#( i had so much fun with this you don't even understand )

[xhda1449x]

okay so I have Opinions TM about this because. well. am asexual. know asexual people. Been Like That before.

I had a friend. She's not my friend anymore. One of the reasons why is that she was a very sex negative asexual. Not repulsed, negative. Sex negative means Against It As A Concept. Repulsed means "ew, I really don't want to hear about any of it and I'm kinda disgusted by the way sexual attraction seems to run the world but yknow, that's me, y'all do you", right. It's a different thing. Some aces don't understand that.

I've known aces who think it's the identity for sex negativity. Aces who are attracted to people in an allo way (!!!) but think sex is gross. The friend I had was like that. Afaik she just... hated men so much she decided that wanting sex with women As A Guy is disgusting behavior so all sex is like that. Because she'd only use the "sex repulsed" card when interacting with guys. Because she was a lesbian and identified as such. Now yeah there are ace lesbians. I've also known a few of those. But that's not the point, the point is that so many people who don't want to have conventional PiV sex find the ace label and think it's for them.

Now uhhh my personal experience with the sex negativity excused as being sex repulsed mindset. So I have ocd. something most people around me know about. Over the years of Me Having It (so like... since I was 8 ig) it manifested in different ways. One of the most annoying intrusive thoughts I'd dealt with was just... my friends, my family members, in sexual situations. Not with me, just kinda... abstract, I guess, but one time I had a wholeass flashback because my friend told me he did indeed sleep with his girlfriend regularly so that's something. It's not really fun, imagining your two platonic-and-nothing-else friends Having Sex In Your Head and not being able to stop it. Also yeahhh the trauma def played a role too. Like, that's most likely what triggered me to Have OCD in the first place, and it took me a long time to get over that (mostly because I couldn't really tell anyone about it. I'm not gonna get into details but let's just say people don't really like to think that a young girl could hurt someone like that).

So now I'm in a relationship. First I've ever had. And I had to deal with Everything by being thrown head first into it. The first year was Hard, with another aspect of the ocd (it's always the ocd) being that I'd question my identity a lot. Sure I was dating someone but I was still ace because I didn't want to have sex with them right? Sure I don't mind the thought but I'm still ace because I wouldn't do it irl? SURE I CAN IMAGINE MYSELF DOING IT IRL BUT I'M STILL ACE, RIGHT, ACES CAN HAVE SEX?????? on top of dealing with Gender Questioning, too. Fun times!!!

But uh. yeah. turns out that I needed some help processing the trauma and now I'm like... the kink-cyclopedia for my friends or something. Like the person in the tags said, it's mostly theoretical. And funny thing is I've Been Like This even when I was a teenager!!! But I both pushed it down because That's Not How Aces Are and overplayed it because I wanted my friends to like me and at the time it seemed as if their only interest was Talking About Sex (idk, teenagers can be like that sometimes, or it can feel that way if you don't relate).

Anyway, yeah. For anyone who's like this (thinking ace is the label for sexual trauma survivors; thinking you're ace because you don't want sex; thinking being ace means being above sexual desires and that somehow making you better than everyone else), I've been there. And it was miserable. I'm still ace, because guess what, I'm still not sexually attracted to anyone besides maybe my partner and even then I'm not sure. But like... the reason why puritans are miserable isn't just because they're all horny and repressed. Building your whole identity on top of Hating Something will always make you miserable. Try to avoid that if you can.

I am both.

[fandomfuntimem]

DP x DC prompt.

We back, baby! I am warning you that this one is kinda flimsy, but I need it out of my head.

-------‐---‐-------------------

Dark souls esk Danny i guess.

Basicly.

Danny was one of the first heroes to exist, but no one ever exactly recognised that. Hence the fact he isn't very well known. His heroism ultimately ended with the GIW managing to completely seal off the ghost zone. Trapping him as the unwilling King of ghosts.

Danny is lonely. He has his servants, ghost friends, and animals to keep him company. But he hasn't had any real connections in so long. That is, until a new ghost appears in the zone. It's a child, fourteen, just like Danny when he died. The boy calls himself Robin. He shares his tale of woe, and Danny, seeing himself in the child, takes him in.

Robin became like his son. Not only was he the first human soul in the gz in decades, but he was also a source of hope. A connection to the living the ghosts had desperetly missed, a promise that one day they will be free.

Danny built him a library, cooked with him, sparred, played, they did everything together. Sometimes even sitting in silence.

---------------------------

"Hey, Danny?" Robin looked up at the half dead King, and he looked back down at him.

"Yeah, babybird?"

"If you were able to leave the ghost zone, even for just one day, what would you do?"

Danny thought. Humming and momentarily closing his eyes, "Well... I don't exactly have much to go back to. So if I could go back, even for one day..." He gave Robin a very serious look, "I would drag Joker back in with me."

Robin gave a vicious grin. He liked that answer.

---------------------------

The fun, of course, came to an end. Danny woke up one day to find no more Robin. He looked everywhere. The castle, the library, the far frozen, and beyond. Robin was gone, and Danny couldn't understand why.

He mourned.

And he never stopped mourning.

~~~

In the living realm, Jason woke up. No memory of the ghost zone. But with the overwhelming need to drag Joker down to hell.

~~~

Years later, the bats are fighting the Joker in an old warehouse previously used by a cult. Red Hood is there. Both Joker and Hood's blood spilled across the floor. Nothing lethal.

The old dusty summoning circle on the floor sparked to life. It glowed lazerious green, and a tall twisted figure emerged from a swirling green portal. Its joints popped and creeked, voice wheezing, its eyes glowing a visceral green, and its hair was long flowing and white. The body of the creature was shrouded in black dress, resembling an ancient mourning shroud. Its loud and wet sobs filled the room.

"JOKER!" It screeched. A gient clawed hand reached out, gripping the clown. The creature began to sink back into the portal with a groan. Dragging the Joker with it.

He screamed. Batman grabbed his hand. Nightwing grabbed Batman's cape. Red Hood, with an exhasperated sigh, gripped Nightwing's arm. Red Robin practicly wrapped himself around Red Hood's leg, and Robin clung to the back of Red Robin's suit as they were all dragged into the swirling portal.

~~~

The Bats woke to a swirling green and purple sky, floating doors upon the horizon.

Jason gazed at his surroundings. Floating islands, doors, and a castle not too far off. It screamed 'home' to him. He knew where he was, and most importantly, he knew where he needed to go.

---------------------------

Feel free to add to this if you wish.

[secriden]

It's the way "I just think there's no one out there who wants the best for you more than I do" is true because it INCLUDES FADEL HIMSELF. Fadel is so steeped in his anger and hurt and fear right now that he can't even see how loving and being loved by Style is the door to true freedom.

But he's also nowhere near ready to handle that, emotionally, so Style will give him this honesty and then demand nothing from him and move right on to nipple play (familiar, and therefore comfortable, territory - because at least Fadel has a rulebook to follow in this situation). This reminds me of that time when Fadel told Style about his parents' murder and then Style said "I'm sorry" and then abruptly changed the subject. He senses when Fadel isn't ready to actually face the issue, so he'll give Fadel the space to process what's going on - be it his own shocking ability to be vulnerable to Style or the truth of Style's earnest love for him - in his own time.

Just. The selflessness in that. It would be so much easier for Style to push right now -- to force Fadel into the discussion about how Style actually was very much a victim of the combined circumstances of Kant and Bison and Fadel's past. Lest we forget: Style is the ONLY ONE not embroiled (as far as we know as of ep 8) directly with any of the criminal aspect of this universe. He was just a relatively innocent bystander who got into an accident because he was texting while driving, flirted a little bit aggressively because he found Fadel hot, and then got dragged into a game of lies and deception and power without having a clue about what he was getting into until his own heart was irrevocably compromised. (Like no, I'm never letting my Style apologist post go.)

But none of that matters to Style; the weight of Style's care, the way it's informed and threaded through with his own experience with grief and mourning, makes him infinitely more concerned with giving Fadel room to be angry, to be harsh, hell to even hurt him with his dismissal of Style's sorrow and fear. Style understands what it means to need space to grieve and hurt and he is literally making that space for Fadel.

And this is so important because Fadel is so very repressed. Like you know this is a man who hasn't actually emotionally processed a thing since his parents' murder. And who can blame him? He was a just a child. And then he was taken in by a woman who gave him the training and the tools to ensure that he would never be physically vulnerable again but also taught him to completely close his heart to love and trust. I don't believe for a second that Lilly cared one bit about Fadel's (or Bison's, for that matter) emotional wellbeing.

This is why Style is so perfectly suited for Fadel. He may not have the same experiences or lived a life as volatile and violent as Fadel, but the things he has experienced makes him uniquely suited to treasure and mend Fadel's fragile heart.

Fadel needs to allow himself to let go sometimes, to have some fun for once, to face and accept the reality of his own emotions. They both have to learn how to love and be loved, and its fascinating how ideally suited they are to teach each other these things. -- I wrote this on my thoughts on Style after episode 1 - and by god is this show paying it off!!!

I just. I'm so grateful to this show for giving us this. I know it's not prefect, there are things I wish the show had lingered on or left out, but by GOD there are some absolute diamonds in this story that render me overwhelmed with love for these characters.

[guidaozongshi]

No one can convince me Sasuke constantly asking Naruto why he cared wasn't him searching for a confession. There's a reason why there was a pause before we said friend. It's a popular literary device to indicate uncertainty. People are acting dense on purpose.

In most Shounen or JP media, friendships can be very deep yet straightforward. It is very rare ever to find characters in a platonic relationship who question whether the term 'friends' accurately defines their bond.

Even before Sasuke himself puts forward the question, many characters question Naruto about his fixation on Sasuke , it is obvious that the relationship between them does not fit the norms or definition of friendship even in the setting itself.

I remember seeing this from Japanese users on a 2channel thread, on Naruto's homosexuality. Even though a lot of the users' responses have an underlying homophobia to it, they do acknowledge the obvious.

>The way Naruto and Sasuke are portrayed is not normal no matter how you look at it. But I guess that's just the way it is.

But what I don't understand about Kishimoto is that not all of Naruto's relationships are like that. He can also portray warm and good friendships like Shikamaru and Chouji, Sakura and Ino, Kakashi and Gai etc.

Also, in the manga itself there are a lot of comments like " what on earth are they doing ?" Which makes me think that the author is able to look at things from an objective point of view

They agree that not only Naruto-Sasuke's relationship doesn't fit into the norms of friendship/brotherhood like other characters but that Kishimoto deliberately made it such.

In the Western fanbase, in recent years, even the dudebros are now starting to admit how gay the relationship was, but there are still a lot of people who insist that people cannot conceive of a deep friendship between men and that fujoshis are sullying their relationship. But Naruto and Sasuke's relationship being abnormal is pretty much an accepted opinion in Japan even though it's not discussed as much, it's an open secret.

> I'm wondering why it's so popular overseas, when the love between the men is so intense.

I guess most people got into it initially because of the ninja element.

It has been my favorite anime for many years and it still has support from young people in many countries.

The relationship between these two is too heavy that it is often made fun of, but I can't mention it publicly

I'm wondering if there's people out there who have had similar feelings, although not to this extent.

"why it's so popular overseas, when the love between the men is so intense"

Oh brother. Because they ignore it altogether to focus on one of the worst aspects of the series: ridiculous power creeps and make everything about power scaling.

So yeah, the text quite literally tells us that Naruto and Sasuke's relationship defies the conventions of friendship. By the end, even Naruto drops the label of brothers to describe the relationship even if he had once used it to describe their bond. Naruto then only describes his own feelings but doesn't categorise it and only then Sasuke is satisfied.

[zorilleerrant]

Ohhhh, I think about this a lot, and Murderbot is such a good example! Easing readers into a story will make it read well the first time, but if they ever try to reread it, all the exposition becomes glaring. Usually that's annoying and feels pointless, but sometimes it can highlight problems with the plot, characterization, or even the worldbuilding itself. It gets too big the second time through. (That's why everyone's always on about exposition.)

The typical way of getting around that is introducing a plot context or character relationship where people would be explaining the important parts of the story. Sometimes, people use an unusually verbose or nitpicky narrator who wants to keep talking about random mostly irrelevant things. Murderbot, though, does my favorite, and one I think is sorely underused: the stories just throw you in and assume you'll get it eventually.

(This is one of the particulars I'm talking about when I say fanfic ingrains good writing habits, too. Fanfic almost never tries to handhold you through establishing the known quantities, so it's no surprise a ficcer knows how to do this!)

It can be hard going into a story planning to do that, especially if you're a writer who does a lot of worldbuilding or otherwise keeps really detailed notes. You've made a lot of decisions! Unfortunately, to make the story flow, you're going to have to wait to share most of that with the reader.

The Important Parts:

There are things the narrator doesn't know about the world. Lots of things are true in real life, but you don't know them either; this is pretty much inevitable. Murderbot is fun about this, because some things it has opinions on, some things it doesn't understand, and some things just feel normal to it!

These include things most people in the world would know, and they include things the readers might/will likely know. Murderbot has a lot of trouble with emotions, which is relatable, because we've all had some trouble with that, but it really establishes how non-human it is that it often assumes humans never have any similar trouble. Characters in a different world won't always share the same premises as in your world.

The character should know things relevant to it. This is the most commonly talked about, I think, because a lot of the most aggravating exposition is a character 'learning' through an explanation of something they should already be deeply familiar with. It's not just about general facets of the world, though; it's important that characters know a lot about their established specialties. Murderbot may be confused a lot of the time, but when it knows something, it knows it. Or it's faking knowing it and it learned it from TV.

Different characters should know different things! I think this is often overlooked in favor of trying to streamline the worldbuilding, so most characters tend to have the same background but different specialties. But in general, lots of people are working from different premises and expectations about the world, not to mention different life experiences. Murderbot does this in an especially fun way because it's always speculating about whether other people know what it knows or if they think it knows what they know, adding an interesting metafictional quality to a strong basis for character building.

When the narrator likes or cares about something more, they talk about it more, and when they like or care about it less, they talk about it less. The worldbuilding is all equally important to you, and maybe to the reader, but a character will latch onto only specific things. Murderbot has so many of those specific things! And it will go on at length, until it gets to a metaphor roundabout on occasion. This fleshes out the character more than the world, but it's important to establish your lens.

Especially since most 'truths' about the world aren't universal! There are always going to be prevailing attitudes and common myths and personal biases. These add to the worldbuilding, because you can see different ways characters interact with the world and how they come to think this way. There's not just one culture, let alone one subculture, so you need things that seem different. Murderbot, with its relatively unique perspective, is adept at showing you how many different ways different people think about things. And yet, it keeps insisting all other SecUnits think just like it! Which is a particularly wonderful bit of character and worldbuilding.

Anyway, if you think you need to tell the reader something up front, no you don't. It'll probably slot in seamlessly three chapters later, and give you a chance to let the details appear organically. Let them live their lives and care about what they want to!

An important writing lesson I'm taking away from Murderbot is that you don't always have to ease your readers into the world and the characters and speculative concepts. Sometimes you can just start with the fun part where there's a sandworm trying to eat someone and that's fine too.

[prttylight]

Can u pls write a Sebastian x reader where even she is a driver and they take turns taking each other on hot laps and reader has more titles than seb so she teases him that she is the better driver

SV5 ★ better driver

★ thx for the request, it was super fun to write. sorry if its too short. ★ Sebastian Vettel x FemaleDriver!Reader

There were rare moments when Seb and you would talk about racing. probably you two talked more about the carrots growing in your garden than about the championship. In your intimacy, you two rarely felt like racers since in privacy you were just a couple talking about books, their garden, politics without differentiating themselves too much from other couples (just a few championships on your shoulders). 

However, today was different. The night before you and Seb had fallen asleep in your hotel room while watching your previous championships, making your egos sky high as soon as the day began. Competitiveness was the main theme; who brushed their teeth the fastest (it was you), who made the best coffee (Seb according to your colleagues), and the competitions continued to increase until it got to the critical point that really mattered. Races. You started by warming up the tires, slow and Seb looked at you in the rearview mirror. He advanced first. And when his first lap was about to end, you started up. 

His first number was good but you knew he was going to improve as the track was still cold. Your first lap was not your best and you could not overcome him, you slightly hit the steering wheel.  Imagining Seb's cocky smile only made you feel more ambitious to beat him. Feeling the pressure of speed in your body could not match the tingles of happiness that invaded your body when you beat his record.  It was almost an hour in which you were outdoing each other and when you finished the sun was setting. The tips of your lips lifted when you saw him take off his helmet. Both of your hair was wet with sweat and Seb pressed his lips together when he saw you approaching. You had won the last lap by almost a second of difference with him and although he was annoyed, deep down he enjoyed seeing you win. 

You pulled your racing suits down to your waists and drank water as you tried to pull yourselves together. You looked sideways at Seb and he was already looking at you, your cheeks turned pink but you quickly recovered your normal state. 

“Seb I know you tried hard today” you paused to smile “but I think at the end of the day, I'm better.” 

The silence after your statement was broken by your partner's laughter. 

“Don't laugh, it's true,” you exclaimed as you pushed him, “I won today, not only in the race but also in everything else!”.

Suddenly, Seb became serious and slid his hand around your waist, your throat went dry and the heat on your face returned.  

“You're right liebling, you're better” Seb left a kiss on your cheek and as soon as he moved away from your skin he added “However, you can never beat me at...Flirting with you”. 

Seb's smile dominated your head but when the meaning of his words came to your understanding, you pushed him back. But you couldn't deny it, it was true. Seb always made you feel nervous. That was love. 

[kykyonthemoon]

7 Days the mini-series

About this series: ✈️

Day 05: Sunshower

I was used to just him and me, always together. However, as we grew older, our own worlds expanded, and more people came.

I didn't think about it until one day.

That day, I headed to Caleb's school after class. We went to school and returned home together day by day. There was going to be a volleyball tournament between high schools in the district, so he often had to stay after class to practice. I chose a good spot in the grandstand, and finding him among the players on the field was not a problem to me at all.

Whether it was studying or playing sports, I loved seeing him putting all his mind into it. Occasionally, he would glance towards the stands, then smile when he saw me there. When he scored, I wouldn’t hesitate to stand up and scream: “YAYYY!!! CALEB YOU'RE SO COOL!!!” And every time, his teammates would constantly make fun of him till his ears turned crimson.  While in the stands, the girls in the upper grades would glance and me and whispered:

“Who is that girl?”

“I don’t know. She must be crazy about Caleb…”

“Who wouldn’t like him? Caleb is so handsome, and kind!”

“OMG!!! He’s staring at us!!!”

A few seats ahead of me, the females began to conceal their faces and laugh among themselves. I had no idea why my stomach felt uneasy. I sat down and remained silent throughout the practice that day.

Of course, Caleb didn't understand what upset me so much. Even I could not know what it was. I was too young to start dating, yet old enough to acknowledge the most beautiful emotions of my youth were blossoming. Every afternoon, I waited for Caleb at the sports court before we came home together. And every afternoon, I caught him surrounded by so many other girls.

There was no doubt how popular he was at school. I should be happy for him, since he was everyone's favorite. Yet why could I not get rid of this uncomfortable feeling in my heart? Was it because I was used to being the only one by his side? Was it because I disliked the idea of sharing him with anyone else?

That day, after his practice, I saw Caleb talking to a classmate. She was proposing that they take a stroll home together, it seemed. My fists clenched, head bowed, I walked away. There was a tint of soreness on my nose.

After a while, I heard Caleb calling my name. My feet didn't stop, they wanted to go even faster. He caught up with me and took hold of my wrist.

"Pip-squeak? You didn't wait for me today?"

His naïve expression infuriated me even more. I pulled my hand away from him and replied:

"Go home with her."

Every step I made now vented the path that had done nothing wrong. Caleb casually strolled beside me and said:

"Who? Is there anyone else other than the two of us?"

He took notice of my silence, then pulled my hand to stop me. “Come on. Tell me, what have I done wrong?”

The radiant smile on his lips forced me into the situation where I failed to keep my poker face. I pouted and gave him an unkind cheek squeeze, saying:

“Stop smiling.”

“On't ou ike it en I ile?" (Don't you like it when I smile?)

Caleb said as I rubbed his cheeks to let out my sulking though he did not do anything wrong. That very moment, it began to rain, even though the golden sun was still shining brightly.

“Oh, a sunshower?…”

“This is also known as fox rain. Legend has it that when it’s both sunny and raining, it’s the time for the fox to welcome his bride. But our Gran said that this type of weather indicates a quarrel between the Sun God and the Rain God.” Caleb explained and turned to face me. “It seems that you are mad at me too, pip-squeak. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but... could you kindly forgive me??”

I didn’t answer right away, yet the smile on my lips gave him the answer. I held his hand in mine and we continued walking on the long path.

“Caleb… Will you… date someone else in the future?”

“Huh? Dating? Why are you curious about it?”

“Well… I was just thinking… When I grow up a little more and you’re not with anyone, I… I will be your date... Is that alright?”

Our hand squeezed, he grinned, as bright as the sun and the rainbow in the rain in front of our path home.

[soratsuart]

Random TDP thought but I very much enjoyed that the animal sidekicks all have distinctive personalities and are characters of their own to a certain point instead of just being kinda there and serving as comedic relief sometimes.

Like. Many shows will just give characters animal sidekicks for the sake of it and not do much with them with counted exceptions (looking at you The Owl House, I love the palismen but other than Flapjack most of them didn't do much, not even Luz's). In TDP, meanwhile we are introduced to Bait from episode 1 and he's always had a very distinct personality even before the reveal that Ezran can understand animals (thus allowing for better chances at having animals express themselves and giving them personalities).

Bait is grumpy and rolls his eyes at the kids antics a lot, but he undoubtedly loves them all a lot and tries to help them to the best of his ability, be it by acting as a comforting presence when they're sad, literally acting in the face of danger (as part of a plan or otherwise) to help them or doing silly things to cheer them up like helping Callum cheer up Rayla in s7. He also has his own stuff going on, tho! I enjoy how easily jealous he gets of all the other animals (or dragon) when he first meets them only to eventually warm up to them and protect them or comfort them too! He's such a fun character and TDP wouldn't be the same without him. When I tell you I'd die for this glowtoad-

And then there's Stella! When they introduced her I was a bit worried this would be one of those instances where they give the female protagonist an animal sidekick just cuz the male protagonists had one and then do nothing about her, but turns out I was wrong! Stella is so charismatic and fun. She's cute and loving but also mischievous. She has turned out to be such a great help for the characters and I like how much she tries to help Rayla, sometimes to her own detriment like when she fell trying to catch the pearl. The fact that she has an habit to just grab whatever catches her eye is so funny to, little thieving monkey... The fact that her magic makes her a legit threat in combat caught me by surprise tho (THE FUCKING PORTAL DECAPITATION IN THE FINALE, HELLO???)

I can't say much about the bailings because they don't have that much going on for them yet. They're literal babies and their personalities aren't that distinctive in comparison + haven't had the chance to develop themselves yet, but it's nice they have at least some preferences displayed already like Hat just deciding that they want to be with Soren specifically from the get go or Jellybug having a sweet tooth. I'm also a big fan of Sneezles sticking with Callum and helping Stella make Rayllum real again (our MVPs for real those two)

Over all just. Idk, I really like these little creatures a lot, they make me smile whenever they appear on screen and I really enjoy the fact the writers made sure we'd have reasons to care for and get attached to them. They're a very important part of this show too, even if they might not be as noticed as the human, elf and dragon characters

[aralezinspace]

Cuckoo you absolutely hit the nail on the head here. Adding my two cents which is mostly reiterating what you've already said with my own thoughts.

General disclaimer, I'm just a rando on the internet so take this all with a grain of salt and no I do not condone anything Neil has done and I hope he reaps every consequence he deserves.

It's definitely not like JKR. It's more like Stephen King. Everyone knows and acknowledges Stephen King is a fucked up person and has done bad things in his past, but damn if his books aren't good. He's also not using his money to actively campaign against minorities. Stephen King (and Mr. G) are flawed, fucked up humans like the rest of us, likely even more so. Now if you look at Stephen King as a person and decide not to engage with his works, awesome! You're allowed to do that, have fun storming the castle. If you decide to do the same with Mr. G, awesome, go nuts.

However, what seems more disturbing to me is the sort of parasocial relationship a lot of people have with him, and other celebrities too. Believe me, I understand the 'oh shit that could have easily been me' and feeling like this is a gross betrayal of trust. Believe me, I get that. However, for those of you/us who have never had personal contact with Mr. G (like me), or have never even been in the same room as him, some food for thought: why does this feel so personal?

I understand the hurt, the disappointment, the outrage, the massive ick feeling. Personally I thought he was better than this, and it's very disappointing to learn that he's not. But for those who feel personally betrayed, why? In the grand scheme of things, Neil doesn't owe you/us anything, leaving out the universal 'don't be a shit human.' He doesn't know that 99% of us exist, other than as icons on a screen, as numbers under a follower count. In the grand scheme of things, you burning his books isn't going to affect him, it's only going to affect you.

I guess what I"m saying is, don't be hasty. Let the strong feelings pass before making any emotionally charged decisions (not telling y'all what to do, just my two cents). But especially to those who get so much joy from his works, and feel like they now have to renounce everything he's done and that just doesn't feel right, take a minute before doing that. Think of who you're doing it for- your own conscience? The faceless mob on the internet? To spite Neil? Because if it's for the latter two reasons, I'm willing to bet the only person you'll be hurting or sticking it to is yourself.

Nothing in this world is 100% unproblematic, and letting the internet's ever shifting standards of what is 'okay' to enjoy dictate your life just sounds like a very miserable way to live. Letting the actions of celebrities who don't even know you exist dictate what you're allowed to enjoy also sounds like a very miserable way to live.

At the end of the day, I refuse to let the shitty decisions of one shitty man who doesn't even know I exist rule my life, and limit the things I derive joy from. I've been subjected to too many shitty decisions by too many shitty people that I actually know to have room for the shitty decisions of someone I don't know. There are so many ways to engage with his properties that don't give him money- engage in fandom, pirate stuff, borrow his stuff from your local library (we love supporting libraries!), buy unlicensed merch from Etsy, Redbubble, etc. Personally, I’m going to continue to write fic and watch the new season and engage with the fandom- there are too many stories I want to tell and too many awesome people I’ve met through fandom and to give all that up for one schmuck’s bad decision seems like a huge waste. Fan creators are not Mr. G, don't throw the fandom under the bus to spite the creator.

It is possible, and actually very achievable, to condemn the bad things he's done as a person, without setting a torch to everything good his works have done.

"Appropriate" responses to the Gaiman issue

TLDR: This isn't a Rowling situation, be wary of internalized purity culture.

He's a predator. I'm glad a proper journalist followed up where police have failed (and possibly given victims a better footing for future charges).

But I have a problem with the knee-jerk responses targeting the fandom.

Just to clarify, I'm not talking about insulting The Predator. This is about how you treat people who have/do/will enjoy the stories that unfortunately came into the world through his keyboard.

Fans aren't intrinsically evil/uncaring for continuing to participate in associated fandoms.

This is not another Rowling situation. Why? Let me clarify. The consequences of consumption are very different. Rowling is ACTIVELY using her popularity and income as a creative to target one of the most vulnerable minorities in the world. Buying official merch/books/movie tickets prove to the powers that be that she remains a good investment, so they'll give her even more money. This perpetuates the cycle - new movie/book deals, more income, more hate, rinse and repeat.

The push to avoid Rowling's work in full is driven by the fact that she has FACED NO CONSEQUENCES and is still powered by her creative properties. It's fandom/consumers trying to bring justice.

Gaiman, on the other hand, knew he was doing bad shit on some level because he kept his abuse hidden. His status and reputation let him get close to vulnerable fans and essentially intimidate authorities from going after a celebrity. He is FACING CONSEQUENCES. I would personally like to see criminal charges brought against him, but that's out of the fandom's hands. Things we could've influenced (his Disney deal appears to have gone to shit, he's been booted from the truncated final season of GO, and there's no news on Sandman 3) are already in motion. If his publisher doesn't drop him, I'd say avoiding his future works is beyond valid (I certainly wouldn't buy them). But I'm going to watch the new season of Sandman. And once I've taken time away, I'll probably finish my active fics.

"Judging" people who still enjoy his work stems from good intentions that grew out of the fetid ground of purity culture rhetoric.

Writing fanfic and enjoying shows that are already made do not make people soulless accomplices. The idea that unproblematic stories by saintly creators are the only things you're allowed to enjoy is not only flirting with censorship, but it's also impossible.

If you think people should have nothing to do with Gaiman's works, you better throw out anything Weinstein touched. That includes Jackson's LOTR trilogy, FYI. Also, anything his company officially produced (which still gives him money in some cases) should never, ever grace your screen. That includes some of the better Stephen King adaptations, The Orphanage (which was a breakthrough Spanish-language film in Western markets), The King's Speech, The Imitation Game, Woman in Gold, Paddington, and It Follows.

If you aren't willing to publicly announce your "disappointment" in anyone who continues to enjoy any of those films, then kicking up a fuss over how other people process and interact with problematic content from a fallen celebrity who is in the process of getting his dues is pure hypocrisy.

Personally, I'm maliciously complying with Gaiman's famous quote about how once a story is out there, it doesn't belong to the author anymore. Well said, Predator, these are mine now, and I shall fuck about with them as I see fit.

Attacking or snobbishly looking down your nose at the fandom also erases YEARS of beautiful critique and thoughtful exploration of existing, acknowledged problems in works like The Sandman.

People in these parts already know how to handle complex issues in complex pieces of media. Gaiman isn't our god. His canon is not our bible. He didn't teach us morality, as is apparently the case for a lot of people who grew up reading Rowling's works as a child.

If you have a problem with the censorship comment I made, I'd like to point out at least one writer friend is LEANING INTO the fandom as a way to process their own trauma. Suffice it to say they survived a very similar situation. They see it as empowering to take the stories away from the abuser and use the characters/settings to make something new.

I get the ick. I have it right now. But I'm not burning every copy of his work I own (full disclosure I have... *checks shelves* a copy of Neverwhere and The Sandman series). Doing so is totally valid, and if that helps you process and feel better - go for it!

But this is not the same as Rowling and the only ones you hurt by declaring your "judgement" is a complex group of individuals who are able to enjoy fiction, remain aware of potential social consequences, and found a place that doesn't align with your black/white morality.

With that said, judge away! I better not see any stories from Charles Dickens, anything in anyway associated with the Weinsteins, Nickelodeon shows, Charlie Chaplin references, or Francis Ford Coppola films touch your feed. If you scratch the surface, you'll find more things to judge others for enjoying, and they will inevitably find something to judge you for, too.

[wato1876]

wato im halfway thru parrots unstable vid and the way you left actually hit me so hard. ARGHAGAGRG

everyone else acting: yeah, I don't know if this is it... wato1876: *on the verge of tears, staring at Wifies, "always have a way out"*

you make me sick /pos

I’m glad you enjoyed my amateur voice acting! Everyone puts in a lot of effort, I just find it very easy to put emotion in my words, and its fun, it adds depth to an otherwise very high octane. Disappointment is very common in unstable and that tone is heard a lot, but Wato wasn’t sad because *they themself* didn’t have a way out, yes they wanted to be safe, but essentially their entire world was crumbling around them, all their friends went every which way. Wato may have a hard outer shell, and extremely blunt, but what hurts more is seeing someone who cares so genuinely much about something being ripped at one by one. If Wato was the first to go, it wouldn’t have been as bad, but seeing everyone leave before him sunk him deeper and deeper into pain. The idea of Parrot seeing his final hope seep through his hands and the devastation he must feel really is what broke Wato.

I have experienced things like this IRL (obviously not as severe, but the sensation you get leaving high-school for the very last time, and standing alone as the field slowly clears for the very last time). I react the way I do because my character has a lot of empathy (the point it hurts him emotionally), and understands why people do things they do. Wemmbu abandoning Sky Civ -> He wants to save himself and truly didn’t care if it meant risking himself. Wifies leave Parrot last episode when going to Farlands -> He just wanted what was best for Parrot since he too saw Parrot ripping himself apart.

Wato secluded himself for so long because he knew he was susceptible to being hurt, and he knows having friends/attachments is a weakness. He knows they are but still cares about people. I tried to show Wato as a dynamic character that changes throughout the videos and reacts how any normal human would. Confused and scared. Not every line is perfect and every action won’t make full sense, but when have we- humans- been perfect.

I like the humanity in a character, the imperfections. That is what makes a good character. Not their tragic downfall, but just the limits of a being.

If I had a beefier computer, I’d make something insane. Editing speed because of lag is my only bottleneck. I love stories, always have. This is just a small slice of stories I want to convey. Even End Barrens was not to what I wanted it to be.

Wato1876

Thought I should at-least give y’all one big character lore drop before I go to bed for the night. What can I say, writing is fun.

[martiandmichelle]

So this time it's Emily writing and it's also me in the photo. What do you think seeing me dressed like this? I'm a bit of a jeans and t-shirt gal so catching me in an outfit like this is unusual. But a client wanted to see me in such a getup so here I am trying to put on a sexy look.

And now confession time: in my heart of hearts I am purely lesbian, but my job - that I love to death - requires me to do some "escort" jobs with - yes - men. When I first started doing this with Marti and Studio M (now Mountain Media) a few years ago, I was VERY uncomfortable when I needed to do straight sex. I've grown into it since and have come to enjoy it. And, guess what - I actually do more "escort jobs" than any of the other ladies. They're reasons for that, of course. Marti is priced out of range for all but the richest clients. Maria has been our #2 escort girl, but she is also much more expensive than me and has a two night minimum. Willow is very picky. The other ladies are up and coming. And one little secret: I'm the only one our owners allow to do hourly escort! I don't do it very often but it's fun when I do. (I suspect Michelle will blow everybody else out of the water in terms of profit from escort in 2025 so I'm talking about 2024.)

So as my job as an escort - which I do feel is the second part of my job behind doing photo sessions and movies - it took me quite a while to grown into it, but as I did I began to discover who I was and what I preferred in straight sex. In doing so, I developed preferences much different from the other ladies. First and foremost: I developed a preference for older men: 50's, 60's, 70's. (I'm 36 as of this writing.) That's probably fortunate since it's mostly guys of that age that can afford Mountain Media and me. (It's important to understand that our owners set prices, not us.)

And here's another thing that's unusual about me and my sexual services (all the ladies say I'm weird so I guess this fits): I'm no size queen, like, say, Michelle. I honesty don't care how big a guy's cock is. Small is fine, maybe better. And my favorite thing is turning a soft cock into a hard one. I like to make a man cum quickly then spend time with his limp cock and empty balls in my mouth (maybe all together!) and work it over good until it's hard again. Kinda different, huh?

Oh, and YES, I love having guys enjoy my body. Like Marti, my favorite thing is watching and feeling someone (or someones) suck my nipples and play with my boobs. (Maybe that comes from me being a natural lesbian?)

One last thing and I'll quit rambling. And that's what was going through my mind the first time I had two guys at the same time or even being in the center of a gang bang. The first thing I thought was "What the FUCK am I doing?" But, I have to admit, being in the middle of two (or more) very horny guys is, well, interesting to say the least. I decided if I was going to be getting fucked by guys whether in a video or in my escort business then I think the more the better, right?!

Love you guys and sorry for making you read all this bullshit.

Emily

[rexfordus]

*I'm back with a snack. Before I get to their headcanons, all three of them were created and unknowingly left behind on the field they were "born" on.

Now to the essay of headcanons!↓

-Paperjam is the first to be created. He was made before any semblance of peace was established between Ink and Error.

-He's able to create just like Ink, but because he's far younger, it's an unrefined ability, and often has small mistakes, such as tears in papers or holes in unmade parts of an object. They're also unable to make larger objects yet.

-They never got much of a childhood, being born onto the aftermath of a battlefield at an estimated 6 years of age and inadvertently being forced to learn how to exist safely and healthily all on their own. They ended up finding Gradient on a battlefield 9 years later and raising him as their own.

-Paperjam actually has a crush on someone, but you guys don't get to know that yet (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠)

-The ink blob acts as a bag of holding and he can store items in there , as long as it can fit into it.

-He calls his little brothers his "kids" for simplicity. He doesn't care about the weird looks he gets occasionally.

-Bro makes fake money to buy things while universe hopping bc he's too busy to ever make any legitimately. Nobody ever finds out.

-He HATES Ink and Error. It's a non-moving grudge that won't ever budge until somebody gets close enough to help him.

-He tried alcohol once and hated it, vowing to keep his "kids" from ever trying it because it was so gross.

~~~

-Gradient was made after the peace between ink and error was established, but was still a product of battle. Ink had ended up pissing Error off too much and it turned into a heated battle.

-He takes after error in the notion of crashing at extreme emotions. He less freezes in place and more experiences fainting, but more painful and unpleasant. He gets very overwhelmed and he just ragdolls.

-Pj ended up being very lenient towards Gray in developmental years, which ended up with him turning out socially stunted and awkward. He is too used to his comfort zone to ever check out new opportunities unless forced to, or actually interested in it.

-He listens to MCR and thinks it's the deepest band ever.

-While growing, he gains the short fuse of his older brother and the destructive tendencies of his Father, and ends up destroying aus for no regard of balance, and more experimenting on how timelines will freak out before disappearing. He's kind of unsettling.

-He draws a lot, usually on a digital medium. He focuses on landscapes and settings rather than people or characters.

-Their special interest is technology, and they know how to do practically anything thanks to the code manipulation.

-Code manipulation is his main ability rather than destruction, but he uses it in very creative ways. He can theoretically use it to be very overpowered, but he doesn't because he's a forgetful teenager who doesn't even leave his room. Let's never remind him he has free will🙏🙏

~~~

-Bluescreen was created between a fun sparring match turned angry battle for life between Swap and Error. The battlefield was abandoned quick after, and bluescreen formed at around ~4 years of age.

-It cannot be understood by anyone who doesn't know how to read binary. Gradient can understand, Pj can only get a word or two, and everyone else hears nothing but noise, leading to much frustration.

-Before Screen had control of his magic when he grew a little, he couldn't touch any living thing without corrupting it's code to the point of turning into but a silhouette of an actual bluescreen message and a piercing screech. (leading to much future anxiety)

-On the topic of anxiety, if he were to ever have an anxiety attack within a lone au, it would crumble. His code, as a born glitch, is far too unstable and when tested, it quickly corrupts all nearby code, which spreads indefinitely unless directly interfered with or reflected.

-He likes chicken Alfredo a lot :33

-He hides his deformed leg and arm due to being shy, but they're very limited in mobility. When being adopted by PJ, he gets braces.

-Screen had to raise himself and learned how to write and sign in MSL all by himself through unpredictable jumps through aus/timelines and watching others exist.

-He's friends with Hate, and sees him like a parental figure, (will give drawing and story later lol I'm lazay.)

~~~

Psst, have a bonus picture for reading this far!

-pj belongs to 7goodangel

-gradient belongs to askcomboclub

-bluescreen is shared by 7goodangel and askinfresh

*btw can somebody help tell me who made these shipchildren originally I've used them for rps for so long I don't even know anymore. This goes for a lot of the characters I draw, I just draw for myself 😭😭I need to adjust to Tumblr etiquette pls I'm trying

[kremzeeks]

OK so I have so many thoughts about this. I will put them under a read more and then people can just ignore them easily that way.

I really enjoy the Knuckles series for what it is... But it was really missing that "full circle" moment.

The first episode sets up a couple of emotional beats for Knuckles as a character. After Sonic's talk with him on the roof, and after this advice gets him grounded, Knuckles states, "...the hedgehog cannot possibly understand" (but I really think you can replace Sonic with the whole family in general) before calling out for spiritual guidance from his Tribespeople.

The crux of the issue that we (the audience) can see for him is that he is very much tied to his own traditions and customs, and everything here on earth is very different. Him even being on earth at all is not out of any sentimentality, but because he believes he has a duty of protection towards the Master Emerald. He considers himself a sentinel on duty, and when he does what is natural to him (and what would have been expected of him among his tribe) - this being, protecting his territory (and where we can presume he's keeping the Emerald until he trusts Wade enough to hand it off to him) - he is punished, and made to feel shame for his behaviour. Not only that, but Sonic encourages him to abandon these duties and just relax and have fun.

This doesn't make any sense to Knuckles because the unspoken implication here is that there was no relaxing and "having the fun" for his tribespeople. I'm speaking without much knowledge of the lore from the videogames, but as far as the live action movie canon goes, there's this sense that Knuckles has had it instilled in him to always be on duty, all of the time.

Even the flashback scene we get in the second film, where his father tells him this moment for heroism isn't his - he's holding a spear in his hand, and standing sentinel over their home. He was the last one left alive in the tribe, and so the only one who didn't go on that raid. So it's very likely he was being left a job, which was to watch over their home village until everyone else returned. He wasn't "warrior" enough at that time to go and fight, but he still had a duty to perform.

When nobody returned, he then assumed the duty the whole tribe once embodied - finding and protecting the Master Emerald.

Another thing the first episode sets up, is this idea that it's now Knuckles' duty to replenish their tribe by finding and training students. Wade being his first.

Although we do get Knuckles referring to earth as his home eventually, these two emotional beats aren't really followed through in a satisfying way. The second one isn't really even followed through at all.

Starting with the first - we sadly don't see Knuckles form any attachment to his home home - this being his home with Sonic, Tails, Maddie, and Tom (and Ozzie, of course!)

I've watched this series through a few times now, and here are some things I have noticed. Although Maddie refers to Knuckles as her "kid" to the construction crew, I feel like this is less about her actually considering Knuckles as one of her children, and more about her explaining him in a way that other people will understand. Because otherwise, she doesn't show a whole lot of maternal behaviour towards Knuckles. This is probably because unlike Sonic and Tails, he is used to being self-sufficient and taking care of himself. A domestic life is probably mind-numbing for him, especially if Maddie is trying to see to all of his immediate needs like a mother would.

And from context clues in this series, I get the sense Knuckles isn't really allowing Maddie to mother him either, which is why there's such a rift between them.

For example, when Knuckles greets them all at the breakfast table with his newly built throne - notice Maddie calls the "boys" down for breakfast, and is only holding two plates. One for Sonic, one for Tails. There isn't even a plate on the kitchen island behind her to suggest she was going to bring one for Knuckles (and just couldn't carry all three plates at once). We can assume from this that she isn't in the habit of preparing breakfast for him.

This is probably because, as Sonic introduces for us at the episode's start, Knuckles starts his day with training. Not by chilling at the breakfast table with the family.

Secondly, Knuckles creates distance between himself and Maddie by referring to her as "Pretzel Woman", which comes across as demeaning. Whilst we (the audience) can acknowledge this is just the way Knuckles refers to others in general (with a moniker - Hedgehog, Fox, etc), I think for Maddie, it's a clear sign that Knuckles has rejected his place in the family, and thus her place in relation to him.

Interestingly, it's only Wade (and his Chief, of course) who Knuckles calls by name in this series, which suggests to me anyway that he sees Wade as an equal, or at least as some kind of kin, probably because Chief Pachacamac has urged him to take Wade on as a student for training.

Everyone else, he creates distance with by not referring to them by their given names, and instead titles/names he's decided they should have.

When Maddie finally loses it and goes full Mom Mode on him, Knuckles talks back to her, not understanding the dynamic she's trying to establish - that she is the boss - the Matriarch, even! - in their house, and he has to fall in line. I think up until that point, Knuckles has considered her just as a thing living in the territory he has to protect, and he doesn't really give her any consideration, the way he doesn't give Ozzie the dog any consideration either. Or at least he's not considering them with the proper/due amount of respect they deserve.

I feel like what this series was missing like you say, OP, is a scene at the end where Knuckles returns home and he understands - from observing Wade with his family - how Maddie sees him in the Wachowski Tribe. Or at least acknowledges her as the Matriarch, the way he does Wade's mom. This would have been a perfect marrying between Knuckles' culture, and the culture he's going to have to assimilate into, if he's to have a peaceful life alongside Maddie and her family.

Bonus points if we could have had a conversation between them both about how Knuckles feels about this. I don't think he necessarily wants to be treated like a child, but he might be at least willing to defer to her a little more and see her as more of an equal, and not just some NPC roaming around who keeps getting in the way and yelling at him for reasons he's not understanding.

As for the second beat - whilst we get a lot of information about Wade's culture and traditions, we don't get any from Knuckles. Even though that is specifically what Chief Pachacamac instructs him to do - find a student who he can teach all about the ways of the Echidna.

He is sort of mildly instructing Wade about how to be a warrior, and talking a lot of warrior-isms, but we don't actually learn anything about the Echidna tribe's customs and traditions. Which is a shame because there were lots of places Knuckles could have reciprocated with his own stories when hearing from Wade, and later his mom, but it doesn't happen for some reason.

All we really learn from this series about Knuckles is the same thing we learned from the second movie: he used to be part of a tribe, but they were all killed when he was young, and now he's on his own.

I do think there are small things we can glean about Knuckles' past (and his customs/traditions) from the things he says and does at least... But without proper on-screen confirmation, these are all just technically headcanon... But here are some vague details we can discern:

At some point, Knuckles participated in (and likely witnessed others participating in) a ritual in which one Echidna has to face their fear in a trial by combat. And just in general, the trial by combat was used to iron out disputes in rank and suchlike. It's very telling that Maddie labels Knuckles' handiwork on the living room as a "Gladiator fighting pit", and Knuckles quickly corrects her with (and emphasises), "Warrior fighting pit". There is more honour in the notion of two willing warriors fighting one another versus one unwilling participant against a seasoned fighter for sport. This is how Knuckles' culture has framed this activity - it's an honourable battle where one must display strength and win against their opponent to determine an outcome. Whatever happens to the loser is deserved because they lost the battle of strength, and the winner is congratulated and/or promoted. What Maddie sees is something very brutal and barbaric. What Knuckles experienced and believes in, is a system for determining rank and encouraging an honourable, warrior-like spirit.

The Matriarch in the clan is to be respected and admired. This one's a bit of a stretch, but if you watch how Knuckles responds to Wanda being admonished for not doing her duty at the table (lighting the candles), and the way he reacts to Wade and Wanda fighting at the table in general juxtaposed with their mom's exasperation, it is clear he disapproves of and is shocked at their behaviour. Poor guy looks utterly flabbergasted the whole way through - they are at a feast table with their Matriarch, and nobody is doing what they're told or what they are expected to do! What is going on?! Meanwhile, he is very enthusiastic about complimenting Wade's mom, shows enjoyment for the food she brought to the table (even though it's not what he would prefer to eat), and admires her physique and strength.

Which ties into three: one's physique is very important and can show on the surface (to Knuckles and maybe others in the Echidna Tribe) a "true" warrior. Notice how Knuckles is quite happy to be mothered by Wade's mom ("Let me get you some more, sweetie", to which Knuckles nods and smiles and gratefully accepts), but less comfortable to be mothered by Maddie (he argues back at her, he's not part of the breakfast routine she has established, and he is just generally quite disrespectful towards her). This certifies he sees Maddie as a "weakling" because unlike Wade's mom, she doesn't appear physically strong to him. It's worth noting, however, that Chief Pachacamac himself doesn't put so much stock into physical appearance because when Knuckles despairs at Wade being his student (and not seeming like a warrior at all), Chief Pachacamac immediately returns that Knuckles wasn't much of a warrior either when they first met. Although to be fair to Knuckles, he probably first met his Chief for lessons as a literal child, whereas Wade is a grown man (so by Knuckles' standards, he should already embody all that a warrior is and does - this could be a signifier of maturity within the Echidna tribe).

My final point doesn't have much to it, but it's very simply about the absence of a mother figure for Knuckles. The main detail in his story is that he witnessed his father leave and never return, and found out that it was because everyone in that raid was murdered by their opponents. Knuckles also references being trained by Chief Pachacamac, and speaks very highly of him in general (quoting his words, for example). Although Knuckles can acknowledge and respect a Matriarch (the way he does Wade's mom), there's not much evidence that he knew a mother in his lifetime. I wonder if this could be another reason he rejects Maddie's attempts to bring him into the family. She treats him the way a mother would a child, but what Knuckles needs from her is for her to behave like a Matriarch - someone he can respect and look up to. He doesn't need or want someone running after him, tidying up his messes, cooking his meals, and tucking him into bed. Those days are waaaay behind him, if they ever even happened at all! I personally get the sense Knuckles has never been mothered (or parented) a day in his life. He was probably a warrior in the making from the moment he could walk, and never really allowed to be a child. Which is why the way Sonic wants to live (as a concept) is so alien to him.

Anyway, with all that said, I think I'm done overthinking this children's media now hjfgjfjgjfgfjg.

Y’know what would be nice?

If that the series ended off with Knuckles returning home to Sonic, Tails and Maddie, and (after the rapid fire of questions and scolding for running away which is most likely prone to happen lol) begins to tell them about how he realised he isn’t living with them just to fulfil a vow of protecting the M.E anymore, but rather because he finally found his home

He explains how he finally understands the definition of “home” and what makes one

And if it’s anywhere he is most at home (since losing his tribe), it’s in the small town of Green Hills, with the Wachowski family, because with them is where his place of belonging lies…they are his home, and always were from the moment they took him in

Yeah, I think that would be nice

[bigmoon-is-bigwife]

So Red Faction did manage to get their kill in this week with Coy but the factions NEED to end with in the next week or two. Or at least the killing requirement because it was a bad idea from the start and is blatantly unfair. The idea of requiring kills was never a bad idea but it was just so clearly not thought out and how they went about it was bad. I can understand creative kills in the sense that it wouldn't be that fun to have people just team up and murder some random weaker person to get it over with but I think there could have also been more communication and rules about it. Like lean into the roleplay aspect and trust that people would make it fun and not be cruel about it.

The main problem though, that hasn't been addressed for some reason, is that the Red Faction was doomed from the start by just being newer to a grindy server. Everyone they were meant to kill had weeks to get established and get far ahead and the levels differences on The Realm matter SO much. It's nearly impossible to kill someone who's higher level than you. Not to mention most of the people they chose to be on Red Faction are people who don't play a lot of minecraft and were never going to be that active. When you pair that with the fact they would have to spend hours and hours grinding to even catch up, that's going to be super intimidating and they're just going to give up and not log on. I don't blame the vast majority of them for not wanting to even touch the killing quest, that was an absurd expectation and very daunting.

If it was not for Pili the Red Faction would just die. Like full stop. They were lucky they happened to invite Pili who took up the challenge and was willing to put in the work to fight that uphill battle when no one else was. There is also credit to give to Bad who was one of the only people to immediately see that this was going to be unfair and try and help them out. The newer people they just invited seem more willing to try and help out but there is still that massive disadvantage of being new and the amount of grinding it takes to catch up. So it still falls to Pili and it's starting to bleed into out of character frustration because that is so unfair. It's to the point where I have heard people from every faction agree that it's not fair for Red Faction. I have a feeling Pili is just going to refuse to be the one to do it this week and I don't blame him. I think this is my only real complaint with the server and I love it a lot but I cannot fathom why the admins are not seeing a problem here. I'm hoping some of the other players from other factions start speaking up more about it because I think most of the active players have seen and agreed that the kill thing has too many problems.

[utilitycaster]

Hi!

Outside of the obvious issues within the Campaign, One point i haven't seen talked about was how 4sD wasn't really a good way to find out why characters did certain thing or thought a certain way, the what the fuck is up with that section was the closest because the players and Dani would talk and ask eachother, though i believe that they also do that outside of the game, or talked about it on cooldown, but the questions selected for the tower of the deep dive often leaned into a fanfic-y narratives (mostly Tower, but sure i guess we need to know what their favourite ice cream flavors would be, for fun i guess)

I think cooldown is the closest to what i would have rather liked from 4sD but that's behind a paywall.

Do you think the format affected the way the audience engaged with the characters? or would it be like with Molly in C2 where Tal said that he was absolutely not a good guy but the critters insisted he was just misunderstood and actually a saint (hyperbole)

Hi anon,

4SD definitely impacted how people engaged with the characters, but if it hadn't existed the sort of person who cherrypicks out of context lines from 4SD would have just made things up whole cloth to support whatever they wanted a la Campaign 2. I also don't think 4SD is like, a problem. I agree there were flaws in the format, but also...I didn't ever watch Talks for Vox Machina (I did for Campaign 2 but as I binge-watched C1 I didn't have time and I didn't bother) and I understood the story just fine. I think that if you need a talkback shows to understand a character's motivations, either that is a flaw of the text for not showing them, or you are a stupid person. A great example is Bowlgate: Talks addressed explicitly why this conflict happened, but if you had, perhaps, watched the show, you would already know that Caleb had issues with abuses of power and massive problems with trust that often manifested as control issues, and Beau had control issues from the opposite direction that were no less explained by her past, and they understandably clashed, and while I personally agreed with Beau's assessment here neither of them expressed themselves very well, and it was a great moment of conflict in a game where conflict is interesting, and I also at no point was like "oh my god Liam and Marisha hate each other" because I understand the concept of acting. I actually, as someone avoiding the fandom at the time but watching Talks each week, was stunned to hear this had even been a controversy when I tuned in.

I think there are two much bigger factors in how the fandom engages:

social media and especially algorithmic short-form social media creating echo chambers. Like, obviously I am biased but I think the reason why so many of the most rancid and incorrect opinions from this campaign are from Twitter and so many of the most rancid and incorrect people are as well is that on Twitter, saying buzzwords tends to get eyes on your post, and it's all very short so you don't have to explain yourself, and it's based on instant gratification and if you say something stupid in the past it's easier for people to move on because it's hard to find, whereas like, on Tumblr, people have longer memories and if someone doesn't explain themselves they can't point to a character limit. I think without like, Twitter, bowlgate would have been much smaller a phenomenon. I think a major flaw of 4SD is that they've addressed things brought up on Twitter that aren't even a controversy but are actually just incredibly fucking stupid (Relvin not saying the exact words "I love you" is the one I'm remembering off the top of my head but this has been a problem for a WHILE).

The biggest one: I have mentioned blorbo-centric morality and you alluded to how people thought Molly was a saint and I just think for whatever reason Campaign 3 attracted a MASSIVE number of people like that. 4SD doesn't even enter here; if it exists they'll use it but if not they'll again make shit up or cherry pick or misinterpret. The core of all C3 discourse, at this point, is that some people will defend literally anything Bells Hells do no matter what. This is why you are seeing people who insisted the gods were, as someone said, tall kings who needed to be dethroned (killed) and were colonizers and murderers suddenly pivot praising a plan that lets them live and oh how compassionate Bells Hells are. You got people who defended indecision on this topic earlier; who said there were no good options but were too squeamish to actually explore that if their are no good options their darling little angels will get their hands dirty no matter what. The No Agency crowd. It's utterly spineless and amoral; they will abandon whatever argument they had to pivot to the aimless whims of Bells Hells. So 4SD gives them more material in their endless pivoting but they'd do this anyway.

So the format was like, fun as a hangout show but not great as a talkback at times, but it really wasn't a major factor because idiots are gonna be stupid no matter what. With that said while there were things about 4SD I liked I kind of wish they could go back to a more Talks-esque format, obviously with like, a better host. I also think that it might be better to permit fan-submitted questions in real time and air the episodes a few months later, particularly since as mentioned the crew often asked questions from a while ago. I also think doing this as a big thing monthly might be easier on the schedule but meant that we heard a LOT from cast members who were frequently available even if if their characters weren't doing much that was interesting. I would ideally like to go to like, every other week, shorter and more casual, with fan-submissions through a web form collected during the week following an episode so that like. we wouldn't get Talkback Show For 119 for maybe a month but it would actually be about that.

[seraphicloves]

𝒊 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆" 𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏!

⊱✿⊰ summary: headcanons of momo ayase dating a girl for the first time!

⊱✿⊰ warnings: fem pov, wlw, SAPPHIC, LESBIAN, GAY GAY GAY, suggestive content, fluff cuteness

⊱✿⊰ notes: this is a cute request! sorry it took me so long to do lol, i hope you enjoy <3 @budozone

❀ she was totally done with guys. everytime she tried dating one, they were a cheater or toxic or just a total asshole. she was done with loser guys breaking her heart into a million pieces.

❀ so meeting you, this stunning goregous girl in her homeroom, was like a dream come true. she hadn't even fully considered girls as a romantic option before. sure she admired the girls on tv and imagined kissing them and holding their hands...but she had assumed that was normal admiration!.

❀ momo sauntered up to you, a big smile on her face as she introduced herself. she was pretty confident, so it was easy for her to talk to you and convince you to let her show you around.

❀ thus beginning your relationship that seemed to toe the line of friendly and flirty. she couldn't help the way she developed a crush so quickly, you were attractive in every way possible!

❀ after an awkward confession/conversation you guys start dating!! she jst sort of admitted to liking you and hoped that you liked her back

❀ she's surprisingly awkward for the first little while. though its less surprising when you think about how this is her first wlw relationship. if you've dated a girl before she 100% wants you to sort of lead the relationship until she understands

❀ momo just doesn't know if a relationship is any different than dating a guy and she rlly doesn't want to mess it up. do you like kissing? whats it like to kiss a girl- to kiss you? do youwant to do makeup and stuff like that- or does that seem too friendly?

❀ your first kiss happens when you were hanging out in her room. she just stared at you, suddenly having an overwhelming urge to taste your chapstick. so she swallowed her nerves and kissed you. it was a bit awkward at first but soo perfect.

❀ she's super cuddly and physically affectionate. she would have been like that with her exes but they always took that as a hint to get in her pants, even though she means it innocently. she trusts you though, so she is always kissing and hugging you

❀ you guys always have the coolest dates. she somehow knows all the best spots to hang out and takes you there often. momo is very much for quality time so she plans dates often. sometimes inside and other times outdoors.

❀ she loves making out with you. your so soft and taste so good, way better than kissing some stinky guy. momo is practically obsessed with the feel and taste of you aganist her. she can't get enough, she always wants more more more. but she restrains herself (barely)

❀ i feel like she loves calling you babe, baby, pookie, and some variation of your name.

❀ you two are such a model couple. you're both attractive, fun, and have a healthy relationship. everybody: boys, girls, and anything in between are mad jealous of your relationship.

❀ ofc some guys at school try to be creepy but momo uses her powers to make them regret it. nobody hurts her baby.

lori © 2024. please don't copy, modify, or do anything weird with my writing! i like reblogs and comments but please be kind as this was my writing.