#'doesn't this media take you back to a simpler time' not really. and i don't want it to take me to a simpler time anyways

[jonnywaistcoat]

What’s your opinion on the contrast between “silly” and “serious” spaces? Do you think people can have very serious interpretations about a genuine piece of media and also be goofy about it? I’m asking this particularly because I’ve seen people in the Magnus podcast fandoms fight about people “misinterpreting” characters you, Alex, and the many other authors have written. Are you okay with the blorbofication or do you really wish the media you’ve written would be “taken seriously” 100% of the time?

And follow up question, what do you think about the whole “it’s up to the reader (or in some cases, listener) to make their own conclusions and interpretations and that does not make them wrong”, versus the “it was written this way because the author intended it this way, and we should respect that” argument?

This is a question I've given a lot of thought over the years, to the point where I don't know how much I can respond without it becoming a literal essay. But I'll try.

My main principle for this stuff boils roughly down to: "The only incorrect way to respond to art is to try and police the responses of others." Art is an intensely subjective, personal thing, and I think a lot of online spaces that engage with media are somewhat antithetical to what is, to me, a key part of it, which is sitting alone with your response to a story, a character, a scene or an image and allowing yourself to explore it's effect on you. To feel your feelings and think about them in relation to the text.

Now, this is not to say that jokes and goofiness about a piece of art aren't fucking great. I love to watch The Thing and drink in the vibes or arctic desolation and paranoia, or think about the picture it paints of masculinity as a sublimely lonely thing where the most terrible threat is that of an imposed, alien intimacy. And that actually makes me laugh even more the jokey shitpost "Do you think the guys in The Thing ever explored each other's bodies? Yeah but watch out". Silly and serious don't have to be in opposition, and I often find the best jokes about a piece of media come from those who have really engaged with it.

And in terms of interpreting characters? Interpreting and responding to fictional characters is one of the key functions of stories. They're not real people, there is no objective truth to who they are or what they do or why they do it. They are artificial constructs and the life they are given is given by you, the reader/listener/viewer, etc. Your interpetation of them can't be wrong, because your interpretation of them is all that there is, they have no existence outside of that.

And obviously your interpretation will be different to other people's, because your brain, your life, your associations - the building blocks from which the voices you hear on a podcast become realised people in your mind - are entirely your own. Thus you cannot say anyone else's is wrong. You can say "That's not how it came across to me" or "I have a very different reading of that character", but that's it. I suppose if someone is fundamentally missing something (like saying "x character would never use violence" when x character strangles a man to death in chapter 4) you could say "I think that's a significant misreading of the text", but that's only to be reserved for if you have the evidence to back it up and are feeling really savage.

I think this is one of the things that saddens me a bit about some aspects of fandom culture - it has a tendency to police or standardise responses or interpretations, turning them from personal experiences to be explored into public takes to be argued over. It also has the occasional moralistic strain, and if there's one thing I wish I could carve in stone on every fan space it's that Your Responses to a Piece of Art Carry No Intrinsic Moral Weight.

As for authorial intention, that's a simpler one: who gives a shit? Even the author doesn't know their own intentions half the time. There is intentionality there, of course, but often it's a chaotic and shifting mix of theme and story and character which rarely sticks in the mind in the exact form it had during writing. If you ask me what my intention was in a scene from five years ago, I'll give you an answer, but it will be my own current interpretation of a half-remembered thing, altered and warped by my own changing relationship to the work and five years of consideration and change within myself. Or I might not remember at all and just have a guess. And I'm a best case scenario because I'm still alive. Thinking about a writers possible or stated intentions is interesting and can often lead to some compelling discussion or examination, but to try and hold it up as any sort of "truth" is, to my mind, deeply misguided.

Authorial statements can provide interesting context to a work, or suggest possible readings, but they have no actual transformative effect on the text. If an author says of a book that they always imagined y character being black, despite it never being mentioned in the text, that's interesting - what happens if we read that character as black? How does it change our responses to the that character actions and position? How does it affect the wider themes and story? It doesn't, however, actually make y character black because in the text itself their race remains nonspecific. The author lost the ability to make that change the moment it was published. It's not solely theirs anymore.

So yeah, that was a fuckin essay. In conclusion, serious and silly are both good, but serious does not mean yelling at other people about "misinterpretations", it means sitting with your personal explorations of a piece of art. All interpretations are valid unless they've legitimately missed a major part of the text (and even then they're still valid interpretations of whatever incomplete or odd version of the text exists inside that person's brain). Authorial intent is interesting to think about but ultimately unknowable, untrustworthy and certainly not a source of truth. Phew.

Oh, and blorbofication is fine, though it does to my mind sometimes pair with a certain shallowness to one's exploration of the work in question.

[crazysodomite]

what is it like to be kind of popular/getting people interested in your own ideas and not fan art?

I don't think I'm popular *looks behind my back fearfully* 😨

Here's the thing. A lot of people post things and just expect people to find them and interact with them. To some people it works. But a lot of the time there's no way for people to even find your stuff or engage with it.

A lot of people go into fandom tags to look for art and writing, but not a lot of people just scroll the "oc" or "art" or "writing" tags aimlessly.

I'm not like. A social media expert 😼 or whatever. I don't know anything about anything ♥️ I literally just do whatever weurd things i want and that's it

Here's some things I can advise:

If you have ocs.... Please feel free to actually talk about them in detail, share your thoughts on them in detail, write actual info and profiles on them. Don't be shy to do this bc there's no way for someone to engage with your ocs if they don't really understand who you're talking about except the names 😭... Feel free to like link their info in your pinned or their toyhouse profiles or whatever... !!!! A lot of the times I follow someone and they ask to engage with their ocs, and I want to, but I literally just don't understand who they're taking about... Or I see someone talking about their ocs in very vague terms but I can't actually find who they're talking about.... (Not that you have to do this do whatever you want ... I'm not the boss of you ♥️ it's just something id like to see) And also don't be shy to actually remind people who you're talking about bc people who haven't been following you for a long time won't know. I think this is simpler for me because my concepts/characters are very basic/shallow and easy to understand. Taur who is a bee, taur who is a bath, etc... Is Inherently understandable and doesn't have any deep lore

👆 this applies to everything in general not just ocs. Talk about art. Talk about your own art. Talk about what you love in the art of others. Talk about your plans and concepts and ideas. Talk about your projects. Share with the world 🌍 🌍 🌍

Don't be shy to talk about your things. I think some people are anxious about seeing people unfollowing them. I personally use xkit to hide my followers on pc and actively avoid looking at my follower count on mobile... Because idgaf ♥️. If someone doesn't like what I post they're Nothing to me. I post about taurs and weird things basically every day. What do I have to lose? My dignity as a Tumblr blogger? Genuinely like just share whatever thoughts or concepts or doodles or drawings you want without being like "aww nobody wants to see this". Honestly I also do this because I don't have friends to talk about concepts and stuff with so your mileage may vary. Maybe you don't want to post. Maybe you worldbuild with your friends. Then maybe you can share the results of that worldbuilding and thoughts, that's good too.

Self reblog your stuff 😭 even old stuff. Self reblog your stuff and then elaborate on it further with your thoughts. Dig up old concepts and do things with them. Its okay to do this. Not everyone sees your stuff when you first post it... !

Actually engage with others. Others are more likely to see you and engage with you when you do the same to them. If you never interact with anyone else's art why would others interact with yours. And unfortunately posting stuff and expecting people to just stumble upon it is not a very good strategy...

[otogariado]

only halfway thru the new frieren episode i was almost tearing up because the theme of protecting each other and caring about life more importantly than winning is so poignant. not all the characters are human in species but once again the humanity is blossoming in frieren's story. i was so afraid they'd actually get killed last ep but i mean it's so funny now what was i even thinking. this is frieren. they won't kill unless it was really necessary.

the reveal that richter raised the platform not to make his fight with lawline and kanne easier but actually to protect them from denken's attacks was so good. the "magic is nothing if you cannot imagine it" line is so wonderful because i'm a big fan of magic systems that revolve around that logical "science-y" aspect of like. understanding how it will work in order to do it. (same reason why i love the magic in "world's greatest assassin".) laufen getting caught by frieren even though she knows it's a trap just bc she didn't want denken to get hurt was also so good. the reveal that denken didn't have a grander motive to be a first class mage beyond "i wanna go back to my hometown and visit the cementary there but only first class mages are allowed to enter" was so painfully human and so reflective of real life. it also strikes you because he was introduced as a high-profile, politically influential mage.

i love what denken says about not going out without a fight. i love that the episode ends in a fistfight for him. i love it when media uses fistfights and punching in such an emotionally-charged human way, beyond the violence, instead depicting it as some sort of catharsis really. because sometimes all you need is a good rough n tumble. in denken's case, it's his way of not giving up without a fight. i like that. i also like that this was foreshadowed by denken telling laufen to cut the tree down instead of trying to cut the restraint. "we don't have any mana" "neither do they". sometimes all it takes is to find a differently way to approach your problems and sometimes the solution is simpler than you think.

i'm a big fan of frieren breaking the barrier because she thought it was unfair to cut kanna (and by extension lawline) out of her source of magic, giving her an unfair disadvantage and honestly a handicap. it's a short part of the episode but it's so important, because it shows that if people are given the right tools and the accessibility, they can do for themselves what they want and need to do. i love that frieren is like "can you imagine winning against a water manipulating mage with water around? i can't."

i'm a fan of how the "basic" combat and defensive magic are depicted and treated as in this show. yes, people more on from traditions, but traditions are there in the first place. richter's explanation of magic history in their world provides an insight to how modern magic evolved from the foundations. but the foundations were still foundations for a reason. they made it a point with fern saying "frieren doesn't restrict me from spells" (even tho it was the setup for a small joke) that the point isn't to pick a side between tradition vs modern, but rather to learn from both and decide for yourself what you want to apply to yourself. the depiction of fern and frieren winning with traditional magic and richter and kanne overwhelming each other with modern magic makes it clear that the show isn't trying to preach to either side.

i also like the theme of "pursuing magic out for the sake of magic is enough". it's nice to hear that denken shares this mindset with frieren, because again he was introduced as someone influential and you'd think he thinks like he could use magic as a source of power. and that's the impression i got of him too from previous episodes, but a lot of first impressions of mine were proven wrong later and i'm so happy for that bc these characters have so much depth packed into them in so little time.

what else have i missed...

[adultswim2021]

HIGH-ATE-US

Hey, everyone. It's me, your erstwhile blogster. Sorry or not updating this blog for months. Things got "real weird", as they like to say in the UK. But now is the time to resume my bad life's bad work: blogging about all of Adult Swim (within reason). Umm... here we go! (I am doing an insulting gay-voice when I italicize)

It is thanksgiving. I cooked myself a nice big steak and decided to get high for the first time in a while. Really! It has actually been a while! I mostly just been doing low-dose THC CBD gummies to manage anxiety, and have not touched my more potent "fun" edibles in months. The CBD ones sorta work? I haven't intentionally highed-myself in a big while, and me being high is your big boon: in this state I have decided to come back here and start posting again. I need to get back into writing. It may still save my life yet... (sigh!)

I am watching old Letterman clips (from 1985; Milos Foreman is talking about god-knows-what). Old Letterman is very soothing to me. It is one of the first shows I ever fell in love with. I am keeping a text list of my favorite bits from a big collection of clips that I cut up into chronological order so one could roughly experience the timewarp effect of watching not only an old thing, but a lot of the same old thing in chronological order as some facsimile of time travel, or express some desire to live a parallel life where I am the same age I currently am now, but it's the 1980s. I can't be a kid again? Okay, fine. But can't I at least continue being an adult in some other time? I have be here RIGHT NOW? NO. THAT SUCKS.

why I'm trying to keep track of my favorite bits have to do with some absolutely delusional idea that I have, where I create some kind of monument to some idea of an all-encompassing television canon that I have. I'm too embarrassed to speak of it in depth, because it is truly loser shit. It isn't exactly this, but it is close to it in some spiritual way: imagine ranking every single comedy sketch you've ever seen. Is there a website that lets you do this.

I yearn for a simpler life where I live an era where physical media perfection was laserdisc, and you had to spend over $100 on a movie if Criterion happens to be the ones releasing it. That is to say, I'm in a pretty good, fairly productive mood. Let's face it: pontification is stimulating, and sadly, it's been a long while since I've felt STIMULATED. Let's take the old thinking cap out for a spin shall weee!

This post is not an episode recap, but it is me catching up on all my mails that piled up during my "real weird" exile. Some messages may be very old/irrelevant and I'm sorry if I can't answer them correctly. I will do my best.

snusuwiwjs asked:

Have you watched Jellystone S3E14 - Space Con?

I saw the RELEVANT CLIPS. This show looks very fun. I haven't been watching it for some reason. Too busy watching old Letterman. I watch stuff that doesn't require me to sit down and ACTIVELY watch it because I moved and don't have a nice big TV yet, because logistical issues persist (I received "TV Money" from my parents in the form of a Target gift card and buying the TV I want from them would require a third party such as u-haul because for some fucked up reason they won't deliver large televisions). I watch everything on a computer monitor, and I stray towards podcast and youtube junk as a result of that.

I have issues with procrastinating, too, so it's taken me this long just to get myself a couch, a laptop table for use with a couch, and a coffee table for nearby supplies and devices. I am in a very slow-moving phase lately. Pray for me that it ends soon. Anyway, I wasn't pissed off about Jellystone recasting Zorak and Moltar, unless they were going to try and have them voice Coast to Coast versions of them.

Sorta related: I have an idea for a Space Ghost finale, that would be in book-form, and I don't know if it'd be inappropriate to try and give the IP-holders in charge the idea for it, and also I think it is lame and embarrassing to have ideas for things like this when you're not actually in charge of this type of decision-making. It makes me almost worse than a fan-fiction writer. I on some level imagine myself in a pitch room saying this stuff, and that is objectively gay.

I am just going to talk about that here, because fuck it. It would be a post show-biz memoir from Space Ghost, at least by the cover that's what it'd look like. Then the memoir part (which is insane and full of very untrue sounding things) ends abruptly, because Space ghost didn't know how to fill up the required page length. So the book switches gears to make up for that, and it becomes an in-character oral history of the show, with the characters talking about the making of the show, focusing on fictional installments of the show, the conceit being that there are episodes of Coast to Coast that never aired on Earth.

Because you're describing all new-episodes, you could get famous people to riff out a fake talk show scenario they supposedly experienced in one of these unseen episodes. The cornerstone of this section of the book will be the characters describing the finale of Coast to Coast. Maybe they honor Toonami canon and have Moltar depart the galaxy, never to be hard from again. Oh yeah the book would also go out of it's way to include this as is the in-universe reason that Moltar's sections in the oral history are all specifically said to be from archival sources and attributed to previous publications, like he wasn't interviewed specifically for the book.

I do not have actual story ideas for this. Just concepts. I am sorry if you thought there'd be more. I am just describing a Space Ghost book that I would be very excited to read. Anyway, that section of the book ends and then there's a series of all-black pages with white text, resembling adult swim bumpers. They read: "Space Ghost and co. are not real. They're not even human; they're cartoons. Some of the things they do would cause a person to get hurt, expelled, arrested, possibly deported. To put it another way: don't try this at home."

Then the rest of the book will be an actual making-of the real show, like an for-real oral history (and there will be glossy pages with cool Space Ghost art and behind-the-scenes photos), and then the cornerstone of THAT section will be a big list of every guest star they could possibly ask or piece together anecdotally what every guest star on the show thought of their episode after it aired. Give Sean Medlock an entire page to vent.

THAT IS MY IDEA FOR A SPACE GHOST BOOK AND I HOPE THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ACCESS TO THAT PARTICULAR IP READ THIS AND STEAL ALL OF THESE IDEAS (please let me come to one pitch meeting for it)

Here's another from snusuwiwjs!

Oh hey, you watched Barenaked Ladies! Honestly that’s the only GameTap episode I liked. It is also the only one I watched because I got baited by the title. Anyway, you said there was a Fox fakeout promo for Family Guy on Adult Swim, but I don’t think I could find anything? All reuploads only show the Adult Swim bump, so it would be nice if you could show some proof, mister.

Found a reupload here! Barenaked Ladies is the closest the Gametap episodes came to feeling like a real episode.

I’m sorry to jump ahead, but are you keeping up with the apparent falling-out between Eric Andre and his writing partner Dan Curry over Johnny Knoxville? Curry alleges Knoxville tased him like a week into that ABC prank panel show that Knoxville and Andre were part of, causing Curry a broken bone, and Curry further claims Andre told him not to make a big deal about it. He also claims Andre canceled some of their book tour over this dispute.

I didn't know Eric Andre would ever accuse someone of being a drama queen. I have not followed this, I'm not sure I care about it though just sayin!!! I respect you with peace and love but I don't now if I can have an opinion about this. I need to receive a big check from my car insurance before I can start thinking about stuff like that. I am sorry, but some parts of my brain are simply on hold right now.

Another from snusuwiwjs

member the antenna episode of athf? it’s kind of sad how adult swim fucked their employees over, isn’t it? george, clay, andy were often portrayed as living in the dumps and looking for a job, but it isn’t too far from truth, is it?

No it is not far from the truth at all! It is very sad. The elites ruling over us are denying us god's grace and we must become evil and violent towards them soon. I am parroting something frequent mail-bagger KON said to me while chatting in PRIVATE CHANNELS: They really should just do a Jellystone spin-off with that iteration of Brak. Or "The Calarts Brak Show" as he called it. Get Andy out of those trucks. Somebody could get hurt in those things.

simpsons

That's nice slugger... (BIGGEST EYEROLL IN THE UNIVERSE)

From KON, who is actually just a character I do:

it's time for the blog to come back

No Kon! NOT YET

janeane garofalo in the cable guy

I once had a phase where I tried to become a Janeane completist and I watched all of her movies I think up to MATCHMAKER, which was too bad to bear and made me stop doing that. I still love her. I wish that I could meet her. I had a very good chance once and I let it slip by me. I should maybe attend one of her standing-up comedy engagements, if she still does that.

If anybody has a copy of that Mr. Show commercial where she's dressed like a mallrat and mary lynn rajskub does the Macar-anus but it's an actual HQ video taped from TV and not a guy pointing their phone at the TV screen please let me know.

There are a small number of Promos for Mr. Show that have not been collected on DVD. I want them all! GIVE ME THEM! (the series of ones where they jump through paper hoops for season 4, for example). Also I do not have a nice copy of the season 2 best-of, which was supposed to bet put on DVD but wasn't. That's the one where they are doing a news conference.

i have a special late-breaking scoop just for you: Justin Roiland has passed. he's gone, for good. you have my blessing to inform your readers of this JUICY story

Goodbye Justin Roiland! We loved your funny video games and rabble-rousing rhetoric on bluesky. I hope you thrive in him/he-aven

happy "jimmy carter gets to vote for kamala harris day" to those who celebrate. which adult swim chars do you think are cheering him on :)

Everyone in town is expected to turn out

FROM KON:

Blog's gotta be coming back any day now

♪♫ OH, KON... :D ♪♫

[kismetconstellations]

🔥 + anything Zac Efron related, please & thank you :)

(You can ignore the first one. I should really read instructions all the way through before sending in asks)

No worries. You are totally fine. ^//^

Let's hope this doesn't get too inflammatory.

I'm not a fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe for a variety of reasons, and would prefer Zac never be a part of it.

I think Zac's indie dramas are infinitely more fascinating than his mainstream comedies (they also come with the added bonus of not humiliating and disrespecting him while also objectifying him at every turn), and hope that he continues to do more of them.

Honestly, anything that keeps him out of Hollywood and away from the toxicity of the industry is all right with me.

Seeing his malnourished Baywatch physique continually held up as some sort of "ideal" upsets me to my core. All the more so, knowing just how negatively the whole experience affected him, contributing to his depression and insomnia and causing him to tear up on-camera when he was finally able to eat carbs, again.

This will come as absolutely no shock to anyone who has been following me since 2016, when the world was treated to, as I like to call them, High School Musical Shitstorm: Parts Un and Deux, but I strongly feel that Zac doesn't owe the collective High School Musical fandom any reprisals of his role as the heart and soul of the franchise. Especially when so many people who consider themselves a part of that fanbase are all too keen to minimize or outright ignore Zac and Troy's significance to the original trilogy's success, mock and deride both of them as "boring" or worse, and leave nasty comments like this--

-- on social media posts of members of the cast reuniting. (Please do not seek out or bother any of the people in the above screenshot, by the way. I don't believe that you or any of my other followers would, but it's still a necessary precaution, just in case. Please be kind, everyone. Even when others are not.) I know it's immature and petty on my end, but I don't see why people who behave this way and treat Zac's professional attempts to distance himself from this franchise with scorn and further mockery, even though his past reputation as a "tween heartthrob" still colors directors' perceptions of him, resulting in him needing to prove himself worthy nearly twenty years on, should be rewarded. I feel for the fans who crave a High School Musical reunion because it would take them back to a simpler, happier time in their lives, but the films are right there and always will be there to be revisited at any time. The past is the past for a reason, and Zac, just like anyone else, should be allowed to move on.

Zac was perfectly cast as Phillip Carlyle. There is no one else who could have brought Phillip to life as immaculately, and no actor more deserving of the career revitalization The Greatest Showman delivered tenfold. My sympathies go out to Jeremy Jordan if he legitimately did have to sing live demos of "all of Hugh's songs", as well as Phillip's, before the studio executives while recovering from a nasty bout of laryngitis. That does not, however, make him entitled to a role he never so much as considered auditioning for.

Zac, on the other hand, had already been involved with the production for four years, alluding to a potential upcoming role in a movie musical as early as 2015, and contacting studios on director Michael Gracey's behalf to assist him, Hugh, and the rest of the crew in getting the green light.

Thus, you can imagine how thoroughly it rankles me to see fans of Mr. Jordan insinuating that Zac, a legitimate triple threat, was an inferior choice made to secure the support of Zac's larger fanbase, or- even more deluded- to placate the "ego" of show business veteran Hugh Jackman, who was supposedly "threatened" by Mr. Jordan's vocal prowess.

The Greatest Showman Cast is superior to the High School Musical Cast; in terms of talent, camaraderie, and maturity. You don't see any of them making backhanded comments years later about Zac being their "worst on-screen kiss", or their "favorite scene" with Zac being one where his character was "so dumb". (Even though Troy was very obviously emotionally manipulated into believing that something was going on with Ryan and Gabriella, by Gabriella. That's such a low, douchebaggy thing to say, and my already minimal respect for Lucas Grabeel has dropped to near non-existent because of it.)

---

And, I think that's about it. Thank you so very much for asking, and I sincerely apologize a million times over for it taking me so long to post this response! I've been quite busy babysitting my niece and tending to personal affairs, and haven't had the energy to properly run this blog. But, I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things, and put more lovely things onto my followers' dashboards.

I appreciate your patience, and I hope that these answers prove to be worth the wait. ❤

[mable-stitchpunk]

I've watched your video on Eleanor and I'd love to ask a few questions!

Do you think her character could ever be redeemed and if so, how? Like, do you think she should be made into a game villain, similar to Baby, or a side character? Maybe a new animtatronic with a backstory? Or do you think she should just never appear in any of the media again?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

Sure thing! 8D

It depends on what you mean! I'm guessing you mean redeemed as a character, not like redeemed in the story. I think she's killed too many people for that. XD Jokes aside, I DO think Eleanor could've worked if a few more steps were taken.

I think she could work as a game villain. (Not sure if To Be Beautiful could translate into a full Fazbear Frights game though) The most important part would be to implement her in a way that doesn't feel too... like she's a reference to the books. Have a sizeable enough encounter that people look her up because they're curious, not confused. Having her be a new animatronic could definitely help in that!

A new backstory could also benefit Eleanor. Adding an agony demon to the games might be a little too detached from the current plot. For reference, the books seemed to have trouble explaining it. Something a little simpler would probably suffice. Such as- - An animatronic built to collect Agony. - An animatronic haunted by Agony and thus seeks it out. Or the tried and true: - Afton's old and forgotten organ retrieval robot who used to harvest fresh organs for him to do funky experiments on.

And honestly, I do think Eleanor should've had her own design instead of looking like Baby. I don't mind her looking like a human or a doll, but I think making her look like Baby sort of sold short her potential by making her a variation of an earlier character. You know? So, if they brought her back, having a somewhat more distinct design- even if it is a severely broken Baby- could help her be her own unique thing.

I'm not sure at this time Eleanor could be introduced so abruptly as a main villain and really stick, but she could probably be introduced as a side threat- imagine like Sun/Moon- and with the right first appearance she could really take off.

I think the only way Eleanor could've been really worked into the plot semi-seamlessly(?) before this point and had herself as a true big bad is if she was involved with the Vanny plotline somehow. Like if in Security Breach, Vanessa and Vanny were shown separately, so you think Vanessa is good and Vanny is evil. But then, surprise! Vanessa is actually possessed and Vanny (played by Eleanor) is the fallguy/fakeout to cover for good cop Vanessa.

Now I'm not saying that's a good idea, but I can't see any other place before now where Eleanor's specific abilities could've been brought into play. Going forward from now, anything's possible!

And as for Eleanor appearing again, I would be mildly curious. But only if it's her and not Foxy who's later revealed to be her. XDD

I hope that answered your questions! 8D If you have any more, please ask!

[max1461]

Ok, here's another one. This is also about Japan, but to me these two anecdotes exemplify the way Western media often talks about non-Western cultures generally. The new Shōgun TV show has just come out, and so there's a fair amount of discussion online recently about early Japanese contact with the Portuguese, and in particular how "the Portuguese brought guns to Japan". And this is 100% true, the Portuguese did introduce firearms to Japan. Simpler gunpowder weapons like hand cannons had been introduced from China in the 13th or 14th century, but true firearms (that is: hand-held, projectile-firing, gunpowder weapons with a finger-pull trigger mechanism) were introduce to Japan by the Portuguese in 1543.

But here is what usually gets left out: Japan was an outlier in East Asia for not already possessing and widely using true firearms. I won't get into the debate on where exactly the first true firearms were developed, but early use of them was made in both Eastern Europe and the Ottoman empire. By they end of the 15th century they were being used prominently by militaries in both the Christian and Islamic worlds. This is where you get the famous "gunpowder empires"—the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals—who built their success on the back of gunpowder weaponry, including firearms. From the Islamic world, firearms spread through trade to East and South East Asia. During the 16th century they were being produced at least in China, Vietnam, and Maritime South East Asia. There's a huge variety of local designs and innovations from this early period of firearms history. When the Portuguese attacked Malacca in 1511, they were met with the Java arquebus (actually I'm not sure if any were used in the battle, but they were noticed by the Portuguese after the conquest). This is less than half a century after the time of the first trigger-fired arquebuses known from Europe.

So, when you put it all this way, "the Portuguese brought guns to Japan" takes on a different timbre. The story as it's usually told slots nicely into this narrative that most Americans, at least, grow up with—the narrative of first contact, of technologically superior Europeans gallivanting around the world and blowing the natives' minds with what might as well be magic to them. And usually conquering them, which is perhaps sad, maybe even morally horrifying, but also inevitable. That's just how it goes when pre-modernity suddenly makes contact with modernity. But when you actually tell the full story, when you include all these details, the picture gets more complicated. The just-so story doesn't quite go down as easily.

So, these are just two examples. But to me it looks like the conversation in "the West" (I've been using this term throughout, but I actually kind of hate it—maybe I should say: the Anglosphere, at least) is full of these conspicuous absences, there's a lot of selective discussion of dates, facts, etc. in accordance with this narrative, and if you go just a little bit off the beaten path you lose the just-so story. I don't really think this is intentional, I just think it's a self-perpetuating cycle. People grow up hearing this story, they repeat it without knowing better, anything that accords with it feels reasonable and truthy and the narrative gets further cemented, etc.

This is why talk about the "Great Divergence" and so on bothers me so much. Not because it is untrue that Europe went through a period of great economic and scientific flourishing in the early modern period and through the 19th century; it certainly did. But because it seems to me that no one can bring themselves to tell this story without at the same time making a hundred little lies of omission, until the degree to which it resembles real history is strained in favor of something closer to mythology.

It's gonna bug me so much when, probably in the next couple decades, Japanese Imperial Household Law changes to allow women to ascend to the throne again and the Western media breathlessly reports that ultraconservative Japan is finally getting with the times...

In actuality Japan has had 8 empress regnants (that is, empresses who actually ruled, as opposed to just being the wife of an emperor; not to be confused with "empress regent" which is something else), including one empress who succeeded another empress (Empress Genshō following Empress Genmei) in a matrilineal fashion. Obviously this isn't great as far as gender equality goes, but it's basically comparable to European monarchies—in fact it's the same number of female monarchs as England has had in roughly the same span of time, given that the pre-Asuka emperors are more or less legendary. There's actually another empress, empress regent Jingū, if you want to count legendary figures. She may or may not be the same person as Queen Himiko of early Sino-Japanese records.

It's maybe worth noting also that the Chrysanthemum Throne has been a basically ceremonial position for most of Japanese history, from the 12th century until today, with the brief exception of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. But most of Japan's empresses reigned during the Asuka and Nara periods (6th to 8th centuries), when the monarchs were actually politically in power. In fact, during the Nara period just about every other reign was that of an empress.

Anyway, male-only succession and strict patrilineality weren't enshrined in law until the Imperial House Law of 1889 during the Meiji period, as part of the Prussian-influenced Meiji constitution. Certainly both principles had been strong norms prior to this, but they weren't legally enshrined. There's not any sense in which it would be unprecedented for Japan to have an empress, certainly no less precedented than for England to have a queen.

But it's Japan, right? They're uber traditional over there *katana sound effect* *kabuki YOOO sound effect* *salaryman bowing to his stern looking boss stock footage*. So obviously they're behind the enlightened west...

[pellicano-sanguino]

Random Thoughts about Kamitsuki Academy, Chapter 5

Final chapter of Volume One.

Last chapter we saw Ichigo finally getting something to do besides entertaining her partner at the dorm. This chapter we see Shizuku go out to play. Since Ichigo's spending more time at the cafeteria with Momo, Shizuku decides to visit the school library to pass time while waiting for her host to get home.

Carmilla is not that thick of a book. But I appreciate the inclusion of this classic to the library.

Shizuku seems to find special comfort in reading picture books, to wrap herself in the cozy blanket of nostalgia. There is definitely a kind of yearning for simpler, safer times that I recognize in reading/watching media for children. When the world around us gets darker by the day and the responsibilities of adult life feel like heavy shackles, it's tempting to, if only for a moment, to dive into a world that has been protected from all that. Also, it annoys me that so often media for adults means that it must be depressive, violent or filled with het sex. At least in stuff made for kids I don't have to worry about suprise penis.

When reaching for a book on a high shelf (...who puts picture books up on a high shelf, where toddlers can't reach them?), Shizuku is helped by a human girl who wants to read the same book. The girl's name is Bergamotte but she keeps referring to herself as Belle (yes, she does the weird talking about herself in third person thing that some Japanese girls do). Shizuku is a bit nervous to be this close to a human, especially one who's this cute and smells kinda nice.

The Very Hungry Yamabiru looks strangely cute with its razor teeth and beady eyes.

The oppressor and the oppressed empathize with fictional characters differently.

Before they leave the library, Belle says that she's comfortable talking with Shizuku even if she's a vampire, because Shizuku doesn't have ”the pity towards living creatures that only vampires have.” I'm not sure I follow her logic. Wouldn't lacking pity be a bad thing? Or does it hurt her pride to be pitied? Belle goes on to say that she wishes her partner was more like Shizuku.

Back at the dorm, Shizuku cheerfully tells Ichigo about making friends with a human. Since you two seem to get along so well, Ichigo says, have you sampled her blood yet. Shizuku is speechless at this casual suggestion. Of course not, that would be super weird! Besides I only met her today. ”So?” Ichigo replies, ”We did the blood drinking on the day we met.” (not really, you did it the next day). ”That's different!” Shizuku says, ”We are partners.” She tries to change the subject by asking if Ichigo has a favourite book. Perhapst the Japanese language textbook, Ichigo asnwers and then says the line, ”I didn't have much taste for things I don't need to live.” If this hint at how harsh growing up on a ”farm” was and how Ichigo has been disciplined to discard anything that doesn't serve the purpose of a blood slave makes Shizuku uncomfortable, she doesn't say anything or acknowledge it. I keep getting whimplash when the slice of life with cute little vampire and her tall, intimidating host reminds me that it takes place in a dystopian world.

Next day Shizuku spends the evening at the library reading with Belle again, but her mind is elsewhere. Something keeps troubling her regarding the conversation she had with Ichigo. She compares her partner to Belle and thinks that humans sure come in different types. She begins to feel thirsty and glances at the clock, noticing that she stayed longer than usually, so that explains why her throat feels dry. At that moment Belle says that she can tell Shizuku's getting thirsty. She then pushes her finger into Shizuku's mouth to touch her fang to confirm that it's indeed coated with saliva in preparation of a bite. This invasive move shocks Shizuku into silence. My what cute tiny fangs you have, Belle giggles, if I was bitten by these, it would surely tickle.

Combining the random princess imagery with the random food imagery.

Belle then outright offers that if Shizuku wants, she can have some of her blood. I think this is as good a place as any to mention the weird food imagery that the humans are sometimes depicted with. Is it symbolism to show that to a hungry vampire a human is nothing more than a snack? Is it an attempt to convey to the readers, how a vampire feels when seeing tasty looking humans (”See, it's like suddenly there's cake.”). Or is it something the manga author is into? Well, there are worse perversions out there than liking to see girls presented with food.

”But Onee-sama!” Shizuku whispers, her face flushing. ”We are at the library!” No one will see anything if we sit close together and do it silently,” Belle handwaves the vampire's worries.

Meanwhile, Momo and Ichigo have been spying on these two by peeking between bookshelves. Momo doesn't recongnize the human girl, other than she must be a second year based on the colour of her scarf. Ichigo doesn't want to stay behind to see how things escalate and says that she'll go home. Momo is surprised. Don't you want to go there and speak to her? As she reaches out for Ichigo's arm, Ichigo slaps away her hand and monotonously goes on how she must get home now and prepare for her partner's dinner. Even though she was the one suggesting that Shizuku should have a taste test on Belle, she sure seems jealous.

On the way back to dorm Ichigo bumps into some fangirls, who remark how she's always smiling and looking perfect but no one knows what she truly feels or thinks. Oh, you'd be surprised how one track mind she has, girls. Suddenly she hears her name called. Shizuku flies after her on her tiny wings.

Momo had revealed to her that they'd been watching her. It was rude to just walk away, Shizuku scolds, you made Momo angry. Ichigo realized that Shizuku has not bitten Belle and says that since you went through the trouble of befriending a human, you should have at least tried to sample her blood. I saw your face, I saw how tempted you were. Yes, I was quite hungry, Shizuku admits, so that's why I had to get to my partner's side swiftly. She quotes the picture book; The Very Hungry Yamabiru kept biting different animals and sampling their blood until it grew too fat and burst into a pool of blood. Ichigo is confused by this, not having read the book and unfamiliar with the quote. Shizuku swears to learn from the book's lesson, to keep her greed in moderation. And so, she can only allow herself to drink blood from her host. That's only doable because you are a tiny midget of a vampire, Ichigo remarks but her smile seems more genuine now.

Belle is not taking it well that her offer was refused. Who does she think she is, this shrimpy midget, to abstain from the Bergamotte!

Predatory Lesbian interrupts Belle's temper tantrum. Turns out that she and Belle are partners. Belle, knowing that Predatory Lesbian has set her eyes on Ichigo, thought her partner would have a better chance at getting to her prey if Shizuku was being distracted. It's very flattering that you did it for my sake, but I want to earn Ichigo's blood fair and square. (yeah, sure).

Are we sure the blood drinking isn't a stand-in for sex? Predatory Lesbian being the flirty person who prefers one-night-stands as opposed to Shizuku who is devotedly monogamous.

This is the end of volume one. The series does have a second volume, but I probably won't make chapter by chapter blogging of it, because I found it adding very little to the world building and being mostly about Predatory Lesbian trying to get her fangs on Ichigo. They do go on a date to see a movie that's a combination of Godzilla and Cinderella and that was pretty funny.

Final thoughts: Kamitsuki Academy stood out to me among many identical, forgettable vampire stories. That doesn't make it particularly good and I am forever bitter for all the lost potential for deeper lore and symbolism. Dystopias are often critiques of things already existing in some form in our society, just given a twist and then taken to the extreme to point out the unethical things we have grown so numb to that we don't even notice them. I want to never become like the vampires in this series, ignorant to the tragedy of humans having lost their freedom because the status quo suits their interests. And I hope never to become like Ichigo, content in my cage.

[tyunni]

ㅤwhen you have another members pc in your phonecase !!

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤenhypen masterlist | library

a/n: ignore how the formatting is simpler than my other ones, i just couldn't be bothered. Anyways idk when i'm coming back, probably somewhere around June ?? This is just a simple post, you'll find me doing these at random times before June.

genre: crack, fluff; warnings: cursing, not proofread, mentions of burning something; disclaimer: this is obviously not how the members are in real life, it's all simply fanfiction. That is all, now enjoy!

Heeseung . . .

The second he spots his member's face inside your phonecase, he gets extremely awkward.

Tries his best not to let it bother him yet he can't help but eye the back of your device as you mindlessly scroll through social media, paying Heeseung and his growing frustration no mind... Which makes him sulk even more.

Feels as though you using Jay's photocard is your way of telling him you like Jay more, which is obviously false because Heeseung is literally your boyfriend but... God knows what goes on inside his head.

Doesn't really say anything about it so you just keep it there for a while, but you do notice that he acts more awkward around both you and Jay. Still you don't replace the pc until you get bored of it.

Once you do finally take the photocard out Heeseung lets out a sigh of relief and things go back to normal 🤨🤨

Jay . . .

He... Really does not care- i'm sorry HELP

Probably the last member to care about these sorts of things. Sure, he's a teeny tiny bit on the possessive and/or jealous side, but he loves you and you love him, why would he get jealous of some piece of paper??

I mean it was probably one of your pulls, the member looks great in that picture and you using the photocard in your phonecase is just your way of supporting the boy, so he sees no problem with it.

Although... He does suggest to buy you his pc in case you didn't get the pull you wanted (bcuz in his eyes manifesting his pcs should be your top priority when buying an album /hj)

But when you tell him that you're satisfied with the photocards and thank him, he just goes "oh, okay!" and continues with his day

Jake . . .

The second his eyes land on your phonecase, he's thinking of ways to tease you. A shithead #1

"ooooo y/n who's that in your phonecase??? Is that Sunoo?? oOOoOO DO YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON HIM OR SMTH?? Girl, spill! Tell me all about it" "Jake i've been dating you for over a year now, what are you even talking about-"

Doesn't really care, much like Jay, he just likes to tease and be a playful asshole from time to time. Annoys you so much you're ready to shred the poor photocard to pieces.

His intentions weren't to make you take out the pc and replace it with his, but he isn't against it either. Whispers to Sunoo about how you fancy him and Sunoo just stands there confused as fuck because aren't you and Jake literally dating-

"yeah Sunoo, they definitely have a crush on you, you're literally in their phonecase-" "OKAY JAKE LOOK IT'S YOUR PHOTOCARD. NOT SUNOO'S. I REPLACED IT. YOU HAPPY??"

Sunghoon . . .

Hates it lmao HATES IT. No. Absolutely not.

Grabs your phone and switches the photocard with his own in a matter of seconds. And you just stand there. Shocked.

Immediately realizes when the back of your phone looks different, spots the photocard and if it isn't his, he will switch it. Doesn't matter if he has to do it while you're in the bathroom, showering, eating, drinking water, or are literally holding the phone inside your hand. He will find a way to get that thing out of there.

When buying you an album he buys his own photocard separately so whenever you don't pull him he snatches the pc with another members face out of your hands and gives you his instead. Now you have a collection of Sunghoon's. Good for you!!

Sunoo . . .

Much like Heeseung, it's just a bit awkward for him. He doesn't say much, but deep down he's uncomfortable.

Does his stomach twist because he's jealous of Heeseung in your phonecase or because it's weird for him to look at his hyung doing a cute pouty face? Most definitely the latter. Shithead #2

Doesn't understand why you even like that pc, the aegyo is quote unqote "forced" and "not how Sunoo taught him" but whatever, he lets you have your fun. Plus he gets to tease Heeseung by randomly shoving your phone in front of his face and embarrassing him, so it's a win-win situation.

When you get tired of the pc and feel the need to switch things up, Sunoo suggests you get matching phonecases or take polaroids of each other and use those instead 'cuz if he has to look at another member doing aegyo he will snap-

Jungwon . . .

Jealous for suuuure, he is one jealous boy. Get ready for silent treatment 'cause mans did not come to play-

"Why is Sunghoon inside your phonecase? 🤨 Do you want attention from me or something? Is this your way of telling me you want me to spend more time with you??" "No... I just like the pc-" "😕 Okay then..."

That's when the silent treatment begins, pays you no mind at all. Even pretends you're invisible sometimes 'cause if you aren't doing this for his attention then, fine, he won't give you any at all!

Knows he's acting childish but still, he prefers this over verbal confrontation because it's more "subtle". Which it isn't, by the way. There is nothing subtle about the way his eyebrows furrow whenever he subconsciously looks at your phonecase.

Rushes towards you when you leave to empty your phonecase, holding a polaroid of you two together in his hands and telling you it would look better than that Sunghoon photocard.

Ni-ki . . .

Hates it pt.2 oh god he just dislikes it so much

Tells you straight away that the photocard looks "mad goofy inside your phonecase" and that it should be his, but you just ignore him 'cause he's being dramatic and Jake looks good in the picture

Unlike Jay, he has beef with that piece of paper. He will square up.

Whenever you leave your phone lying around with its screen facing the ground/couch/table/whatever you come back to riki glaring daggers at the pc. He just doesn't like it, it irks him.

Had a nightmare starring none other than your beloved Jake pc. After that he swore that thing was haunting him (it isn't, he just thinks about it a lot because it bothers him that you haven't switched to a ni-ki pc yet ☹️☹️)

"y/n, it is staring into my soul. Get rid of it"

Ends up burning it one night

©tyunni please do not copy, translate or repost my work.

taglist: @hyukaas @junityy @uygmoeb @sunghun @krewified @eternallyhyucks @pshjae @marknaeroni @feyregels @yyx2 @koishua @kac-chowsballs @echo-of-a-writer @w3bqrl @liz-riz @duolingofanaccount @goldenhypen @sungniverse @enhasimpeu @sieuneo @acciomylove @soobin-chois @anik-4 (bold means i can’t mention you, if you want to be a part of my taglist fill this out!!)

[soie-lux]

Looking Back at My 2022 Goals: Leveling Up Mentally and Spiritually in 2023

As 2022 comes to a close, take some time to reflect. Look back at the goals you set at the beginning of the year. How did you do? What are some things you wish you would've done differently?

My goals for this year were:

I honestly didn't look back too much at this list throughout the year, but I can thankfully say many of my goals have organically been incorporated in my routines and daily life bit by bit as the year went on.

It doesn't matter if you started working towards your goals January 1st or December 1st, all that matters is that you had the discipline to start. To implement every single one of your goal's January 1st can be overwhelming to some, and discouraging when you fail to keep up the habits, which is why so many people drop their New Year's resolutions in the first 2-3 weeks. You don't have to sprint towards the finish line the second the new year begins. Be gentle with yourself. By implementing your goals slowly and gradually into you daily life, you are more likely to keep up with them.

One of my goals for 2022 was to do some form of joyful movement at least 5 days out of the week. I found pilates, stretching, and daily walks worked best for me rather than going to a gym. I want to be able to enjoy life freely for as long as possible and that means taking care of myself and my body. During the summer months, my 5am morning walks and pilates were Godsend. It required serious discipline to get to wake up so early, but it was so worth it! I feel so much stronger and energized! This is a habit I definitely want to carry into 2023. I wasn't consistent with my daily joyful movement it until May, and that's okay! Starting later is better than not starting at all.

Setting limits on social apps has really helped decrease my screen time. I've definitely noticed the less I spent online, the better I felt mentally and my mindset regarding online/media spaces has shifted drastically. I don't feel the need to be in the loop when it comes to the latest trends of what's "in" vs what's "out." No longer am I caught up in the happenings of celebrity and internet culture (the less you check into trending topics and gossip blurbs, you'll find yourself caring less and less about them, trust me). I noticed the more time I spent obsessing over social media and trying to fit into a specific aesthetic, the less I was able to truly be myself. Get off the internet and learn about yourself!! Forget about trends, what do you like to wear? What do you like to do? Don't let the internet fool you into behaving in a way that makes you feel artificial. Since I've learned this, life has become so much richer and simpler.

Quality over quantity has been a big theme for me this year. I wanted to apply this to my closet as well and create a capsule wardrobe filled with high quality pieces rather than fast fashion items. I've always been drawn neutral tones and earthy tones, but recently have developed a soft-spot for navy and burgundy. I've slowly been swapping out my polyester and acrylic items for pieces made of pure silk, linen, cotton, cashmere, and wool. I'm at a place now where I'd rather spend my money on one high quality basic that will last me years and years than numerous fast fashion items of equal monetary value.

Cooking and baking has always been a hobby of mine, but after some mental/health challenges, I found it hard to enjoying being in the kitchen. I don't remember the moment it all clicked, but the autumn months really helped me fall back in love with cooking. All the things I was doing to physically keep my body moving made me want to ensure I was fueling my body properly as well. I spent less time in grocery stores and more time at farmers markets talking to the farmers/vendors and learning about where the food I'm eating is actually coming from!! Organic produce, free-range eggs, grass-fed meats, locally made bread and locally harvested honey as much as possible. Cooking and baking things from scratch instead of buying it processed from the super market. Eating with the seasons. Making my first sourdough starter. Beginning with a few basic ingredients and witnessing something beautiful come into fruition from oven to plate. I'm so thankful I was able to discover an all-new joy for being in the kitchen this year, and I plan to continue to harness these skills in 2023.

I thank God for the way He has helped me grow in my faith this year. Spending time in His word daily. Praying to Him not just as part of my morning and nightly routine, but sometimes multiple times throughout my day just to chat or ask for guidance. Learning to put His will for my life above my own. Learning to trust Him with everything in my life and giving Him full control. Learning to serve others rather than always looking to be served. In the beginning of the year, my goal was to become "that girl," but now my goal is to become the woman of God the Lord wants me to be. I want to be a woman after His own heart. To spreads God's love with the world by being gentle, kind, wise, graceful, poised, soft-spoken, and selfless. I am in no way perfect, but I'm thankful for the growth I've seen this year and I thank God in advance for the work He will do in me this coming year.

[sunflwryu]

tldr; i'm probably not going to write on this blog anymore.

i don't want to say that i won't completely because hey, maybe one day i'll feel like it, but this is what i wanted to say because i don't want to leave you all waiting...well, it's likely you've stopped after some due to my inactivity and that's okay and valid!

i became inactive here because i wasn't enjoying writing anymore, nor was i into k-pop that much, especially since i was into it a lot to help me cope with how terrible and lonely my life was and felt, and sometimes it still is. writing became somewhat of a hollow thing for me, and i tried so many times to write my drafts, to get the words out, but i couldn't. i would be taking things out of my control that had to do with my blog and writing to heart, i would get so frustrated and depressed at myself to the point that i put an incredible amount of pressure on myself to write something, anything, and when i didn't, my thoughts would spiral on top of what i already had to deal with irl.

so i left this tumblr behind for the sake of myself, hoping that maybe my passion and love for writing would reignite after a break, but it hasn't, not for this blog, only for the journal entries i wrote to cope with my daily life and mental health. i've never been much of a social media person anyway.

i feel like a completely different person than when i was last here. i'm not into k-pop anymore and i barely know what's going on in terms of news and drama but i'll tune into some songs and the older ones that give me nostalgia from simpler times. i've made friends who genuinely appreciate me and i've gotten better at setting my boundaries when it matters and taking care of myself. i have someone that genuinely likes me and always is there for me and tells me i'm beautiful everyday without fail. my skin has gotten better and less painful these days too.

there's a lot that's happened since my last post a few months ago, but what i can say is my life has improved, although there are things i'm still working on, including my ultimate goal i'm still reaching for of a happiness that isn't so fragile.

i want to focus on that goal now.

that's not to say that this blog doesn't mean that much to me, because it does. it helped me so much back then to cope with what horrible things i was dealing with, to write about a world that's not this one, to help others who maybe felt like me, to free my heart of the ideas i kept suppressed for a long time. it really built that foundation for me to grow as i am now.

so thank you so much for all the likes, all the reblogs, the comments, the moots, the readers, the followers, the anons, everyone who's ever set sights on this little blog of mine.

thank you for sticking with me along the way and helping me to make this blog a place that i'm proud to look back upon, to reread my works again and remember how much fun i had writing them. thank you for liking them and telling me your thoughts, thank you for giving them love because that made me happier amidst what i was going through at the time. i hope i was able to give you all comfort and entertainment through the works i enjoyed to write.

i'll pop in sometimes (no promises on the frequency of that), read some stuff, answer asks, make major update posts, but i don't think i'll be around too much. oh, and don’t worry, my blog will stay up, i’ll never personally take it down unless smthg else interferes. if you've read this far, congratulations! have a heart ♥

but seriously, thank you for everything. — yumi

—

p.s. credits to @argodeon for the banner/image! it's so beautiful!

[freakygirlie]

Hi. Itk here. Believe me, don't, doesn't matter. Thought I'd drop (after you summoned ha) by given the chaos and try to enlighten the ones who choose to believe me, as much as I'm capable of.

The first thing I wanna say is: stop trying to figure out their relationship. You most likely never will. Fans are stuck on both extremes, when the actuality of it is far more in the middle (perhaps even up or down and all around ha). It's complex and strange and not at all "normal" (as normal as they could be, anyways).

It's not as simple as "oh they're just a closeted couple who engage in bearding and have kids and behind closed doors they're just a regular, old married couple and a big, happy rainbow family".

Doesn't sound like itk info, believe me, I get that but observing the fandom I'd say it almost is because most fans simply hang on extreme simplistic ideas of what their relationship is.

Second thing I'd like to say and unfortunately seems like it's not at all obvious but: do not believe anything they share publicly. Not saying they're lying compulsively, but they are public figures and they have a lot at stake to just casually drop the actual truth of any given situation.

Just don't. The same salt you have regarding itks, have towards them. It'd do you some good...Believe me. Unless you are involved in the entertainment or political life, you cannot even begin to fathom what it's really like, the level of manipulation, falsehood and well, overall deviation of it. It's quite disturbing tbh. So just always take whatever's said and shown with a good amount of salt. With public people hardly anything is accidental or casual.

I think the most prominent question now is...Why? Why would they do something like that? Regardless if you have the ingenuity to believe the little scene they made or not...Still, the question lingers.

With my level of "in the knowness" I cannot for sure say the real reason, yet from the pieces I've collected so far, seems to be a multiple gain scheme. It was a high risk, they were well aware, and it paid out in the way they were expecting, minus small bumps here and there. But overall it seemed to have worked in their favor. How in the hell, one would ask?

Believe me, I used my best sneaky capabilities to find out exactly why but they were smart enough to keep this one locked tight, minus a few loose lips. And from those all I've heard was that "whatever the purpose was, it worked out".

As weird as it may sound to the innocent mind, it's actually not at all, given that even leaked nudes are not at all leaked or accidental, and those tend to (at least in the past) get immense amount of backlash. It's not the first time famous folks fake a fight, surely won't be the last.

A lot goes into public image, it's not black and white as "well but it looked bad on Jensen", "it looked bad on the prequel", etc. You'd be surprised as how little this truly matters given the level of manipulation they are able to pull on the public. And well, even with them...It happens all the time. Both made mistakes far worse than just "not telling my bestie about my new project" and fans would eventually let that go and put them back on the pedestal.

So just remember, always: not in the industry? then don't judge anything because you simply do not understand how it works.

Another piece of itk information I can give besides "this was planned and it worked" is: they are fine. From what I've heard they are not fighting over it or going through anything more dramatic than what they usually have been going through ever since they met haha.

So just sit back and chill out. Breathe, read fanfiction and remember that we will never truly get answers, because even what comes out of their mouths are most of the time carefully thought out and directed to have a specific meaning and effect (why do you think Jared mumbles and rambles so much?).

Another interesting piece of itk: you know how they always say they never fight? Even though that sounds insanely hard to believe even if they were just friends because who knows someone for that long and is constantly together and never fights? Unlikely, right? Yes, as obvious as that was. But unfortunately a lot of you seem to believe that, given the level of shock you had for this little twitter feud (as fake as it was). Yeah. They fight. A lot.

They fight as much as individuals in their situation would. Like I said, not at all what most people absentmindedly seem to think it is. They go through a lot. Way more than anyone who isn't in a similar situation would understand. It's messy, although they try their best to make it simpler in the ways they can.

On top of being in a very complex situation, they both have strong personalities and one of them is quite hard to "pin down". So altercations happen a lot, but they know how to deal, and they are exceptionally good at making sure that doesn't interfere in their work (oh well, at least not any work that doesn't benefit from intense emotional exchanges, anyways 😉...chemistry isn't something random, you know? haha).

I find it quite...interesting (to put it nicely) that a lot of hats easily believe they are a couple that lies constantly about almost every aspect of their lives, yet, they cannot believe they would fake a social media narrative. It makes no sense whatsoever.

It'd do you all good to be a little less tendentious and look at them as, you know...Humans? They are not what they seem to be, just as you guys also take in different versions of yourselves in different situations, they do too. And don't be so hopelessly naive to actually believe they see fans as "hashtag family". This is their work. And as grateful as they are for supporters, they certainly do not consider them family. To the point of never lying and trusting you with their life.

I'm sure they love their fans, but come on, saying they would never lie because that's mean to fans is just beyond naive. They've been doing it all along and oh, another interesting info? They don't think they're doing anything wrong.

Yeah, sounds weird, you'd think they'd feel guilty. But again, unless you were media trained, you'd never get it.

From years now if there's one consistent info I've gotten was this: they don't feel obligated to tell you anything. They believe they are doing "what they are supposed to do, the right thing for everyone involved".

So. Yeah. And hell, they are right about not being obligated to say anything about anything, I guess.

Well, I hope that was helpful or at least entertaining. It's hard to share info without accidentally making it obvious who I am for the lurkers (sure you guys were well aware that they lurk around the fandom). But it's safe because as long as I don't provide evidence, I'm fine. Just walking a thin line between sharing and not sharing something too specific that would be easy fir them to know who has that info and although they can't do anything against itks, they can manage to cut us off somehow and I enjoy having access lol, so that'd be a bummer.

Anyways, take itks and J2 themselves with a ton of salt haha! You are lovely, btw, you seem very kind and I enjoy your blog very much! much love!

itk anon everything you said was <333 and i agree with like almost all of it. very nice analysis and ask thank you ! i don't always believe everything j2 put out but the whole stunt being a false narrative just seems wrong so idk what to make of it. regardless i myself can sometimes get carried away in my star-struck love of j2. and i am a tinhat so well :) and now they look to be really good and taking a break from here was well worth it <3

''You are lovely, btw, you seem very kind and I enjoy your blog very much! much love!'' i love u so much hope u have a great day !

[tempesttz]

look i'm really sick and also exhausted so this is gonna be my last reply to this

1. there are issues in the community. yes we need to address them. that doesn't change the fact that one post was made as a response to a lot of fucked up shit and your first response was to criticize op instead of recognizing the factors at play that contributed to the post in the first place. you're portraying op as this evil bigoted individual out to dehumanize everyone which is directly not the case.

2. you have taken literally everything said here in bad faith. like i said. you seem to take everything in the worst faith possible. you should work on that, it's not good for your mental health. just a recommendation of course, i'm just a tumblr user and can't make you do anything

3. do not appeal to emotions here by telling me that a lot of anti endos are young, neglected and abused. a lot of endogenic systems and supporters are also young, neglected and abused.

4. you seem more dead-set on criticizing this one individual for their Frankly Justified Outburst than focusing on actual fucking issues that i have brought up, like sophie, or the kinds of genuine hate-backed threats usually lobbied by the "other side." in air quotes because the concept of this being a war with sides is stupid.

5. if you got hit with a hammer and your first reaction is to go hey dude fuck you!! and then people yell at you for reacting, that's fucked up. that's what you're doing here. it's also an abuse tactic. see that, see what i just did there, by conflating this to abuse i am directly referencing what you are doing by escalating the situation far higher than it was ever intended to be portrayed. you are being unreasonable. my point is that you are being unreasonable. is that concise and succinct enough for you to understand yet. i put it into stick figures man i don't know how simpler i can put it for you to grasp "you are blowing this way out of proportion and are taking this in very bad faith"

6. did i mention that you're blowing this way out of proportion and are taking this in very bad faith

7. why are we mentioning nazis right now. don't compare this to nazis. that's weird

8. from now on any arguments you may be planning to make on this, picture me telling you that it's literally one tumblr post, stop using so many extreme buzzwords in situations where they don't belong, and that you need to recontextualize all of this actually attempting to understand from the perspective of other people here instead of putting an image in your head of the worst possible scenario.

9. the gravity in which you are treating this is much too high for an argument on fucking tumblr about a niche spiritual and/or psychological phenomena which 99% of the world knows absolutely nothing about. i may be a hypocrite, but i'm a hypocrite who's working on it, so i suggest you work on that too. going outside and getting some fresh air, talking with a couple close friends or otherwise disconnecting from the constant media stream are great ways to put into perspective the fact we're on a floating rock in the vast expanses of space and that you are wasting way too much terror and blowing this so far out of proportion i'm sure they can see it from space.

10. if you feel the need to respond to this, reread this entire reblog. if you still feel the need, reread the hammer analogy (number five) to remind yourself that not only are, as i've said fifteen times now, the comments a direct response to the environment that antis have created, but you are using large amounts of buzzwords to make a point that is only justified when you take everything mentioned here in the worst faith possible and refuse to see things from anyone else's perspective.

11. yes someone needs to change first. no blaming people for having big feelings is not the way to go about it. if op is bad for being mean to the antis in a way you dislike, you are also bad for being mean to op!!! you are perpetuating the problem in your weird hate fantasy

12. all of the people who have made commentary on it that can be perceived as violent have done so in a clearly humorous way. "TORCHing" someone or hoping they "fall in a hole and stay there" are the most unserious fucking threats in the universe. antis usually simply jump to hoping people kay their esses, which in my opinion is much more realistic and therefore worse! telling people to off themselves is not funny ever unless you are friends and consent to that!!

13. it's not that deep. it really isnt

anyways that's all i have to say, again if you feel the need to respond to this please reread the points i have already stated since i seem to just be repeating myself. this argument is circular and you can circle all you want but i'm gonna go have an antacid and then lay down and go back to doomscrolling probably (i am a slave to my passions) because this is stupid and not worth my time or yours! have a wonderful day, i hope it treats you well

As a reminder: Anti-Endos can go fuck themselves, I don't like you and I never will. We will never be friends, you're a fucking plague on the community and I hate you. Fix your fucking hearts. Sincerely, a traumagenic system.

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

[tw internalized aphobia]

hi!

i always felt good about my aroace identity. i always took a lot of pride in it and never struggled with it, but lately i’ve been thinking that it would’ve been better if i just identified as bisexual (i used the bi label before aro and ace). seeing some posts here really made me think that it would be just a lot simpler if i was in fact bi and not aroace.

i know that labels don’t have to be “old” to be legitimate, but i feel that some people online still see it that way? it makes me wish i was one of these labels that are seen as legitimate and real.

do you have any advice to deal with this internalized aphobia? i try to curate my online space as best of my ability but there’s always a voice in my head that keeps coming back saying it’d be better if i was bi instead.

sorry if this is too much information. your blog is a safe space for me i really appreciate your attention to answering asks and helping people. i hope your doing well 🤍

Yeah curating your online experience is definitely a good first step. Make sure you're also making good use of blacklisting options too. The more you see things that reinforce your internalized aphobia the harder it will be to work through that.

The other thing I'd recommend is go out of your way to regularly see and consume positive a-spec stuff. So that can be following blogs, which it sounds like you're already doing, but seeking out videos, checking out community, spaces, etc. I think it's especially really good to just see aces and aros talk about being ace and aro and talk about their own experiences.

Do you know any ace or aro people? Are you friends with any allies? If not, maybe consider joining an ace/aro discord server or something like that. So you have people you can talk to about being aroace.

If you're not already I'd also look into aroace media, there's more rep coming out all the time and some of it's really good. I've personally really enjoyed the Jughead 2015 run from Archie comics, Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger (YA Novel), and The Magnus Archives (Podcast) all of which have a-spec main characters. Alice Oseman is someone else to watch too, she's aroace and has a-spec characters throughout her works. Her book Loveless is specifically about an aroace college student coming to terms with her identity (this could be a bit raw if you're in a similar place), but if you're watching her current show Heartstoppers, Isaac is aroace as well and she's promised there'll be more a-spec content next season.

In general if you're not sure where to look for media, googling lists (such as books with ace characters, podcfasts with aro characters. etc) is usually a pretty effective way to find ace/aro media.

If you're comfortable with it another thing you can consider it pride stuff. If you don't want visible pride stuff around that will out you, maybe you can get a subtle pride art for your phone background or something like that.

Basically you want to connect with your identity, so not just see positive things about but also feel it.

Another thing you can do is some exercises to help yourself think differently. If you can identify the negative thought processes you're having about being aroace, or about it being better to be bi, you can consciously stop them and correct yourself.

So for example if you're thinking 'aroace is a newer coined label and people won't take it serously', you can stop and remind yourself that actually it's a term that has become very widely accepted in a short amount of time, including by most major lgbtq orgs. Or that the people who say that are jerks and their opinion on your identity doesn't really matter (or whatever resonates with you).

And you don't have to do more than that, just a gentle correction and move on with your day.

Another exercise that may help could be something like journaling, where once a week or something you like about the label aroace. So it could be listing things you like about being aroace, it could be things you like the community, things you like about the label itself, it doesn't matter. But that will help get you in the habit of thinking positive things or making positive associations with your label.

So generally speaking it takes time to unlearn internalized oppression. There's no flip you're going to switch and suddenly do better. But usually once you've identified it and you're making an effort, it will usually gradually get better. It's important to give yourself time though and be patient with the process.

All the best, Anon! Good luck!

[fqirycollective]

Introjects ≠ Their Source

Okay, what is an introject?

An introject is an alter in a DID, OSDD, UDD, or P-DID system that is based off a pre-existing thing. This "thing" is often called a source, or a mirror. Introjects form for a variety of reasons, but the easiest way to put it is that if a system consumes a media or something similar during times of trauma or stress, their brain may see that media as something that helps them through it. Because their brains sees them as a way to help them through it, it may split an introject of that thing in case something similar happens another time to help again. (I'm trying to make it really simple.)

If they're based off it, why aren't they their source?

For starters, they're only based off the part of their source their brain knows. They can't be something their brain doesn't know, so they can't be anything from their source that their brain doesn't know. This leads to when they split off and how far into their source the system has gotten to when they split off. But, in simpler terms, introjects are only their brain's interpretation of their source. They are not the literal person or fictional character sharing a body with someone (this is actually a common endo claim, which is misinformation). Also within the question at the top itself, "based off of" does not equal "the same as."

Main point of this post

The main point of this post is, if you know you have introjects of someone you dislike following you, make sure to specify you dislike their source and not them. Make sure they know that you don't hate them for things they did in source, and make sure they know you aren't talking about them. I don't expect this to get far outside system spaces, but I hope it does. It's perfectly fine to voice your opinion about a character and how you feel about them and their actions. It becomes a serious problem when you don't say it's the source, or when you start to attack introjects for what their source did.

Think of it this way. You share the same name as someone who did bad things, or is from a bad place without knowing it's bad. People who know about this start voicing their opinion about how bad you are and about how much they hate you. You don't even know them, but they hate you for what the person you share a name as did. They spread to many other people about how much they should hate you. But they're talking about the other person. But because you share a name, and it isn't specified it's not about you, you get the same backlash they do. It's not the exact same as introjects, but it's very similar.

What harm does it do?

For starters, it can cause a spiral of doubt, anger, self-worthlessness, etc. in the introject. It can make them start hating themselves due to what their source did, even if they had previously learned to forgive themself for source actions. And because of this, they may take a step back in healing as a system. We've said it before and we'll say it again, source separation is needed for healing. If an introject starts blaming themselves for source actions again, they may start to actually feel like their source. Because of this, their entire system is harmed. Also, think of the scenario from before. That doesn't sound very fun, now does it? It's very, very similar.

Our Experience

Luckily for us, we don't follow many of our sources or many fanpages. However, I (Beatrix) have had quite a few hardcore fangirls in our DMs who have been angry at me for what I did in source and who my character replaced in the adaptation. I'm a fictive of Beatrix from Fate: The Winx Saga. My source is..questionable, to put it kindly. I don't control who my source is, but many hardcore fans of the original series before the adaptation were really upset about my source existing and how she acted. I don't agree with my source's action, but I! Am! Not! Her! I blamed myself a lot after they blamed me. It hurt my self esteem quite a bit and it did a lot of harm to hear and read how much they hated me.

Take Away

Everyone is entitled to their opinions. However, it can do a lot of harm if introjects read hate about them and blame them for their source. General advice would be to fan accounts, and would be to make it clear that any introjects or people with D/A's reading what you're saying is that it's about their source and not them. I wish this would get out to more fandom accounts and that people would care, even about these stigmatized disorders. Unfortunately that's not the case, so the most I can do is hope that some people read and understand that it's better to blame the source and not introjects. It only harms us emotionally and system-ly. (Credits for post idea go to: @funtomphantom and the person who requested was: @caring.circle.)

[thelittlekeyboard]

Fans Opinions On The Harry Potter Reboot: The 411

In recent news it has been confirmed that Harry Potter is getting revamped on MAX (formerly HBO MAX) and though it may feel as though the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was released merely last week, it has been over a decade, so perhaps it is time for a reboot?

No. It is not. It will never be and here's why:

The Original Cast

There is no way on God's green Earth that the perfection of the original cast can be matched. There is no one else for Harry Potter apart from Daniel Radcliffe and the same could be said for Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, and even Draco Malfoy with Emma Watson, Rupert Grint and Tom Felton respectively. You bring me a cast as perfect as this one and I challenge you this: do they have Alan Rickman? I thought not.

The Fans

I understand the need to engage new fans as this franchise will forever be able to provide income for the companies associated with it as long as the fan base keeps rolling in. What I'm struggling to grasp is, can't the youth of today simply read the books, or even simpler yet, watch the movies? I know that cinemas perform rereleases all the time so is it improbable to ask that Harry Potter arrange an international release?

Warner Bros can certainly afford the press release and have the capabilities to create hype as they tease the premise. Then, on a seemingly random day in summer we can have Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone hit the screens, the big boys of the operation can sit back and rake in the cash, and MAX doesn't get the opportunity to ruin one of the greatest franchises ever.

JK Rowling (Transphobia Gate)

It is no secret that in recent years it has come to light that JK Rowling is a transphobic p.o.s (mother, don't mind my tongue. It's for the good of the internet lol) and I'm not sure if producers have put 2 and 2 together, but I'll do it for them.

MAX Harry Potter = JK Rowling getting more money = giving power to scum like her

And sure, rereleasing Harry Potter in cinemas will line her pockets as well because she still has the rights to her own writing, but as long as people are paying for the media, she is earning money, and as fucked up as it may be, there isn't really anyway around it. So, wouldn't you argue that if we are going to take action to make it relevant again, we may as well do it in a way that means we don't waste even more resources in serving Her Transphobic Highness?

I am aware that most of this is strictly opinion and I'm sure a damn-sight more goes into making a rerelease or a new show than how I've so grossly understated, but still; the only Harry Potter most of us want to see is the old one, the cheapest way to this is with the old one, and using the old one means less money has to go into helping a decrepit scots-woman with a backwards thinking brain. Win-win-win if you ask me.

Tell me what your thoughts on this are in the notes or the ask section:)

xoxo, TheLittleKeyboard