/or log off. It is really not difficult!

[northern-passage]

;-; I was on my way to replay faith for like the 34895487 time and it's gone ;;;;;;-;;;;;;

it was one of the best pieces of the jam

are u ok?

thank you this is very sweet :-)

i did take faith down... the short of it is just that faith got a really weird reception and it made me feel really weird and just overall, while i don't regret the experience, i think i had different expectations going into a jam and because of that i just didn't feel good about it in the end. i think i have just learned that game jams are not for me hahaha

this isn't me trying to discourage people from participating or anything (it was still fun making something like that) but it's just my personal experience. if you want to join any jams you should try it for yourself and see, i know a lot of people had fun with this jam so i'm not generalizing at all & you may have a different experience than me. and it was still really cool to see all the different stories that came out of it :-)

[septembersghost]

When people try to argue Elvis’s entire career was built on appropriation, I don’t think it’s fair. I know most of his movies aren’t good but I oddly feel like they best represent the fact he had his own unique flair and charisma?

none of his career is built on appropriation. it's not just unfair to say that, it's not factual. i'm sick of seeing this when it's one of the easiest things to debunk and to properly understand. he grew up influenced by that music and sharing in that culture due to his background, it wasn't appropriated, it's who he was. (BB King: "Elvis didn’t steal any music from anyone. He just had his own interpretation of the music he’d grown up on, same is true for everyone. I think Elvis had integrity." Jackie Wilson: "A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man’s music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis." Little Richard: "I love him. That's my buddy, my baby. Elvis is one of the greatest performers who ever lived in this world." you've already seen the quotes list that breaks all of this down, i'm sure).

does everyone conveniently forget that the norm then was for singers to record songs written by professional songwriters? the artistry came from the performance of the music. bing, frank, ella, billie holiday, dean martin, peggy lee, nat king cole, tony bennett, perry como, doris day, the andrews sisters, i could go on and on, all sang songs written by other people, that's how it worked. the only difference is they sang standards and elvis came in at the advent of rock and roll. additionally, many of those songbook writers were white (and jewish, there are significant cultural reasons for this too). black musicians and black songwriters faced awful unfairness and difficulties, segregation and continual prejudice, and weren't played like they deserved to be, sun records was associated with making r&b/soul music, but elvis never walked in and stole anything. did he have advantages making the music he did because he was a white, handsome man? yes, and he and everyone were aware of that, but he also broke barriers through that while facing harsh judgment and criticism for it. he gave credit to the black artists he considered the definitive musicians repeatedly throughout his life.

all of his unique flair and charisma is in his music because it's in his *voice*. music columnist Michael R. Burch gave one of the best descriptions of this, "I cannot think of another male singer who can go from nearly infinite sweetness, to ferocity, to spirituality, to tremendous power the way Elvis does. With the right song in hand he was untouchable."

the movies...are what they are, and sometimes they're really fun despite that, and sometimes his frustration/listlessness is more apparent and it's clear he's not reaching the potential he wanted nor displaying the full range of his talent, but he still gives himself to the music. even when some of the songs weren't great either (i read an article yesterday that called the soundtracks "loathsome," which is also terrible and unfair and i don't agree with that as a whole), he never falters there, because it's as if he couldn't not give himself and the whole of his voice to making that music as perfect as possible for the audience he knew would listen to it. he learned new ways to express the subtleties and nuances of his voice and cadence and emotional performance in a lot of those soundtracks too, which served him when he did his later recordings and kept expanding that color and richness of tone.

Robert Matthew-Walker: “Presley’s vocal range was exceptional – amazingly so for an untrained singer. It ranged from Low F in the bass register to top B Flat and B in the tenor range. This is over two octaves: most people can only managed just over one octave. Quite apart from the range of Presley’s voice (and this range remained with him throughout his life, a fact proved by his recordings) the equally surprising thing was that its quality and distinctive timbre remained constant throughout this range. This is also exceptional and quite the most conclusive proof – if any were needed – that Elvis Presley possessed a natural gift for singing which was completely and utterly rare. For if it were not – where are all the other Elvis Presleys?"

Alan Wiess: "The transformation was incredible. We knew instantly that we were in the presence of a phenomenon, electricity bounced off the walls of the sound stage. One felt it as an awesome thing - like an earthquake in progress, only without the implicit threat. Watching this insecure country boy, who apologized when he asked for a rehearsal as though he had done something wrong, turn into absolute dynamite when he stepped in the bright lights…he believed in it, and he made you believe it, no matter how ‘sophisticated’ your musical tastes were. I had not been a fan until that point, but to deny his talent would have been as foolish as it was impossible. He was a force, and to fail to recognize it would be the same as sticking a finger into a live socket and denying the existence of electricity."

i'm sorry anon, any sadness/frustration i have here is not directed at you, i appreciate what you're saying about the movies!, they can be silly and dated, they can be questionable or enjoyable, regardless he and his signature dazzling charisma is often apparent and charming there, but i just cannot abide us now taking his tremendous and beautiful gifts in his music away from him, or pretending like that wasn't where his passion and true artistry shined brightest, and still resonates most. the music is everlasting.

[everythingroyalty]

I don’t think she should be treated as a child either now that she’s 18. She’s a young woman. Just reaching adulthood. She doesn’t need to be treated as someone settled into adult life either.

Where should she have been seated? Outside of working royals, or for the funeral the late Queen’s children first, they’re seated according to place in the line of succession. And in that case Louise and James are still right behind their father.

They weren't seated either according to precedence, succession or working status today though 🤷‍♀️ Today's seating was completely shambolic and nonsensical.

At a stretch, I could buy the "seated with their parents" thing but... they weren't? With today's seating, to be seated with their parents, they should've been seated behind them. Or Anne and Tim should've been seated front row and the collective Wessex family second row.

But whatever, the BRF seating is always nonsensical so I digress, it was a stupid example. The balcony appearance is much better. The balcony was open to working royals........ and Louise and James? Make it make sense!? These are two teenagers – one is a whole ass adult 🤣 They couldn't have watched alongside their cousins inside?

That's not treating them "as someone settled into adult life", that's abiding by the rules the BRF have set up themselves. But nope, we stay treating this adult woman like a child 🥴👍