comforting-solitude

[britneyshakespeare]

it is weird being an aromantic asexual who is incidentally attractive. like. i just came back from a concert with my friends who have known me for years and know that about me. some of the very few real-life friends who know that about me actually and i only told them relatively recently. regardless. the only reason i had bothered to bring it up w them is that they had seen me in SO many situations that telling them “i’m asexual” was if anything just clarification. just confirmation, like, don’t worry. it’s not an inability to attach to others or whatever. if you can’t tell. like they’d seen me be pursued by quite a few people in our time as friends and at some point it seems like a curious thing if i only ever seem to feel negatively about anyone who’s attracted to me, ever, no matter who it is. and they were understanding and i knew they’d be. yeah.

we were talking on the way back about bucket list concerts we’d still like to see. we saw stromae which was a really big one of mine (my fucking boy btw, i had an amazing time). i mentioned that i don’t have very many, as i’m rarely the person to be like “yeah, let’s go to a concert” unless i have people i know i wanna go with. like i’ve been meaning to see the jonas brothers w my sister and sisters-in-law ever since they came back because it’d be a fun thing for us since we always listen to them together. 

but i would genuinely love to see super junior someday, like just for myself, wherever whenever if i was just able to get transportation (i don’t drive). i’ve loved suju for years but i got really back into them in 2020 in the pandemic as a sort of nostalgia comfort thing (but also the music they’ve put out in recent years is like, literally the best in their discography, they just keep getting better w age). and i had to go on this tangent to explain it, right?

in the first months of the pandemic, there was something weird happening to people psychologically. some kind of end-of-the-world loneliness. i mentioned that i had like 5 or 6 different people in my DMs at the time interested in me. not all of them men. and the friend who was driving said “you know, diana, if this were literally anyone else talking, i would think that this is some enormous humblebrag—”

and i like. didn’t even think about it that way. i was just trying to make my point that i had a serious thought in 2020 of like, when the world opened back up, just doing one (1) seriously manipulative thing in my life and convince one of those men who was thirsting for me to buy me tickets to super junior and go with me. it was hypothetical. this hasn’t happened and all but certainly will not. i would not feel good taking advantage of someone’s feelings like that. 

but i had to go on a tangent even before that because i was like. oh my goodness. i didn’t even realize that was a humblebrag. i’m sorry. i’m just telling a story.

[ikyoudreamofme]

CHANGE OF PLANS

unpopular!Chris and popular!reader

Summary: You have to pair up in Biology class for a project and you’re late to class so have to pair up with Chris. You have a party on the weekend but while walking there you see Chris and it’s raining so he offers you a lift to his place.

A/N:sorry for not writing for ages I’ve been so busy.

——————————————————————

Chris isn’t popular in school, he chooses to focus on school and himself over than sports or girls. Well except one girl Y/N one of the most popular girls in his high school, he knew he had no chance with her, he had never spoken to her so why would she get with him.

Fifth class was Biology one of the many classes Chris and Y/N had together. Class started 10 minutes ago,the teacher had already set the project and got people to choose their partners Chris stayed sat by himself while he watched everyone pair up. Your best friend Scarlett went with her boyfriend as she thought you had gone home. You walk in and give the teacher a note “y/n for the project it’s pairs, it seems to be that the only person without a pair is Chris at the back.” Your teacher says. You nod walking over the desk sitting beside Chris and smiling at him.

Chris’ nerves increase as you sit next to him. “what’s the project about sorry?” You ask turning your body to face him. “Uhh it’s about how animals and humans have evolved overtime.” He smiles at you avoiding eye contact. You thank him getting out your notepad. “So when are you free? So we can do the project.” He asks and you look up from your paper.

“I’m not free this weekend but I can probably do after school someday or next weekend.” You answer him.

He says okay and you both start a rough plan on the project so when you meet up you know what you’re going to do. The bell rings and you pack up your stuff smiling at Chris before going over to Scarlett and her boyfriend Zach. “Sorry y/n I didn’t know if u were in” you best friend whispers you shrug your shoulders brushing it off. You had no problem working with Chris popularity didn’t matter to you as much as it did to your friends, you just happened to be popular.

“Y/n I feel bad you’re paired with the weirdo.” Harry comes up from behind you. You turn around “you’re horrible he’s not even weird.” You walk away from Harry saying bye to Scarlett and going home.

~~~~~

You had a party later today it was Scarlett’s party she threw one every year just before summer break. You got out of the shower walking over to your closet getting out a dress that you like, a plain black strapless dress that has a slit in the thigh. You grab a purse putting your phone in, lip gloss and a small perfume bottle. you put on some heels before shouting by to your mum and closing the door. Scarlett's house is only down the street so you chose to walk as you were going to stay the night at hers after.

You slowly start regretting your decision of wearing heels as your feet start hurting and just to your luck it starts raining your hair and makeup getting ruined a car slows down beside you and the window rolls down, " Hey." you turn to look in the car and see Chris. " Get in your soaked." he tells you opening the passenger seat door. you shake your head " no its fine Scarlett's house is down the road." you protest going to close the car door. He holds the door open “y/n you’re gonna get sick get in.” Chris argues back. You give in getting in the car closing the door. “I’m just gonna call Scarlett and tell him her I can’t come.” You say pressing your phone you your ear. He nods and looks at the road.

You finish your call. “Thank you by the way. I really appreciate it” you say slightly shivering from the cold. He turns the heat up in the car before pulling into the parking lot. “It’s okay I wasn’t gonna leave you in the rain like that.” He replies and you smile at him. He gets out the car quickly walking to your side opening your door. He reaches his hand out for you to take, which you do getting out the car walking to the front door. “It always rains at the worst times.” He speaks up.

You look at him and nod “yeah I know it’s freezing as well.”

“Come I’ll get you some dry clothes.” Chris said walking in front of you as you follow behind. He gets out a hoodie and some sweatpants that were definitely too big. You take the clothes and ask him where his bathroom is he points behind you and you go and get changed.

You walk out of the bathroom and see Chris sitting on his bed on his phone. He looks up at you and smirks. “My clothes look good on you.” You laugh and brush it off trying to hide the blush growing on your cheeks.

"do you need something to eat? Chris asks you getting up form his bed. "is that okay?" you ask softly not wanting to be a burden. he nods and mutters a quiet "yeah." 

"what'd you want? I can make you a sandwich?" he offers walking out his room you following close behind him. "yes please. PB&J?" you ask walking into his kitchen leaning  on the counter.  He makes your sandwich as you type on your phone messaging you mum and you sigh heavily. he looks at you concerned. "are you okay y/n?" 

"no my mums gone out with her new boyfriend and ant pick me up. she left my brother at my grandparents." you look down at your phone thinking of ways to get home. "hey. its okay you can just stay here it's no problem." 

"Chris are you sure, I know you live with your brothers." you say unsurely pushing your self up to sit on the top of the island. he just nods and goes back to finishing your food. " its fine really. you can stay Matt and Nick wont mind." you hum in response.

 he hands you the plate with your sandwich you smile at him taking the plate eating sandwich. "ill grab you a drink, is pepsi okay?" Chris asks walking to the fridge. 

                                                       ~~~~~

you finish your food putting the plate in the sink quickly finishing the Pepsi putting it in the bin. " I can sleep on the couch, so I'm not in the way"  he shakes his head " no take my bed honestly its fine y/n. ill sleep on the couch." he suggests. "sleep on the bed next to me. its your bed" you tell him. his breath hitches as he nods slowly. 

He walks you to his room and sits on the bed going on his phone, you lay beside him before he talks. “I’m gonna get ready for bed.” You nod putting down your phone for a second before picking back up when Chris walks into his bathroom.

He walks out hair dripping from the shower his sweatpants low on his hips soo you can see his v-line. You stare at him barred chest for a little too long. “Are you staring for a god or bad reason?” Chris’ voice pulls you out of your thoughts. You look at him blushing slightly. “Sorry, good reason don’t worry.” You reply.

He walks over to the bed and you sit up draping your legs over the side of his bed. He stands between your legs looking down at you smirking slightly. You stand up looking up at him the eye contact making his heart beat extremely fast you could probably hear it. Chris looks at your lips then back at your eyes. “Are you gonna kiss me Chris?” You ask him quietly your hand playing with the waistband of his sweatpants. His hands go to your waist. “Do you want me to?” He says lowly. You nod and whisper “yes..I do.” One of his hands goes to the side of your face and he pulls you in kissing you deeply. You kiss him back wrapping your hands around his neck stepping closer to his body.

[somewhereinneptune]

Astrology Observations II

Note : these are based on experiences and personal observations. Observations mentioned may not accurately apply to everyone 🩷

🫀Someone's life path number could be the number which is strongly tied to that person's signature sign in their chart, either being the number of the house that originally rules their signature sign or a characteristic that is tied with that signature sign.

Examples: My signature sign is Aquarius and I'm a life path number 9 , life Path 9 is associated with being the humanitarian and serving the collective

My mother is a life path 3 and her signature sign is Gemini , which is originally ruled by the 3rd house. My brother is a life path 6 and his signature sign is Virgo, which is Virgo’s house. I also read about life path 4 being strategists and I've known someone who's signature sign is Capricorn which corresponds with such energy

🫀Unpopular opinion but if I had to switch the signs elements, I'd put Scorpio as a fire sign and Aquarius as a water sign. With Scorpio it's probably because it was originally ruled by Mars, Scorpio always gives me such a fire energy compared to Pisces and Cancer. Not exactly Scorpio sun but dominating Scorpio energy in the chart, i think it's also the intensity they ooze and the level of confidence and also self- assertion, they have such a commanding presence which gives me fire energy too

As for Aquarius, despite having the characteristics of being quite distant at times or having difficulty with opening up, it's usually for how intense they are, it's a form of protection. I've made the mistake in the past of seeing aquas as detached until they actually unfolded which shocked me, the amount of depth and intensity of emotions they hold is a 360 and I've observed the same in my chart. It might be due to them being a fixed sign,but definitely that depth doesn't give the air sign vibe. Another reason is how they tend to be more introverted or reserved compared to Gemini and Libra, it gives me that water energy too

🫀Chiron in first is such a difficult placement in my opinion. It either puts you in a constant self - conscious state or you project your trauma on every situation and blur reality from there

🫀Uranus and Neptune in third 🤝 mental illness. That's it, that's the post

🫀Pets and the 6th house man….Aries / Taurus on the cusp is a cuddly adorable pet but one that will literally not do what you say no matter what, also energetic asf and has attitude esp when you say no to them- oh and very reckless, will do things that will have you question your life choices and have a heart attack on the spot because they were curious about something like jump off a high desk and not care or run into something that would harm them, literally no brain cells just impulse

🫀The degree of the planet could indicate the age that planet unlocks for you , and weird thought but hear me out : that degree could stretch up until it's time for the next planet to unlock

Example : I have Jupiter at 24 and I'm turning 25 this May . Yes I've been in my Jupiter theme and actually it seems it's only going to properly expand even more. Now the only planet left for me is Saturn at 29, and I have the theory i’d be living the Jupiter theme until I turn 29 or untill I officially start my Saturn return

I  also have most planets at 5 too like Uranus , and Venus and Neptune at 1 : i was literally the calm kid that has a crush each time she gets (and sometimes is front about it without shame 😭😭 literally one time in second grade my crush's tummy was in pain and the teacher asked who knows their house to help them go home and i stood and said MEEEE in front of everyone and kept asking to be the one to take them home til i got yelled at 💀) i also had 4687357766 anime crushes as a kid and for Uranus , was the type to get mad and throw things on the ground when told no (I threw my tea mug once cause i didn't wanna go to school and slapped my kindergarten teacher cause she didn't let me go home with mom when i saw her visiting the principal 😭😭😭)

🫀Saturn in Aries 🤝 almost dying of cringe and shame at the thought of acting child - like and doing goofy stuff/ having fun

🫀 this is popular but Leo placements and secretly checking your own posts and stories and giggling at them lmao

[s10127470]

The Spectacular Spider-Man: The Odd-One Out of Two Universes

I'm pretty sure most of you reading this are familiar with The Spectacular Spider-Man.

Often considered the best of the Spider-Man cartoons and one of the best iterations of the Spider-Man mythos, the short-lived animated series, even after 16 years, is still held in high regards for it's unique art-style and character designs, pretty strong animation, engaging ongoing storylines, and most importantly of all, showcasing a strong understanding of Peter Parker's character.

But one thing to note about Spectacular is the fact that it was originally meant to be part of not one, but two different shared animated universes!

One that actually got to be made, and the other that....didn't.

To start this off, we'll be talking about the latter since it's the one that not many people know about.

Even i didn't know about it until a few months ago.

As many of you know, Spectacular was created back when aside from literally every other medium, Spidey was just not allowed to interact with or mention the much greater Marvel Universe.

However, that all changed in mid-2009.

Shortly after wrapping production of Season 2, series creators Greg Weisman and Victor Cook, started toying with the idea of including team-ups in the planned additional three seasons of Spectacular.

This was most likely because they heard about The Walt Disney Company's planned acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.

And since it would mean that all the television rights for Marvel's characters would revert to Disney (including Spidey's), Weisman and Cook most likely believed that they were gonna be continuing Spectacular, but with Disney now.

Oh how naive they were.....

Anyway, Spectacular's rendition of the Marvel Universe was gonna be a little different than what most people were used to.

During this time, Spidey was one of the few active heroes around, with the only other ones being The Fantastic Four and Ant-Man.

But the former were usually too busy going on adventures and facing off against much bigger threats, and the latter kept a relatively low profile.

As for the other big names....

-The Wasp had yet to be become Ant-Man's partner.

-Captain America was still frozen in The Arctic.

-The Incredible Hulk was an urban legend, wandering around The American Southwest.

-Iron Man was still a simple business man.

-Thor was still roaming the Earth as Donald Blake, having yet to be reunited with Mjolnir.

-And while mutants existed, The X-Men had kinda yet to be formed. Professor Charles Xavier had just opened his school, and as of right now, only had Cyclops and The Beast as students.

This is actually really cool and well-thought out.

The status of this Marvel Universe feels like a modernized version of The Silver Age, when most of their iconic characters were introduced.

Plus, it would've been cool to see this Spidey interacting with his fellow Marvel heroes.

I could already see these planned episodes essentially being adaptations of these issues right here.

However, there would obviously be one major difference between these two versions.....

Peter here isn't gonna be a bitch.

Yeah, these issues are famous two reasons.

These were Spidey's first meetings with the Big 3 hero teams of Marvel

These meetings didn't go all that well.....

And it wasn't the fault of those heroes. In fact, they were actually quite civil and well-mannered towards Peter.

The problem was actually Peter.

As I'm sure many of you know by now, Peter during his early years was an asshole.

This dude was the personification of "no chill".

Being needlessly spiteful and rude to just about everyone except for Aunt May, and a total smart-ass.

So yeah, unpopular opinion: I'm not a big fan of this Peter.

Which I know seems strange to say since this was how he was like back 60 years ago and he's long grown out of this characterization.

But the reason I'm saying this is because of his fans.

So recently, the Spider-Man fandom have decided to start gassing this version of Peter up.

The reason being with how Peter used to have anger issues, and people wanting to see that come back.

Which like.....okay?

Like, Peter should be allowed to be angry.

But I've never really seen anger issues as being one of his defining traits when compared to characters like Wolverine and especially The Hulk.

Not only that, but fans are saying the Lee/Ditko-era Peter is the template for the best and most ideal version of the character.

And I must say to that mindset....

I think it's safe to say the reason for this recent opinion is how Peter has been portrayed in recent years.

It's no surprise to know that a lot of recent Spider-Man media has portrayed the character as....kind of a punk and a pushover.

Especially in the comics.

To the point where he literally gets his ass kicked by The Vulture!

Ya know? The very first villain he ever fought.....back when he was like 15.

Who is also canonically a geriatric in a bird suit....

Yeah, the last 17 years have not been kind to Peter in the comics.

I understand wanting Peter to show more backbone like he used to.

But you guys know this can be done in a way where he doesn't have to be an insufferable asshole, right?

But back on topic, it would be great to see a version of Peter that isn't an unhinged prick meeting these other iconic heroes for the first time.

Plus, they actually would've been important to Peter's character.

His team-up with Captain America in particular.

It would've been revealed that Uncle Ben not only had a collection of Captain America memorabilia in the attic, but that Cap was also a major inspiration for Peter's choice to become a hero.

But the best part about all this was that these team-up episodes would've served as back-door pilots of sorts, as Weisman and Cook toyed with the idea of having a bunch of spin-off series set in the Spectacular universe that focused on the other heroes.

So we could've had a Fantastic Four series, an X-Men series, and an Avengers series!

All set in the same universe as the greatest Spider-Man show ever made!

But unfortunately, this planned shared universe never came to fruition due to....obvious reasons

However, this wouldn't be quite the end of Spectacular.

Or it taking place in a shared universe.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Let me reintroduce you to....THE YOSTVERSE!

For those who don't know, The Yostverse was a short-lived shared animated universe (and Marvel's second after the 90s MAU) consisting of the shows The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and Wolverine and the X-Men, and films Hulk vs. Wolverine, Hulk vs. Thor, and Thor: Tales of Asgard.

And while connections here are noticably thinner when compared to the other shared universes by Marvel, they were still there to show that the media in this world were connected to each other.

In my second part of my Wolverine and the X-Men rewrite, I mentioned that the episode "Wolverine vs. The Hulk" referenced the events of Hulk vs. Wolverine.

Plus Bruce Banner, Hulk and Nick Fury have similar designs and the same voice actors throughout their appearances in this universe.

There's also the beef between Thor and The Enchantress, which we saw the origins of in Tales of Asgard, which took place back when they were teenagers.

Anyway, season 2 of EMH really upped the ante by expanding the world-building and introducing other notable heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe.

This included the likes of The Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, The Heroes for Hire, Wolverine, The Skrulls, a pre-MCU Guardians of the Galaxy, and of course, Spider-Man.

And when making Spidey's debut episode, "Along Came a Spider...", Christopher Yost (the head director of the series and the entire Yostverse) was planning to make this Spidey the same one from Spectacular.

So much so that quite famously, he got Josh Keaton (the voice of Spectacular Spidey himself) to reprise his role as the character!

Essentially, he was trying to continue Spectacular without having to actually continue it.

Unfortunately, this plan all came tumbling down due to one reason.....

During the production of EMH's second season, a new Marvel cartoon was in development.

Specifically, a new Spider-Man cartoon.

If you haven't guessed it already, that cartoon was none other than Ultimate Spider-Man!

Hell. Both Season 2 of EMH and Ultimate Spider-Man premiered on the exact same day, April Fool's Day 2012, for an all-new programming block: Marvel Universe.

And since Spidey was planned to appear quite a bit in Season 2 of EMH, the powers that be at Marvel believed that EMH Spidey had to resemble Ultimate Spidey because they believed that the kids would've been confused by seeing two different Spider-Men at the same time.....

I wish I was joking....

This is dead-ass like the infamous Bat Embargo, except it's the other way around.

This decision resulted in Peter to be designed to look pretty similar to his Ultimate counterpart (which was most likely not the original plan), and most importantly of all, being voiced by Drake Bell (the voice of Ultimate Peter) rather than Josh Keaton.

This change was most likely done after the episode itself was completed.

Given that we only see Peter costume-less for like, 4 minutes, it probably would've taken them at least a few days to remake those scenes with the new design.

And in the case of Peter's voice acting, I DEFINITELY know that it was done after the episode was completed.

If you listen closely, you can actually hear a line from Josh's recordings.

It's when Peter asked Hawkeye if the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles were safe.

But apart from the appearance and voice, it's pretty apparent to anyone with more than two brain cells that these two aren't the same.

EMH Peter works at The Daily Bugle as a photographer (as well as on the company's website), while Ultimate Peter doesn't even have a job.

Ultimate Peter works with S.H.I.E.L.D. and with a team of fellow teen heroes, while EMH Peter is still a solo act.

Hell, even some of smaller details prove that these two aren't the same.

EMH Peter has the Spider Signal, while Ultimate Peter doesn't.

Even their ages play a big part in this!

EMH Peter is 17-years old, while Ultimate Peter is supposed to be 15.

With all that being said, EMH Peter (with the exception of his appearance and voice) has much more in common with Spectacular Peter.

Just like EMH, Spectacular Peter.....

-Works at The Daily Bugle as a photographer

-Is primarily a solo act

-Has The Spider-Signal

-And although he's about a year younger then EMH Peter at 16, given that he was suppose to be this version of Peter, it would make sense that he would be a little older since we last saw him

However, one thing that Spectacular and Ultimate do share is that when compared to each of them, EMH Peter isn't exactly one-to-one with either of their characterizations.

This Peter is notably more awkward, slightly reserved and not as quippy as most of his other counterparts.

As for the other Spider-Man characters featured in EMH.

J. Jonah Jameson wasn't voiced by Daran Norris like in Spectacular.

Instead he was voiced by long-time recurring actor, the legendary J.K. Simmons!

Which was obviously done for the same reason as Peter's redesign and recasting.

But Daran Norris is still in the episode, specifically as a cop talking to Iron Man and Captain America about a Cap statue that was knocked down by an angry mob.

Apparently, somewhere in The Disney Vault, there is a version of "Along Came a Spider" that has all of Josh's recordings and dialogue for Spidey.

And I remember hearing somewhere that this version also has Daran Norris reprising his role as Jonah.

For Betty Brant, they didn't even bother to look for a different voice actress, as she's still voiced by Grey Griffin.

But the strangest out of all of them would be Robbie Robertson, who was voiced by Troy Baker, whereas in Spectacular, he was voiced by Phil LaMarr.

This is even strange when you remember that Phil was a recurring VA on EMH, voicing several background and minor characters.

He even voiced a few major characters like Jarvis and Wonder Man.

I'm guessing he wasn't available when the voice acting for this episode was done.

Anyway.... that's kind of all I have for now.

This is just something I've had on my mind for the last few months, after finding out about the former.

And I wanted to share it with you guys.

But before I go, I must ask.....

Between these two universes, which one do you think Spectacular would've been better off in?

As a part of The Yostverse along with other iconic animated Marvel projects from around the time?

Or as the beginning of a new shared universe within it's own world?

Let me know what you guys think.

[jade-kyo]

RvB 20th rewatch: s2

Continuing the rewatch onto season 2. This is my first time watching the show on dvd and honestly it’s so fun seeing the menus and watching the extra stuff and also- getting to listen to Trocadero. That’s the best part man fucking love Trocadero.

DOC MY BELOVED

As yes the beginning of Vic being a little weirdo

The whole “you’re the thing that babies suck on” bit is still one of the funniest jokes in early rvb it cracks me up so much

Caboose only has nine toes

Remember when Doc was a fairly normal dude? Exposure to the reds and blues really does just turn you into a freaky little weirdo 😂

Also Doc’s willingness to distance himself from Grif simply for being unpopular is so funny it’s like they’re fucking high schoolers

I always say that out of everyone Church and Tucker feel the most like actual friends

Tucker character development really does go hard- he starts out as this kinda young seeming idiot who makes a lot of sex jokes and grows into the most competent soldier among them and a leader.

But also he just sounds so young in the early seasons and it’s making me emotional

Remember when Lopez didn’t hate everyone and was genuinely loyal to Sarge? Good times

BISEXUAL SHEILA

Also the beginning of the most insane love triangle ever. Of all time.

Donut actually does call himself pink here

I think it’s funny that Tex tells a story about Church being pantsed in high school even tho Allison and the Director didn’t meet until they were both adults meaning the Director either told Allison that story and Tex had that memory or Tex is counting on Alpha having faulty memories and is just straight up making shit up for the lols

Ahhh Cabooses mind- a very good bit

My personal headcanon is that Donut is 100% aware of all the innuendos and is doing it intentionally to be a little shit cause they kept making fun of him for the pink armor. No I don’t care what s17 said.

CHEX YOU ARE INCREDIBLE GOD I JUST AKDHKAHSKDHKSBD I LOVE THEM

DOC OMALLEY MY BELOVED

Possibly one of my favorite villains in the whole show just for the sheer hilarity he brings

Ah the grimmons cyborg surgery

Okay but Donut trying to jump on top of the base from the inside is so real. I never played all of halo but I did have the demo on the computer as a kid and blood gulch was like the only playable map on the demo and I would spend so long trying to jump on top of the base. I was so annoyed that you couldn’t do that

Grif smokes

“Simmons… I need your ovaries” another one of my most quoted lines

Everyone else: man Donut is so dumb and annoying // me: that is a man who knows exactly what he’s doing

“I will devour their hearts and crap out their souls!” Also one of my most quoted lines.

The fucking mayonnaise bit is so random and funny like where did that even come from

Church’s inability to speak is one of my favorite bits mostly cause me too. He just like me fr.

The brief Caboose-Donut friendship is so good

Church being able to read binary code omg how was the alpha reveal not planned I’m screaming

Tucker the first believer in grimmons

I love how Tucker was the first to realize there was a conspiracy and then everyone proceeded to ignore him and then turned out he was right.

The irony debate is another very quoted moment for me

There’s a bit at the end of the credits where Vic tells you the movies over and now I’m wondering if the bit in the restoration credits with Tucker is a call back to this

And that’s season 2 done- I don’t have a ton to say here other than I love this show and I’m having so much fun rewatching and seeing all the extra stuff on the dvds that I’d never seen before. There’s more than I expected!

[skaruresonic]

"I won't forget the time another games fan admitted on my old Twitter account that the current fannish climate was such that they were going to limit their Sonic discussion to private channels."

Funnily enough, something similar happened to me on Twitter. Someone contacted me in private because they wanted to talk about CV with me, but "I didn't want to message you so publicly because there are some people who don't like you that follow me"

And my reaction was... cool? Thanks for telling me? I'm not even super active on Twitter and I can count on one hand the amount of times I complained and attracted discussions. I just felt sad that this person treated me like a clandestine. It reminded me back when I was in high school and my friend back then was like "don't help these people, they talk shit about you" - what am I supposed to think, other than "oh :("?

And the CV fandom is all but dead, even the NFCV fandom is certainly more active but currently resting. The Sonic fandom, especially on Twitter, is an absolute nightmare. People really do pounce you for any reason they deem justified, and all sorts of petty discourse is pushed in front of your face for the sole reason of making you angry.

Anyway, I say already what I said: for a fandom who will call you all sorts of names if you don't have the right wholesome opinions on minor characters, they sure have zero mercy for real life minors whose crime is complaining in their corner of the internet. Silly you, daring to have an opinion!

Funnily enough, something similar happened to me on Twitter. Someone contacted me in private because they wanted to talk about CV with me, but "I didn't want to message you so publicly because there are some people who don't like you that follow me"

It reminded me back when I was in high school and my friend back then was like "don't help these people, they talk shit about you" - what am I supposed to think, other than "oh :("?

Might be missing some context here, but honestly, that sounds a little backhanded. Best case scenario, they're worried about inadvertently shining a spotlight on you, which just raises questions of why they're hanging around folks who'd dogpile people to begin with.

Like bruh, this is video games fandom, not an illegal gambling ring lmao. Saying "I can't reblog from you because you have cooties" would be more emotionally honest.

To some extent, though, I do have to wonder how much of this is a modern-day fandom culture thing and isn't confined to just Sonic, because patterns seem to repeat across fandoms. Half-Life has settled down AFAIK, but that was after virulent tourists literally called the cops on fic writers for shipping a ship and caused the old guard to disperse. The Silent Hill Reddit, likewise, refuses to hear any criticism of the SH2 remake because you're harshing their buzz. And hey, anything Konami offers us must surely be better than nothing. "Technical limitations" is similar misinformation that gets passed around via games of telephone a la Shadow mandates. I don't need to tell you how Sonic fandom treats unpopular opinions. Don't know what to call it. Toxic positivity? Consumerism? Anti mindset? Clout chasing? Social media-fuelled outrage? All of the above? Whatever it is, it's becoming more prevalent in fannish spaces. Maybe it's because I'm more invested in Sonic fandom than the others, but there I've noticed that there's definitely this added layer of superciliousness to Sonic that just makes the usual fandom wank even more obnoxious. Yes, the HLVRAI stans might lie and say your ship is pedophilia, which is incredibly unfortunate, but nobody was giving them the microphone and saying they ought to be taken as an authority on all things Half-Life. In fact, the old guard pushed for AO3 to separate HLVRAI and Half-Life in the tags for years for this very reason. We weren't all suddenly like "hmm yes, maybe Gordon really was a ~secret pedo~ who thinks of grown-ass Alyx as a child when she flirts with him in-game" because we knew that was fucking ridiculous. But for some reason, we're all supposed to think "IDW!Sonic is Games!Sonic" lest we bu run out of town with torches and pitchforks, I guess.

The worst part is it's hard to tell what people want anymore. You can't say things they don't want to hear even in your own space. You can't say it politely, you can't say it rudely, you can't say it to your friends or to people you're arguing with, you just cannot say it at all without risking a ton of fans going "well you said it, therefore you deserve what you get." And, frankly, fuck that lol.

[erstwhilesparrow]

🍓 🏜️ ❄️? for the ask game? if you want also 🍬?

🍓 ⇢ how did you get into writing fanfiction? 

hm... taizi, i think! i started reading their writing right around the same time i started high school and i went, "wait. you can just do this?" i'd read fanfic before this but taizi's work was what made it click for me that fanfic is, like, A Type Of Writing, and you can do it really well, and put it in places where people will see it and enjoy it. so i did the thing. wrote lego ninjago fanfic in microsoft word on the days school started late and i had nothing to do in the hour before the bus arrived.

🏜️ ⇢ what's your favourite type of comment to receive on your work?

oh gosh, that's difficult. i think, and maybe this is too vague, maybe the ones that get into the crunch of the thing. i am always on my all fic is meta train, so i think comments that seem to Get That, and expand on or pull into the open my thinking are my favourites? also a big fan of when someone says something i didn't think about while writing, but is nevertheless There In The Fic! new insights! that's very cool to me.

❄️ ⇢ what's your dream theme/plot for a fic, and who would write it best?

oh god oh fuck. i'm gonna take 'dream' here as meaning i cannot personally Make It Happen because a lot of the things i could say i dream about seeing in a fic are also things i could just put in a fic and tada, there, not a dream anymore. so it's gotta be some kind of stupid plot-heavy ensemble cast AU because that's just not the kind of thing i know how to write well enough to be satisfied with if i did it. i know if you asked me this again, like, tomorrow i would probably have a different answer, but right now i am sighing longingly about some kind of empires smp modern au. catrina belovedgamers and i were talking in dms the other day about a circus au in which some of the strays, stowaways, and outcasts of the world discover, with great joy, that they never have to go home again if they don't want to, and the idea of scott and shrub and joey (these three specifically, yes) getting happy endings amid the shenanigans of Circus makes me really tender. but it also has to be sad and difficult. it has to Deal with the corruption and xornoth and the fact that none of this is easy, and scott still has to try to kill himself and joey still has to get tangled up in xornoth and be just as prickly as he always is and shrub still has to lose everyone. and that's Just the three newest runaways this circus has picked up, all of wra is still here too, and so are pix and lizzie and joel and jimmy, so. do you see why this would be really fucking hard to write,

who would write it best? for it to be warming and gentle all the way through like a cup of tea at just the right temperature, probably taizi. but for it to pluck out the sad and difficult bits exactly right, probably alouette_des_champs, who consistently does The Best modern aus for pretty much every fandom they've written for. they are not in mcyt fandom at all, but they did this with drawga (comedy art actual-play web series), and atla, and naddpod (actual-play d&d podcast, also mostly comedy), and if there's anyone who could do this right i bet it's them.

🍬 ⇢ post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character

[guy who deliberately surrounds itself with people who have good fandom opinions that it generally agrees with voice] do i have. unpopular opinions. about popular fandom characters.

i think canary jimmy is deeply boring and gets focused in on to the exclusion of almost all the Interesting Things Literally Happening On The Screen? i have total faith that it can be a fun/useful/interesting framework with which to consider [jimmy in the life series] but mostly i think.... jimmy's got a personality in there. it feels weird that he seems so popular but so few people have Things To Say About Him outside of what he represents to other life series members.

i dunno, that feels like a really easy take to have, just disagreeing with The Most Popular fanon. and maybe i haven't Reviewed The Literature enough. but that seems like it meets the requirements. so!

[hide-in-imagination]

Ok you've written various versions of thIs so I just have to ask... What do you think is Simon and Ambar sexual experience before each other?

Oof, that's a hard question.

If we consider which countries they're both from and the average age in which people usually lose their virginities in those countries, then both of them shouldn't have been virgins by the start of the series (usually those first experiences are around 15 or 16)

BUT we have to consider their personalities too and their backgrounds, because they might not be the average teen.

If we only considered Season 3, then we'd have to say that they were not virgins because there's no fucking way with the sexual tension oozing out of them both. HOWEVER, I feel like a lot of the actors was slipping into the characters during that season, both of them 20-something adults with obvious previous sexual experience, so I feel like judging on Season 3 events would be an statistical mistake.

So, we'd have to judge based on Season 1 and Season 2 alone. In season 1, Ámbar has her 17th birthday, and it is mentioned many times, I believe, that she and Matteo had been dating for a long while previous to the start of the series, so, basing ourselves on that and, like I said, the average age in Argentina, we'd have to assume that Ámbar and Matteo had sex at some point (or, if not p-in-v sex, they at least did a lot of the other stuff that also count as sex)

The only thing that makes me question it is that, you know, Ámbar and Matteo didn't have the closest relationship from what we see in Season 1? Matteo seemed very dismissive of Ámbar and Ámbar looked like she was with him because he was cool and on the same level as her so they made sense as a couple and she loved the idea of them together more than Matteo himself. However, as many of you might know, you don't exactly need to have deeper feelings for someone to have sex with them 😂 And they were hormonal teenagers, so all they really needed was some mutual attraction and the opportunity to be alone (which I assume both of them would have plenty of considering they're portrayed as rich kids who their parents usually leave alone as long as they do well in school and stuff.) Now, would Ámbar want to be that vulnerable with Matteo? You know, the whole letting someone else see you naked and/or literally inside you. I would have to say no, she wouldn't. BUT, again, maybe she just didn't see it that way and it was just sex, just an activity that regular teenagers do with their partners, and I know that the Ámbar back then would want to 'be cool' and look cool in front of her peers, so she would definitely want to have sexual experience because, otherwise, she could look lame, especially if she'd been dating her boyfriend for a long time. It would be 'expected' of them to have sex, and Ámbar would want to meet those expectations.

So, going for that logic, I assume Ámbar did have sexual experience prior to the series. Definitely not an emotionally-based one though.

Now, let's go for Simón.

Simón is older than most characters in the show when it starts (we know because he already finished high school.) Now, it is never stated how old exactly he is (I've seen some magazines give him some age or another but, as I've been informed, those were not official), but we can assume he was either just turned 18 (Like, he turned 18 right before the start of the show) or he turned 19 at some point of season 1 that they didn't show.

If we based ourselves on the average age at which teenagers lose their virginity, and especially MALES, then there's no freaking way he would still be a virgen unless he was considered ugly or incredibly unpopular due to his personality, but I think we can agree he's neither of those things.

HOWEVER, the opposite thing to Ámbar happens here in which I think Simón would only do sexual things with someone he had an emotional connection with. He's shown as this very sensitive, golden retriever guy from the very start of the show, so while I know that that can totally co-exist with a rowdy, extensive sexual history in real life, I just can not believe that it would be the case for him. I just can't picture it.

So it all would come down to, Did Simón have a long-term girlfriend before the show? I gotta say it seems unlikely, because the only ex we're shown is Daniela, which, I believe, is mentioned they only had one summer together?? Or a summer thing that wasn't really a relationship?? You'll have to excuse me if I don't remember that right, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't think Simón would go all the way with a girl he'd only been seeing for the summer. Sure, it could look 'romantic' in his head, but no way. I think it would seem too fast for him, and he also wouldn't want to get too deeply invested in a relationship that he knew was not going to last beyond the summer.

In addiction to this, we're also led to believe that Simón has been in love with Luna for a looong time and he just hadn't realized it yet. (Whether that's true or if it was everyone's insistence that made him start looking at his feeling for Luna that way, is up to you to decide.) If that's true, maybe that would make it a little difficult for him to have girlfriends ?? Like, maybe that's why he only had short flings during the summer with girls because deep down his heart already belonged to another ???? I have no idea honestly. I do imagine he had crushes and, like I said, short relationships with girls throughout his life (because he's too much of a romantic and too cute for him to NOT have had dates during school and stuff) but I don't think he ever dated one for like a year or something, unless it was like from 14 to 15, or from 15 to 16, I guess that could be possible, and then he had his fling with Daniela in the summer of his 17 year and that would be all.

So. Considering all this. Did Simón have sexual experience before the show? ....A little, maybe. Like I said, p-in-v sex is not the only way to have sex with someone else. Simón could have, I don't know, done some dry-humping with a girlfriend before?? Again, because they're hormonal teenagers and the age at which MALES, specifically, do those things is usually even lower than girls. I think some petting over the clothes during a makeout session is more likely. At much he touched a boob. And at much he received a hand job if he happened to have an experienced older girlfriend, but I think that's it.

Maybe I'm not being realistic enough and I'm picturing him too innocently. (I've received comments in Wattpad from south american readers who are firm believers both Simón and Ámbar had sex before the show because there's no way they wouldn't have at their age.) You'll have to excuse me if you believe that's the case, but I just can't see Simón having sex with someone before the show. Like, with the way his character is portrayed, I just can't see it. And, you know, I'm a 26-year-old girl with a lot of outside knowledge but personally I didn't even kiss anyone during my teenage years, so it's easy for me to imagine others also not doing it 😂 I think the answer to this question you asked me, anon, can differ a lot depending on the personal experience of the person receiving it.

IN SUMMARY. What do I think Simón and Ámbar's sexual experience was before each other? For Ámbar, I think she had sex before. Maybe not all the way but most probably yes. For Simón, I think he was a virgin.

(Again, all of this is not taking season 3 into account because if we did, both of them would obviously not be virgins anymore.)

I don't know what everyone else thinks. Do you agree with me or do you have your reservations? To be clear, it's not like I'm 100% sure of this assessment either. I like to play with all possibilities of this in my fics and I'm not married with an specific headcanon. The analysis I made in this post is only me using logic and trying to be as unbiased as possible, but I'm a human being and I can totally fail.

Thank you for your question, anon. I hope you have a good day 🌷

[metalandmagi]

I'm re-watching High School Musical the Musical The Series (again) and even though I love this silly show so much, I'm compiling a list of things I would change for my own sanity. Get ready for some of the most niche nitpicks you can imagine!

Give the poor background kid who plays Ryan in HSM during season 1 his part back. We only ever see this kid during the "Status Quo" dance. He's not even in "Bop to the Top." I love Seb, but dang it, Sharpay and Ryan are an iconic duo.😞

Figure out what to do with EJ from the beginning. He is such a good character at his core, but the writers fumbled the bag with him so many times.

Ashlyn or Seb should have gotten offered a spot at the Youth Actors Conservatory instead of Nini. You know they carried that musical, and then we could have avoided the entire YAC arc.

More Natalie Bagley (the stage manager). She's hilarious and has a good voice.

More Kaden (background guy with bleached blond hair). Idk I just like him for some reason 😅

Make Seb the Beast in season 2. Justice for Seb!!!!!

The award that they want to win in season 2 not only has a cash prize, but a scholarship too! If the wildcats won, that scholarship could have seriously changed someone's life!

Lily seems like the type of person who would let the Wildcats perform The Rose Song and let them get disqualified without telling them about the rule. Just saying...

Why are the Wildcats ordered to stop production on Beauty and the Beast for going to North High and literally not doing anything, while a North High teacher stole their property and yet doesn't get punished? Also, why do they just drop this plot point later? I don't remember seeing it get resolved.

Ditch Ashlyn's "make way for Belle" attitude at the beginning of season 3. Seriously, what's up with that? Do the writers know her at all?

WE NEVER GET TO SEE JET ACTUALLY PLAY HANS!? WHAT IS THIS NONSENSE?

We never find out what Carlos was aiming to do by changing the Frozen cast list. Who did he want to play?🤔

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I didn't need Maddox and Ashlyn to get together. We could keep the arc about Ashlyn (and Big Red) discovering she's bi at camp, but I just don't feel the same chemistry as I do between her and Big Red. They're fine together; there's nothing really wrong with the ship. I just didn't like the way Ashlyn and Big Red broke up. And it felt a little like both Ashlyn and Big Red had to end up with people of the same gender to somehow "validate" the fact that they're both bi. (Yes it's a funny reveal at the end with the fake French kid revealing that he likes Big Red, but the point still stands). Again, Ashlyn and Maddox isn't a bad ship at all, I just feel like everything between these 3 could have been handled better.

Get rid of Dani is season 4. I'm sorry, but she doesn't add anything to the show (even though she gets chiller by the end). Nothing against her, she's just a nothing character.

BRING BIG RED AND SEB BACK FOR THE ENTIRE LAST SEASON! And scrap the cheating plotline. I don't have the patience for this nonsense.

I love Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara being end game (they're just like Luke and Lorelai from Gilmore Girls!!!!!), but there has to be a better reason to break up with Ricky's dad. It felt so rushed.

Where the hell were all the extras that end up in the musical when Miss Jenn needed eight people to show up to the rehearsal? The main characters ditching that important rehearsal already annoyed me, but you'd think she'd get some of the ensemble to show up. Even if they said that most of them are doing the movie, some of them could have showed up, considering how big the ensemble is in the end.

Also in season 4, they talk about Miss Jenn and Mr. Mazzara's first meeting, but don't we see their first meeting back in season 1? Like...isn't it completely different?

As much as I love Miss Jenn wanting to continue teaching, I feel like she should have gotten her Broadway moment, at least for a little while. She was born to play Glinda.

I need to see Emmy become Natalie Bagley's protégé. They deserve to rule the world.

We needed an Olivia cameo at the end of the series. It could have been her face-timing the Wildcats. It could have been the camera zooming out when the rest of them were singing "Born to be Brave" to have her watching the video. Something! Anything!

[cyberfunsupporter]

AUBY THOUGHTS💥🎉‼️

how i feel about this character

this is so evil of this to be a question. if i could cremate my heart id do that and thats how much i love aubrey ok. i am sick… she is so misunderstood. nobody gets it. like oh my god. she’s perfect. also she’s a lesbian. and she has bpd. and she’s better than you. and she’s actually a really kind person beneath her mean girl front so it doesn’t make sense when people dumb her down to an insensitive, cruel person… she’s not that at all!!! she’s genuinely kind and wants peace! she wouldn’t just be angry and cruel??

all the people i ship romantically with this character

kim and honestly i’m a heavy monoshipper on that… genuinely don’t think omori’s a game for shipping whatsoever EXCEPT for kim and aubrey because that’s the only one that really makes sense? like of course aubrey would wanna date somebody… and kim’s her best friend and the only one she really Trusts like that… it just makes sense 😭 however for sunny and basil they’re not in the proper mental space for that and then like. kel’s gay idk and who’s he gonna date if not sunny 💀 who. isn’t ready to date. and also kim just seems to understand aubrey in a way that is meaningful to a girl who has been abandoned and abused/neglected her whole life!!! and of course that’d turn into something more. it’s real to me

my non-romantic otp for this character

MARI. even when mari dies she’s still there for aubrey, much better than everyone else tried to be, and aubrey loves her so much and still makes time to see her… it’s just a really sweet gesture to me and shows how much she really misses mari and valued her friendship while mari was alive you know! like fawk. that was her older sister figure!!! aubrey didn’t really have a family growing up so mari was able to be that for her and it made it so special and 🥹 augh. best friends. i can’t talk about them for too long without getting emotional… but they were best friends. they’ll always be best friends even though mari will forever be 15 and aubrey will keep growing up 💔 mari’s still her best friend

my unpopular opinion about this character

was she a bully to basil? YES. i won’t deny that. but is she a bad person, or even really a mean person? fuck no! and i DO excuse her bullying basil!!! what she was mad about he didn’t do but when you really think about it he’s kind of terrible 😭 yes maybe he was 12 but when i was 12 i didn’t think hey lemme fake this girl’s suicide instead of calling for help… and then he proceeded to keep it a secret + have sunny keep it a secret too and like😭😭😭 it’s all basil’s fault dude it’s crazy… id bully him too bye. also aubrey apologized as best she could for the later stuff, people always talk about forgiving basil for his arguably more shitty actions than being a high school bully but they’re so quick to condemn aubrey for ?? mishandling the pain she’s been battling her whole life (that basil made 10x worse mind you)… and you want me to forgive basil and defend him from her… get serious like she’s 16 hdhfhdhdj this isn’t even everything i could say but i need to CALM DOWN

one thing i wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

she beat the shit out of basil in 4k hyper realistic animation

[findmeinthefallair]

It makes me smile when one of your Owl House takes shows up on my dash. You have such a good eye for imagery, symbolism, and character parallels. I’m impressed by how fast you find the connections, and how many different types of parallels you’re able to draw. I suspect you recognize these patterns better than most neurotypicals. I wanted you to know that I appreciate auDHD-you and the talents you share with your online community.

I think those of us who are neurodiverse too often get backhanded compliments for our talents, passions, empathy, and achievements. At best, accomplishments get framed as being impressive for happening “despite” our diagnosis (or suspected diagnosis), when really, they were possible because of everything we are, including our different ways of thinking. It’s as if society is out to rob us of our joy, because in many practical ways, it does. Traits that would be seen as talents in neurotypicals become pathologies for those with ADHD and/or autism. Our pride in our work and creative pursuits is revoked by society as part of a symptom to be treated, an aberration to suppress. And our very real struggles in a world with little-to-no regard for our comfort are too often framed as our problems, not society’s failure to provide viable options.

No one questions providing glasses to the visually impaired to make the world easier to navigate. It doesn’t even occur to most people that glasses are a tool, a form of accommodation, because enough people need them at some point in their lives that society sees value in the investment. It’s rare to hear a complaint at a meeting when someone requests the presenter zoom-in to make the text easier to read, or when a student needs to sit closer to the chalkboard/ whiteboard. Yet a fidget item at work/ school, or a request to listen to our words over our (often misread/ misunderstood) facial expressions is somehow too much. We’re the ones who are weird, and asked to change ourselves in exhausting and often impossible ways to fit into a society that is all too happy to discount us. It’s unfair.

It's unfair that minorities (of any kind) are burdened with making all the concessions in a societal ‘compromise.’ It’s unfair that the examples of success, life fulfillment, and happiness rarely or never include people like us. It’s unfair that the pathways presented to us are strewn with obstacles designed to sabotage certain people, but not others. And it’s outright depressing when a combination of factors seem to be stacked against you (religion, family, culture, gender, health, you name it). It can be easy to forget that joy exists at all.

But there are joys to be had in this existence. What joy looks like for a neurodiverse person might be different than the advertisements say. How we get there is often different than our neurotypical peers. I don’t have all the answers, and the coping strategies that worked for me may or may not work for you. I started enjoying my life more when I measured it against the things I wanted, rather than other people’s measures of success. This was a thoughtful and deliberate exercise, and required a bit of trial and error to figure out what popular pursuits I didn’t enjoy and what unpopular pursuits were exactly right for me.

For me that meant staying in more often than going out (crowds drain me). It meant picking movies, books, and video games based on subjects that appealed to me, even if they weren’t always high-rated (Shadow Hearts has a sanity meter and a main character that turns into a monster – and I would’ve missed out on so much fun if I let its mediocre game review dissuade me!) It meant cutting down on tasks that other people wouldn’t see as an issue, but got to me (I hate making lunches when I’m burned out after work, so I pre-make a week’s worth of lunch every Sunday instead). It also meant reevaluating my work and education goals (I didn’t get into med school. I’m not working on prestigious research. But that’s okay! I like the problem-solving that comes with making research tools. I get to impact lots of different areas of health research and have way more job security.) I had to ditch the narrative that I should achieve more, socialize more, and be someone else’s ideal. I also had to hold onto my self-worth and make an escape-plan to get away from an abusive boss (multiple times, unfortunately).

All the challenges of being different in a neurotypical-preferencing world didn’t go away, but they got easier to handle once I stopped trying to do things the neurotypical way to neurotypical standards. And on the really bad days, knowing there’s still joy to discover helps me through it. Sometimes the joy is as small as sitting outside watching the hummingbirds flit from flower to flower. Sometimes it’s hearing from a friend or coworker that I did something that made their day better.

You make the day better for me and so many people online. I hope you keep giving life a chance to get better, and that you find your own path to experiencing more joy.

So true 🥺🥺

Thank you for taking time to share all this with me 💙❤️💜

[continentaltheater]

9, 12, 15?

9. Favorite aspect of the show to analyze/read analysis about

I think one of my favorite parts of the show to analyze is the relationships between characters, I feel it's a very common thing in this fandom tho.

If I have to pick one of my favorite aspects it will probably be the contrasts between characters, especially Anthy and Touga as probably anyone could tell after taking a few looks in my account, they are my favorite characters after all. But also in the case of Nanami, Kozue and Shiori.

Something something pseudo witch aligned characters in the show.

I could add that I would love to talk more about the content of media outside the show and how it's important to the story of the show too but I don’t see many people talk about and I’m unsure to do so because I know many people prefer to take them as completely separate. 

12. Favorite black rose duelistIt’s a bit hard to choose because I think most of the duelists are great.

I think the best black rose duels were Shiori and Wakaba, but I will give my unpopular opinion and say I also love Keiko’s.

If I had to choose only one black rose duelist I would pick Wakaba. 

After the previous episode I was left wanting more of her and how the course of the episode gave her grace just for the fall caused by Saionji’s obsession with Anthy to take it all away.

It was nice seeing the life of a character so far away from the main characters as it really drove home the idea of how separate they all are. And of course, the duel itself was the best of all, how it was the first time that Utena could not fight, she didn’t even take the sword even when Anthy was yelling at her to do it and how she saved Wakaba, taking the rose with her sword.

It would have been great to see more of that side that the episode showed of her as in the Akio arc she would be relegated to like three appearances? Seems oddly ironic.

15. Character you relate to the most

I think I said it once in a random post but it would have to be Utena. Obviously I did not go through anything like she did nor do I consider myself as brave and determined to act as she does but I can see many of my own experiences with classmates and friends through her.

The misogynistic classmates, just weird shit happening around you that you cannot undertand how its even happening, that one friend that is misogynistic but hey at least it's tolerable, the boy that convinced himself with the idea you had a crush on him, trying to take care of someone that wasn’t treated well in class and many more.

Mostly experiences from early high school I would never expect to see of myself reflected in a character lol

( Also being a closeted lesbian and masc but still)

[theonethatwatchesalotofshows]

Since you gave us such a fun poll about overrated ships, name ten ships that you consider overrated and a sentence or two about why you don't love them as much as most fans do :)

Ooh this is fun, okay:

Rachel and Ross from Friends- okay, I know they are not very popular on this site specifically but generally they are held as this gold standard of will-they/won't-they iconic couple that basically invented shipping and other couples are compared to. But if you look at the actual show, you might realize they actually dated only for 10% of it. The rest was bickering and excuses.

Blair and Chuck from Gossip Girl- everything I said about Roschel applies also here, but in this case I literally can't stand them (with Roschel I am pretty neutral). When I first watched the show I thought: "these two are toxic af but I could see why people like them or find them entertaining" but now it's not even that. When I did my rewatch of some of the seasons I found myself cringing whenever these two had a romantic scene together, because I just saw no chemistry! This is extremely unpopular I know, but I wish they kept Chuck a chaotic villain and not turned him into the romantic lead because it just felt so forced.

Joey and Pacey from Dawson's Creek - this is very unpopular even on this site, so please don't send hate, but I just prefer Pacey with Andie, because imo that love story is much better written and progresses more naturally. With Pacey and Joey it seemed like the writers themselves couldn't agree if they want them together or not. I could write a whole essay about this so if you are interested just send an ask lol.

Haley and Nathan from One Tree Hill - I know on paper I should love this couple but I just don't. Their enemies to lovers arc was so rushed- they literally went from hating each other to dating in like 5 episodes and then from dating to marriage in less than a season, while they were still in high school! I also didn't like how there was so much focus on sex or lack thereof while they were dating.

Brittany and Santana from Glee - I used to like them before I realized how messed up they really are. Brittany outed Santana twice, once on a public YouTube channel, and tried to force her out of the closet by making her a t-shirt that says lesbian and telling her that if she loves her she will wear it. And then once Santana was out of the closet, Brittany leaked their sex tape!

Ian and Mickey from Shameless - I just can't get over the fact that Mickey brutally beat up Ian in season 3. I know that this is a show full of messed up people doing messed up things, but this is stopping me from ever seriously shipping them.

Effy and Freddie from Skins - I don't understand why she chose him over Cook, when the whole season she seemed to be pining over Cook and Freddie's feelings for her seemed very one-sided. At least up until the point Freddie got a gf and stopped pining after Effy, she didn't seem to care about him too much. Also she and Cook are much more similar while Freddie is such a boring character whose only personality trait is that he's sad.

Lorelai and Luke from Gilmore Girls - it pains to say me so much, because their buildup was so great, but their actual relationship was a mess.

Logan and Rory from Gilmore Girls - okay these two are not overrated in the sense of everyone loves them but many people if they are not full shippers say that they are the "only healthy and mature relationship on the show", which is not true. They fight, ghost each other, give each other silent treatment, get jealous and possessive of each other, and have communication issues too. They are not some pinacle of healthy relationships.

Last but not least, Romeo and Juliet were supposed be some kind of a romantic tale of love? The pinacle of romance? I am convinced that the people who say that didn't even read the book.

I feel the need to clarify again that these are all just my opinions which I am aware are unpopular. If you like one or multiple of these, that's also fine, that's nothing wrong with that.

[saezurufeels]

Unpopular opinion: I like the idea of Doumeki having a girlfriend. It would comfort me to think that at some point in these four years he at least tried to move on from Yashiro.

I'm not some Yashiro hater or something like that. He's my favorite character and of course I want them to be together. We all know why he acted the way he did, and I'm not the one to judge if he was right or wrong. It's just... Seeing things from Doumeki's perspective makes me so sad. He was deeply hurt and thrown away, and after their re-encounter it seems to me that they woudn't even talk to each other if it wasn't for Doumeki finding excuses to go after Yashiro (like that scene in the bathroom).

I want so bad to see some reaction from Yashiro, you know, like when he dragged Doumeki to the elevator. I want him to show Doumeki at least a little bit of how much he still cares for him. I think D deserves Yashiro being a little jealous, he deserves Y going after him.

Anyway, I know saezuru is not some high school drama and the characters are not moved by such childish motivations, but I'd like to see more of Yashiro making the first move.

Of course, your opinion is valid and important. It’s hard not to sympathize with Doumeki and his heartbreak, so I understand. When I remember Doumeki’s reaction after Nanahara told him that Yashiro doesn’t remember him, I get emotional; Doumeki’s total devastation was hard to watch. For the first time ever, I thought he looked so vulnerable and defenseless, like you could just knock him over with a touch.

However, I’m also very careful about how I interpret the situation. I know these aren’t your words, but sometimes I get asks that subtly try to pin the blame on Yashiro (which I don’t publish for obvious reasons. If one wants to discuss that topic seriously, the least one could do is come off anon). I say this often, and I’ll continue to say it: Yashiro doesn’t owe Doumeki anything. And vice versa. Yashiro doesn’t owe his body and soul to Doumeki. The only thing Yashiro owes Doumeki, which is the same thing any person owes another, is basic human dignity and respect. Yashiro has always given Doumeki his freedom and a choice; he’s never demanded more of him than he was capable of. Yashiro never acted like he was entitled to Doumeki. And, not to draw comparisons, but that’s a big difference between their problems. One’s loss comes from not getting their preferred person, the other from not getting the freedom of choice. After all, loosing a love interest is less devastating than loosing yourself. And “loosing himself” is exactly how Yashiro described accepting Doumeki into his heart.

Therefore, first and foremost, I care about Yashiro’s wellbeing. The most pressing issue here, the issue that this whole manga is commenting on, is the issue of trauma and autonomy. This is Yashiro’s journey to loving himself, AND THEN being able to love someone else. Doumeki’s journey comes secondary, because you can’t force someone to love you— they have to choose to do that. One always comes before two. Right now, we are watching Yashiro decide if and how to accept Doumeki into his heart. The rest will follow.

I hope that makes sense. I’m not saying that I don’t understand, or feel sorry for Doumeki’s loss, I’m just saying that we need to carefully consider how we frame this situation. Yes, Doumeki is suffering because he can’t be with Yashiro, but Yashiro is also suffering immensely: he’s miserable because he can’t have the love of his life- the only person that’s ever cared for him,- and he’s tormented because he can’t bring himself to accept love the way most people can accept good things. Whichever choice Yashiro makes will cause him anguish. If he doesn’t address those core issues first, even Doumeki can’t save him. He’ll always have problems with his low self-worth and consequently, in his relationships with romantic partners.

And again, I know this wasn’t what you were insinuating, but I just wanted to clarify in case this gets misinterpreted. It might not always be obvious, but you can sympathize with one character and still understand that their happiness isn’t the most important factor if it comes at the expense of another person. What Yashiro needs is someone to say, “hey, I understand why you did what you did, and I forgive you.” And the same goes for Doumeki. His actions toward Yashiro weren’t malicious, but they were still harmful. So although I can sympathize with Doumeki the way you do, because he’s had a difficult life and doesn’t mean any harm in his pursuit of Yashrio, it doesn’t mean that he didn’t cause any harm. But Yashiro must be allowed to choose if he wants to let go of the past, and have a romantic relationship with Doumeki.

Even though Doumeki's love and persistence helped Yashiro move through his healing, it was never a one-sided relationship. Yashiro also helped Doumeki with his personal issues. Yashiro should get more credit for the love and support he's given to Doumeki. There's only so much one person can do at a time, and Yashiro needs more time and patience than other people.

And just like Yashiro has a choice, so does Doumeki. No one is holding a gun to his head and telling him to pursue Yashrio. If he feels like Yashiro isn’t reciprocating his feelings, he has the choice to leave. What isn’t a solution is getting impatient with Yashrio and expecting him to fast-track his healing journey and simply get over his trauma, so that Doumeki doesn’t have to wait anymore. In many ways, I can make the argument that Doumeki is being too persistent— but I usually don’t, because I can sympathize with him, and I can objectively see how he's helped Yashiro in a lot of ways despite also causing some harm. I wish some people would sympathize more with Yashiro. I’m not saying you specifically, just in general.

All of that being said, we’re at a point in the story where Yashiro has recognized that he chooses Doumeki. The obstacle, or the next phase of his healing journey is finding a way to express those feelings. It’s difficult for him, because he’s always been rejected when he’s pursued romantic interests, and even his own parents have rejected him. Yashiro has to find a way to overcome this crushing fear, and find an appropriate way of expressing his emotions. So, what I’m trying to say is, Yashiro is in fact pursing Doumeki. It’s hard to see his pursuit, because it’s clumsy and at times immature (and to be completely fair, Doumeki isn't being completely forthcoming with his feelings either), but it’s there, and YK is doing a brilliant job of portraying it in a dynamic, realistic, and complicated character such as Yashiro. I honestly wouldn’t want it any other way. Like you said, this is not a high school drama. It’s as close to reality as you can get, and reality is nuanced and frustrating.

Sorry, this is getting long, but last thing I want to say is that Doumeki did have an eventful life in the last four years. I think that’s why he’s a changed person. He’s had lots of joys, including his friendship with Niki, his Aoi redemption; he’s found a place in society where he feels comfortable and accepted; and the more I think about it, the more it seems like the bar matron is not just his informant, but also his friend. Doumeki’s formed many new relationships and goals that likely gave him purpose and joy. And now, Yashiro isn’t the only thing in his life he aspires to keep close.

Thanks for sending this, I appreciate your honest opinion. This was a good opportunity to talk about these issues that keep coming up, so I hope you don’t mind that I rambled a bit.

[meenatranslates]

InsteLive 3 - Akigumi Etude (Text Version)

InsteLive 1 - InsteLive 2 - InsteLive 3 (Text ver.)

(Live version here)

Translation under the cut!

Akigumi Etude - Valentine's Day Story of High Schoolers

Banri: ...Looks like it’s starting.

’Sup. It’s Akigumi from MANKAI Company.

Comment: I’ve been waiting for this!

Comment: I voted in the survey

Omi: Thanks for the voting.

Juza: I wonder which theme‘s been decided.

Taichi: Even we don’t know what’s the result, so it’s kinda exciting~!

Banri: Guess I gotta hurry and announce it then. Our theme’s gonna be...

“Valentine’s Day Story of High Schoolers”.

Comment: Brilliant lmao

Azami: Ain’t possible for this old geezer to act as a high schooler.

Sakyo: What did you just say?

Omi: Seems like casting will be decided through this lottery. Here, pull one.

Juza: Mine’s... I see.

Banri: Hey, this just got even more difficult.

Azami: ...Seems hard to express this one.

Comment: I wonder what kind of role is it?

Comment: So excited

Sakyo: Let’s hurry up and get started.

Banri: Damn, guess I gotta do it with the flow then.

Aight guys, we’re starting the Etude now.

—————

Juza: “This day has finally come...!”

Azami: “What are you talkin’ about?”

Juza: “Isn’t it obvious? Today’s Valentine’s Day, a sacred day that comes once a year!”

“I wanna get some chocolates from Angel-chan, the Madonna of the school!”

Azami: “Hmm, so she’s that cute?”

Juza: “Yeah! Those cute eyes of her can make ANY man fall on their knees.”

“Angel-chan, when will she come~?”

Taichi: “Hey, what was that about Angel-chan?”

Juza: “The heck, Taichi’s here? Man, I don’t wanna interact with this annoying guy~”

Taichi: “A frivolous guy like YOU won’t ever get a chocolate from Angel-chan.”

“Learn your place, buddy.”

Azami: “He sure acts tough... This type of delinquent still exists?”

Juza: “Hah! Girls would never give their chocolate to a delinquent like YOU nowadays.”

Taichi: “Jokes on you! I actually received some already~”

“There’s one from Yukko, Marippe, Sacchan and also from Yocchan!”

Azami: “Those nicknames sounded like they came from a Yankee manga...”

Banri: “Hey, be quieter. I’m trying to link my thoughts with the universe here.”

Taichi: “What the heck are you tryin’ to link for? ’Sides, d’you even get a chocolate?”

Banri: “It’s just a chunk of jet black, yet receiving one or not makes you feel emotional roller coaster...”

“You guys are still children, I see.”

“I’m crazy for not being interested in Valentine’s Day even though I’m a high schooler?”

“I take that as a compliment, thank you.”

Taichi: “I haven’t got a clue of what you were sayin’ at all.”

Juza: “As usual, Settsu sure is a weird guy.”

Azami: “Eh? Ah, yeah...”

Omi: “What’re you guys talking about?”

Juza: “Valentine’s Day!”

“Surely the popular guy Omi-kun received lots of chocolates, right?”

Omi: “No... I refused all of them this year just to get Angel-chan’s.”

Taichi: “Seriously?!”

Omi: “The number of sacrifices I’ve made is different than you guys.”

Taichi: “Tch...”

Juza: “He sure is on a whole different level than us...”

Sakyo: “Excuse me, what are you all doing here?”

“That is a path that you are standing on. You will be a bother to other students if you keep chatting there.”

Azami: “Here comes a typical honour student. He’s even doing the glasses thing.”

Taichi: “Oh shush! Don’t act so bossy just because you’re the class prez!”

Juza: “Can’t we make a fuss at least on Valentine’s Day?”

Banri: “President. If you want to pass through here, go over my corpse!”

Azami: “Just shut your mouth for once.”

Taichi: “You look serious and all, but aren’t you the one who thinks about today the most?”

Sakyo: “What are you talking about? I have no interest in that.”

Juza: “There you go again~ Admit it, you’re also fidgeting for Valentine’s Day!”

Omi: “I don’t know about these unpopular guys, but should I tell you about some tips on how to be popular?”

Juza: “Ugh, so pretentious!”

Sakyo: “I must read this reference book for the qualification exam before getting carried away by such an event.”

Azami: “The book’s upside down though.”

Sakyo: “Urk...”

“Choc— I mean— Today, I think I’m not doing well...”

Taichi: “He just said chocolate for a sec there.”

Juza: “He might as well think about returning gifts for White Day already.”

Sakyo: “W-what? I don’t think I’ll knit a muffler for the White Day and make it so that two people can wear it together. No, not at all...”

Taichi: “Dang, he really DID think about it!”

Juza: “So in the end, we’re all waiting for Angel-chan, huh.”

Banri: “It’s about time we settle this matter. Let’s end the futile conflict here.”

“My right hand... it’s aching...”

Taichi: “You just wanted to say that, right?”

Azami: “...By the way, who’s Angel-chan?”

Taichi: “Wait- You’ve been conversin’ without knowin’ that?!”

Omi: “Actually, who are you in the first place?”

Azami: “I’m Azami Izumida, who transferred to school here today.”

Juza: “You’re a transfer student?”

Taichi: “You should’ve said that first! You’re actin’ way too familiar with us!”

Sakyo: “Everyone, the teacher just contacted me. Seems like Angel-chan took a rest at home today.”

Juza: “Aight, disperse.”

Omi: “Bye, guys.”

Banri: “Everything has turned into nothingness...”

Taichi: “Just go home!”

Banri: Aight, that’s the end of Etude. Great work, guys.

Comment: Good job!

Comment: It was too funny lol

Comment: Juza-kun was really cheerful

Juza: My role was a “Frivolous guy”.

Taichi: And mine’s a “Delinquent”! I tried using Ban-chan as reference~

Azami: No wonder why I thought it was kinda similar.

As I said at the end, I’m a “Transfer student”.

Omi: I was a “Popular guy from Class 1” but I’m not sure if I did it well...

Comment: I laughed at the popular Omi-kun lol

Comment: Please accept my chocolate too

Comment: Was Banri-kun a “Chuunibyou”?

Banri: Yup. Man, I had a hard time comin’ up with those lines.

Y’know, I really like how Sakyo-san acted as the “Class president”.

Taichi: Sakyo-nii was being teased a lot that it was hard to hold back my laughter!

Azami: Pretty rare for you to do funny acts that many times.

Sakyo: It’s easy to emphasize comicalness with that kind of serious character.

Banri: Oh, it’s almost the time.

Omi: Everyone, thanks for watching us today.

Juza: I wanna do it again if we get the chance.

Sakyo: Also, thank you for voting. Thanks to you viewers, the Etude was successful.

Banri: See you in the next Inste Live.

Taichi: Bye bye~!

[eyeslikewatercoolers]

Hot Takes/Unpopular Opinions (in no particular order)

To preface this: none of these opinions reflect my thoughts or feelings on the queens mentioned (I felt the need to put this here bc this is still the internet) I was going to put my shipping opinions on here too, but I might save those for another day.

US seasons (mostly s15)

Season 15 was very predictable, and Sasha was a very predictable winner

Irene’s shade and reads to the other queens felt mean-spirited. It came off like she was being rude most of the time.

Aura was the correct winner for the Girl Groups episode. Her and Sasha were about the same level in the challenger, but Aura’s runway was better.

Anetra should have been in the bottom for the Girl Group challenge instead of Jax. Jax (minus the runway) was safe, at least

Luxx should have won the 50/50 challenge.

Marcia was kinda dragged along for most of the season.

The wrong twin was sent home first (if we disregard the lipsync). Sugar could of made it to at least the comedy challenge.

Some (not all) of Sasha’s runways were overhyped. Specifically the Beyoncé and Tye-Dye runways weren’t as on-par with the rest of her looks

The fact that Anetra made almost all of her runways herself isn’t talked about enough

The drama was overhyped. Most of the time it felt like watching people fight for no reason

They should film the finale in Vegas for all seasons like they did for s14

The unpredictability of s14 was a good change. It kept the engagement high and it’s fun to talk about.

Just because s13 had great runways and lip syncs, doesn’t make it a good season

Gigi isn’t really as much of a fashion queen as queens like Violet and Gottmik. She’s more modelesque

S11 is better than fans give it credit for

The ‘what would you say to your younger self’ is a total Emmy grab. It feels forced and doesn’t really add anything to the final judging decision (I skip it every time)

DRUK

UK1 is severely underrated, it gets overshadowed by the other seasons. Whether it be for better or worse

UK2 is better on first viewing than rewatch. The rewatch loses that extra something special

UK3 had a phenomenal cast, but the worst production

Jonbers is definitely a fashion queen. Her looks are more suited for editorials than live runways

DRDU and CDR (there’s not many so I’m combing them)

Kita gets overshadowed as a winner, due to how bad DU1 was

Spankie is the most underrated winner. She has some of the most charisma out of any other RuGirl

DU2 is very slept on

CDR2 drags on a bit since there’s pretty much no drama. The queens seemed like they were avoiding causing any drama (except Eve)

Lady Boom Boom should have stayed over Kimmy

And I don’t really have any for other international seasons, but I’ll give some random non-Drag Race ones!

No matter if you’re living on your own or not, you aren’t an actual adult until at least age 22 (emotionally and socially)

Grown adults that refuse to eat fruits and vegetables are immature (besides special exceptions like autism, afrid, allergies, etc)

Colleges shouldn’t pressure undergrad students to go to grad school

People that refer to their pets as their actual children (like a son or daughter) are weird

English food isn’t bad, it’s just bland most of the time (I’ve go to the UK every few years to see family, for those that didn’t know)

And the last, pineapple is amazing on pizza

I know some of these aren’t that big of hot takes, but I just wanted to share my opinions:)