#...and there are real ramifications to your actions! this is like... real life and like... real people

[uncanny-tranny]

Periodic reminder that unless a person specifically and clearly tells you it is okay to tell others they are trans or queer, you should err on the side of caution and assume they do not want you to tell people (especially random people!) about their transness or queerness.

You have no idea, generally, why somebody doesn't talk openly about their trans or queer status, and you have no idea, truly, how somebody might react to that information. The most progressive person out there is still capable of harbouring incredibly negative thoughts about somebody's queer status.

[erb23]

Learning how to teleport so I can go to every restaurant that gives free birthday desserts to compare them all at once.

[schakira]

(Unedited Version, Patch 0, May 14th 2024)

Approval Ratings — You now get to intimately know when your entourage approves or disapproves of your choices. You get to accurately see how you fair within their approval ratings.

Info tips — Every now and then, a little window in your field of vision shares crucial tidbits of information to you. Very situational, but always helpful.

Field of View — When crouching, you can you see exactly where people are looking, and you can also tell if people have detected you, whether or not you can see them. (This includes cameras, animals...)

Model Equipment — Once per week, you can declare one outfit; this outfit will remain clean, temperate, and comfortable for the rest of the week, but you will not be able to take it off. You will not be getting dirty or sweating, if that's a concern. You will remain clean, and in a stasis appearance-wise, for 1 week at a time.

Check / Examine — You can check people and get a detailed description of who they are, their strength, their health, their life's story.

Turn-Based Action — Once per day, you can force people and objects to abide by the rules of turn-based encounters. Stuck at an intersection between cars? Turn-Based. Someone keeps cutting you off when you talk? Turn-Based. Not even I know the true ramifications of this.

Emote — Observe movements done by someone; you can set them as emotes. Maximum of 60 emotes. Emoting does not tire you, or exhaust you. You can delete and replace emotes. (The exhaustion can be interpreted however you want.)

Fishing — Fishing, now turned into a mini-game. You'll always catch something within a few seconds!

3rd person view — You can now toggle your vision between 1st person and 3rd person view, and navigate the world like so whenever you want.

Quick Grab — You can quickly grab and acquire anything within arm's reach, in the blink of an eye.

Menus, settings — Change the video, sound, and control settings of your brain's sensory inputs.

Subtitles — You can toggle subtitles on or off. Can not translate.

[wisdomfish]

Remember When Tempted to Sin...

1. This is not the person you want to be.

If you have been born again, you aspire to be godly. Reflect on some of the most inspirational Christian people you admire. If they have died, consider the legacy they have left behind. If they are still with us, what about them makes you look up to them? That is the kind of life you want to lead, and then consider that giving in to sin would put it all at risk for a fleeting pleasure.

2. You will regret it as soon as you are done.

There may be some real pleasure in giving in, but it will not last. If you are a child of God, regret will set in quickly, and it will far outweigh the temporary enjoyment it gave you. There is nothing in what your sinful desires are calling you to that is worth it, and those sinful desires are warring against your soul.

3. You desire intimacy with Christ.

If the first two points are insufficient, remember that sin hinders union with Jesus. You desire to walk in step with the Spirit, but this sin is the exact opposite. It is a quenching of the Spirit instead of unity with him. It will work to drive a wedge between you and your precious Lord.

4. You will be shaping your character.

Whatever decision you make as this sin presents itself to you will shape your character in ways that will have widespread ramifications throughout your life. It may seem like a small matter, but every decision and action you make flows from your character, and this decision will either improve or hinder it.

5. Your loved ones need you to make the right decision.

You have countless people counting on you, especially your family and friends. Even if they are not Christians themselves, they need you to be godly. It is the most important thing you can do for them.

6. You have the fruit of the Spirit

Giving into sin is suppressing the fruit of the Spirit in your life. The most applicable is self-control, and when we suppress that one, we also diminish the others, including love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and faithfulness. Lean on the Spirit and his fruit in your life to help you say “no.”

7. You will soon be on your deathbed.

It will not be long before you are breathing your last. At that moment, you do not want to think, “I really wish I had put that sin behind me, but I never did, and now I no longer have the opportunity to do so.” Your deathbed experience will either be spiritually tumultuous or peaceful, depending on how you dealt with sin in your life. All sinful pleasure will be seen as foolish at that moment, and how will you have lived your life? The only way we can be people who die well is by living for Christ now.

~ Doug Eaton

[dragonfoxandfound]

It's ok to call the Ember Island kiss sexual assault.

You just hate Aang!

But Aang didn't mean it, he's only 12!

First of all, Aang isn't real, stop acting like fans are out here persecuting your little brother or cousin. There are no real world ramifications for him by stating this.

Second, yes, Aang was only 12 but Mike and Bryan were not. They were two full grown adults who made the creative decision to have Aang force a kiss on another character. They knew that kiss was wrong and we as the audience were supposed to see that it was wrong. The 8 year old girls and boys who that scene was made for were supposed to understand that what Aang did was wrong. They were supposed to understand that were this ever to happen to them, at any age - and look at the SA statistics for women, for a majority of those girls it sadly will - that what was done to them was wrong and - just like Katara who was upset and left the situation - they didn't need to be ok with it. 

No one should be making excuses for Aang here because not being ok was the point. Like Katara, we the audience were supposed to be uncomfortable with his actions. We can absolutely understand how youth and confusion at one's own feelings played into what he did but understanding why someone did something doesn't remove fault. And in constantly explaining away Aang's actions with these excuses, how Katara was affected by Aang's actions gets minimized - something that happens in real life much too often. 

In fact how Katara was affected is almost never explored, the conversation almost always centers on Aang and how 'he didn’t mean it' or even worse how 'it wasn’t a big deal'. Meanwhile anyone who knows the horrible feeling of having affections forced on you knows it very much is a big deal.

Aang did something wrong here, he is a fallible character, he's suppose to screw up because there is a story and lessons that come with those screw ups. It doesn’t make him the devil and calling out his behavior isn't making him out to be the devil either. Your love of a character should absolutely be able to coexist with the understanding that, that character has done something wrong and that they should be held accountable for it - even if the creators didn't.

[maxdibert]

I saw that fic claiming that Sirius wouldn't have done the prank as well and LOL there's no character in the whole saga more inclined to fuck up that particular way than him - he's loyal, sure, but he's got a bad temper, he's impulsive and he's cruel. Sirius being flawed is what makes him one of the best characters!! The prank is one of the indirect reasons that lands him in Azkaban, when no one in his life doubts him capable of being a traitor because he's done it before!! These people just want things to be so painfully boring - everything is Snape's fault, so they don't have to think about the moral ramifications of their faves' actions any deeper, they can just go back to making HCs about how Sirius is dumb and overdramatic and can't spend more than five minutes away from Remus

Sirius was morally very questionable—he had been raised to legitimize sadism as long as it served a purpose he deemed good. He grew up in an environment where the ends justified the means, and he believed his ends were good. He had been taught to dehumanize those who didn’t think like him, and even though he chose the “good side,” his elitist and violent upbringing showed in moments like that.

Sirius was also a pretty uncontrollable force—James was the only one who could really rein him in, and moments like that make it clear that the only person Sirius truly cared about was James; everyone else was secondary. He was a very contradictory person because he chose a side that went against every foundation he was raised on. But no matter how much you rationally understand that something is right, if you don’t make a conscious effort to understand your flaws, confront your contradictions, and work on them, you’ll always repeat previously learned patterns and behaviors—no matter how loudly you claim to reject them.

Sirius is interesting because among the “good” characters, he’s the most morally grey and questionable of all. There’s a level of violence and rage in him that’s incompatible with someone who claims to be a bearer of morality and a defender of good. He’s capable of committing real atrocities without giving a damn or feeling guilty about it. He’s elitist, he’s egocentric.

James was raised to understand that killing someone was a line that shouldn’t be crossed—that’s why he stops Severus from dying. Sirius wasn’t. Sirius was taught to believe that the lives of those he considered enemies weren’t worth anything. Don’t take that away from him. Don’t erase that difference between him and James, because it’s vital.

It’s crucial to understand that the reason they were so close—why they were best friends—was because they shared everything: blood status, social class, personality, cruelty. But there was one fundamental difference: one had been taught limits, and the other hadn’t.

Don’t erase the cruelty. Sirius’s cruelty is essential because it teaches us that just like people with bad intentions can have good moments (like Narcissa), people with good intentions can have truly awful ones.

[windvexer]

It seems the ask didn’t stick. My question for you was basically just, what are your thoughts on someone binding themselves, and if you were to do it, how would you go about it? 🐓

Ah, yes!

There are a ton of problems with this and IMO nobody should do it unless they really, really know what they're doing, and they are prepared to deal with Part 2, What Happens When The Binding Stops.

Because, as it turns out!

That shit never went away. It got bottled up.

I'm not claiming to know how things work universally but in my personal experience, binding things about yourself - like, thoughts or physical pain - doesn't delete them.

It stores them up so you can avoid dealing with them in the moment, and send them to a dark place where they fester until the very second the binding fades or is no longer sustainable, and then you get to experience the full ramifications of covering up your problems while they have been growing the entire time.

🙃

But what about binding yourself to force yourself to do something, such as sticking to a routine?

Well as it turns out if it was easy you could just do it; no spell needed. So is there an underlying reason why that can't happen, an underlying reason which can't be spelled away?

Because it doesn't matter how much you bind yourself to remember shit. If you have untreated ADHD, you're not going to remember things. And your sorcery can't replace taking medication, as cool as that would be.

For ages I tried to use energy shielding to prevent autistic meltdowns! Surely it must be the dark energies assailing my empathic mind! Lol.

The real spell was noise cancelling earbuds all along.

All that being said, can this technique effectively be used by people who utilize a lot of foresight and understand they will have to clean up the mess once the binding is done? Yes!

When I was on this vacation we did a lot of hikes, and I bound my chronic pain. I went on the hikes, and yes once the binding was done I suffered greatly as my body was damaged and the pain redoubled (retripled, etc). But it's a risk-reward thing! I chose to be able to hike and to deliver the consequences of my actions to future me.

So people can do this, but it's a tool that should be (IMO) worked with as a temporary measure in order to help rebalance and readjust what you have. But even if you bind it, you're not putting it down. It's still in you, it's still a part of you.

And then if you do something silly, like binding yourself to a technically accomplishable but completely unsustainable routine, and you successfully cast the spell, you are going to burn yourself right in to ash all the way until the exact moment the binding implodes, leaving you with nothing left but the cold ashes of your spent vitality and the disaster zone the imploding spell just created in your life.

As you can see, I clearly have bias in this area.

If you want magic to change yourself or modify your routines, I recommend manifestation and healing magic; draw goals towards you, while simultaneously healing and tending to things about yourself which prevent you from reaching those goals.

Magic of self-change should, I believe, be borne out of gentleness, love, and with a constant focus on health and growth.

Binding is truly the antithesis of growth. You can't grow into being a healthier person by binding parts of yourself to be left behind. That is not how it works, in my opinion. Nothing ever gets left behind.

[olderthannetfic]

Unpopular?

But I do think that some people are wilfully obtuse when it comes to the general idea of "No politics in fandom."

In my experience with fellow fandom people it has NEVER meant "Not allowed to talk about being queer, disabled etc." That would be a COMPLETELY different crowd. It's very obvious when it's said from a POV of "I just want to have a good time." versus "I fucking hate minorities!!!"

When I and most people on "our" side of fandom say it, it's often like "Stop calling people who like the #problematique character a fascist or saying someone should be shot for having age gap ships." or "Stop comparing fucking fandom discourse to real world political struggles." Example being ship discourse, where people compare liking fictional characters or ships to endorsing real life actions and criminals. Oh you like this character from a game about political struggles? I'll now pretend that your fictional interests means you support this IRL. Vice versa also counts, comparing real world problems to fandom discourse. One example of that one was back when the HP craze was big b4 JK TERF Rowling and people were completely unable to put political issues into perspective without using "It's like Harry fighting Voldemort!!" No it isn't, one is a children's book, the other one is the real world.

Fandoms with political themes aren't always the same as the real politics. Yes there's an overlap, and there can be a certain type of awareness, but there's a way to have that work that doesn't revolve around viewing fandom and real life as a 1:1 conversion.

I've also seen people use the dishonest argument that you're privileged if you don't "constantly" think about politics, which becomes extra dumb when it's aimed at a marginalized person. The real privilege my dude, is being able to have so much time and resources to be put into never getting any downtime from politics. Not to mention the absolute burnout and mental health ramifications.

No, being able to create a divide between your hobbies and fandom life, especially as an escapist move, and the political bullshit of reality with all it's pitfalls and hopelessness, is not the same as wanting millions of marginalized people to be shot and thrown in a ditch.

--

Both things are common online. I don't spend enough time on such-and-such a part of TikTok to know which one is more prevalent in which space.

[justpoliteconversations]

Breakdown [Isekai!Reader + (Legend x Marin)] (Part 3)

Everything has a price, and you're about to be reminded of that.

The indulgence is real.

Part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4

Masterlist

TW: Choosing not to display warnings. Read at your own discretion.

Disclaimer: Don't own The Legend of Zelda franchise. Linked Universe is the fan creation of jojo56830.

---

Nothing in life is free. Money, time, sweat, blood, tears, everything costs something. Equivalent exchange, as it were, though the rates of such things are not for mortals to decide.

Sitting across from Time, propped upright only by the assistance of multiple pillows at your back and neck, you were learning the cost of bringing a dream to life.

Fat. Skin. Flesh.

Looking down at the hands folded on your lap, it didn't seem real. They didn't look like your hands. Just days ago, you were hale and healthy. Fit even, after having spent months traveling with an enforced all natural diet.

But now, stripped of fat and flesh, patches of new and raw skin healing in discolored stripes, the weight of the consequences was coming down on your thin (too thin) shoulders. Looking into Time's eye, you could see the veiled grief, the quiet acknowledgement of loss.

You didn't like it. He didn't deserve to shoulder this burden you'd brought into the world. It wasn't his to bear and he damned well wasn't going to take responsibility where it isn't due.

You needed him to let you see Marin. But for that to happen, he needed to feel secure in your soundness of will. He needed to understand that just because you took responsibility for your actions, did not make you a damned martyr. You weren't them. You weren't his boys.

You weren't him. And Marin was not his problem. The ramifications of her existence was yours.

"I'd do it again." You said, keeping eye contact with the man, willing him to hear, to see, the conviction in every part of you. "This is not your burden, Time. I made a choice, fully understanding that I did not know the cost. And I stand by it."

You wanted to grab his shoulders. To shake the sorrows of loss and heroism from his silent gaze. To take that great weight from his shoulders. A weight he seemed so willing to grow with each lash of the heart, like the god-damned self-sacrificing idiot he was made to be.

This world should have let him retire when he put that sword back to the stone. He'd already paid his dues. Twice over. Thrice. They all had. These selfless, courageous boys without a thread of self-preservation between the lot of them.

They will take no more burdens upon themselves, if you can help it.

Time held your gaze, seemingly unmoved but for the gradual easing of his shoulders. You pushed your advantage, sensing the weakening of his own resolve. "This was my choice. I made it willingly."

His eye shifted, searching for weakness in your own resolve. You were tempted to straighten your back and feign strength you didn't possess, but decided against it. This was not the time for false bravo.

But still, you refused to give an inch. "I don't regret it."

"You may never walk again." Time said mildly, trying to get a rise from you with his blase tone. To pull forth resentment that did not exist. Marin was not deserving of your wrath for this, and the one's who were were well out of reach.

You'd simply have to accept that. One day.

"That will make traveling difficult. I apologize for the inconvenience. I'll do my best to recover quickly." You said back just as mildly.

His brow twitched at the blatant jab, but he kept his cool admirably. "See that you do." He tilted his head, still searching. Prepared to push even more. "The others would be very upset if you had to stay behind."

"But not you?" You countered, redirecting the implications behind his words.

He didn't bite. "Wind misses you."

It was a low blow, and you were sure the unimpressed blink you leveled at the man was evident enough of your judgement. He didn't back down though, instead meeting your stare evenly with his one eye.

You smiled, pushing through it, determined still in the face of his stubbornness. "I'd imagine not as much as Marin." His face was carefully neutral, and you knew you had him cornered.

"No." He said, face falling into it's usual serious frown. Or, more accurately, his newest mask.

You frowned back, narrowing your eyes at him. "I'm within my rights to see the woman I dragged into this world. So, unless she told you otherwise I'd like to see her myself." You told him plainly, knowing his answer. It's been what Sky had told you, what Four had told you. You'd yet to corner Hyrule or Twilight yet, their sixth sense pinpointing your predatory interest before you could ambush them.

Damned survival instincts. You couldn't help but admire them, despite the inconvenience.

"The situation is complicated."

"Then uncomplicate it for me, Time. I can't just abandon her after what I did." You bulldozed through, knowing that this was the man you needed to convince. Not Sky, not Four, not any of them. Just this one.

His face went neutral again, and you wanted to soften, wanted to ease back and let the man just be. You couldn't though, even if it hurt you to pick at his own insecurities.

You didn't want to hurt him, but you'd prefer this old pain to settle upon his heart like a worn jacket then to allow this new ache to wear blisters into his skin. It was your burden. He didn't need another scar across his weary soul.

He closed his eye, leaned back heavily into the chair and sighed deeply. Progress. You were wearing him down, slowly but inevitably. He couldn't keep Marin and you apart forever, no matter how hard he tried. But, for him to concede would be for him to relinquish ownership of responsibility.

You needed him to let go.

Finally, he spoke. "When you pulled her through the portal, she was only half formed. You both were." You had- not known that. No one had had the heart to tell you, it seemed.

Your voice nearly trembled. "Marin-"

"She lives." He grit his teeth subtly, pushing forward with forced evenness. "Hyrule managed to stabilize her, and Sky used a fairy on you. Unfortunately, she could only do so much for such extensive damage."

You nod, glancing down at your rail thin arms laying crossed upon the blanket before looking back to Time's gaze. He had been looking too, eye brimming with compassion and frustration both.

"We initially tried to keep you together, as you both seemed to take comfort from each other's presence." His frown deepened. "However, we quickly realized that was infeasible. Whatever had been happening before you exited the portal progressed further after prolonged contact."

He leaned forward, narrowing his eye and you tightened your grip on the blanket with weakly shaking hands. You'd barely the strength to keep the bunched fabric between your fingers. The weight of his stare nearly made you falter, but you held his gaze.

"She began cannibalizing your body, to continue building her own. We moved her to another room shortly after. She's still unconscious, though stable at the moment."

Your heart dropped, the heavy weight of realization bearing down on you with harsh clarity. "That's why you've been keeping Legend away, and you're keeping Four, Sky and Twilight at my side." Your hands shook harder. Your heart squeezed in your chest like a cold vice. "It's why Hyrule's not allowed to be alone with me."

The dark look that settled on Time's expression said everything you need to know. A quiet admission of choice.

"Ah." You huffed, mirthless. Your heart was shaking. "I've caused you unnecessary conflict." You grit your teeth, and bowed you head. "I am sorry, Link. For the hurt I have caused you and the others."

Tears nearly fell from your eyes as emotion gripped you, but you held them in with steadfast resolve. This was not the time, nor the place. Especially not now.

The goal remains unchanged, but now the stakes are higher than ever. The consequences of failure unfathomable. You could not falter. You could not afford to lose this battle.

"I accept the consequences. I will fix what I have broken. Please, take me to her." You said, determination rising forth like fire in your eyes, your expression, your whole being. Overcome with purpose so powerful it boiled hot in your marrow. "Let me see them."

You could see the moment he broke.

He nodded, the weight of years on his shoulders. "Okay."

---

Time carried you through the halls of the house, arms strong and unmovable under your diminished form. Whose house this belonged to you couldn't say, but it felt safe and warm, colored walls and thick carpet ripe with the comforting feeling of home.

A flash of color stole your attention and you managed to catch a glimpse of curling brown and forest green before it disappeared around the corner. The absence of footsteps gave name to the elusive figure, and another piece of your heart crumbled.

Hyrule. Maintaining vigilance over you in the only way he could (that Time would allow). Torn between his need to help, and his loyalty to Legend. Too sweet to push, too pragmatic to yeild. Caught in the tragedy of sacrifice, the curse and blessing both of his blood.

You had so much to atone for. So much hurt to mend.

You turned your head, pressing the side of your face to Time's collarbone. You whispered. "I'll fix this, Link." Your hand fisted weakly into his shirt, trying to imbue the strength of your will into the contact. "Thank you for protecting me."

His arms tightened around you, the movement so miniscule it was barely the tensing of muscles against your thin body. But to you, it was a pact, the promise of protection of the highest degree. A vow made in the shedding of blood.

You realized once more, that you would never leave this world. These men. This bond that had finally looped it's chains around you, anchored itself into your soul.

Your fate was sealed the moment you shed blood for them.

No. From the moment Wind had curled his hands around your fingers to encase a rupee. From the moment Wild had left the bright firelight of their camp to bring you supper. From the moment Wolfie had curled beside you, shielding you from the icy wind as pride kept you from the warmth of shared company.

There truly was no going back. There never had been. Not for you. Not for them.

What a fool you'd been.

What a God-damned prideful fool. To think you wouldn't fall in love with these perfectly imperfect men. These bleeding hearts, these righteous idiots.

You tightened your jaw, closed your eyes and breathed.

'I'm sorry, Legend. I'll be there soon. I'll fix this. No matter what it takes. I promise.'

---

I return to the shadows once more.

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Warfare

It is a truly remarkable thing that happens when real stories about war are translated to film in a way that is not grandiose or spectacle driven. Its the intense and horrific nature of violence that bores from both sides of the conflict. The true stories of the survivors is where you get the human connection within the fog of war and the truly heroing experience they go through. Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Jarhead and 1917 are in my opinion, the cinematic definition of being right there on the ground with the heroes of the armed forces. Those are the most beautiful, horrific, exhilarating and tragic films that put you in their lives and not many films have achieved that level intimacy. This film not only matches that same level of engagement, but it lets you sit in with the soldiers in a way that hasn't been explored. The moments of intense drama and action are ear shattering, but its the moments of tension within the silence of it all and its where the film shines brightest. I have never felt so immersed in a true story like this is so long and I was actually a bit scarred by the authenticity of the events that transpired. This film truly moved me and the performances of the cast were nothing but respectful and authentic to real soldiers involved and I applaud them for that.

Will Poulter as Erik, Officer in Charge, was fantastic and his commanding presence was perfection. He carries the weight of every decision and leads with the most clear head for the majority of the film. I loved that even in the height of turmoil, he knows when to delegate powers of leadership. D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai was awesome as his right hand, Ray Mendoza, the communicator/JTAC. The accuracy of his communication language and code work was amazing and smooth. I loved the friendship between him and Erik and I loved the internal ramifications that happen mentally and physically to him when the action effects him. Its that fog of war that truly comes across his physical performance after a horrific attack. Cosmo Jarvis was great as Elliott Miller, a Corpsman/lead sniper. He gets to have the most intense moments of the film with the sniper observation scenes. The tension of his breathing was scary as he saw the many enemies preparing for the inevitable attack. To put it lightly, the man takes an insane “beating” in the film and my god was it heartbreaking. Joseph Quinn delivers a more stoic performance as Sam, the LPO. His very observant and yet quiet performance for the first half was alarming, but carried so much weight. Its the quiet and concentrated stare that illustrated how focused a soldier must be in the field. He takes an even more shocking and horrific “beating” and it was truly torturous to witness his and Elliot's pain. Michael Gandolfini was great as USMC CAPT McDonald as he was the source of the small moments of levity in the film. I loved his attentiveness to the wounded and the accuracy of how chaotic it gets. Charles Melton takes charge the moment he is on screen as Jake, Assistant Officer in Charge. He commands the situation and does the best to keep everyone focused and alive. I loved his moment the most with Erik and that scene was the definition of brotherhood. He took care of his brother in arms and his fellow service men.

The lack of score was perfect because I felt it would've significantly lessoned the tone of the film. The action in the film is shot beautifully and is so brutally relentless. The sound design of the film is truly a highlight as I said before earlier. The thunderous punch of every explosion and high caliber bullet fired is felt, but it is the silence for the majority of the film that delivers the most tension and realism above all. The conversations between the teams was truly the most engrossing part of the story and it honors the real life soldiers and sacrifices. By the films end, you feel as if you were stuck in the same house as the team and your ears are still ringing. This was truly one of the best war films I've seen in a long time and definitely one of the best films of the year. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[not-too-many-eyes]

I've slept and eaten so now I can coherently think about the 13 Sentinels Ending and I think it runs into the problem 13s has throughout it's entirety. Which is that every time it tackles a cishet relationship the quality of the writing goes down dramatically.

It wants to evoke this sort of "We broke the endless cycle of destruction and now we can rebuild the world" feeling to it. Breaking away from the hatred and pain the adults/their past lives couldn't break away from, and establishing their own identities as their Own People (Shu Amuguchi is Not Tetsuya Ida and all.) but leans a bit heavy on the idea that everything is all fine now! We don't even need to consider the emotional ramifications of finding out your entire life was a simulation. We can even bring all the virtual people as real humans. No one has to lose anyone!

It's a bit hollow, and I already wouldn't be satisfied with it if that was my only problem with it. But even regarding it on a pure fan service level, it shoots itself in the foot a bit in a few ways I think? I think a lot of my issues reside in Tetsuya Ida's ending.

My hatred of Tetsuya Ida aside, Miyuki and Ida's relationship when they were last seen was Ida forcibly shutting her up after Miyuki was telling Ida that she doesn't want any of this, but realizing that she can't do anything to stop him, he's not the man she fell in love with all those years ago anymore.

Miyuki: This is a mistake. Ida: I���m afraid you’re the one who’s mistaken. It’s too late. This place will be gone soon enough, anyway. Or do you have some other option to share? Miyuki: …… Even if I did… You wouldn’t listen to me. Not the way you are now.

Shu makes an accurate observation of the situation. Ida doesn't want Miyuki, he wants the version of Miyuki that he finds the most palatable to him.

However when we see them in the ending Miyuki suddenly is completely fine with him and always loved him actually this entire time. Which feels strange and a bit sinister considering what Shu's observation of Ida was. Miyuki's opinion of Ida was trending negative and yet right at the end the game takes a hard right turn to them actually being tragic lovers who are now reunited and can be happy forever.

That feeling of a relationship that, at best, doesn't really have any substance, and at worst, feels antithetical to what their relationship is actually like, is the same problem 13 Sentinels ran into when it came to Juro and Megumi, and Yuki and Shu, and really most of the het relationships.

This game cannot conceive of a world where a romantic heterosexual relationship is bad, despite It's narrative centering around complex interpersonal relationships with conflicting feelings and emotions. The group of 2188 broke apart and killed each other due to their worst impulses, almost dooming the entire human race to extinction due to their various flaws and shortcomings. Their clones proceeded to have complex interpersonal relationships and manipulate the younger versions of themselves to be who they want them to be or exploit them for their own personal agendas. Ida is Ida and fucks everything up again because he's a terrible person-

This all applies to the current cast as well (Again, Juro and Megumi) but as seen with Juro and Megumi, the game refuses to even think of any of the heterosexual romantic relationships it establishes between these people as anything but a self-evident positive, when one breaks apart they're pulled back together again at the end. It's the Shu-Yuki scene where despite everything, Yuki is encouraged to go back to Shu and make up with him.

The only real exception is Ryoko and Ida, and for that, in one iteration Ryoko almost destroys the human race out of despair due to Ida's actions. And in the other, Ryoko is a 16 year old being groomed by her teacher, and even then Ryoko's affection towards Ida is one of the few things she remembers when all of her memories are gone.

It's not the only issue I think, for one they just- never address the Japenese imperialism in Miura and Hijiyama's mindsets...ever. But this part of the game is just really bothersome to me, not game ruining cause the rest of the game is just really good. But definitely leaves a bit of a poor taste in my mouth...

[fappellmoan]

ok um i am going to vent on something as someone with an outside perspective and people are going to be normal about that right. okay lol. im sick of hearing about taylor swift <3 as compared to a few years ago even she is like... suffocating. and i feel like we never advance this conversation because on one hand we have people who swing into full misogyny when talking about her, and on the other we have people who won't admit that she blatantly uses feminism to deflect from her problematic behaviors, or at least they won't like, do anything about it, and in this way she sort of ends up misleading a lot of young girls into like. girlboss liberal white feminism. im not saying shes a supervillain for it but you can't deny the ramifications of what she does and doesn't speak up about, just given the absolutely massive platform she has. she is the biggest pop star in the world

for the record, i don't expect taylor to be like. a normal person. she was very famous from a very young age and people aren't normal about teen/adolescent stars, especially when they're girls and women. she had her personal drama aired out in front of the world, had so much misogynistic dialogue surrounding her, from demeaning her success to interrogating her dating life (and never holding the pedos who preyed on her at a young age to any sort of standard!) and for many years people weren't very critical of that. it was normalized to be trashing this young girl's name and saying vile shit about her to like the entire nation and i dont blame her for being like, a little off after that. and yeah i also don’t think we should look to celebrities as our end all be all of activism and opinions on sociopolitical issues

but we've gone full swing into like. she is so famous and so big that her actions can be harmful and she does these things anyway because she doesn't expect her fanbase to hold her accountable, lest they be acting like the very sexists who tried to ruin her career. at least i imagine that's what the thought process is like, at least at some level, but at this point it's just like. this woman makes so much money. so much money it's ridiculous. idk how y'all fathomed paying so much for concert tickets but like i'll give props that they at least seemed to have some insane production/theatrics... so like alright. there's that.

but she is reselling the same songs. sometimes that don't sound that good. and making more money off that. yes yes to 'officially own them' and whatever. and releasing vault tracks and other versions of albums with different songs on them. but never all the same bc u need to collect them all. and the thing is some of them are like kinda bad. but you listen to them anyway because we live in a time of overconsumption/consumerism in late capitalism and it's like trendy and fun to be able to tell what song of hers is playing in the first millisecond. sorry or just your personal attachment to her. and don't say it's embarrassing to be a taylor swift fan these days she's like. so huge. and some of you equate embarrassment with having to hear criticism toward her. which might not be as common if swifties idk stepped it up and actually expected something from her?

which i guess is getting me to my main point here. can you imagine like. what would happen if taylor swift actually said anything about palestine? or anything of value in the world right now? no one's asking her to be a fucking scholar on it but genuinely sorry there’s like a genocide. several. the most documented real time genocide of our time i don’t care if it makes you upset that people expect something from her. she is time's person of the year. she has everyone from young girls to lesbians to gay men to bored football wives to dads to well fucking etc you get the point tuned in. she has dabbled in so many different spaces done so many collaborations aligned herself with so many entities who can keep up? if she, as massive as she is right now, posted something as simple as 'free palestine' or called for a ceasefire, can you imagine what would happen? i can’t help but think about it when day in and day out my feed is filled with screaming people being pulled from rubble or having their limbs amputated.

but she won't, because, quite frankly, what does she have to gain from it? she’s teaming up with the nfl right now to make some more money, she's gotta have at least like 4 new albums recorded in the last two years and at least um what three more that you're expecting? and she doesn't even have to like? write new music really? (edit: oh boy!) why the fuck would she be doing anything with her time other than poisoning the planet with jet fuel to visit her pr boyfriend?

taylor swift is never gonna be punk or what the hell ever beyond like a white liberal-at-best moderate woman. but if any of you could talk to each other and talk about, like, organizing in ways that it would be impossible for her to continue to ignore these situations, and just keep playing her tour FILM (how could i forget) in israel and etc, like if you could flood her socials or do a mass movement (and it would be massive given the sheer amount of peoples' top artists she's in) of not listening/buying/interacting with her stuff, until her agents and whatever had to make some sort of statement? like that's the only chance we've got with her

i'm not saying don’t be her fan, or listen to her music, or have an attachment, etc, but she's been around enough vile, anti-feminist, racist things this past year that y'all DO need to hold her accountable. like way more than you do. or it's going to be like really difficult to. tolerate it. haha. like you SHOULD be vocally and loudly disapproving of her actions when it causes a lot of damage overall. speaking up about her insane climate irresponsibility when we're having the hottest years on record is not the same as the people who felt the need to like pick apart her dating life on the news. but can we talk about how she's officially like. circled back and now is purposefully making news about her dating life? for her personal gain and that of the fucking nfl? lol. in a way it is funny for her to ‘take that power back’ in a way, of her image, and i think that’s how some people might view it, but like on the other hand she obviously is gaining a lot from this. you know. a lot of actual money. she is going to profit off this image of her being misunderstood etc for as long as u guys allow it and well i just think that has run its course. yk

continuing into 2024 (edit: and now with the release of a new album!) i don't want to see swifties automatically exonerating themselves from difficult conversations because like they feel like their fave has faced enough unwarranted criticism. or bc other people should also be criticized. much of it is warranted! and you guys need to grow up and be able to talk about it and stop painting taylor swift's face as like the Pinnacle of feminism. she doesn't and shouldn't have to be, and she isn't, and she should in fact be held accountable when she does really fucking shitty things on account of they're shitty! i don't care that she's a woman! it's like that meme of oh yay a woman democrat sent these missiles. oh yay a woman is massively damaging the planet and proudly dated a violent misogynistic racist, and faced minimum criticism for these things over and over because your only comeback is ‘well what about’ if a man did the same thing, etc, you refuse to just look at the situation we do have. yes we should. we should do that we should hold men accountable but you can also like not accept awful fucking behavior from your faves when you have a chance. do you think that’s helping feminism genuinely. use your voice use your power (your money) to like. do something for once. i cannot keep living in the taylor swift echo chamber.

and for the record. i like enjoyed taylor like back when i was a young girl and she had a few songs on the radio, and i honestly even had a moment where i used guys' opinions on her as a first step to navigate who i felt safe around in a very hypermasculine sexist college space. because yes. some people do need feminism 101 and some people's genuinely misogynistic rage will be demonstrated in their hatred of taylor and her success. but at some point we gotta move on from that. if some people will look at the most powerful woman in the world, who has enough money to stay away from them and an extremely massive loyal fanbase watching and supporting her every move - if some men take out their hatred on her, a powerful white woman, how do you think they view and treat women who are not white, thin, "conventionally"/eurocentrically attractive, or accessible to cis/het audiences?

anyway i hope that i can bring a conversation to the swiftieverse cause i honestly believe u guys could have comparable impact to like. bts stans. maybe. if you put your minds together for a good cause. and we don’t have to do the oppression olympics or whataboutisms or WHATEVER for forever. can we please move the conversation forward does anyone else feel insane with like where we’re at

on that note, i really do think now is the perfect moment for you to disrupt shit with your voices and demand better from her. it might not save the world, but it could make a huge difference in changing peoples' minds

okay um. thanks 👍

tldr i can’t do another year of swiftie discourse i just can’t please if there is a god out there help us

[brucewaynehater101]

For the death loop power for Tim, what if instead of going 24 hours back they have to live in the timeline for 24 hours before going right back to when they killed him? That would mean people would face the consequences of their actions before it resets meaning there's less chances of death loops or people trying to see what sticks. That's something I really don't like about the time-travel style fics because alot of the times people don't see consequence? They just keep killing until they're tired or don't care anymore and that just feels iffy, especially if at some point Tim finds out about it.

This would also mean Tim wouldn't find out if he died of natural causes, meaning he'd have to find out from someone else - someone who killed him.

Tw: Death and suicide

I find the alluring part about fics like that to be the fact that there are no acknowledged consequences in the beginning despite the fact that the act in itself will bring upon tons of ramifications. It truly depends on how the author handles it.

For instance, there are a ton of BNHA fics where Midoriya finds out his power is immortality/traveling back in time after he follows Bakugo's advice of throwing himself off a roof. The ones that handle this concept well have Izuku slowly utilizing this power more and more cause there's "no consequences." It then acknowledges how placing your life at jeopary like that, or outright forsaking it, is extremely damaging to one's mental health. Those fics are great and extremely triggering because of this. It's the subtle and steady incline of realizing that the power does, in fact, have drastic and real consequences (such as knowing facts you shouldn't about loved ones or them not sharing precious memories).

I do like the idea you've mentioned of adding a cost to the person who took Tim's life so that it'll try to prevent the person from abusing this "life hack."

Another idea, despite having to live through those 24 hours again with only a small window for actually being able to change anything (which is an extremely scary and confining concept. Kudos), is that the person lives through one of Tim's memories. Neither person chooses which memory. The power just wants to make the person who murdered Tim suffer or feel guilty.

In the end, it would be the person who murdered Tim's choice on whether to keep killing him for the time travel hack, but there is an instant cost for it. Dealer's choice on whether the memory blurs out details to protect Tim's identity.

Bottom line, it adds another angst level where Tim has no clue he's been murdered and that his murderer now knows an intimate memory of his.

[amethystunarmed]

A John Herschel Character Study

I have a lot of feelings about John that go into how I characterize him so I decided to organize them in an “essay” for Day 14: Family of @pulpmusicalsfortnight2024. This is my deep dive into how John's family and childhood affect him today, going into his character arc in the three published episodes of Pulp Musicals. Obviously your mileage may vary but this is the basis for my characterization of John when I write him. Inspired by @eggingtontoast's wonderful analyses of Karen Chasity and Jeri from the Hatchetfield series. Huge thanks to @snarky-wallflower for betaing this for me!

So starting in his childhood:

In the few lines we get about him, John's father is described as being firm and no nonsense.

In Polaris, John says that his father would be “unamused” by him playing a game with his astronomy knowledge and that would say “[You're] just tracing lines 'round things [I] spent [my] life to find.” Specifically, John noted that his father would be against it as it provided “no real benefit to society.” To me, these quotes are just a little too specific to be speculation; I bet William Herschel said this to John before, especially since John knows all the constellations despite his father apparently believing them to be unimportant.

I speculate that William Herschel has constantly reinforced this concept in John, that science isn't fun, it's important and respectable, and that John needed to be important and respectable in turn. And I think John took it to heart over the years. John's reputation is clearly incredibly important to him. He is also deeply concerned about what his father thinks of him, almost to the point of terror, in my opinion. 

He moved his entire project thousands of miles away and constructed it in total secrecy just so his father wouldn't learn if he failed. Samuel is so sure John's dad must be proud of him, but all John seems to feel is afraid. 

His reputation is tied so tightly together with his father's, that John's own failings will reflect onto him, and John's life is a constant comparison to his father's works. John even says that people consider his actions to be an extension of his father's “dreams... hopes, and fears” in Through a Glass. The shadow is long and all-encompassing, and John seems to feel the weight of it heavily. “The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, when they put a glass to me.” 

Whether William Herschel intended this or not, the constant pressure from both his father and society has led John to develop an unhealthy fear of failure and being seen as lacking, and all of this ties into his public persona. He needs to be taken seriously, and puts on this front of being stern and unflappable.  

His isolation only adds to this. He claims that he prefers being alone when he speaks to Rose in It's a Hoax (Reprise)/Carry On. “I should be in another hemisphere alone with the milky way.” We know he gets letters from Anna, his exception, the one person (so far) that he lets his walls down around, but other than that, he is utterly alone. He is “away from the world, but close to [his] heart.” He even admits this was intentional in the Shifts Reprise, that he “built a wall ten miles high of essays, books, and quips.” All John needs is his studies and the sky. He has removed himself from humanity entirely, and has been that way for three years.

This is the John we meet in Before the Storm and It's a Hoax (Reprise)/Carry On.

John comes in and is immediately uptight and no nonsense. This makes sense, given the ramifications of the hoax; John's reputation and most likely his father's opinion are highly on the line. He seems unpleasant at first, an antagonist to the twins’ writing dreams but... He is very quickly taken with Rose.

He doesn't want to be, initially seeming confused and standoffish towards her questions about his work, but she barrels through his defenses. He enjoys that connection, softens, calls her Rose.

Until he learns what she's done and that persona snaps right back in place, his commitment to his reputation and the validity of his name superseding that genuine human connection.

Then, John witnesses something impossible. Margaret glowing. The Radiance. A scientific marvel straight out of a fairy tale.

And we've reached John's Choice.

Because in my opinion, it is not just John's Choice for the story, but of what kind of man he is going to be.

This is where Benjamin comes in. Benjamin serves as John's foil in the Great Moon Hoax. We've witnessed his story; of Benjamin's initial wonder with Hoax, the way the writing moved him enough that he risked everything and gave it a platform, only to betray both it and the Stratfords in the end. 

Benjamin loved the story but there was always that undercurrent of greed and a focus on the money and social status that could be gained, i.e. his “We'll be rich by the end of the day.” in Is it True?

On the other hand, though John came in upset over the story and the damage it could do to his reputation, he has always been a little enamored with the Hoax. He says it was good! He mostly focuses on the science, but also says that in another life, he and the writer could have gotten along. He likes it, despite himself.

The Hoax lit that spark in him again, the one William Herschel saw no value in. Margaret's Radiance fanned the flames.

And so, when push comes to shove, John chooses the Hoax, the story. He chooses the whimsy and creativity and a world with no laws of gravity. He laughs. He becomes the story teller for a theoretical Great Astronomical Discoveries #4, and he “gives it all” to the crowd gathered. He even assists in getting Chester Thomas to continue publishing fiction!

As Benjamin writes himself out of the story, John writes himself into it.

And we see a whole different side to John in the Brick Satellite as this shift in his values continues! He has moments of that initial stuffiness, when he gets all huffy over the Moon Hoax (but never truly mad, not in the way Margaret is), but he shows more of himself, removing bricks from his own personal walls as they add the bricks to the Satellite.

He plays games with Rose on the ship during Polaris, he reveals his vulnerabilities to Samuel in Through a Glass. Samuel even recognizes him as one of their own during this song. When John says, “Imagining’s what you do,” Samuel replies, “A trait I share with you.” John isn't just a scientist, he's a dreamer who imagines a better world, just like the Stratfords. 

This culminates in John and the Earth, the tipping point. Because, the roles are fully reversed from so long ago in South Africa. John looks down at the Earth, at all the people he had walled himself away with for so long, and he loves them so fiercely he cries. He stands in the gift he created for humanity on his own dime with no recompense expected and he says “Heaven's not up here in the sky, heaven’s down there.”

He has looked to the heavens his whole life. It was what was expected of him, the footsteps he was supposed to follow. But looking at the Earth, he sees it. Sees what matters. He has never “felt so small”, away from all the fame and status his name and reputation give him. But he has also never felt “more part of it all.” Because that is John's story, the astronomer who falls in love with the Earth again.

(And falls in love with Rose, but he's still working on that one.)

[pseudobun]

An open letter to Randy's World

Dear Randy,

I don’t know if you'll ever see this, given that I blocked you, but I know that hasn’t stopped you from seeing other people’s posts in the past. I knew you personally for a week, although I was aware of your reputation long before that. Despite trying to give you the benefit of the doubt, I must admit that I give up. You reminded me so much of my brother in certain ways, which perhaps led me to empathize with you. While I’m not going to diagnose you, it’s evident that there are some issues you’re dealing with, and I thought that with a bit of guidance and kindness, you could truly change for the better. Maybe you still can, but that kindness can no longer come from me.

I understand you’re upset that I messaged your mother on Facebook, but please remember that you told me all but her first name without any prompting. You asked me multiple times last night to meet you in real life, despite knowing my age and my clear request not to do so after the first time. I didn’t inform your mother about any allegations against you. I merely mentioned that you were sharing a lot of personal information with me unprompted, and I was worried for your safety. Because I am worried. I still am. I also brought up the pet names you sent me repeatedly after I left the first one on read, again out of concern for your safety. Not everyone has good intentions.

I like to believe I did the right thing. I like to think I was respectful and handled all interactions with you appropriately. The people I’ve consulted agree that I was only showing you basic kindness. Throughout our interactions, I made a conscious effort not to use any terms that might be considered pet names, despite my inclination towards Southern hospitality. For my efforts, I was left questioning whether I was wrong to message you with basic kindness. I was so distressed by the idea of accidentally grooming a child that I was physically ill after logging off for the night.

As I mentioned to your mother, I have siblings your age. I’d be horrified to receive a message like the one your mother received. My hope was that she would take action to prevent you from being on a site like this, given that you aren’t fully aware of the potential ramifications of your actions. Unfortunately, it seems that wasn’t the outcome.

I truly wish I could have helped you, Randy. But I have to consider how things appear, regardless of my intentions. I am almost a decade older than you, and I cannot allow you to continue messaging me in the way you did last night (such as asking me to take you to Washington and using pet names right before I logged off). Regardless of my intentions, you were choosing to misinterpret them, which puts me in a difficult position. I’m sorry, and I hope you are able to grow and find the help you need.

Sincerely,

Stevie "Evie" G.

[teddy-the-queer-wizard]

what i got so far as a letter for coming out to my family

Hello Everyone, I gathered you all here today to give an update about me.

I’m going to ask that you save all questions, comments, and concerns to the end of the briefing.

I don’t want to get off on the wrong foot here, but I am going to be enforcing that request. I am alright with just ending this update and coming back to it at a later date if we all decide that's what we want to do.

I would also like to emphasize right from the start that this is not something I’m submitting for review, or offering up for debate. It is just me trying to notify yall and keep you in the loop on significant developments in my life.

I’m going to try to hit some of the relevant points and I’ll be sure to let you know when the word vomit is over.

I have decided to go forward with transitioning. Specifically, I will be getting on testosterone at the end of the month.

While I understand the political climate has shifted and this is horrible timing, I have been reflecting on this since 2018 and it's more than past time to move forward.

I was hoping to alleviate concerns by being able to say that “right now transitioning doesn’t actually affect much” obviously that is not true anymore, but I will say that the changes I am seeking should not be cause for any action to be taken against me.

To mitigate possible ramifications I will not be seeking any sort of acknowledgment, especially legally, of my transition. I will not be bothering to attempt to go through my insurance or change any legal documents. I will not be notifying my employers.

I am just going to slowly change and if anyone asks I will say I have a health condition and that I am working on it with a doctor.

At worst I expect to develop more visible hair growth on my face that can be dealt with by shaving, and of course my voice will probably crack until it settles into a new range. I do not anticipate losing my job for essentially being an ugly girl with a shitty voice as long as my job performance does not suffer from it.

The changes will take time anyways and legal developments may change before I see any results, in or further out of my favor. Honestly I expect at worst I will just stop being able to acquire testosterone, which I will deal with if and when that time comes.

I am aware of many of the changes that come with being on testosterone. I have looked into this over the last seven years. I am willing to accept them as they come and perhaps readdress any issues I have at a later date.

Yes I am also aware that some of the changes are permanent, and am willing to live with them if and when they develop.

The thing I need you to know is that it does not matter. It does not matter if they’re saying it's junk science right now. It does not matter if there was a panel of scientists saying “sure there are trans people but we scanned your brain and you are not one of them.” I would want to move forward with this regardless.

This hasn’t gone away because it would be more convenient for me if it did, I spent the last seven years checking to be sure. It's not going away because some people have decided it's not real. it's not going away because it would be safer if it did. it's not going away because the timing is wrong or because it sounds stupid or even because I’m sure it seems like I’ve made it just fine 34 years without doing anything like this.

What this means for yall… That is really up for yall to decide, I’m not here to tell you how to feel or even how to act. Right now I do not care if essentially nothing changes on your part. I would ask that specifically you don’t communicate this with anyone on base but again I’m not trying to control you. Do whatever you feel you need to do, talk to whoever you want to talk to about whatever you want to talk about.

I am sure you're wondering why. I’m actually pretty sure there's a bunch of whys going on.

All I can offer you is that I want this. I have never actively wanted something this badly in my entire life or for as long. Much longer than the seven years I’ve known that this was not only a thing that was possible, but realized I could in fact just. Go and do.

This is something that I can’t not do even if an argument can be made that it would be easier all around if I just did not do it. I may try it and hate it, I can’t say with absolute certainty I won’t.

What I can say is that I regret every day of the last seven years not having even made the attempt. I regret every day I didn’t even know that it was a possibility. I will regret missing my chance to try every day of my life if I do nothing right now and that possibility goes away entirely.

I have swallowed this down as long as I can, and I am not willing to wait until I am completely unable to do so anymore to move forward.

I’m sure yall are disappointed I have not discussed this with you at all really prior. All I can say to that is I needed to be sure. I needed to be this sure.

I love you and I’m about done now. I’m going to leave yall to talk or reflect or go about your day or whatever you need, want, or got to do.

Feel free to follow up with me later about this if you want with your questions, comments, and concerns. I am/am not up to addressing them with you right now.