#'cuz he knows it's all worthwhile

[syppys-den]

Some of my favorite characters that I consider to be "Like Superman" in that they feel like and/or are they're extremely different from those around them but are still extremely kind and/or heroic

[avelera]

Man, I just put back on OFMD 1.05 (the fancy party episode), and I think one really worthwhile itemization of Stede and Ed interactions would be around how many times Stede appears horrified by Ed's actions, but actually, he might really be horrified for Ed.

And I only bring this up because one common, I think, misinterpretation of Stede was that he's horrified or put off by violence. Understandable, given the face he pulls when, for example, Ed tells Fang to skin the French captain with a snail fork.

But now that we've Season 2, albeit eps. 1-3, including that gorgeous moment where Stede immediately clocked that Ed's trying to burn down the world or die trying, thus signaling that he knows Ed better than anyone, especially Izzy, ever expected... I think we can firmly put the, "Stede doesn't really get Ed," interpretation firmly to rest. It's totally fair that it existed! His facial expressions of horror were often ambiguous and could be read either way.

But I think we can very firmly say: All those times Stede seems horrified at Ed? He's horrified for Ed.

Even in the moment where he sort of gulps when Ed wants the French captain skinned was sort of re-written in my mind as I watched it, in light of Stede getting Ed so well in S2. Suddenly it's not Stede taken aback by extreme violence, no.

Stede is realizing just how deeply hurtful the French captain's words were to Ed. He's not taken aback by the violence of Ed's orders, he's horrified to realize that the French captain's words hurt Ed so badly that this is a proportional response.

Stede doesn't give a fuck about the French captain, by the way. He doesn't lift a finger to prevent it, not because he's afraid, I'd argue, but because he legitimately does not care. The dude is more than a little bit of a sociopath himself, alright, he's adjusting to pirate life but he has also fully embraced pirate life.

And by the way, you don't have to take my word for it that Stede's reaction of horror is for Ed not at Ed, y'know why?

'Cuz of what Stede says in the very next scene, "Edward, are you alright? I could tell that captain got a bit under your skin."

(Haha, get it? Because you skinned that man alive. But I digress.)

No but seriously, Stede does not care about skinning that man alive, whether or not we believe Fang really did it. His priority #1 here, as it will be in Season 2, writ large, is to first make sure Ed is ok and then to help arm him against pain like that in the future.

And all I'm saying is, I bet if we went through each and every other instance of Stede "reacting badly" to Ed's "violence" in light of S2 and Stede getting Ed and only really caring about Ed unless reminded to do otherwise, that all of those reactions are actually Stede reacting with horror to learning what kind of pain Ed has been laboring under, or what kind of pain he's in that he would react with violence to verbal attacks like that.

Because that is something Stede can understand very well.

[shiro-s2e2-erukinzu]

Anime only watchers and people who aren't caught up with the Manga, BEWARE... Cuz I'm about to discuss Spy X Family Mission 106... You have been warned...! 👌

[SPOILERS AHEAD FROM THIS POINT ON]

*Inhales...*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! THAT CHAPTER WAS SOOOOOO GODDAMN INTENSE!!!!!!! 😱😱😱 LIKE SERIOUSLY, OH MY LORD!!!!!!! 😵😵😵

This chapter has me so much on FREAKING edge right now...!! 😵 So let's talk about it, shall we...?

So when I saw that this chapter is taking place at the Desmond estate, I was already starting to feel uneasy, but after this part with Jeeves:

MY UNEASINESS STARTED TO RAISE...!! 😥

We then immediately see Damian knocking at Demetrius' bedroom door...:

Damian was just trying to ask Demetrius for some help with his homework, but of course, Demetrius immediately turns him down... 😩 (Seriously though, I really want to know what exactly happened to Demetrius to make him act the way he does towards Damian...! 😓)

After that, Damian is seen playing with his dog, Max, who knocks Damian into some water, then we see Jeeves and another servant of the Desmond family named Mary Jane rush to his aid...!! Then this happens...:

...Which means...:

MOTHER FUCKING DONOVAN DESMOND JUST MADE ANOTHER APPEARANCE IN THIS GODDAMN MANGA, Y'ALL!!!! 😵😵😵😵😵

But also...:

THE DESMONDS ARE ALL FINALLY IN THE SAME FREAKING ROOM TOGETHER!! 😱

And let me tell you something, the next few pages or so were some the most INTENSE pages in a manga that I've ever read...!!! 😰 There was little to no talking, just mostly silence...:

We had Melinda lookin' like she was wearing a "I really wish I weren't here right now" button like Squidward from Spongebob; then we had Demetrius over here LITERALLY JUST EATING like everything is fine; We also had Damian just trying have enough courage to talk to his dad; while Donovan continues to be both creepy and mysterious...!!

THIS FAMILY NEEDS SOME GODDAMN HELP!!! 😫😫😫

Soon, everyone started leaving one by one; first Demetrius, then Melinda, and finally Donovan, who said that the dinner they just had was a worthwhile one, which led to Damian asking Jeeves about it, and...:

WHAT IS THIS FUCKER PLANNING!? WHAT IS GOING ON INSIDE HIS HEAD!?!? 😵😵😵

And that was Mission 106; And HOO BOY, that chapter was STRESSFUL...!! 😮‍💨 I have not been this stressed reading a chapter of Spy X Family in awhile, but this one might the most uncomfortable and unnerving chapter in the series, in my opinion... 😥 AND NOTHING REALLY CRAZY HAPPENED, IT WAS JUST A QUITE "FAMILY" DINNER!😫 But that's probably why it was so unsettling to me, the Desmonds don't feel like a family, they feel like strangers forced to live under the same roof, but that's exactly why they are the perfect foil for the Forgers...

Man, I can't get over how uneasy this entire chapter made me feel... 😓 I literally felt like I had to cut tension with a chainsaw with how tense everything felt...!! 😫

Anyway, I don't know what's coming next, whether we're sticking with the Desmonds in the next chapter or if we're gonna follow someone else, I'M READY FOR ANYTHING ENDO THROWS AT ME!!! 🗣🗣🗣 So until the next Mission; take care, be safe out there and be kind to one another...!! PEACE!! ✌😌

[nightcolorz]

let your thoughts on the finale run WILD god knows i want to hear them 🙏🙏

OOOO YES OK!!! I’m going to start with my Armand twist thoughts bcus ik that is a point of contention among my fellow Armand apologists and ik y’all have been waiting to hear how I feel about it haha. Then I’m gonna yap about Daniels turning for similar reasons, and cuz I have theories!!!

I can’t say I’m surprised that Lestat saved Louis instead of Armand, I honestly thought when I was first watching ep7 that it was Lestat saving Louis until it cut to Armand doing the mass mind control and I was like oh ok, that makes sense ig. But I was very much willing to accept that Armand was planning to let Louis die, and so I’m def not having much trouble accepting it now lol.

I think amc made Armand just the right amount of devious when it comes to his involvement in the trial without bordering into out of character territory. I imagine directing the trial was elating for him after his panic about loosing his place in the coven. It makes perfect sense to me why he would want Louis dead 😭‼️. He basically explains it himself lol, when he says to Louis that his choice was between his coven of 200 years or his boyfriend who is actively putting him in danger and severing his sense of security. As Armand says lol, he couldn’t rely on Louis’s devotion to him to last as long as his coven has, and his priority is always going to be preserving that safety rather then being loyal to ppl he loves. Armand sees love as extremely transactional and entirely based in how secure he feels in it, how long it lasts, how much it does for him, etc (bcus hes Never been actually loved b4 oops). So once he realizes that Louis is doing nothing but putting him in jeopardy, and is actually pretty uncaring towards him, and he is given that choice, then of course he chooses the coven so thoroughly that he’s willing to let Louis die.He’s not wrong about Louis being an unreliable person to bet all his cards on💀 Louis only stayed with Armand for so long out of spite against Lestat, not out of any real love for him. And for Armand love is only worthwhile if it’s also protection and security, and Louis is not gonna give him that.

what I find interesting is how despite Armand’s plan being to kill Louis, he made the choice to stay with him even tho he wanted him dead. And I think Armand decided to stay with Louis purely because Louis burned down the theater, and without Louis Armand had nothing else. He always needs that security, that thing to devote himself to so he isn’t alone or aimless, bcus Armand doesn’t know how to live if he is not given a purpose. The learned helplessness was rlly getting me, the way he knows Louis is going to destroy the thing he just put sm effort into preserving and he doesn’t do anything to stop him. He doesn’t even act to try and preserve his relationship with Louis, he sits there limply with his head down and blankly admits that Louis will never forgive him and their relationship is ruined 💀. I think he only makes the choice to attach himself to Louis when Louis tells Lestat (and Armand) that he is going to stay with Armand. The way he’s staring at him like a wide eyed dog waiting for master to pull his leash during the scene in Magnus’s chambers, his needy little glances after he kisses him, he’s waiting for commands 😭😭 he’s waiting for Louis to give him a purpose after he destroyed the thing he was desperately clinging to

With all this being said tho, I don’t think that Armand doesn’t love Louis. As I said he has a very warped view of how love works, and even tho I’m sure it would hurt Armand to see Louis die, he both considers loosing Louis an inevitability that will be less painful if he has control of the circumstances, and he considers the loss of loved ones who are not safe/secure/useful a necessity. Armand is very used to loosing the ppl he loves in cold and painful ways 😭 for him this is the way life for a vampire is, and it doesn’t matter how he feels about it, it has to be done. When Armand says “i could not prevent it” it’s goofy asf cuz, um yes you could have sweetie ❤️🙏. But I think part of him means that, he rlly does feel like the cruelty he puts ppl through is all he can do, it’s not a choice it’s an inevitability, it’s just how he is.

i stand by with all my heart my analysis that Armand is not a manipulative or calculated person. He is clearly not so good at being manipulative lol, and his lies r only rlly affective bcus of Louis’s willingness to believe them. He lies out of fumbling desperation and fear, not out of any sort of deviousness or evil spite, lmao. He’s lived a life where he has to fight to survive, and he’s willing to do anything it takes to ensure his own safety. Armand is out for himself basically, lol. And if Louis has to die for Armand’s well-being, welp, sucks to suck 💀. If Armand has to lie to Louis so that Louis will stay with him, oop! Well he’s gonna try his best 🙏 lmaoo

When it comes to daniels turning, ahhhh!!! Omg ok, was very excited about this. My theory: cuz I’ve seen a lot of ppl upset about this and confused now that “devils minion can’t happen”. Babes I am so certain devils minion did happen ‼️ especially after this.

So after the reveal Armand is begging Louis to forgive him and trying to desperately convince him that they can still be together after this, the way he’s stuttering honestly broke my heart 😭 he may be a devious little bitch but he is my little princess and I love him. But anyways, Armand is coming to terms with (when he’s thrown out of the house, and then thrown into the wall) that the person he has been betting everything on for 77 yrs, the person he has been depending on for his purpose and his security, is gone and he has nothing else. “Without Louis I am nothing.” ‼️‼️ so as he’s lying in that rubble Armand’s thinking, I’m nothing. And knowing him, probably trying to desperately find smth else to fill the black hole.

and daniels there, and knowing Daniel, he’s not leaving. He’s getting sos messages from Raglan telling him to get the fuck out of there 😭 but raglan was the person who told Daniel that Louis is the dangerous one, not Armand, and well Louis’s left. And Daniel isn’t going to leave a fascinating story in the rubble just to go back to his shitty old man home, no sir.

So here we have it, Armand is more desperate and alone than he’s been in 77 years, and Daniel is staying with him. I imagine he helps him leave Louis’s house while he’s injured, probably drops him at a hotel or smth. And Armand has just lost his life line, and is looking for a new one, and here’s Daniel, helping him back on his feet, not leaving. I think that Daniel ends up fascinated by Armand and by some pull unable to leave him, and he stays with Armand for a while while he’s recovering from the divorce. And in my mind devils minion in the past still happened, and Armand knows this, maybe Daniel does, maybe not. Either way Daniel feels the connection. And through the power of desperation and nurse maid style rebounding, Armand turns Daniel bcus he can’t stand to be alone. And oh boy, the Armand apparently fucks all the way off right after, probably out of guilt for breaking his ultimate rule to not ever make another vampire, which aligns with book canon, where Armand and Daniel separate partly bcus of Armand’s guilt. And so here we r

I am completely certain that Louis’s claim that Armand turned Daniel out of spite is wrong, and based in Louis’s bitter post divorce bias. Especially considering how Daniel does nottt have the attitude of a man who was just turned into a vampire against his will out of anger 💀 that is youthful gay boy silly Billy lusting for life 70s Daniel in the flesh right there, that is the face of a man who’s minion has been deviled, yknow yknow. And Armand would never do that, turn someone (let alone Daniel), out of spite. If that was the case that would be an unforgivable character assassination, which I don’t think is likely to be true based on everything they get right about Armand. Armand turned Daniel out of desperation, bcus he needs Someone so that he won’t “be nothing”, not spite.

thank u sm for the ask beloved mutual ❤️❤️ I hope u enjoy this!!! I am going to be posting and answering a lot of asks today lol, and I have a lot more thoughts so stay tuned!!

[transgenderer]

in a somewhat...precarious, stressful situation with my advisor because like. so the reason i TOLD him i wanted to leave is because of the like academic environment where there are like no other phd students here who share my research interests and care about math. cuz theres like maybe 5 students total here who care about math. so. odds. and that is true. but the OTHER reason i want to leave is that there's no one here whose research im interested in, including my advisor. and if i dont get in anywhere else, im PROBABLY going to masters out. but i wanted to leave open the option of staying here. however i have this other research project collaboration long distance (hopefully a paper soon!!) that actually holds my interest (unfortunately, not with ppl who have a faculty position, so cant jump ship to them), and so ive been spending all my research time on it instead. and also my advisor STILL hasnt finished reading my VERY SHORT paper. cmon man. but yeah he keeps giving me advice and hassling me to do things that make sense from the false perspective ive given him. i should PROBABLY just tell him that i want to change topic when moving locations. but then he'll be like "thats a really bad idea, youre already so far in this topic" and then the only explanation i can give is "this topic bores me". so. bad. also, we were planning for my quals to be this winter. but they were going to basically be a formality, because he thinks im ready for research. except now hes saying he thinks it would be worthwhile to have this one guy at a nearby school on my thesis board or whatever it's called, and he thinks that guy would want me to know a lot more in the field. and like. it just doesnt really make sense for me to dedicate that much time and effort to quals for a thesis im not gonna write.

uuuugh theres gotta be a path here.... i made some really poor choices and it seems like the best case scenario is going to be burning at least a year of phd progress, if not like...3 years (because i wouldnt be starting somewhere else until the fall semester next year...). which is really bad. but also, idk. germany was really cool. so. 6 months of good at least, out of so far 2 years of massive fuckup

[myreygn]

YOUR LEE ENMU FIC WAS AMAZING AND I LOVED IT SO MUCH IT WAS WONDERFUL

I gotta ask,,,, if you're up for it, could you write something with ler!Douma and lee!Akaza cuz I just know Douma is a master tickle monster and poor Akaza is so ticklish sosjjsjdhdbd thank u in advance *smooches on the cheek*

Cracks

summary: It's not often that there's room for fooling around and goofing off amongst Lord Muzan's elite troup, but every now and then, Douma likes to have a little fun. Every now and then, Akaza likes to indulge him.

an: this took me way too long and i'm really really sorry about that - i hope you like it anyway and you had wonderful holidays!

wordcount: 1705

taglist: @giggly-squiggily, @rachi-roo

¸¸♬·¯·♩¸¸♪·¯·♫¸¸¸¸♫·¯·♪¸¸♩·¯·♬¸¸

Douma was not easily entertained. Most of the things the average person would deem exciting were prone to boring him to death and more often than not he found himself zoning out during the most random times, because he was surrounded by such a lack of stimulation that it was truly astounding all by itself.

However, there were a few things that were amusing to him. Humans could be very entertaining from time to time; desperate humans and scared humans were his favorite kind. Waterfalls, waterfalls were really pretty. Bumblebees. The sheer concept of bumblebees was hysterical. His very favorite thing in the entire world though was cracking. Cracking horrible jokes. Cracking heads. Cracking his fellow Upper Moons.

Well, not all of them. There was a huge difference between making someone crack and making someone crumble, that difference mainly being who he was working with.

For example, making Kokushibo crack wasnʼt as fun as making him crumble. Kokushibo was stoic, emotionless and reserved. Seeing him explode into anger, laughter, tears, or anything of the like all of a sudden was interesting, sure, but it wasn’t fun because the buildup was too subtle to notice (even for Douma). But if you made him crumble, the slow process of Kokushibo’s walls being brought down became visible - bit by bit, brick by brick.

And then, there was the other end of the spectrum.

Douma almost felt giddy with excitement as he shuffled around in his place, watching the door with impatience. Any minute now, any minute… aha!

“Urgh, what are you doing here?” Akaza rolled his eyes the second they met Douma’s gaze, but Upper Moon Two didn’t waste any time feeling attacked by that. Within the blink of an eye he was at the shorter demon’s side, throwing an arm around his shoulders and putting his entire weight onto him. He knew Akaza could handle it, he just wanted to invade his personal space a little. Invading the personal space of others was another thing that made immortality worthwhile.

“Why, I’m here for the meeting of course. We’re both early birds today, aren’t we?”

“Do not call me that.”

Oh oh oh, Akaza was playing grumpy again. Emphasis on playing; if he were truly not in the mood for shenanigans, he would’ve pushed him away by now, or taken his head off at the very least. Douma smirked. He had a playful Akaza on his hands, what a lucky lucky day it was.

“What do you want me to call you then?”

If looks could kill… well, he’d be no more dead than before, but Akaza was certainly trying his best. Adorable.

“If you could just stop talking to me, that would be great, thanks.”

What a perfect setup. It was almost like Akaza wanted this to happen.

“Alright, let’s stop talking.”

A thing that only very very few people knew: Akaza was not immune to tomfoolery. Douma had caught him goofing around with Rui, Kaigaku and even Daki and Gyutaro several times and on rare occasions, he had even indulged in Douma’s own jabs and jokes instead of blowing up immediately.

Because blowing up, yes, that was what Akaza was known for the most amongst them, wasn’t it. And watching him blow up was charming, sure, but what Douma loved most was the thing right before the big explosion. That moment of realization when Akaza became aware of the incoming explosion and tried to stop it. The way he gave everything to not let it happen and the way it was never enough. Delicious.

Akaza flinched and his hands shot down to grab Douma’s wrists. “Don’t.”

“I’m not doing anything, Akaza-dono.” It wasn’t even a lie. Alright, maybe he had curled his fingers into the lower ranked demon’s waist just a moment ago, but right now he wasn’t doing anything. Just resting his fingers on Akaza’s sides. And despite the vice grip on his wrists, they weren’t being pulled off. Hm-hm.

A full body spasm nearly had Upper Three slip away from him when he curled his fingers again, but Douma was very skilled in using a lot of strength and making it look like nothing. In other words, holding Akaza secure with just his fingers had the added fun bonus of infuriating him. “Douma, if you don’t stop that-”

“Stop what? You’ll need to be more specific- oh, this?” He smirked when a soft yelp slipped out of Akaza’s mouth.  “Surely that’s nothing to you, Akaza-dono. I’m just stretching my hands.”

Douma carefully increased the pressure of his fingers digging into the pale flesh of his subordinate. Even though Akaza was facing away from him, his back pressed against Douma’s chest with no way to hide his trembles and flinches, Douma had a good idea what his expression looked like. He could see Akaza’s flushed neck and ears, the way he bit his cheek. And now, he just had to-

“EAH!��

Ah, yes, there it was. The crack. Akaza had such a temper, cracking him with a few cleverly, and even not so cleverly, placed comments was easy. But it also got boring very quickly and besides, this was by far the best way to make him crack. 

Douma smirked to himself as he clawed on one of his very favorite spots on Akaza’s body. Stomach never disappoints… “What is it, Akaza-dono? Too ticklish?”

“YOHOU KNOW IHIT IS- DOUMAHAHAH!”

Hell yeah he knew that. Upper Two allowed himself to giggle in glee - not that Akaza could hear him with his booming laughter filling the Infinity Castle. He wrapped an arm around the smaller demon’s torso when his struggling got too intense to hold back with just his fingers and used his free hand to continue the tickling of his stomach. Delightful.

“DOHOHOUMAHAHAHAHAH, NAHAHAHAT- TOO MUHUHUHUCH!”

“Alright, alright.” Douma carefully guided the hysterical demon to the ground when his knees got weak and took a seat on his thighs to secure him, then he immediately latched his wiggling fingers onto Akaza’s ribs so he wouldn’t get a chance to recover and slip away. The reaction was instant.

“Yohohou piece ohof- nahahahah!”

“Oh but you can handle it, can’t you?” Douma grinned down at his victim’s flushed face, making sure to give the spaces in between his ribs extra attention. Once the cracking was complete, once the dam had broken, it was nearly impossible for Akaza to compose himself or hold himself back in any way.

That applied to movement as well. Douma let out a grunt when he got kneed in the back; he actually had to put in effort to hold Akaza down, that wasn’t often the case. Maybe his tickling was just especially good today. Judging by the way Akaza was howling when he moved his hands upwards to scratch at the space between his ribs and armpits, that was the case.

“Nahahahahat thehehehere! Yohou ahahahahass!”

“I don’t think you want to insult me right now.” Douma smirked and grabbed one of Akaza’s wrists, surprising him enough to pull it up and dig into his armpit. “I know thinking can be a hard thing to do for you, but that’s really not smart.”

Akaza shrieked and nearly threw Douma off with how hard he was bucking. “GEAHAHAHAH- GEHEHEHEHET OHOUT OF THEHEHEHERE! NAHAHAHAT THERE, DOHOUMAHAHAHAH!”

“Man, you’re really difficult today.” Douma mock-sighed and stayed at the spot a little longer before scribbling Akaza’s stomach and quickly moved on to squeeze his hips instead when the trapped demon let out a sound close to a sob. “Not here, not there… how about here?”

The hips still had Akaza giggling like crazy, but he was not nearly as hysterical as he had been before. Douma couldn’t help but smile a bit. “You look nice like this, Akaza-dono. With your face so flushed.”

The blush only intensified and Akaza even tried to hide his face - unsuccessful. “Sh-shuhuhut uhu- EEK!”

“Was that a squeak?” Douma let out an evil chuckle. “Then I guess that’s my sign.”

“Yohour sign to wha- Douma, no, nononono, do nAHAHAHAHAH- DOUMAHAHAHAHAH, FUHUHUHUCKIHING HEHEHELL!” Hysterical couldn’t even begin to describe it. Akaza threw his head back, cackling and howling and squealing all at once, even a snort breaking throw here and there; his back arched and he twisted around to try and avoid the horribly ticklish fingers scribbling over his stripes with the lightness of a feather. 

Upper Two smirked - he was barely touching Akaza, yet had him in stitches anyway. He had been avoiding the tattoos, these absolute platinum tickle spots on his subordinate’s already sensitive body, as much as possible to save the best for last. And the best it truly was. He watched in awe how tears of laughter spilled down Akaza’s flushed cheeks. That meant he would soon-

“DOHOHOUMAHAHAHAH, PLEHEHEHEHEASE!”

Yup, there it was. Playful or not, if he started begging it meant that Akaza had truly reached his limits. Douma gave the stripe he was tormenting one last scratch, then he took his hands off and stood up, giving him some space to recover.

Being a demon and all, that recovery only took Akaza about two seconds and Douma couldn’t even react when the smaller demon jumped up and pounced on him, glaring down at him from where he was crouched on Douma’s chest. “You!”

“Me?” Upper Two didn’t let the sudden attack wash off his smile. It was a genuine smile for once - this little encounter had significantly heightened his mood and despite the scowl on Akaza’s face, he could tell he felt the same.

The sound of Nakime’s biwa in the distance and the following bickering of two voices from next door notified them of the arrival of Daki and Gyutaro and Akaza seemed to consider his next move for a moment, then he snarled and got up. “I’ll get you back, jerk.”

Douma only grinned at the threat and sat up when the siblings entered the room so as to not tip them off that something unusual had happened. If he was feeling a little excited at the prospect of more goofing around with Akaza, that was their business alone, and if he caught Akaza cracking a smile as he turned away, no one needed to know.

[megamind2010]

Ladybug dies how

peacefully in her sleep at the ripe old age of 94 NAYYYYY IM SORRY

Assuming youre here cuz koby told you to come and yell at me for doing this and id like to say first of all im very sorry i just love tragedy soooo much. koby got really mad at me when i first brought up the idea and it also tortures me horribly too And we also talk a lot about the alternate universe where she doesnt die and instead she and casey just move to new york and hang out and get married and Chill Out

but in the "canon" ending im sorry yes nell dies (ducking rocks and bricks) IMMM SORRY! She's subject to the hereditary blue beetle curse of dying in a fight tragically young (she jumped in front of the metaphorical bullet for jaime on account of he's exempt because he has a much healthier support system than other beetles)

i'm a hack so i haven't really drawn or written anything concrete about it but how it goes down in my mind is your classic event/crisis where all the heroes are mobilised to fight off the annual universe destroying threat. this time it's aliens of some kind and while the league and the rest of the important guys are up there fighting or negotiating or punching the universe or however this particular one gets solved, ladybug is down on the ground in gotham helping to evacuate people and deal with some alien scouts/robots/etc that are menacing civilians. (casey has already been evacuated and is safely sheltering underground with a bunch of other civilians, being checked in on every now and then by some flash or another, & her general attitude is UGH Can you idiots get this sorted out so we can order chinese and watch real housewives...)

it happens while ladybug is getting a family to safety and an alien scout lands on the roof of their apartment. he ushers them downstairs and to his credit does a good job of holding off the attacker while the civilians get out of there - nell has no powers but is a very competent fighter and also is decked out with plenty of kordtech gadgets to help even the playing field :] but it's been a long day and she's so exhausted and there's only so much you can do when an alien shoots you in the chest with a laser and flies away and leaves you to bleed out

so there's nell with her communications down & unable to move & lying there staring at the sky full of invading spaceships and flying superheroes... if she could get someone's attention she might be okay but everyone is busy. it's a crisis! and nell knows that, she knows what this whole business is like, and she's been ready for something like this to happen for a while. nell is a very confident person but she isn't deluded about her own mortality... it's part of her personal philosophy that it's cruel to have too many attachments if you're likely to die horribly young (a mentality learned from the death of her mother and refined by the death of ted kord) so isnt it great that she doesnt have many friends? and that she's on okay terms but not super close with her family? and that casey doesnt actually care about her at all and wont be affected by her untimely death past the inconvenience of finding a new place to live?

lol

at the end of it all nell isn't really that upset about dying... they went out doing something worthwhile, they saved lives, they did the best they could with what they had, and they made a positive impact on the world while they were here. and that's about what he's always wanted to achieve so hey a+ work ladybug! obviously its not like he WANTS to die, theres always more to do, things he's going to miss... he'll miss talking to ted, working on gadgets and sorting through problems and making him laugh... he'll miss his family obviously but they'll be fine without him... michelle is someone she hadn't expected to get so close to, but she and ted both have booster to keep them on track

really annoyingly as she's closing her eyes the person who keeps coming into her mind though is casey. At this point nell is pretty aware that she cares about casey more than she ever planned or wanted to and has done a lot of mental gymnastics to convince herself that it's fine that nothing ever came of it (and now nothing ever will) and in her last moments she reassures herself that it's onesided and casey doesn't love her and he'll be fine without nell and You did a great job at not forming attachments ladybug that's why you're the best! but she can't help the surge of intense regret and fuuuuuck what if it was different and what if what if.........

here's my primo ladybug dying on a roof song

Nell's fatal flaw will always be her self-reliance and conviction that she's doing things the right way despite it all. if she bothered to communicate with the people in her life then she might be swayed on her views on love, or if she was less stupidly independent then maybe she would have been working with another hero and wouldn't have been in this situation. but that's tragedy i suppose, knowing how a character could have escaped their fate and yet having to accept that in this scenario with this set of rules there was no other way for this to happen

anyway if you'd prefer to think about nell alive and happy living in new york with casey then please do that. It's easy and free and it makes me smile

[rememberwren]

Bit deep for a Positive News Monday: I got divorced today from a man who had me living in constant fight or flight mode and made me feel less than worthless. But even though it hurts like hell to lose so much and close that heavy chapter full of bittersweet memories, I felt like I could breathe for the first time in too many years knowing he can't hurt me anymore

Hope you find your way out of the dark somehow ❤️ (if you find a spare flashlight around let me know cuz it sucks in here)

Congratulations, so wholeheartedly. Not to be all High School Musical, but I hope this is the start of something new and beautiful and PEACEFUL for you. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but most worthwhile things aren’t.

If I find that flashlight, I’ll pass it your way. Sucks balls up in this bitch. 🩶

[will80sbyers]

Brett unapologetically believes what he believes. This makes criticizing him less worthwhile to people, cuz if it doesn't affect him, then what's the point?

With Noah, it's clear he's a lot more apologetic about what he believes. We've seen how quickly he backtracks and it's cuz his beliefs were never that strong in the first place. He's a total sponge. He's not confident about his beliefs whatsoever in the same way Brett is because his beliefs largely stem from the beliefs his loved ones have, who he trusts to have good beliefs. This makes tearing him down a lot more entertaining to people that love a good downfall.

I remember after 10/7, there were a few days where Noah did not say anything. So many people were waiting for the ball to drop. I was curious how his Israeli friends were reacting, and low and behold they both had instagram stories that were very obviously directed at him, crying and saying how they were disappointed that someone who they thought cared about them, who has millions of followers, hadn't said anything. And predictably, the next day he started being vocal about it.

And now we just saw how quickly he took down his copypasta after filming started. Im guessing all it took was a few days filming on set among the cast, away from his family and inner circle, for them to talk some sense into him, because he. is. a. sponge!!

It's crazy to think how much appeasing the people around him has probably played a big role in this. And how him now backtracking is only going to make them hate him now too, all the while not even getting the people that hate him already to even consider forgiving him anyways.

I agree with you I think he's VERY easy to suggestion from other people and that's what brought him to say certain things, I feel like propaganda does work and people just undermine that or like to talk about it theoretically but then when they see someone that actually did fall for it or that feels pressured to do things and is clearly influenced they don't take it into consideration and start jumping to the worst possible conclusion that they are heartless monsters etc even when they didn't idk commit direct crimes themselves because of it

I also feel like ignoring that there are LOTS of people that take the meaning of Zionism with a complete different meaning than what we take it as (because of what it is doing in the practical way of expressing that philosophy) is being disingenuous

In the same way that people saying that "from the river to the sea" means that you're saying that you want Jewish people dead is disingenuous

There are two different meanings that people have and not all of them mean that in the sense that they want to kill or keep opressing the other side EVEN if that is born from that, you know people don't mean it in that way, especially people that are not even living in those places themselves, like if you know that - you have to explain to them why that name to you has the same connotation as for example "fascist"

If you think about it, the words fascist and other similar words of political movements are not born with the people giving them inherent negative meaning but that meaning got attached there because of what they did as a movement, which is the same thing that happens with Zionism, but people that are born inside that culture where you get told that that word has a different meaning OBVIOUSLY are not going to tell you that they agree with the negative meaning unless they have been freed from propaganda and can actually see that there can be no distinction anymore because of what they have done... But again we're talking about deprogramming someone, it is just not easy to do!

They will refute that idea because it's a complete shift of the belief system you had since your were born... It's obvious to me that you can't just throw them in a box of "evil" just because they fight to make peace with that idea or refuse it

And online there's a jump from rightly asking for clarification or an apology with accountability when necessary to literally wanting that person dead or in complete misery immediately and never forgiving them or at least letting them live their own life without abuse and harassment

No matter what they actually did or didn't do, like a serial killer is put on the same plane of someone that says a fucked up thing and to me that's kind of insane... I feel like we lost measure (?) idk how to explain this in a better way I just have started feeling like it's all too much online it wouldn't be how you help people to change in the actual real world

And to be clear I'm not against people being called out and having to demonstrate that they did change, (I'm not even a "non violent" person... when needed. Like, I would punch a nazist if I needed to for example) but I feel like now the type of harassment is extreme no matter the "crime"

and instead of it being about helping our world to get better it has become about piling on to pile on and have the most liked post at the same time and these people don't care at all if that person changes or not, they are in the "evil" list now and there they must stay

[audreyii-fic]

Hi! I saw you watched the live action atla and I had a few question (in parallel to your characterization of Katara in your fics) what did you think of her?? I find they erased more than a little her anger, her passion (not all, but still) her rage, passing down some of her qualities and motivation to Sokka or Aang... (Here's a link to a post that, although it doesn't give credit to what the la did right, had some good point on why Katara felt a little off - to me at least - https://www.tumblr.com/kataraslove/743237254376554496?source=share)

(also a little guilty cuz I still enjoyed the zutara bits even though Katara was mid 🙃)

(also there're some part of Katara I liked in the LA but not enough to balance the things I disliked...)

I think that Netflix took a different approach to Katara's character, much the same way they took a different approach to Sokka's character. Their mother was murdered and their father abandoned them; the headwriters decided that, outside of a cartoon aimed at elementary school kids, those characters would show their damage in different ways. Sokka's not a clown; he's crushed under the toxic masculinity of Hakoda's unfair expectations. Katara isn't given to outbursts; she suppressed every part of herself that reminded her of her mother's death, including her bending. It's a legitimate interpretation of how a young child would react to witnessing the murder of a parent. And it makes that argument convincingly.

Katara grows. She pushes past her own PTSD; she faces it on this journey has she never had before, and each time, she finds more of her strength. And she knows she has taken that strength for herself, refusing to let anyone claim they have given it to her or that she has met someone else's standard of acknowledgement. She doesn't need it.

It's fine to prefer the original show's interpretation of how Katara would have responded to what she went through, just as it's fine to prefer Jet as a remorseless liar instead of an honest recruiter, just as it's fine to prefer Bumi as a semi-senile goof instead of a bitter old man ground down by a hundred years of war. That's your prerogative! Netflix reinterpreted all the characters' trauma in a way that fits the story they're trying to tell, and it wasn't going to suit everyone. But. I think Netflix executed their interpretations well (not flawlessly, but well), and I think those interpretations were worthwhile. Including Katara's.

[pixiedust-poppers]

Ok but. Homelander Jake…? I don’t think he can become homelander completely (in terms of certain aspects of HL’s personality) but Peter can definitely cooking him up in a cave.

Actually. You know what maybe in S 1-3 he was a normal boy with a heart of gold. Then season 4 after the neversea conquest, Peter is like “with new responsibilities we gotta give you more than a sword Jake come with me..” (ofc he’s the only person that gets treatment) and through a ritual and a month or two of a young adolescent teen boy doing potions and “science” on a ten year old kid, he makes a much stronger OP guardian for neverland.

Expect.. he’s unaware of how powerful his strength and powers really are. Cuz let’s be real Peter didn’t do ANY worthwhile testing expect probably “hey bro let’s see how many of these lined up watermelons can you blow up” or “let’s see how you handle these **straw** bodies” or silly shit young boys think happen in a testing lab that is cool.

Anyway because of this the rating would have to be bumped up from TV-Y to probably TV-14 or TV-MA because all the residents and villains are going to learn real quick that Jake is much too powerful for his own good.

For example Izzy and cubby will get the first brunt of this Via Jake squeeze the two of them so tight to the point where he cracks their backs (an audibly Loud crack but not tight enough to paralyzed them) followed by cubby wanting to arm wrestle him for fun to see how strong he really is and Jake basically breaks his arm pretty bad (smashed table and awkwardly slammed into sand arm twist).

For villains, using shiverjack as the victim. When him and Jack get into that energy clash and Jake feels that he’s losing, he uses his laser eyes as extra heat and it overpowers shiverjack but the combination in heat makes the already extremely hot ray from his sword into an even hotter ray thanks to his eyes, that melts his ice staff and goes straight through that and proceeds to melt quite abit of shiverjack upon impact if not going through right through him. First time they all realize Jake has the power to kill.

[sunlightnmoonshine]

I know a lot of ppl say that they got aang right and to be fair he's one of the better parts of the live action but um are we going to just ignore that they got rid of the essence of his character??

Wasn't the point of aang's journey supposed to be that he never wanted to be the Avatar and things started changing too much, too fast (because they told him soon, actually sooner than when they tell him in the live action) and that's why he left? He was being isolated and they wanted to send him away (he literally yells about this in "the storm"). This is ultimately what fuels his guilt, because he actually did abandon the world when they needed him most and it made sense when people called him out for it (you could see that in the first eps he wasn't even comfortable being recognised as the Avatar). Why is replacing it with gotta go up into the sky to clear my head and coincidentally getting caught in a storm a worthwhile alternative? And then for the rest of the show have most ppl yell at him for abandoning the world (when he actually didn't) and then have him because of how he let these ppl down rather quickly come to terms with being the Avatar? What's the point in that? Where's the conflict, where's the growth?

The kid was supposed to be overwhelmed repeatedly by the weight of his task because he's just a kid and acts like it. Toning down his childishness is a crime against the story. He isn't supposed to be mature enough to just rise to the task, he's supposed to find being the Avatar difficult but still with the support from katara and sokka and the strong moral compass he innately has still want to help the world in the way he can, not just because he's the Avatar.

What was wrong with making it clear that aang struggled but still highlighting how strong he was? He didn't just get closure from Gyatso whereby all his guilt can be settled, he wasn't a great bridge between the spirit and real world, he actually struggled with this (don't even get me started on how stupid that spirit realm ep in the live action was), he didn't just have ppl giving him answers (roku) and fighting his battles (kyoshi). When roku fought for aang in the animation it was purposeful, he's supposed to be aang's teacher and that scene in particular was supposed to be a reminder to the fire nation who were literally responsible for trying to exterminate the Avatar that they were once loyal and served the Avatar, switching it out with kyoshi serves nothing for the plot. Despite all of his struggles, aang is supposed to push through his guilt, he's regardless supposed to be a prodigy and with his creativeness and tenacity he's supposed to fight his own battles (having it seem like the ocean spirit possessed aang cuz he didn't think he could do anything was so freaking anti climatic to his journey, in the original I had goosebumps when aang walked into that pond, highlighting how he bridges the spirit and real world).

Also so much for waterbending in a season where the Avatar is supposed to learn how to waterbend :) instead let's switch it to gotta get to the northern water tribe because ooh aang was told something was going to happen there -_- yay great storytelling. Let''s just remove any hint of flaw from this character and let him already be so enlightened lol, sure this won't have repercussions when he has to master the Avatar state later on, I mean what struggle will he have then, since he's already so selfless and enlightened.

[werebutch]

Ok i just said this to jesse but big oc ramble :P SECONDARY CHARACTER MENTION

Again seraph’s portrait is not updated yet now they look like my pinned post..

I think this is very cute and im glad i finally forced myself to write a summary cuz it made me figure everything out.. at least i have a ballpark idea of a plot instead of entertaining all these different possibilities.. originally i didnt want roadkill to be popular enough to tour but.. small bands go on small tours all the time.. it would make the story WAYYY more fun. Seraph is literally trapped with them. And also .. going on tour is pretty good cover for murders. Way better than having him kill in his small town and somehow not get caught.. which doesnt make sense. Hes not that smart lol, but i guess being a dog is good cover already. I also want them to tour because i want the band to be a central part of the story.. if it wasn’t (like some other ideas ive had) it wouldnt even make sense to include.. it would be clunky.. so yes tour it is..!

I feel like im finally getting somewhere.. also yes ulysses is supposed to be there but im out of room in the carrd :( ill figure it out.. anyways i think this is such a good restarting point.. the only problem is its kind of a lie but i didnt know how to explain it short and sweet. Scotch is the only one who knows atlas’s identity at first, then seraph. Eloise doesnt know i think because she would probably want to call the cops. Or at the very least this news would split the group up (atlas n scotch dont want that for different reasons*) and she would never speak to atlas again cause of the whole murder thing. She would also convince seraph to get out of there asap, and atlas knows they would listen no matter how much they like him**. So, eloise knowing is not an option .. she’s very sweet but yea definitely would not be ok with any of this ..

Ulysses doesnt know cause he doesn’t WANT to know. He knows something sketchy is going on between atlas n scotch but, knowing scotch pretty well, he doesnt wanna get involved. Scotch secrets are very annoying to keep. He doesnt want to bother. Also hes kinda freaked out about it. Idk, maybe it will stay this way but i still have to work on ulysses so that may change…

Now ive got to find a way to work tex in. I dont think ive EVER mentioned tex on here before even though ive had them for yearssss, but they serve as like a mentor to atlas. Maybe 50 year old butch. I thought about making them a werewolf too but thats just dumb.. they probably knew a werewolf at one point though. Maybe had to kill one but they probably wouldnt let atlas know that. tex is kind of cruel towards seraph, which is unfortunate because theyre the only one experienced with werewolves. Would lead to a fun interaction in a tense situation though ^__^

* - atlas doesn’t want the band to split up firstly cause he knows it’ll suck for scotch, but also cause again.. touring is such good cover. Hes just hesitant to become big cause he doesnt know if it’ll make killing easier or harder. SCOTCH doesnt want to split up cause he loves eloise + same atlas reason + but also cause he NEEDS to get big for all the non-atlas reasons. Coming from a huge family, he didnt get much attention. Basically wants to show his family that he’s worthwhile (and wealthy.. if the band takes him that way) . I know a lot of info but LOL it has to be said..

** - on their own, seraph does come to know in their own time.. but again if eloise was the one to talk about it with them their reaction would be different. Their first thought is to get out of there, but again theyre trapped on tour. But in addition to that i think atlas makes them feel so special, and KNOWING this secret makes them feel even more special (and its kinda romantic LMAO), so even though they know they should run, they dont. Which is exactly atlas’s intention with the way he treats them. I think part of them knows the reason for keeping eloise in the dark, but by the time they realize all this and connect the murders with atlas, theyre in too deep with him lol. Sucks for them !

[church-of-lilith]

Do you think anybody on reddit has posted abt how unhappy sapphics are with the way they represented us or how bi coded Ted is? Cuz if anything that seems like the site where the writers might actually see it and it sucks they probably won't even care and think queer ppl should be happy with what we got

I don’t think anybody has posted about the poor sapphic rep or bi Ted on Reddit yet, at least not that I’ve seen. I think the main reason for that is because when it comes to posting about lgbtq+ topics, people are less tolerant over on Reddit.

Like most of the comments under the post of James’ interview about Trent having a crush on Ted were positive, but there was also definitely a fair share of homophobic trolls looking for reactions from people. The mods got around to deleting those comments eventually but it took a hot minute.

I’ve been waiting to see someone in the actual media write an article about how the queer rep in TL wasn’t all that, especially with the way Keeley and Jack were treated. I think that’s the only way the writers would ever become aware of how unhappy the general queer (and also specifically sapphic) audiences really were with their ‘representation.’ I don’t know that I’d be comfortable ever posting about it on Reddit though, because it just seems like it’s bound to draw in terrible people looking to comment hate more than it would draw in people looking to have an actual conversation.

And in terms of the writers seeing it on Reddit? Yeah it’s always a possibility, but like you said, I don’t believe they’d actually care. Brendan Hunt spent a majority of his AMA over there insisting that Jane wasn’t abusive & making very passive aggressive comments towards people who were calling him out on how that relationship was written. Not an ounce of respect towards anyone with differing opinions or an open mind towards any of the valid criticism. If he or anyone else did see a post on Reddit about any criticism towards the queer rep, I don’t believe they would actually care or come up with a worthwhile response.

Maybe someone braver than me will decide to start a conversation over there, though! Maybe it’ll be you! And if not, you’re always free to continue sending your thoughts here to my ask box because I definitely have opinions that I’m sure are very similar to your own. Thanks for sending this one in!

[zenoiredottore]

Hoyofam headcannons; relationships

ZZZ:

currency just a baby but I really see them as sort of being frenemies with Wuwa, ik that wuwa is supposed to be the “genshin killer” but I think it’d be more accurate to pin it against zzz but of their closeness in release dates.

No other close relationships outside of their family

Themis:

I like to think that Themis mostly interacts with the other Chinese otome games. And she’s friends with most of them, despite how competitive they are with each other.

Greatly respects international based otome games,

She recognizes that all of them have the same or similar fanbases

But everything changed when love and deepspace got into the market… At first, it was fine… especially since new games flood into the market pretty often. She wasn’t too worried… but then; He started getting more popular… gaining traction… she was still fine with it, a lil good competition is good after all. Then… he became no.1 on downloads worldwide… This was when she started to panic a lil bit. Okay, not just a lil bit… it was driving her insane. She asked her brothers to do something about it… yk… Makes him disappear. But typical brotherly fashion all they said to her was; No, that’s unethical. SINCE WHEN HAVE THEY EVER CARED ABOUT ETHICS… She’s interacted with the new guy here and there, but it was purely professional. She hated his handsome, bad boy-esque charm! He’s such a… a playboy! Shamelessly flirting with her in front of the press, cornering her in a secluded hallway…SHE HATES HIM, OKAY?!?!

Within the family; her and hi3 are best friends, she shops for and decorated zzz’s room, She likes to buy fashionable stuff for hsr, along with hygiene and bath stuff for him, genshin’s TWIN who she could rely on,,, uses her bro’s connections more often than she should

Genshin

Doesn’t have any worthwhile relationships outside of family.

Him and pgr are sort of friends

Hoyofam and kurofam get along quite nicely despite being pinned as competitors in the press

It’s nice to think that he sort of mentors and guides wuwa,,,

Him and hsr are always on pedestals during award shows,,, it’s kinda funny when the real competitors are just themselves

Very nice and courteous to other people when he thinks the vibes are right,,,

Everyone else hates him

Inside of the family; he spends most time with zzz, He talks to themis the most, him and honkai have a mom/big sis/ grandma relationship where he reminds her to take her meds, tells her to tone it down a bit when she’s being too loud, gets coddled and taken care of by the most. Relationship with hsr tends to be a bit rocky and tense at times,,, they aren’t too sweet with each other like they are with their sisters,,, cuz yuck yk. But they are the funniest with each other. They have the most insane brother lore ever

Hi3

A bit of a playgal, but also sort of a loser and the same time…? The hoes love her tho

Was one of the few anime gacha games at the time [I think?] So she was a bit of an outcast

She was already on the video game hall of fame, but she wasn’t too popular. Atleast not as popular as she is today

She has a loyal fanbase that she adores

Made tons of friends during her working days that she doesn’t talk to that much anymore

Inspired a lot of games’ release.

A lot of the people that she meets that are like super successful now are all like “omg you were literally such an inspiration to me, growing up.” And she always feels so old cuz wtf wym you were inspired by her 7 years ago…?

Family; she raised them for Christ’s sake! Not the most maternal parent figure. She didn’t really know much when she was raising genshin since she herself never had a mentor/parent figure. She didn’t raise Themis much since I mentioned in my previous posts that she stayed in this big hydro chamber thing for the first year of her life. Which is why her relationship with Themis is a bit more friend-like since she didn’t have to act like a parent. With Hsr tho, she went full on mom mode. It was her mini me after all! The vessel that will continue her legacy through her retirement and death! She got the hang of it and did take care of him pretty well. With ZZZ tho, it was more like she was the aunt rather than the sister. Not much different with how she raised hsr but she became a lot more chill and secure.

Hsr:

In professional spaces he was always referred to as: Genshin’s brother.

It annoyed him allat, it def didn’t help that he was literally always by his brother’s side

People would approach him, asking about his older siblings

In conventions he’s a bit shy and nervous speaking to large crowds

He got used to it and started liking attending events with all his fans.

Not social with other games but really wants to hang out with them

People hate his brother so much that they don’t want to be associated with him…[ he feels sad about it but also sort of feel bad for his bro]

For his siblings; zzz, an annoying lil bro that just won’t stop pestering him. Themis; buy him stuff! Genshin; his brother, dad, and bestfriend all in one. Hi3; grandma.

[helly-watermelonsmellinfellon]

So, Writers and Actors are now on Strike for Better Pay...

Musicians: Why aren't songwriters and musicians also going on strike for better pay???

Cuz the biggest singer-songwriter of the 21st century started doing that a decade ago, and everyone mocked her by claiming she was a greedy, white, she-devil using white feminism to pad her own pockets.

Now musicians want Taylor Swift to 'speak up' and 'use her power and connections' to get better pay for music artists, when she's been obnoxiously loud about it for a decade.

Before Apple Music dropped, Taylor found out they didn't plan to pay artists during the free trials ppl would use to stream their music. She penned an open letter to Apple Music and posted it here on Tumblr. She pointed out how damaging such behavior was for smaller artists and said she would withhold all of her music form the platform if they dared to go through with such disgraceful behavior. They caved instantly.

She has consistently pushed for people to keep physical media sales alive and well because streaming will do nothing but pay labels who do not have to share the earnings from streaming, with their artists. Yes, the artists who do more of the work(singing, song-writing, producing, etc) get more of a cut, but when the label gets 70% of overall earnings from the streaming giant, obviously there is something fucked up. This is why swifties buy her albums in CD/cassette/vinyl form and why she can have an album debut with over 1.5 Million sales. She made certain we understood that most singers make money from touring and merch and not their actual music, and we should always support physical media first.

Taylor has gone on to over and over again bring this concern up over the years. She refused to keep her music on Spotify and pulled all of it until they agreed to pay better royalties(which happened years later). And everyone turned on her. Not one person in the industry was willing to side with her. She was mocked by fellow singers AND songwriters, and accused by every major business-related magazine, of being greedy. Spotify's CEO went especially heavy on the accusations(despite how years later he admitted that he arranged countless meetings with her and her management team to beg her to change her mind). And then in 2017, Spotify was revealed to owe $21 Million in unpaid royalties. And had to pay it all out.

After that, they finally came to an agreement. And now, in 2023, Taylor is managing 100 Million steams a day and has the second-most followers on the platform. Soon, she'll eclipse the #1 artist by the end of the year if her daily numbers stay on track. Her music was gone for 3 years and she's already beaten out almost everybody. She could have been at the top for years already if she didn't stand by her morals.

Taylor continued to be very vocal about this problem, and when her Masters were sold away from her, and she wasn't even warned ahead of time or given the chance to buy them, despite how her label promised to give her first dibs, she signed to Republic Records, and her first order of business was to negotiate better pay of Spotify shares for all artists under UMG. They have to actually share what they make from Spotify, with their artists(including ppl she doesn't gel with like Kanye West, Justin Bieber, etc) which is not a common practice.

Her being loud about it has warned new artists to be more careful with signing contracts and looking into options for their music's distribution. She's influenced an upcoming generation by these actions alone.

So, you want Taylor Swift to use her platform? You want her to make a difference? Well, she's been speaking and acting on it for a decade and is the only one at her level even willing to do anything about it or stand by her decisions.

In the words of a swiftie I follow on Twitter, y'all wouldn't know the first thing about unionizing under a worthwhile cause. You ppl see someone you think is well off, fighting for the rights of those in the same profession as them, and instead of thinking, hey, it's good this multi-millionaire wants to help these smaller names out, so they get paid what they are worth, y'all get defensive and angry and deliberately make it all about them being greedy for more money for themselves. Y'all do not want other ppl to get paid what they are truly worth cuz it won't benefit you personally, and that's a sad fact. You wouldn't unionize for shit, and we all know it.

How a woman can be in every episode of a TV show and come away with a paycheck of 1 penny per episode is wild. But y'all will Google her name and see that according to Google, she's apparently worth exactly $1 Million. Net worth is not the same as liquid assets btw. And if her voice, and face, and literal actions were used in a show for several seasons, she shouldn't be getting less than a dollar per month for her contribution to the entire series. But oh no! She doesn't deserve fair pay because... *checks notes* multi-millionaire Mark Ruffalo is on strike with her to help her voice be heard.

Taylor Swift was the first music artist to speak on it, and she remains the only big music artist to speak on it. And because she spear-headed the message, there will be many people who overlook it on some personal issue they have with her. And we know what those 'issues' are deeply rooted in, let's be honest.

Some of y'all are going to have to acknowledge that she was right and actually listen when she makes business decisions.