#(you cannot make me like your ship through insults)

[feelingthedisaster]

im really shitty at usernames (i usually just keyboard smash or write variations of "no username" when i have to creat an account) but right now im writing a story set in social media and i need usernames for extras, any ideas?

[madrone33]

Number 1 Rule of adapting the Odyssey into EPIC is: if it can be more dramatic, it will be more dramatic.

The Greeks decide to throw the infant Trojan prince from the walls because they're scared he'll try to avenge his family? No, Zeus comes down to personally give Odysseus a vision of being killed and says his family WILL die. Kill the baby that reminds you of your son right now, it's the gods will.

Odysseus goes to greet the inhabitants of an island and gets trapped in a cave for two days by the cyclops that's eating his men one by one? Nope, we got BOSS BATTLE 30v1 in the Ithacans' favour until BAM fourteen pancakes are made by Polyphemus' club and oh shit Polites is DEAD-

Athena is just vaugely absent for the whole journey until the end? We got emotionally charged platonic breakups instead, with yelling and insults and "well I'm breaking up with you FIRST!"

Smooth sailing to Ithaca? STOOOORM-

Odysseus' great-great-great-grandfather giving him a speed boost to help him on his way home? Get ready for trickster wind gods, mischievous winions, and a game that was rigged from the start.

Random-ass suspicious and greedy crew mates open the bag? It's Eurylochus, his second in command, his brother-in-law, the man he trusted, Eurylochus WHYYY

Parking in the wrong harbour and getting boulders thrown at the fleet by angry man-eating giants while Odysseus backs away veeery slowly? Nah Poseidon himself pulls up to dunk on them, and Odysseus has to make a last minute getaway using the power of STOOORM to avoid being curbstomped like his fleet.

Odysseus gets some stronger drugs from a god to make him immune to the other drugs of a goddess? Well these drugs actually give him magic powers which he uses to engage in a Pokémon/Yu-Gi-Oh style BOSS BATTLE!

Get some closure with dead loved ones and acquaintances, and be the first interviewer of the fallen heroes of past ages? Nope, we just got TRAUMA and a whole boatload of guilt!

A neat outline of what the rest of the journey will look like, a warning against an island of cows that will slow him down, and the way to appease Poseidon? This Tiresias just says "Y'know there used to be a world where you made it home, BUT I DON'T SEE IT NO MORE. IT'S GONE. IT'S OVER. Also, your palace is fucked."

Sailing past the sirens while getting to be the first mortal to hear their song and live? M U R D E R

Sailing past Scylla to avoid Charybdis and accidentally getting six men eaten because he thought he could totally take Scylla, even though Circe said he couldn't, and then he realised he, in fact, cannot take Scylla? ... Eurylochus, light up six torches.

Eurylochus waits till Odysseus is out hunting and then goes behind his back to mutinously rally the crew and feast on some sacred cattle? Betrayal on both sides, stabby stab, K.O., and then Odysseus helplessly watches them make the greatest mistake of their lives as they ignore his pleas.

Quick clean and easy lightning-strike to the ship, leaving Odysseus to cling to some driftwood and paddle away? Zeus himself appears to the mortals, monologues, makes Odysseus be the one to choose, and then smites the whole ship leaving Odysseus to nearly drown anyway.

Telemachus gets advice from a disguised Athena to yell at the suitors and then sail away to look for news of his missing father? Telemachus gets into a full on beatdown with the suitors and gets FIGHT CLUB TRAINING from Athena!

Athena goes "dad I want my favourite mortal back? Did you forget about him? I think you forgot about him" and Zeus instantly replies "nonsense. How could I have forgotten that funny little mortal? Of course you can have him back my sweet favoured child <3" and then Athena skips off to Ithaca? "Father please-" "LIGHTNING BOLT! ANOTHER LIGHTNING BOLT! LIGHTNING BOLT TO THE FACE HOW DARE YOU ASK ME OF SUCH A THING!"

Poseidon does a double take "wait they let him go?? Oh hell nah!" and then sends a giant fuck off storm for Odysseus to swim through until he reaches the Phaeacians? No, Poseidon's just been there on Ithaca's shores, waiting for eight years, now get in the water BITCH- except Odysseus is just like "oh yeah? Fucking FIGHT ME"

You thought the suitors in the Odyssey were bad? Jorge really just said "dial that shit up to ELEVEN"

[crimson-and-clover-1717]

Ed’s Initial Intentions regarding Stede

Thank you so much for your attention to the poll. The consensus is it’s complicated - and I sort of agree - although I’m swayed towards Fascination alone.

This is my interpretation…

Stede causes Ed to access hidden or denied parts of himself before they’ve even met. And it causes a change in Ed’s behaviour. Ed’s come across many rich or aristocratic folks to rob whom he would see killed without issue; but not someone who’s also a pirate, doing their own original thing, and who seems ambivalent towards Blackbeard’s existence. It’s dopamine to Ed’s novelty-starved brain. It’s not as if Ed carries out a usual raid on the Revenge intending to kill Stede, only to find himself unexpectedly charmed. Ed’s bewitched even before he meets Stede, which means Ed’s entire approach and thought-processes are altered.

Killing Stede and the crew isn’t necessarily off the table should the need arise, but I don’t think it’s actively on in any capacity. There’s no plan, and there’s no ‘uszh’ for once either. Because none of this is uszh. Ed’s engagement with the Revenge is not his normal MO. History’s most brilliant tactician is free-styling. Possibly free-falling.

At the end of 102, Izzy states, ‘Captain says follow that ship.’ And Fang answers ‘Oh really? Why?’ To which Izzy replies, ‘How should I know? The man’s half-insane.’ This conversation shows this isn’t usual strategy. Even Fang asks why - he thought they’d seen the last of those ‘fancyboys’. And Ivan’s sad he didn’t get the chance to murder them, which seems the usual way of things. Plus they’d already had the chance to take or plunder the ship when it ran aground, so this stalking manoeuvre is out of the ordinary. It feels like wasted time and energy.

By the start of episode three, Blackbeard’s ship is a few hundred yards out from the Revenge, and Izzy’s trying to manipulate Ed into usual strategy again by suggesting opening fire, or boarding and throwing the Revenge crew to the sharks. Instead, Ed wants to wait until they make landfall and invite them aboard his ship. Ed’s doing something very different again because he’s unwittingly engaging with an unfamiliar part of himself. And interestingly ‘Go suck eggs in Hell’ appears not to insult, but to somewhat seduce him further. Before meeting Stede, he’s already out of his depth emotionally, and acting out of character, literally.

Despite what Ed would do normally, I just cannot see him landing on the Revenge with the active intent of plundering the ship and / or killing Stede and the crew. His words and actions suggest he’s already through the looking-glass.

So, to The Plan. We have three interesting moments which lead up to its revelation: the clothes swap, ‘careful of your face’ and ‘show me the ways of an aristocrat’.

For me, the three strands, which have no previous connection (other than Ed and Stede playing together), come together in Ed’s mind somewhere between Ed leaving Stede on the lookout, and Ed speaking with Izzy below: a matter of seconds. It reminds me of Keyser Söze in The Usual Suspects, pulling together disparate ideas into a cohesive story spontaneously. It’s the mind of a quick-thinker. And it’s in-keeping with Ed’s ability of reacting in the moment to the moment when necessary.

I think Ed also feels forced to perform Blackbeard for Izzy because Izzy’s threatening to leave pushes on that white father-figure emotional bruise. At this stage, Ed doesn’t have enough emotional loyalty to Stede to not voice such a plan; whilst his identity is still too caught in Izzy’s web to let him go - ‘you’re needed here’. For me, the plan to kill Stede is brought about in the moment via an act of psychological coercive control.

But Ed’s also kicking the can down the road. It’s a sort of Faustian bargain. Why not promise Izzy both their souls if it means Ed and Stede can hang out a little longer? Yet on another level Ed’s possibly hoping the debt won’t be called in, such is the complexity of the push and pull here. He’s putting it on the tab, the never-never. He’ll out-manoeuvre it if he decides that’s what he wants. Of course there’s doublethink going on because Ed’s in the middle of an identity crisis.

Ed daren’t admit his real reason for wanting to stay on the Revenge. He can’t comprehend himself even how deep this goes. His look as he turns is one of exhaustion and confusion. Stede Bonnet has him rattled. What started as a trickle of unease and ennui before they’d even met is now a whirlpool of unidentifiable feelings around both Stede, and Ed’s own perception of self.

Ed’s free-falling in liminal space.

[highlordofkrypton]

Time for me to say ONE LAST THING on all this drama, but it's important to me.

art is a form of therapy

you do not know other people's trauma, and you sure as hell cannot know a person even if they posted everything about themselves on their blog

no one holds the right to say what is valid or invalid

The ACOTAR fandom has an exquisite way of policing trauma as well as character and ship enjoyment. the fans pick and choose who is deserving of community, kinship and basic decency.

I speak a lot about empathy on my blog because I cannot know what a person is going through on the other side of the screen, and though I don't always agree, I have enough decency not to go out and make rules excluding people, insult others, while calling myself a positive space.

Just because your trauma means that you prefer to avoid certain topics or characters does not make anyone else who enjoys said character a bad person. some people, myself included, work through trauma through art.

My writing has saved my life, and the compassion I choose to give to "fictional "abusers (btw, victimhood and abuse does not come in one absolute form and you CAN be both a victim and an abuser with a capacity to change) is intentional. I do not glorify abuse, but I understand that art and humans are nuanced.

I also think it's a real privilege to look at other people's traumas, especially intergenerational trauma which is extremely hard to overcome, and say that 'nah, that person is just an abuser'.

I think it's hypocritical to claim fight against abuse, and fight for victims of abuse while carelessly flinging 'abuse sympathizers' and other insults to people you don't even know.

You realize that's a form of abuse, too? Invalidating, gaslighting, etc.

But thank you, ACOTAR fandom for teaching me:

Thank you for teaching me my trauma is only valid if I act like the way you think a victim should

Thank you for teaching me that I do not deserve respect, even if I take extreme care to create nuanced and emotional art because you don't like the character

Thank you for teaching me that if I face my abusers through art, I, myself am an abuser

Thank you for reassuring me that your fav, who is closer to my abuser almost to a R, deserves redemption because you love him more, and he is more attractive

I have never used my trauma as a credibility card to judge and be dismissive of real people in fandom. If you want to police something, police your fucking content.

People aren't content for you to consume, and vomit your unfiltered opinions on. It's time people remember what community means, which remembers interacting with other people who are not your abusers. Maybe take a second and fucking learn about other perspectives, grow as a person or whatever the fuck you need to be a decent person.

If you plan to reblog this invalidating/arguing what I've said above because blah blah you're still upset about your fav or ship, please take a second to read the post again 'cause you've lost the plot.

Now, I'm done. Peace out ✌️

Additional note: You know what I fucking do with my trauma? I make beautiful shit for everyone to enjoy. You don't don't have to read or care about my stories full of depth and nuance, but if you laugh at my fucking memes that are for EVERYONE and you turn around and shit on people, you suck.

[veetyuh]

I'm reminded of that "antishipping isn't purity culture because it isn't conservative christianity" post... And I think I've done some unpacking on why it triggers me so much.

I was an intersex child shoved into the role of a female, in a rural & conservative Christian environment. I've had not just purity culture shoved down my throat, but also the shame of not being able to meet the expectations put on women in that environment.

It's not just cover up, slut. That implies I had something to show off, to begin with. And men still want to ogle you and imagine what your body is like beneath that modest dress. So here, literal child. Have this shapewear to make your figure conform to that of a developing middle school female's under your clothes.

It's contradictory that way. You have to try to be unappealing to not 'tempt' men, but you still need to be appealing in the sense of conventional female attractiveness. Moreover, you must not think about men or sex at all. But you cannot be asexual — your parents demand grandchildren.

Antis do the same with their queer representation. It's the same contradictory expectations... They champion the idea of breaking societal norms through queerness (i.e. the idea of 'queer as in fuck you'), then demand that every nuclear family norm be met. Queer characters must be disruptive without actually disrupting anything. And the contradictions apply to fans, too — you're homophobic if you don't like a canon queer ship, and you're fetishistic if you like queer ships too much. (There are more, but I'd be stuck here forever if I listed them all. 😅)

There's also the obvious — fictional sins being as bad as things done in real life. There's Matthew 5, which includes so many popular verses about thought control that Christians use, and equates bad thought to bad doing.

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

And fuck if antis aren't cutting off their entire goddamn arm and gouging out both eyes.

It's not just purity culture they embody, though — it's the satanic panic, too. Good lord the amount of times my grandma wouldn't let me watch Ghost Hunters because she thought I was welcoming demons into the home, or her concern for me watching horror movies because I'd surely become more violent. It's the same shit, different horse.

On a more light-hearted note, they play the same game that Christian demoninations do, too. I was Baptist, and considered the Methodists okay. But the Catholics? No, keep that shit away from me. Why are you worshipping Mary? That's idolatry! How horrible, to openly spit in God's face. When I read antis' DNI lists rattling off forbidden, unredeemable fandoms, it feels the same way, haha.

But what really seals the deal for me is how they smile in your face and promise they're just looking out for you. Christians do that, too. "We want you to get better. We want to help you. You're on a dark path." While they break your bones to force you into their mold. You may not be hurting anyone on your dark path, but they'll convince you that you ARE. You're hurting yourself "spiritually," you're hurting the community, your family, by being an abomination to God. You're hurting everyone and yourself, you just need us to help you realize it. Antis feel the exact same. I block them pre-emptively because I cannot handle having that shit directed at me again.

Moreover, their insults feel the same. The childish "icky," the ad hominems. It's too reminiscent for me. Of my mom hating my icky facial hair and my classmates making fun of my masc traits when they thought I couldn't hear; you are a gross person!!1! Ew!!!

It's funny that antis are so often anti-kink, considering they're so fucking intent on giving me a golden shower and telling me it's rain. I hope they're careful not to choke on the homophobic, pedophilic pastor cock they're sucking.

[lakesbian]

alright this one is getting its own post instead of a reblog on a post that is Entirely Not About That. presenting the 'what if we put amy and alec in a room together' manifesto because the thing is that it is interesting but not in the way amy/alec shippers think

Amy shook her head, talking over her, “She’s always been emotional, passionate, unrestrained, and she’s channeling all this new emotion into hate, because it’s the closest equivalent.” “New emotion?” Regent asked.  “You mean you mindraped her.” Amy looked like she’d been slapped across the face.  I wasn’t surprised, but hearing it said out loud was unsettling.

“Nice,” Regent said.  “She could be a human-spider hybrid.  Add some insult to injury with the mindrape thing.” I could see Amy tense.

it is relevant to his character that he's the first person to cut through amy's euphemisms (and everyone else's avoidance of saying the unsettling part out loud) and outright say "you mindraped her." he calls the euphemistic language out and then intentionally repeats it a second time for no other reason than to bug her about it. it's vaguely reminiscent of something he says to sophia during his interlude:

“You and I are more alike than you’d suspect, I think,” he said. “We’re both arrogant assholes, yeah?  Difference is, I admit it, I don’t dress it up and tell myself that I’m a bitch and that that’s a good thing.”  He burned Emma’s face out of another photo.

he has a repeated habit of making people uncomfortable by calling something out for exactly what it is, whether it be "yeah sure cape groupies, my dad's girls, people i used my power on towards the end" or "you mean you mindraped her." he's desensitized enough to really all forms of violence to be unbothered by committing or witnessing them, but he seems to harbor a genuine pet peeve for people who obscure or unreasonably justify what they're actually doing. as uncomfortable as he can make taylor, it's often not that he's doing things worse than the other undersiders, but that he's the person most willing to openly admit what he's doing--or to pettily call out what someone else is doing.

i think it more or less boils down to the fact that he's never gotten to be the person on the peripherals of violence making up neat and tidy ways to talk about it: he spent his entire childhood being hurt in every way imaginable & being coerced into doing the same to others. i think it left him with a sort of genuine distaste for being expected to talk in circles around the viscerally awful things he had done to him or did to others, and subsequently, for people who have done similar things but can't fucking fess up to the reality of it. it's like he's been walking around his entire life just absolutely drenched in blood, witnessing so much else get covered in it, and he's starting to get legitimately bothered over people standing around twiddling their thumbs and pretending it's red paint. he knows it's blood. he's been tasting it since he was 6. he would really like if everyone else could also grow up and admit it's fucking blood.

it's always funny to me that amy/alec shipping is, like, a Thing--a niche thing, but a Thing, because i could not think of a rapist more hand-crafted to piss amy dallon off than alec vasil. he cannot go Three seconds in her presence without going "oh you raped her? you mean you raped her? with your mind? like she doesn't just have new feelings you specifically mean you mindraped her?"

she, on some level, views herself as someone who did harm because she's irrevocably, ontologically evil, and is sort of desperately obsessed with minimalizing or half-justifying her actions to herself so that she can avoid recognizing that she feels like she can't be better. she's clinging to the idea that she can be "redeemed" if she does something of equal measure in the opposite direction (e.g 'spending the rest of her life healing people' as she mentions), but because she can't even directly acknowledge how bad her actions actually were without crumbling under the weight of the idea that she's doomed to be that bad, she's fundamentally incapable of looking directly at what she did at this point in the story.

alec, on the other hand, is really fucking upfront and fairly objective about his actions--he never ties them into some Inarguable Truth About His Soul, and he's pretty honest about whether or not he thinks they're justifiable. in 14.1, he has this dialogue with cherie:

“When daddy had you practicing your powers, you ‘hijacked’ a few people at a time, used their bodies to get high with no consequences for you, you threw orgies for yourself…” “Again.  I was a kid.”

but despite the fact that sophia is, on some level, justified in his mind by his "eye for an eye, this is a favor for taylor" rhetoric--he's fine with admitting that he's also just doing it because, yeah, he's an arrogant asshole and he feels like it. some of it was because he was a kid being groomed, and some of it was because He Felt Like It.*

*sure, he only Felt Like It because he has a comically large cocktail of unpacked psychological issues--but he doesn't know that, he just knows he felt like it.

in other words, he doesn't subscribe to the idea that any of his actions are, like, Ontologically Predetermined By His Inner Being or even necessarily all related. he's like the fuckin' "might do it again, prolly not" dude from the sex offender shuffle. okay, sorry for saying that in my seriouspost. but his philosophies would clash hilariously badly with amy--he insists on accepting his own & others actions for exactly what they are, he's generally very invested in not being his father (being asked if he intends to turn out like his dad is one of the only times something briefly upsets him), and he's actually doing pretty okay at that. he's like...shockingly well-adjusted given the circumstances. his entire arc is more or less a slow upward climb.

i think having to be around someone who both believes and would outright admit "yeah i raped people, no i dunno if i feel that bad, no i'm not raking myself over the coals for it, yeah some of it was because i was a kid, yeah some of the other stuff wasn't, no i'm not Predestined To Suck," would like. clash with her beliefs abt 'ontologically evil' being a real thing, abt punishment as justice, etc. in a way that would really bother her. she spends a lot of her time in her head trying to twist things around until they feel salvageable to her, but alec is 0 amount concerned with rationalizing to make him feel alright--he just does things, some bad, most shitty attempts to be better.

it's, funnily enough, far more functional for improving than what amy has going on--he operates on material actions as opposed to her Self-Flagellating Thought Labyrinths, and the fact that he's busier moving on from things he can't materially change than he is kicking himself in the face means he can actually achieve some form of progress towards more functional approaches wrt human interaction. i think if amy had an extended conversation w/ him about the subject, she'd both be disgusted with him for not thinking thoughtcrime is real and deeply resentful that this fellow ontologically evil villain is doing better at moving forwards as a person than her despite not 24/7 flagellating himself + yearning for "redemption" like she is. it'd throw a disturbingly large wrench in her worldview, and she would not be happy about it.

oh, and alec would think she's weird and mopey and dumb and annoying and "why do it if you can't even admit it." and he would probably tell her as much. which is the point where i unlock the door to the room so alec can sprint out to escape amy's attempt to put tastebuds on his asshole.

[moliathh]

people accusing alutegra shipper of homophobia and lesbian/aroace erasure are so funny because ONE, as a fan, i cannot make or remove a queer representation of a media, that act can only be done by the creator/producer/corporation/ institution themselves, the fanworks you make for a ship does not held the same weight as official materials. It's a bit insulting that you are comparing fanworks made out of love (that could very much be made by queer people) to a phenomenom driven by hate and bigotry and was a contributing factor to the oppression of queer people. Throwing around big words, accusations, that were meant for something very serious and harmful to refer to something unharmful just because you dislike a ship is not a very LGBTQIA+ friendly thing of you to do. Do you think of homophobia so lightly? Accusing REAL queer people who are being subjected to homophobia on a daily basis because of something they love?

SECOND OF ALL, let's assume that your headcanon is true (i haven't speak of the fact that its basic fandom etiquette to treat headcanon as something personal and not universal and don't harass other people over unharmful difference in opinion). Let's say, Integra is a lesbian, which is a headcanon. Did we collectively forget Alucard is canonically genderfluid? Yet you're referring to Alucard/Integra as a "cishet" ship? Does a queer person get stripped of their queer identity when they participate in a relationship that is male/female presenting? I thought we are about "queer rep"??? How convenient it is to deem him a cis het man and headcanon Integra as a lesbian to make the shippers look bad. Oh, and on the way of watering down queer identity into a caricature, you are also claiming ace people cannot have sex and it's disrespectful to depict ace people having romantic/sexual relationship. As if asexuality isn't a spectrum ranging from "little to no attraction" and the definition of sexual interaction is very loose, especially for queer people. Do you even care about queer people at this point?

And before any of yall jump me, i am queer myself how can i be homophobic my bitches are gay I AM GAY. I'm so sick and tired of yall justifying hate by pretending to care about the alphabet mafia. DO YOU REALLY? It was never that serious, just say you hate the ship and get tf going. I think its perfectly fine and cool to hate a ship just because you hate it, i do! I have headaches and want to vomit when i see ships that i hate but i dont feel the need to moralize it nor do i have to bring it to the face of the shippers or bad talking them. What really piss me off is how you drag real QUEER people through the mud for some fucking little pixels. Go outside, have some empathy. When fascism and censorship comes to wipe us out none of us gonna be spared because you are "one of the good ones" so stop fucking eating at your own community omg if you dont like something and its unharmful then BLOCK

[pyxaperson]

I am procrastinating on my uni assignments so here’s the 2012!TMNT main cast ranked on who would be homophobic/transphobic

1 being the most and 6 being the least

this is my opinion and my interpretation. i will fight people for one of these rankings if they disagree with me

6 - April

You cannot convince me she isn’t a 2012 Tumblr girl like… look at her. She spent most of her teenage years debating with homophobes on the internet. She would 100% watch supernatural and 100% ship Castiel.

"Would she fetishise mlm relationships?" NO. She would also watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer and ship Fuffy. She reads yaoi AND yuri in her spare time.

If she swoons over a mutant and an alien getting together, she will 100% do the same for a gay couple.

Probably taught the others not to be homophobic (mostly the top 3).

If you believe she hates the LGBT+ community, I am sorry but you are objectively wrong I will be hunting you for sport right now. I am outside your house with the episode "Karai's Vendetta" playing loudly on my laptop.

5 - Donnie

“Erm actually, homosexual behaviour has been heavily documented in animals such as penguins, bats and hyenas. It’s very much natural.“

While I cannot imagine him ever being homophobic, I can imagine him being transphobic when he was younger.

BUT I only think that because the primary school biology textbook was his bible when he was five.

As soon as he had access to a more “advanced” biology book, he learnt his mistakes.

Had a deep understanding of gender before his brother understood the differences between them as a result of this.

4 - Mikey

Thinks LGBT+ people are awesome, however his only exposure to gay people is rupaul drag race so his views on them are stereotypical.

He would probably be taken aback if you introduced him to a gay man who isn’t flamboyant, but he would adjust after a bit.

He would definitely say “You don’t look gay” though.

Aside from April, he would be the most angry when hearing homophobic/transphobic comments.

3 - Leo

The middle point between homophobic and not homophobic for the group (even though she's seconds lmao, the group is just not really homophobic).

I headcanon her as a trans lesbian so any homophobic/transphobic thoughts she would have are a mixture of her sheltered life and internalised issues.

Nothing extreme though, but her mind would get hung up on two girls holding hands on the street for multiple days.

She would also go through the 5 stages of grief for every unprompted homophobic thought she gets.

Everyone helps her overcome this, especially after she discovers herself and comes out.

2 - Raph

I am sorry, but he would probably use homophobic language before meeting April.

However, that’s due to him not understanding what he was saying. He probably thought gay was a synonym for stupid.

Once he understands who LGBT+ people are and what they face (AKA being scolded by April), he would probably feel really bad about it.

He wouldn’t really apologise for it verbally, but he would 100% kill a homophobe after that so everyone understands he’s changed.

Mikey would then make fun of him for being homophobic which would get him really mad. It's revenge for Raph calling him gay to insult him and brushing his genuine anger off.

“At least I’m not-“ “I’M NOT HOMOPHOBIC MIKEY!”

1 - Casey

I am not sorry, this dude was definitely homophobic before meeting the Turtles + April. Like, actually homophobic.

His dad is homophobic so it comes from that.

He called Donnie the f-slur behind his back to the rest of the group. To put it lightly, they were not impressed.

The first moment where he questions his behaviour is when April rips him to shreds over it, but it’s not until Raph pulls him aside to express disappointment that he realises how bad his behaviour is.

Probably goes MIA for a couple of days undergoing serious reflection on his life and beliefs. He then comes back to apologise for his behaviour.

He takes some time to truly overcome his bigotry, but he gets there eventually. Like Raph, he'll kill a homophobe after the ordeal.

[mychlapci]

Episode 8 - Con Job

Interesting, Miko mentions chores. Do you think Optimus has a chore chart? It’d be really funny if they did. What do chores even constitute on a disused American nuclear bunker?

Hello Wheeljack. 

I thought Optimus said, “Wheeljack, I know him by reputation only.” And I was like, oh hey he/they Wheeljack. 

Arcee ships them. She’s like “Who’s the boyfriend?” 

Hey do they ever bring up the fact that Soundwave can apparently just make clones of people using vehicons? Like what the fuck? I’ve never seen this brought up in anything. 

Ngl, I’m not sure how I feel about Wheeljack’s voice. Like it’s a damn good voice, I just don’t think of it as Wheeljack. 

WHY DID THEY GIVE HIM SWORDS?!

His fuckin helm spike thing is so goofy. 

Oh it’s so fucking cute how Bulkhead just scoops him up and nuzzles his helm into his chest. <3

I think they should’ve put Prowl in the ship with Wheeljack, as a treat for me specifically. 

Okay so the con who replaced Wheeljack is named Makeshift…. Girl why do we never hear about him ever again and why is he just a normal Vehicon and why did Soundwave have to tentacle grab him in order for him to transform into Wheeljack. Also this adds to my growing pile of evidence that all the vehicons are sentient and have their own powers and abilities. 

It’s really funny seeing Soundwave from side view because they have to arrange his helm outstretched because otherwise he wouldn’t be able to see around his shoulder pauldrons. 

Oh hey they put Wheeljack in bondage. I wonder why they’ll do to him- *I am forcibly dragged away by the Kellog centipede*

“Strike team” Starscream says as the camera pans over 100 of the exact same canon fodder that have been ripped apart by the Autobots. 

Okay note down that pastimes on Cybertron include throwing a giant metal ball at each other. 

Bumblebee dancing my beloved <3

“Primes don’t party” tell that to G1 Optimus and get back to me later. 

I think Ratchet deserves 50 days of paid vacation. 

I feel so fucking bad for Makeshift. He’s just like. Some fucking guy, he’s not getting paid. If his disguise gets revealed he’ll probably get ripped to pieces. Do you think he got sad knowing how kind the Autobots are? 

“I’ll have to rip out your spark chamber” Okay Miko. 

Sorry I honestly thought Makeshift was gonna fucking squish Miko. 

The music and framing is so fucking ominous lmao. I cannot take it seriously. 

It’s always so funny to me whenever the show tries to make the vehicons actual threats because like, they’re not. There’s no universe where I’m ever scared for the autobots when they’re fighting the vehicons. Which is honestly just sad for the vehicons tbh. They should’ve gotten at least one W. 

God this soundtrack is so fucking dramatic. That’s not like an insult against the actual music, it just feels so fucking out of place. 

Man wouldn’t it have been so cool if Makeshift actually ended up killing Wheeljack and just took his place because he was sick and tired of running with the cons. 

Man…. why’d they fucking blow him up. He would’ve been so cool :[

Episode 9 - Convoy

Episode nine was not in the official TFP playlist on Youtube. The video is literally on Youtube, it’s just not in the playlist. So odd. 

I like how Optimus says they cannot transport the DINGUS through groundbridge tech because of potential accidents but never once does the groundbridge actually fuck up anything in the show itself. Like the actually machinery controlling it breaks all the time but actually transporting characters and it works perfectly fine. They could’ve just said that nuclear material interferes with the signal and that’s why they can’t use it. 

Oh yeah I remember this episode. Dreaded MECH introduction episode. 

Agent Fowler perfectly demonstrates what it’s like to drive on the roads in America. Some asshole will be honking their horn at your for driving the speed limit and it’s like, just go around asshole. 

God I feel so bad for Agent Fowler, none of the budget went into his model TwT

Man, I’m so mad about how MECH was handled. Like it’s so weird to me that they’re a season 1 introduction when Unicron, aka, robot satan, is literally the final battle of this season. 

Ough. Silas get the fuck outta here you homophobic cunt [he killed Breakdown that’s homophobic] 

Also is it ever explained why MECH was going after that nuclear material. Cause like, it’s shown that they didn’t know about cybertronians until this point in the timeline and yet non of their actions are ever explained. 

WHAT THE FUCK IS SILAS TALKING ABOUT?! NEW WORLD ORDER WHAT MY GUY??????? WHY DOES THIS NEVER GET EXPLAINED??????

Man if I was a vehicon I would just want to be on cleaning duty 24/7

Thank you Ratchet for being the only guy in the room that actually cares about these kids’ safety. But also I think it’s so funny that his main concern is the kids getting physical trauma from the ground bridge transportation, and not, y’know, the heavily armed adult humans who have guns. 

I like how Bumblebee fights like a boxer up close. He should be able to do that more I think. 

It is always morally correct to mentally redesign Arcee in your mind so she’s not built like a fucking twig. Give that girl some meat on her bones!

OPTIMUS SHOOT HIM OUT OF THE GODDAMN SKY. KILL HIM. 

Episode 10 - Deus Ex Machina

Yay Knockout debut episode <3

I love how you can see one of the girls who teased Jack in the opening episode in detention with Miko. What did she do? I wanna know. 

Once again, Miko and Bulkhead continue to be the best human/bot dynamic in this show. 

“You can’t just cut detention.” He says, actively driving her away from the school because she asked him. 

I love you Bulkhead <3 He supports union rights, he’s a union man. 

Literally I’m not even joking I actually physically squealed when Knockout showed up. I love him so much <3

“Yes right, you’re one of those.” HOMOPHOBIC STARSCREAM

The tubes they have placed all over Megatron’s body are so silly. There’s one attached to his knee, one on his chest vents, another on his shoulder pauldrons. What do they even do? From the looks of the animation, it seems like they’re forcing his chest to rise up and down, but like, Cybertronians don’t need to breath. Maybe it’s stimulating the energon pumps inside of him?

Where is my assistant.” They were too homophobic to say husband 😔

Breakdown’s tits are so massive good lord. How does he even see over those thangs. 

God I’m dreading Breakdown’s death so bad. He’s so cool and he has a rivalry with Bulkhead and I cannot remember if he and Wheeljack ever get to interact and rouoguaourogugh killing the TFP writing team for their decisions. 

“Megatron will have to wait.” How much you wanna bet that if Starscream got to keep the energon draining orb he would’ve set that thang to kill Megatron as soon as possible. 

Knockout is so fucking based for flirting with Optimus and then immediately telling him that his husband is going to kick his ass. I love him so much <3 “You’re reallllll heavy duty, just like my friend here.” God. I need him to show up again in another series. Also it’s so funny that Knockout manages to take out Optimus literally as soon as he shows up and he probably would’ve killed him if their goal wasn’t focused elsewhere. Like damn Megatron, do better lmao. 

I think this episode has the most Soundwave body animation since the series started and that’s not saying much since he literally just kneels down, grabs something, transforms, and takes off. 

Literally it’s so funny to me that this random fucking security guard is like, interrogating Miko and it’s like. Dude that’s a 14 year old. Her ass is not getting that orb out of there on her own. Like obviously it’s suspicious but kids do stupid shit all the time, I would’ve believed her when she said she just got lost or fell asleep past closing time. 

God the reaction time between KOBD seeing Bulkhead and them immediately giving each other smug ass smirks before they try to kill him. Get you a power couple like that <3

They should’ve let Starscream keep his life draining orb. He needs a W every once in a while. 

But Bulkhead smashing is it a very nice scene. The lighting is good. 

Knockout, at Bulkhead’s unconscious body: He’s a glutton for punishment

Breakdown: Hehe

GIRL THEY WANT HIM SO BAD. 

Anyways yeagh, sorry this took so long lmao. School’s been kicking my ass. My professor finally got around to grading my assignments which is nice. I would give these episodes a 7/10, a 5/10, and an 8/10 respectively. 

-burnt ice anon

oh helllou, we are so back. don’t worry, school has also been kicking my ass, but as long as we’re all kicking, am i righr fellas.

…. you know, i’ve seen people discuss Makeshift before, and i can’t lie, i’ve thought about him before. i thought he was an outlier or an experiment of sorts, with all the cloning and stuff, and he’s clearly done it multiple times already… I think it’s a pity he didn’t have a bigger role. A decepticon realizing that the autobots treat their own nicely and deciding that he wants to stay no matter what would have been so interesting, and very heartbreaking... also, I liked how his voice changes when the bots realize he’s a spy. Was he doing a Wheeljack impression this whole time?

also Wheeljack, i’ve had a thought about Wheeljack (you know what week it is, i can’t talk about anything so i have to fill our air time with other stuff), because they made him much unlike his other iterations, but he’s very clearly Wheeljack, the writers even put a nod to his previous selves by giving him explosives. What if he underwent a Perceptor-style transformation. He was a scientist, something terrible happened, and he turned himself into a warrior out of necessity and trauma… Would’ve been an interesting backstory, especially considering Bulkhead insisting that Wheeljack never changes. Maybe he changed once, very drastically, before he'd joined the wreckers, and that’s the stubborn Wheeljack he knows… many thoughts, and they are normal.

Convoy is absolutely hilarious. It’s an episode about robots transporting the DINGUS and they say it multiple times. That said, yeah, Silas is… God, I actually always really disliked the MECH episodes (maggot helped remedy this don’t worry maggot my friend). Still, “new world order” this and that, Silas I think you are a white supremacist of sorts. Maybe not good to admit that after we’ve tried to milk him for his sperm but yeah, he really does strike me as a nazi guy. That is my explanation for why the shit he says is weird, senseless lunatic shit. He doesn’t mean anything by “new world order” he’s talking about nazi stuff. yeah.

ah, yes, the Deus Ex Machina, also known as the episode where Knockout and Breakdown are thirsty for a third. Knockout is the best thing to happen to this show and to transformers as a whole. gay boy. so good for him. Can you see me straining to stop myself from saying what I need Knockout and Breakdown to do to Bulkhead? Do you see my pain, underneath layers of ramblings?, hrggh…

[moonysmoothies]

Pt 1 of why season two of shadowhunters is terrible

So even dividing these by seasons it was way too long for me to post on here while keeping my self respect, so enjoy this essay? about the yin fen plot line because i will die mad about it.

For some background information, in season two episode four of the shadowhunters tv show, there is a demon attack inside the institute. The specific demon of this episode was allegedly created by Valentine to attack the institute through possessing shadowhunters. Did we forget the plot of City of Fallen Angels? Shadowhunters cannot be possessed (with some exceptions but the show came out before tlh anyways). They all have certain protection spells put on them as infants to keep them from being possessed. Apparently not in the show though.

Both Isabelle and Alec get possessed by the demon, with Alec killing Jocelyn and Izzy getting stabbed by Clary since that was all it took to release the demon and kill it. Isabelle’s wound gets infected and it’s not healing but she refuses to go to the infirmary to get it looked at. Victor Aldertree (a made up character who has a combination of Imogen Herondale’s successor’s name and the inquisitor from tid's name who is running the institute for the first half of the season and he’s british and person of color so we know he’s evil), was sending a team to go see the iron sisters to ask why Valentine wanted to steal the mortal sword. Izzy had apparently wanted to be an iron sister when she was a child (she didn’t in the books btw) and goes to his office to volunteer to lead the mission. Aldertree asks to check Isabelle’s wound because he used to be a field medic. He confirms that it was infected and gives yin fen to fix it. He presents her with this silver gel that goes on the spine and applies it for her. Ok, fine. Maybe there have been some modifications to the drug since Jem took it and since it was on the ship bringing Jace to New York. I can get past the form of it. What I can’t get past is that in the next episode we find out that yin fen in the show is made from vampire venom. Not poison from Yanluo, but vampire venom. Saying that it’s made from vampire venom and not poison from a greater demon does so much already to diminish the danger of it. Vampires bite people all the time. If you die because of a vampire, it’s because they drank all of your blood, not because you overdose on their venom. Vampire venom doesn’t cause searing pain and hallucinations like what Jem described from Yanluo. 

In the next episode, Izzy sees that Aldertree has run out of yin fen and spends the episode trying to track some down. She meets this one warlock in the Hunter's Moon and asks for it, to which he says, “dancing with the devil, are we?” What the fuck? Why is it so dangerous? There’s no evidence in this show that implies that you can overdose from it or that there are harmful effects on your body other than the withdrawal. Then, to add insult to injury, Magnus swoops in to kick the warlock out of the bar because apparently he’s been banned from North America and mentions how yin fen almost killed Jem. No! You do not get to change everything about a substance other than its name and color and then name drop Jem. This is not what almost killed him. Jem spent five years of his life dying from a drug that was essentially a bastardized medicine and was sapping his life and energy more than it was giving it to him. We see in Clockwork Prince and Clockwork Princess how it affected the werewolves who were being given too much of it by Mortmain. He was making them take it six to seven times a day and as Jem said, “The more you take the faster you die.” In the books, there is no scenario where you become addicted to yin fen where it does not kill you. It’s not a “typical” drug like it is shown to be in the show.

But back to the plot of the show, Isabelle goes to see some vampires to ask for their venom because that’s what yin fen is made of. Raphael swoops in and saves her and she collapses into his arms. After some convincing he bites her, giving her venom. After this, they start a relationship which is just them essentially being addicted to each other - Izzy being addicted to his venom and Raphael being addicted to her blood. I don’t know how we got to shadowhunter blood being addictive for vampires, but apparently it is. The most we know about it in the books is that Simon almost completely drained Jace of blood in City of Ashes, but that could have been because Jace has extra angel blood even for a shadowhunter, the fact that Simon was just practically drained of all of his own blood, or that Simon was so new to being a vampire. Simon also bites Izzy and Alec and is completely fine and unaddicted. Even if you take away the weird addiction plot, Raphael is a canonically aroace character. He’s still asexual in the show, but no longer aromantic. I’m pretty sure the reason they did this was because they drew out the climon plotline to be agonizingly long so they felt that they needed to put Izzy with somebody romantically, but it doesn’t change the fact that it is so terrible that they took away one of the only aroace characters I can think of. After Alec finds out about the yin fen and her relationship with Raphael, they have a fight that ends with her going back to Raphael and him going to the institute. Then Valentine attacks the institute because he needs its angelic power core to be able to activate the mortal sword so that it can emit a heavenly light that will kill any downworlders in its path. Obviously this is a huge change from the demonic conversion ritual he was trying to do in the books, and it doesn’t even make sense. I’ll talk more about this change in another part, but that’s the plot of the mid-season finale. Alec ends up confronting Aldertree about how he gave Isabelle yin fen and they fight circle members on the rooftop when Isabelle comes in and saves them because she had found her phone that Raphael hid because he and other downworlders were going to kill Clary because if she touches the sword while it’s plugged in to the angelic power core it will be able to emit the heavenly light because of her extra “pure” angel blood. Anyways, Isabelle collapses into Alec’s arms after that one burst of energy and we get a shot of Aldertree looking guilty. Then she breaks up with Raphael at the end of the episode.

The next time we see her she’s going through withdrawal. Surprise, it’s not what Jem goes through in Clockwork Princess. She never coughs up blood, she doesn’t lose all the color in her hair, eyes, and skin. She just seems to be going through a “typical” drug withdrawal, although I don’t know enough about that so I can’t really talk much about the accuracy of it. Alec tells everyone that Izzy just has the flu and leaves her alone because there are demon attacks going on. Izzy immediately goes to the Hotel Dumort to ask Raphael to bite her. There’s an awkwardly framed shot of her pulling a seraph blade on him and getting upset when he says no (I guess shadowhunter blood is less addictive than yin fen?) and then she stalks off to the alleyway where they met and sees the greater demon who is the focal point of the episode. Her necklace breaks bc of all his demon energy or something and then another british shadowhunter comes and saves the day. It is no other than Sebastian Verlac! Again, he’s british so we know he’s evil and also purposefully burns himself with a tea kettle later in this episode, but more on that in another post. Sebastian brings Izzy back to his apartment and gives her this extract of a root from L’isle Adam which she just takes. Then she’s fine! There’s a few passing mentions of her talking about it with people and Simon recommends narcotics anonymous meetings for her and she goes to them, but the people there think she’s talking about heroin. The plot comes back to mess with a Sizzy plotline briefly in season three which was not the worst because it led to a cute (i use this term very lightly) Alec and Isabelle scene. 

Now for the reason I am writing this, Jem Carstairs and how this is a disgrace to his character. In the literal sense, Jem is a drug addict. He says so himself after he and Will find the dying werewolf in Clockwork Prince and compares his dependence to yin fen to the opium addicts in Shanghai when he tells Tessa about it in Clockwork Angel. He gets so angry at Will for doing drugs in Clockwork Prince that he actually punches him (something that is so out of character for him that Will could barely believe he had done it when Tessa told him the next day) because he was so angry that Will was toying with what had destroyed his life. The important thing to note is that when these comparisons do happen in the books, they come from Jem himself. When other people, such as Gabriel, draw the comparison it’s used to further villainize them, because the books make sure to make it clear that Jem is not a drug addict in the typical sense, such as how Izzy was portrayed in the show. This is because Jem was never meant to represent drug addicts, but instead described in the forward of Clockwork Princess to be “condemned to die young of a fatal demonic illness, no matter how desperate the efforts to save him, just as in reality victims of consumption sickened and died without penicillin.” It’s also made clear throughout the books that Jem despises needing yin fen, he hates that it keeps him from living as full a life as Tessa or Will could. It’s why he ends up in the situation he was in during Clockwork Princess, he took more of the drug to seem healthier for Tessa, even at the cost of dying faster and therefore getting less time with her. Not only does this plotline essentially negate all of those feelings, but it gives Jem the label that everyone in these books try to argue against, that Jem is nothing more than the average drug addict, someone who most of the other shadowhunters view as someone weak and less than them. He can’t just stop taking yin fen like Izzy could in the show, because yin fen is pretty much a death sentence for anyone who becomes addicted to it, not a normal drug, and this is not the story that yin fen was created to tell. They could have literally just changed the name of the drug and not mentioned Jem in ep 7 and I would be still be upset but not this upset abt it.

[lazarusphenomenon]

festus + piper

i was asked to make this public / rebloggable.

Piper couldn’t blame them. The dragon was huge. It glistened in the morning sun like a living penny sculpture —different shades of copper and bronze—a sixty-foot-long serpent with steel talons and drill-bit teeth and glowing ruby eyes. It had bat-shaped wings twice its length that unfurled like metallic sails, making a sound like coins cascading out of a slot machine every time they flapped. “It’s beautiful,” Piper muttered. The other demigods stared at her like she was insane.

tlh pg. 140

Piper couldn’t breathe. Poor Leo. The idea of never seeing him again almost destroyed her. Khione must’ve seen it in her face. “Alas, my dear Piper!” She smiled in triumph. “But it is for the best. Leo could not be tolerated, even as an ice statue…not after he insulted me. The fool refused to rule at my side! And his power over fire…” She shook her head. “He could not be allowed to reach the House of Hades. I’m afraid Lord Clytius likes fire even less than I do.” Piper gripped her dagger. Fire, she thought. Thanks for reminding me, you witch. She scanned the deck. How to make fire? A box of Greek fire vials was secured by the forward ballista, but that was too far away. Even if she made it without getting frozen, Greek fire would burn everything, including the ship and all her friends. There had to be another way. Her eyes strayed to the prow. Oh. Festus the figurehead could blow some serious flames. Unfortunately, Leo had switched him off. Piper had no idea how to reactivate him. She would never have time to figure out the right controls at the ship’s console. She had vague memories of Leo tinkering around inside the dragon’s bronze skull, mumbling about a control disk; but even if Piper could make it to the prow, she would have no idea what she was doing. Still, some instinct told her Festus was her best chance, if only she could figure out how to convince her captors to let her get close enough…

hoh pg. 272

“You remember our dragon?” Piper asked. Khione scoffed. “This cannot be your secret. The dragon is broken. Its fire is gone.” “Well, yes…” Piper stroked the dragon’s snout. She didn’t have Leo’s power to make gears turn or circuits spark. She couldn’t sense anything about the workings of a machine. All she could do was speak her heart and tell the dragon what he most wanted to hear. “But Festus is more than a machine. He’s a living creature.”

hoh pg. 278

Before the goddess could go after the sphere, Piper cried, “Our secret weapon, Khione! We’re not just a bunch of demigods. We’re a team. Just like Festus isn’t only a collection of parts. He’s alive. He’s my friend. And when his friends are in trouble, especially Leo, he can wake up on his own.” She willed all her confidence into her voice—all her love for the metal dragon and everything he’d done for them. The rational part of her knew this was hopeless. How could you start a machine with emotions? But Aphrodite wasn’t rational. She ruled through emotions. She was the oldest and most primordial of the Olympians, born from the blood of Ouranos churning in the sea. Her power was more ancient than that of Hephaestus, or Athena, or even Zeus. For a terrible moment, nothing happened. Khione glared at her. The Boreads began to come out of their daze, looking disappointed. “Never mind our plan,” Khione snarled. “Kill her!” As the Boreads raised their swords, the dragon’s metal skin grew warm under Piper’s hand. She dove out of the way, tackling the snow goddess, as Festus turned his head one hundred and eighty degrees and blasted the Boreads, vaporizing them on the spot. For some reason, Zethes’s sword was spared. It clunked to the deck, still steaming. Piper scrambled to her feet. She spotted the sphere of winds at the base of the foremast. She ran for it, but before she could get close, Khione materialized in front of her in a swirl of frost. Her skin glowed bright enough to cause snow blindness. “You miserable girl,” she hissed. “You think you can defeat me—a goddess?” At Piper’s back, Festus roared and blew steam, but Piper knew he couldn’t breathe fire again without hitting her too.

hoh pgs. 279-280

Fortunately, Festus had been listening. He faced front and blew a plume of fire. The ship’s engine clattered and hummed. It sounded like a massive bike with a busted chain—but they lurched forward. Slowly, the Argo II headed toward the shore. “Good dragon.” Piper patted Festus’s neck. The dragon’s ruby eyes glinted as if he was pleased with himself. “He seems different since you woke him,” Jason said. “More…alive.” “The way he should be.” Piper smiled. “I guess once in a while we all need a wake-up call from somebody who loves us.”

hoh pg. 358

“Coach!” she said. “It didn’t happen like that at all. I couldn’t have done anything without Festus.” Leo raised his eyebrows. “But Festus was deactivated.” “Um, about that,” Piper said. “I sort of woke him up.” Piper explained her version of events—how she’d rebooted the metal dragon with charmspeak. Leo tapped his fingers on the table, like some of his old energy was coming back. “Shouldn’t be possible,” he murmured. “Unless the upgrades let him respond to voice commands. But if he’s permanently activated, that means the navigation system and the crystal…”

hoh pg. 361

tagslist:

@partiallypearl

[sayakxmi]

I've certainly seen at least a few people headcanon that the dreambubbles have affected the dancestors behavior in some way, but I haven't seen any attempts at actually explaining how it could have possibly worked, so I've figured out I'd share my own theory.

Quick but necessary disclaimer first, though: none of this is canon. I'd say I'm being quite charitable here even calling it a theory, when in reality it's more like an AU. So by no means assume it's a hard rule or a definite explanation of what's going on. Personally, I see it as a bit of a cheat code that leaves me a lot of free room to write the dancestors closer to how I would've wanted them to be written, hence I'm sharing in case somebody wants to do a similar thing without truly contradicting the information we have in the source material. 

To start with, we can kind of scratch the idea that the dreambubbles prevent you from changing right off the bat, as we see at least three different characters go through some character development in spite of being dead and stuck there (Meenah, Aranea, Vriska). You could probably make it work if you really, really wanted that, but it doesn't seem all that plausible. 

So, if the issue isn't that you cannot change, perhaps the issue is that you change too much.

Let's start from the beginning - how do the dreambubbles work? Well, they allow for the ghosts to continue existing, as well as for the dreamers to wake up in there and interact with them or each other. How does the awakening happen, whether for the dead or the sleeping?

Through a memory.

Examples I can think of are:

1 - dead - doomed!Dave, playing a game, still in his triangular shades, until Aradia starts trolling him and eventually he realizes this is not actually real, so both his surroundings as well as appearance change to match what he remembers, until he reaches the realization that he is, in fact, dead, and blood appears on his body, too.

2 - sleeping - Terezi goes through a memory of her conversation with Vriska after she'd blinded her, and it takes her a moment to realize something is wrong, as well as that the person she was talking with wasn't even Vriska, but Aranea instead; it's more or less then, that her surroundings change.

In other words, one of the main pillars of the dreambubbles are memories.

But the thing is, memories are quite subjective and heavily influenced by the way we perceive things. So, if we assume that the perception of an event can affect the surroundings as well as your appearance and state (eg. dead!Eridan who still has his eyes, as he apparently hasn't realized he's dead), wouldn't it be possible for the perception of a person to affect their behavior?

The way I imagine it working is essentially a positive feedback loop. Regardless of whether it was true or not, from your perspective the person you interact with was a self-absorbed asshole who looked down on everybody, and tried to sound smart and objective when in reality they were just insulting everybody and to make themselves look better in comparison. 

It's possible you weren't the only person who thought that way or thought something similar (and there were already thousands of yous) and in the same manner the surroundings were adjusting to your thoughts, the person in front of you was also changing slightly to fit better the subconscious description you've had for them in your mind.

What if the person was a bit of a shameless flirt? Maybe they weren't all that serious about it, but you've always got the impression that all they've ever wanted to do is get into other people's pants. Or they were really passionate about horses, to the point where you've seriously thought it was all they cared about, hell, maybe they should've just been hatched as a fucking horse! Or they really loved to talk about shipping, as if nothing else was more important. Or in reverse, you've always seen that person as level-headed and respectable, in spite of them being actually pretty head-strong and at times just genuinely shitty. Or you've seen somebody as cool and assertive, when in reality they were extremely insecure and conflict-averse.

The more you see these people that way, the more their personalities shift to fit these descriptions, and the more they shift, the more confirmation you get about them being like you've always thought them to be, which ends up making these perceptions even stronger, and makes them behave even stronger in that specific way, which once again validates your perception of them, and… And it just keeps happening. 

Personally, I don't consider this to be a completely unavoidable process, especially when you're aware of this happening. But the real question is, is there actually a point? The dancestors have spent an eternity in the dreambubbles, surrounded by thousands of other versions of themselves, affected by all these various versions of each other. It's got to get tiring at some point to just remain so vigilant in differentiating your own thought patterns from what is something you wouldn't have actually thought in your right might. It's just… too much effort. Who even cares what becomes of you? Your world is gone, everybody around you is dead and just as tired of it all. Why bother?

Or in case you still want to retain the clarity of your mind, but without all that conscious effort, the only other option is to get as far from people as possible. The less ghosts around you, the less perceptions to affect you. That could explain how Meenah is… pretty normal, after staying away from everybody in the memory of her hive for however long she was there.

To sum it up, the dreambubbles are essentially the place where believing in something makes it less and less fake until it becomes real.

[disneybrandautism]

here are some taylor swift songs i think each of the sides would like! (with some explanation)

nobody asked for this but im doing this instead of my APUSH homework. i’m going to start with roman and go through all of them!

(some ships are mentioned but it’s only a couple times. i promise it’s not all the songs.)

(roman has the most because he would be the biggest swiftie leave me alone)

Roman

enchanted- you cannot tell me roman wouldn’t love the disney romcom vibes of this song. he would love how sweet it was. it’s like meeting your hero.

i bet you think about me - he’s so petty. he would eat this song up.

mirrorball - i feel like this is a given. he would relate an insane amount to this song.

hoax - “your faithless love is the only hoax i believe in” be so fr. this could apply to any of his friendships or relationships with the other sides. his blind faith in the other sides. yeah.

the archer - we all knew this was coming. he would sob listening to this song.

jump then fall - again with the hopeless romantic bit. he would just thing this song is really cute.

question…? - i just think he’d have fun with song. he’d like the beat and just how much of a bop it is.

tolerate it - do i really have to explain myself? come on. he tolerates all the insults. this is his like standing up for himself era.

king of my heart - king is literally in the title. he would again just have fun with this song. so disney prince of him.

champagne problems - feeling the bad guy and knowing you fucked up. it’s so him oh my god don’t even with me.

i could continue. i won’t. next up is logan!

Logan

say don’t go - i just feel like logan would really relate to needing to hear someone tell him not to leave when he gets into an argument.

innocent - i can’t explain this one i just feel like he would get it.

the lakes - he would love the lakes and just this idea of loving someone like this. “take me to the lakes where are all the poets went to die”. this is his song.

marjorie - i feel like he would appreciate that taylor used her grandmothers vocals for this. i feel like he’s more in it for the genius behind her lyrics.

delicate - he lacks understanding of social cues often. “i know that it’s delicate”. he would eat this song up.

glitch - he would get this song in ways i can’t even describe. he would love the beat. his vibes fr.

no body, no crime - a story based song. he would think about this all the time.

lover - idk a reason i just think he’d really enjoy this song.

Patton

never grow up - he’s like a dad. so. watching his kids grow up. it would destroy him.

invisible string - i feel like he would love the idea of the string of fate. he would like the idea that he was just supposed to know these people.

you’re on your own kid - he would feel the pressure of just being on his own and feeling the pressure of being the moral compass.

state of grace - he feels like everyone is the “worth while fight”. yeah you know what i’m saying.

ivy - “you pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand” THE CARETAKER AGAIN

Me! - listen i know it’s not everyone’s favorite but this makes so much sense. the bright colors. the message of the song. the whole thing screams patton.

long live - he would think it’s a really sweet song. he adores the whole message and just how sweet it is. the nostalgia aspect. yeah.

love story - if anyone was getting this song it would be patton. queue the scene of richie from the bear where he is singing this in the car. that’s pat.

Virgil

electric touch - this is so in your face obvious. of course virgil would love the song with fob on it.

clean - i feel like he would relate to this. he’s finally not an “other side” and he’s just virgil. but he sometimes still misses them.

today was a fairytale - i feel like he would be unapologetically a fearless fan. he’s more of a hopeless romantic than i’m willing to admit. it’s so prinxiety coded idk.

closure - idk just very like “other sides apologize” to virgil. (i believe firmly in sympathetic other sides but i think virgil would struggle for a bit to forgive them)

my tears ricochet - “an i can go anywhere i want, anywhere i want just not home.” home was confusing for a bit. where did he belong? yk?

afterglow - the bridge sounds like asking for reassurance during a panic attack. he would love this song.

the lucky one - he for a bit thought that he was the lucky one but realized that all the sides are messy and no one is perfect.

new year’s day - this is so analogince and it would remind him of his boyfriends. he would pick up bottles with them on new year’s day.

holy shit this is getting long. i’m sorry.

Janus

mastermind - he is so this song. he would love this song. he masterminds everything so i just know he would adore this song.

foolish one - i don’t know but i feel like he would love this song in a way no one can understand.

bigger than the whole sky - he probably feels remorse for all he did to roman. maybe he’s saying goodbye to the possibility of friendship? i don’t know but he would like this song.

you’re losing me - i really don’t have explanations for all these. i feel like janus angst always. he would like how this songs has a lot of self blaming.

bad blood - he has beef with a lot of people. i think he would enjoy this song ironically at first. then he didn’t.

so it goes - he is rocking out to this in his room. i just know it in my heart and soul and it makes me nuts.

dear reader - “if it feels like a trap, you’re already in one” this just feels like janus’ internal monologue. all the contradictions feels like deceit. yeah.

cowboy like me - he just wants someone to want the things he wants. he loves this song. it makes sense in his head.

Remus

cruel summer - he would love the beat. he could and would shake ass to this song.

getaway car - i think he’d endorse the message of this song and think it’s a lot of fun.

cardigan - he comes out when people are bored of roman. he definitely struggled being pushed aside so he likes cardigan a lot.

the way i loved you - he would love the idea that even after fighting with someone an insane amount you can still miss them.

i don’t have anything else for remus. i hope this makes sense. if not i apologize. if you think of anything else for remus let me know. i am just slightly nuts about taylor swift.

[fleet-admiral-hiba]

Howdy! It's been awhile! I was wondering if your asks were open because I've come with a request. Not a yandere one but I think it will be good. May I request Charlotte Smoothie with a fem darling who had been with her and almost wed to when the darling dies(Killed or died either way). Then several years later, a woman arrives at the island, declaring herself to be the darling. Even knowing stuff that only Smoothie and her darling would know. Thank you and I love your work as always! take care!

Howdy, dear. My ask are always open, though I'm not as active as when on holidays. Anyway, I love this ask so much

LIFE ETERNAL

Everything was going on smoothly. Life was good, you were there and she was happy. You two loved each other so much it made the kids wonder and hope for a love like yours, and it made the elders pleased to see someone of their family so happy.

You were a ray of sunshine, your cheery attitude had rubbed off on everybody.

They all loved you. That's why it hurt even more.

You two were out at sea when it happened. An ambush made the boat rock, Smoothie and her crew fighting the intruders off. You ran to safety, as per request, but a sword pierced your lower abdomen,making you fall. The boat was rocking so wildly you were catapulted out of the ship.

Unfortunately, your fiancée was there to witness everything. She rushed, but she didn't make it. Her hands moments away from yours.

Your body was swallowed by the seas below, and it vanished.

She eliminated everyone brutally, before falling to her knees, crying in despair. She knew that, had it been any other situation, it would have been unbecoming of a sweet commander, but this was her soon to be wife. They were going to see the dress, just to add insult to the injury.

She returned home, the news already been heard, and they held a solemn funeral, to pay their respects to a fallen family member. It hurt, they all cried, but they swore to keep your memory alive.

She went back to work,to keep her mind off the pain. But everything reminded her of you.

Couldn't you hear calling your name out, my dear?

.

.

.

Two years passed and she was starting to come to terms with her loss. The land,though, never gained back the shine it had with you.

She was preparing for the upcoming wedding when a chess soldier ran to the room. She was busy enjoying a nice fruity punch when she heard the words, "Ma'am, a woman out there is looking for you. She looks familiar, but we aren't positive of that. She's asking for you" panted the soldier.

She ran, hope still burning inside her. Maybe after all this time, you may have survived.

She ran outside and she saw you. Her eyes were wide, shock etcher in her face. Could it be?

"Hello darling, it's nice to see you too" you said,mirth dancing in your eyes. She wanted to believe that, but she had to confirm it was really you and not a sick joke.

"Tell me, if you so claim to be my beloved, what is one thing you cannot absolutely stand?" She questioned, waiting.

"Well, apart from caviar, I hate when you talk bad about your body. You know how I feel about hearing the woman I love doubting her undeniable beauty" you stated, confidence flowing through every word.

"What's the next wedding that will happen here?" She asked, knowing very well that only family members, as of now knew about the wedding, "The last one should have been ours, but the next will be that of Pudding with Vinsmoke Sanji. For political and tactical reasons of course, given the advanced technology the Vinsmoke have, with the subsequent elimination of Sanji, if Pudding or Mama so desire" you finished, before having the time to open up your mouth,you were being swopped up.

"You're back" she said, voice trembling ever so slightly, "Yes, love, I'm back. I'm sorry I went missing but I had quite the adventure" you said, before being put down.

"I need to tell every-" you stopped her, "there will be no need, by now I'm sure everyone knows there will be another wedding soon. Your guards did the job for you" you said laughing, while she stared lovingly at you.

Later that night, while they all celebrated your return, with hugs and gifts and scolding, you told your story.

"When the sword pierced me and I fell overboard, I was taken in by the Red hair pirates. Well, they pretty much saved my life. And it was thanks to them that I could make my way back here. It took so long because of the gravity of the injury. But they have been gracious host and they didn't think twice about helping, especially after I told them that my wife, the daughter of Big Mama was soon going to marry me. They were really nice people. They even accompanied me on land before going back" just your luck to be saved by another emperor, huh?

"Well, it seems we have to send a gift to Shanks, to show our gratitude" said Katakuri, happy to have you back.

"I thought about the perfect gift while coming back, so...Smoothie, you are hurting my ribs" giggling,you pried open her hands , taking them into your own.

"He adores having parties, so we could send him some of the best Sake we can find. Those big bottles would be perfect" you finally managed to finish the sentence, before being smothered again by the younger ones.

.

.

.

You spent the day after in a kind of edgy state. Not because you weren't happy to be home, but because the kids could be quite crafty in ambushing you with hugs. And you really wanted your ribs intact, or the dress wouldn't fit.

"Anana, darling, put the knife down. I'm home and I'm safe, you don't have to threaten every person you see. Instead, come with me. We have to look for the rings" and slowly but surely you dragged the little girl to the store, while keeping her knife safely tucked away.

[villain-in-love]

2 and 10 for the general self ship ask game!!! Also 8, if you're interested in answering it! I'm just curious if you have any crushes or potential f/os, I'd love to hear about it! 👀

(Also doesn't need to be about Touchstarved, but while you're posting about it... you made me realise I have a small teeny-tiny crush on Vere lmao. I hate that sly fox boy. It's an awesome game from what I've seen in the demo, love that you're getting interested in it!)

Okay, I'm back again and ready to answer this!

2. Two headcanons/facts-- one from your newest F/O and one from the oldest.

Oh my gods… Ciel! Come back here, I need you again!

Thistle: Once again, a headcanon based on what I saw in canon... I think that Thistle does, in fact, have a sense of humour, it's just pretty dark. His idea of making jokes as a jester was mostly insulting people in creative ways (well, still is). And I feel like that gag of presenting dead main characters as dishes in reverse to what they've been doing to his monsters is also a perfect example of what Thistle thinks is funny (I'm convinced that it would have been his idea)

Ciel: ...if I had a nickel for every time Ciel set a building with children on fire, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but funny how that happened twice. To be fair, he only meant to kill everyone the first time. The next time the idea was to just force everyone out of the building. But still.

10. Please rave about your F/O(s)! Why you like them, why they like you, a fact or headcanon you haven't shared, whatever you'd like to answer with! (:

Can we talk about Xerxes Break? Let’s talk about Xerxes Break, because we should definitely talk about Xerxes Break.

One thing that not many people understand, but also the thing that I adore about him, is how he doesn’t give a single flying fuck about being socially appropriate. So, he wouldn't try particularly hard to maintain a decorum and act nice, if he doesn’t like you - he will let you know. This man must not be allowed to hang around the high society, yet there he is. Insulting nobles.

And take a look at this:

Break can either say things politely with a sourest face, or smile pleasantly while telling you to go fuck yourself (Words cannot describe how much Break hates Vincent)

Or sometimes he will just insult you through his doll, as if it wasn't him, just because he can.

It's actually canon that he has... questionable reputation. It was mentioned by Sharon in one of the chapters, that Break's colleagues in Pandora talk behind his back because of his arrogance and shitty attitude...

I just think it's funny how, of all things, this is the type of situation where Xerxes almost always choses to tell the truths of what he thinks.

He's so mean and rude, I'm in love with him.

8. Anyone you don't have an F/O but like (be it a crush or just affinity)? Why aren't they an F/O? Can you imagine them ever being one? Why or why not?

For the record: it’s been almost a year since I got into Touchstarved, actually. I just didn’t talk much about it before… Partly because it’s still in development and I prefer not to run ahead of the train and get too invested in the fanon (of which most of the fandom consists right now), to avoid getting disappointed when canon information will get revealed. So for now I am eagerly awaiting the day of the release, because the game IS amazing, and I need more of it.

So. Kuras and Mhin. Since I myself actually want to clarify what is going on.

As I already said, the two criteria needed for a f/o is this: 1. I have to be in love with the character; 2. I have to be able to create a proper lore for the self ship with them.

And, well, because the game is still in development, Kuras and Mhin have yet to fulfil those criteria... But I am indeed attracted to them, even if not as intensely as to my official f/os, so right now they are placed in the separate list of crushes.

To be honest, I do have some ideas for self ships with them already, and I already have a s/i... Just not enough to consistently make content about it here – not enough information, I don’t even know how the plot of the game will go and who they truly are as people!..

But. If you are curious, I can surely post more about them, my Touchstarved s/i, and my ideas for the ships!

P.S. Crushing on Vere, huh? Funnily enough, he's a favourite character of my best friend, but I myself like him the least out of the main cast. Though that's mainly because I find him so difficult to deal with. As a character, I think Vere is great (and frustratingly pretty), it's just that I don't understand him at all... However! I am now curious of how you perceive him and what could be his dynamic with your s/i.

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: "Double Agent Droid"

Don't mess with Hera's droid, y'all.

Zeb and Ezra fistbumping in solidarity and relief that they're not the ones doing this mission.

KKKKGNNHHDD AP-5 THROWING SHADED INSULTS AT WEDGE.

I still cannot believe they sampled "Anything You Can Do" from Annie Get Your Gun, the audacity and wackiness of that choice.

Wedge regretting all of his life choices now lol.

Neat.

Right so the Stormtroopers don't make Chopper... wait at all? While the scanner is thinking? They just let him through the doors while it's still deciding if he's legit or not?

I'm sorry, these guys are just... so bizarre. The one dude with glasses that looks uncannily like Pablo Hidalgo just takes me RIGHT of the immersion.

*whispers* What do they even do?

Also why does the Controller sound way more human than the others????

I have so many questions and even AP and Chopper's bickering can't distract me from them.

Bond Villain Stupidity in not alerting the station.

Though... does anyone actually... work here? We see the other AP droid and no one else inside the facility at all.

The Controller is thinking to capture the base coordinates from Chopper. Not a bad plan but fortunately Hera wipes his memory banks between every mission, because as much as she loves her droid she can't risk compromising the safety of the Rebellion's operations and therefore takes reasonable precautions in case Chopper gets lost, stolen, or captured, Anakin.

Who are you, weird glasses man?

I'm not sure why the Alliance needs the orbital clearance codes for Lothal. They're not exactly planning to sneak in through the blockcade when they make their attack. Unless they planned on using the Quasar carrier or something to get behind the blockade and then release a whole bunch of fighters while in atmosphere?

Like, this wouldn't be an issue if the episode had not established, specifically, "We need these codes for the eventual attack on Lothal." If they had just needed updated codes to get in and out through the blockade since they'd been changed or cycled out that would be one thing but as it is....

*CLUELESS SHRUG*

Yooooooouuu are gonna need to run those numbers again my man, there's no way you had close to any kind of 80% chance of getting near the Rebel base.

Chopper being nice is immediately suspicious.

Controller dude is doing a terrible job impersonating Chopper, which is why this was a dumb plan to begin with.

"We must appease him [AP-5]." Literally the opposite of what Chopper would do, you need to actually study your targets before trying to impersonate them, why are y'all so bad at this?

This is one of those tropes that annoys me, when the impersonator is doing such a bad job of playing the target that it should ping people's suspicions or at least make them ask what the hell is up with them.

Poor Wedge is such a butt monkey in this episode but it is hilarious.

Rebels said don't be so quick to discount conspiracy theories, send note.

<333333

To AP-5's credit, Ezra and Hera do ping Chopper's behavior as weird.

Ezra honey, please sit on the furniture like a normal person lol.

All right, some props in that we figure things are funky much quicker than most characters in this type of scenario.

-squint-

Who's... who's room is that?

*mental map of the ship*

Gotta be Hera's, right? Closest to the cockpit, correct side... Except it doesn't look like the props and assets from Hera's room so I dunno.

*rubs temples* Why do they need a data spike to decode the navicomputer? Chopper never needed to do anything put plug in to access the navicomputer before, this is only to add a ticking clock device isn't it?

Some people questioned why Ezra didn't use his lightsaber, which could have been a plot hole except for one I'm sure Hera would severely disapprove of her ship being chopped up and two... he doesn't have his lightsaber, it's not clipped to his belt anywhere.

Ezra managing to hang on to Zeb here is kind of impressive, actually.

You can tell Chopper's compromised and trying to find the base from the hold computer? Really?

"We don't have spacesuits." YOU GET 'EM LATER THOUGH, LOLOL.

I'm sorry I cannot take you seriously dude, lol.

Gdgkjhkgshd WAS THAT THE DEJARIK TABLE CHOPPER PICKED UP THOSE BLASTERS FROM? HOW. THERE WERE NO BLASTERS ON THE TABLE WHEN THE GROUP LEFT THE ROOM. WHOSE BLASTERS EVEN ARE THOSE?

*shakes writers* WHY DOES THIS EPISODE MAKE SO SENSE?!

Ooooh Hera mad.

See, Ezra knows.

That's... not even remotely how that works, Hera, but okay,

OKAY.

This genuinely sad moment deserved such a better episode.

The unhinged insanity that is AP-5 almost breaking into a musical number.

"No no no go away! I was SO happy!" WHY DID THEY STICK THE FUNNIEST LINE IN THIS EPISODE IT'S NOT FAIR LOLOLOL.

Wedge getting caught in the crossfire lol.

This episode is... I don't even know. Nothing about it makes sense, it has moments of genuine hilarity but they're mismatched pieces in a weird patchwork of tropes and plot elements that are disjointed and slapdash and I just--*rubs face over hands*--it's so BIZARRE and it's funny in a way but I can't I just... can't.

Not even trying to superficially tie this into Thrawn's search for the base gives this enough plot relevance, I would... I would not keep this episode. Like, either fold some of this into "Warhead" to make that stronger or axe this entirely and wholecloth replace it with something else. (Maybe another episode of Ezra struggling with his holocron addiction since people were apparently so pressed that that arc was short.)

I think even the show was embarrassed about this one, I remember we would usually get an episode preview in the Rebels Recon and a TV spot before each new episode and with this one they just kind of... skipped ahead to talking about "Twin Suns", ha ha.

Final verdict I guess? I would save the funny bits and try to put them in a different episode but otherwise this episode is kind of a skip.