#<- words to live by when youre on twitter

[hawkins-batman]

The Noah Schnapp Situation Going Into S5

With Stranger Things Season 5 coming out this year, we are unfortunately going to see a revival of the debacle around Noah, even though by then it will be an almost 2 year old subject. So, I thought I would get ahead of that with some of my thoughts based on what I've seen these last few weeks and more broadly over the last 6 or more months I've been on this scene.

Spoiler Alert: This is going to be a long one. It'll probably be my new pinned post.

Why Still Talk About It?

Frankly? Because it's still going on. Keep in mind, Liam Payne died in October 2024 (just three months ago), right around Noah's birthday, and THIS is how Twitter responded to that.

And just in case anyone thinks I had to dig back a whole 3 months to find Noah-hate-content on Twitter, here was just random things I grabbed from the last week:

Which brings me to the next point.

Why Do You Even Care?

"Noah doesn't know you." "He's not your pookie."

I know that. The funny thing is, from what little I know about Noah, I'm pretty sure if he DID know me beyond the ONE DM conversation we've had, he'd probably tell me to chill. Dude is very non-confrontational and nice. So, why do it?

Because I think the online movement in favor of Palestinian self-determination has been hijacked by teenagers and performative leftists who care more about looking good for their peers than practicing what they preach.

Because (as you can see above and in screenshots like the one below), people who claim to hold my liberal/progressive/left-leaning values have used this as an opportunity to be openly homophobic and antisemitic towards a then-19-year old who had JUST come out of the closet.

Proponents of the hate campaign against Noah have said that they are just "holding him accountable" or "criticizing him" in the hopes he "learns something."

Look up. Point to me which image is accountability. Point to me the valid criticisms.

There are none. There is just flagrant homophobia. And then there are posts like this one, coming from the same crowd:

This behavior is wrong on its face.

It is violent. It is bullying (which doesn't seem like strong enough of a word) and it's bigoted.

Wanna see more? Look up @noah_schnapp on Twitter/X. See what they've done to his account.

Inevitably, some of the people participating in this will see this blog post. If you've made it this far, this is for you:

This behavior discredits your activism. It makes you look performative and fake to say in one breath that you are a "Leftist" who cares about Palestinian lives as well as the lives of minority groups worldwide, and then to turn around and talk like this about a Jewish person and a gay KID. Because he WAS a kid when this started. Furthermore, it makes it clear to those of us who actually hold the beliefs we claim, that you are vapid enough to use Palestinian suffering for your own personal vendettas. That the APPEARANCE of goodness is more important than goodness itself. And that you will shuck solidarity with minority groups the MOMENT one of them steps out of the lines you have drawn around them.

Not to mention...

It's Based Mostly On Lies

As a reminder, this is what Noah Schnapp actually said shortly after October 7, 2023:

Read that again.

"...we will hope and pray for safety, justice, liberation, and self-determination in Palestine." That was part of the very first thing he ever said about the issue.

And then this happened:

This was the image he was crucified for.

Stickers that weren't even his. That he wasn't holding up or making. He was in a cafe, someone else came up to him with them, and he was videoed with that person.

That's it. That's all. All those tweets you saw above? The fake stories made up about him like this one?

All of that was supposedly "accountability."

The harassment of his family. Murder threats. Rape threats. All for stickers that weren't even his.

There's even a paid Stranger Things author on this very site, styling herself as a Byler shipper, who has contributed to the lies that have further added to the hate campaign I've described.

As an aside, Noah wasn't the only one in that video. The influencers that actually posted the video and HAD THE STICKERS?

Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

And just to be clear - I don't think they should get hate. I think non-Jewish online Leftists appropriated a term from Jewish culture, redefined it, and are weaponizing it to beat down Jews all over the internet—which is par for the course for this charcuterie board of performative activism.

Yet the point stands. Noah was specifically targeted; and the homophobia that IMMEDIATELY came from the Left suggests to me that it was his sexuality and cultural/religious identity that motivated the attacks.

Again, I'll say, this is wrong.

Noah Has Since Responded

It hasn't stopped the bullying.

Didn't stop him from withdrawing from spaces he loved. From needing therapy from what we've learned from his now-deleted second TikTok.

And that really says something, does it? He cleared up his point. He tried to clarify and even apologize.

They didn't accept it. Not because it wasn't good enough. Not because it was "too late." Because this was the point. They wanted to keep doing it. They get sick joy from it.

Which is why...

I'm Not Shutting Up About This

This post doesn't even nearly cover the whole situation. The Byler fans who try to replace Noah's image in fan art and fan fiction. Who fan cast themselves as Will instead of Noah. The stalking and doxxing on Twitter. People reporting to GIANT hate accounts his location and when he's alone, PRAYING for him to be hurt.

I wish I could cover it all.

We have to stand up to this. On tumblr, on TikTok, on Threads, Twitter/X—everywhere we see it.

For our gay and Jewish siblings who see how Noah was attacked and feel less safe in their online spaces as a result, we have to speak up and say something.

And yeah. We have to say something for Noah, too.

The person who replied to me like this:

Him?

He did it because he needed to see a show of love from his fans. Doesn't mean he's perfect. Doesn't mean he won't mess up or do something in the future.

And no. Standing up for Noah, or for Jewish people, or other gay folks does not make you a genocide supporter or apologist. It doesn't mean you want any innocent people harmed. Don't give them the power to talk down to you like that. It's bullshit. You know it, and I know it.

All standing up to this vile shit is is an acknowledgement that Noah is a living, breathing person, as some of these people tend to forget.

And he didn't deserve this.

Any of it.

[sylvia-und-sybille]

💯 [100] How many words does your WIP currently have? How many words do you hope it’ll have when it’s done? 2.3K+ now, and whatever happens, that happens.

⌛️ [Hourglass] How long have you been working on this WIP? 3 days.

📚 [Books] Is this WIP part of a series or standalone? AU location (starts as) and aged-up characters.

🎀 [Bow] How many named characters are in this WIP? How many do get a POV? OTP only. Even as 3rd person's point of view there's little of point of view at all (as thoughts or just about a person alone.)

💖 [Heart] What is your favorite moment in this WIP? OTP talk & do things together.

🎶 [Notes] Do you have any other WIP related things, like moodboards, character portraits, playlists or similar? It can happen in 0.001% of cases (if, then fanfictions only.)

📖 [Open Book] What form do you want this WIP to take when it’s done? Posted, printed, published, etc? Posted only.

🐀 [Rat] Name three reasons why this WIP is great at being insert genre here. (You can send a genre, or let the recipient pick one.) Romance, as it's about a lot of love (as in every fanfiction about them.)

🐁[Mouse] Name three reasons why this WIP is horrible at being insert genre here. (You can send a genre, or let the recipient pick one.) Humour. Unfortunately, no funny moments.

🔎 [Magnifier] Is there a phrase/word you know you use too often? Will you change it in editing? So (for years.) If exaggerate, the answer is, so what? So to be it. | Whenever possible, I try to find other way to glue parts of looong sentences and not to break them into shorter ones. The writer of the original version had looong sentences as well and paragraphs can seem almost endless in many cases.

🍖 [Meat] How many fictional people were harmed in the making of this WIP? EVERY SINGLE of my fanfictions & original stories has happy end (unless past when I wanted to write about harm done to or defeat of a bad or unpleasant character.) In the case of latest WIP fanfiction: deep sadness of both, character 2: wish to cry before relief, no harm.

🌈 [Rainbow] If at the beginning of your WIP the characters knew about the end, would they kill you to stop you from writing it? They would look forward to a plot twist (mostly character 2, as character 1 had an idea.)

‍🎨 [Palette] If your WIP was a color, which color would it be? Rainbow, as they deserve.

🍩 [Donut] What’s the weirdest thing someone eats in your WIP? What’s the best thing? No food or drinks are mentioned (yet?)

🔒 [Lock] Would you let your family, friends, or other people you know in real life read your WIP? No, and I almost don't know people in real life. Yes, I'm so called "live under a rock."

🖋️ [Pen] Describe your WIP in a single, terrible sentence. At first, the two are icebergs, but very, very soon, nothing is under water . . . (They talk about character 1 as having an iceberg, so . . .) . . . positive plot twist, philosophical discussion, something else unexpected (positive again.) (Note: something else is before plot twist, though. | I've had to search for answers to at least understand how such description can be possible.)

❌ [Cross] What would your WIP get cancelled on Twitter for? What does it mean even? If as not accepted, one of important parts is gender non-conformity. Those who are against girls & women who don't look feminine can be highly displeased. BUT what can I say, the version the fanfiction is based on has scenes with character 2 in man's shirt. So yes, haters can hate as long as they want.

UPDATE a day after: I've had an idea (chapter 2, not one-shot as it was planned initially) which is the reason to "get cancelled on Twitter," but I don't care. The idea supposed to be a part of some future fanfiction (no matter which, but based on the modern version of the story,) but the wish to add this to the current one was too strong, so it will be here :D The first chapter discussed above has two plot twists, but this idea is an enormous plot twist. Second plot twist & new one will result in (in my opinion, at least) it's too good to be true | unrealistic, but I don't care. I want this to exist, so it will.

Random WIP Ask Game

💯 [100] How many words does your WIP currently have? How many words do you hope it'll have when it's done?

⌛️ [Hourglass] How long have you been working on this WIP?

📚 [Books] Is this WIP part of a series or standalone?

🎀 [Bow] How many named characters are in this WIP? How many do get a POV?

💖 [Heart] What is your favorite moment in this WIP?

🎶 [Notes] Do you have any other WIP related things, like moodboards, character portraits, playlists or similar?

📖 [Open Book] What form do you want this WIP to take when it's done? Posted, printed, published, etc?

🐀 [Rat] Name three reasons why this WIP is great at being insert genre here. (You can send a genre, or let the recipient pick one.)

🐁[Mouse] Name three reasons why this WIP is horrible at being insert genre here. (You can send a genre, or let the recipient pick one.)

🔎 [Magnifier] Is there a phrase/word you know you use too often? Will you change it in editing?

🍖 [Meat] How many fictional people were harmed in the making of this WIP?

🌈 [Rainbow] If at the beginning of your WIP the characters knew about the end, would they kill you to stop you from writing it?

‍🎨 [Palette] If your WIP was a color, which color would it be?

🍩 [Donut] What's the weirdest thing someone eats in your WIP? What's the best thing?

🔒 [Lock] Would you let your family, friends, or other people you know in real life read your WIP?

🖋️ [Pen] Describe your WIP in a single, terrible sentence.

❌ [Cross] What would your WIP get cancelled on Twitter for?

[so-i-did-this-thing]

im sorry this might not be the place to ask for advice/help but im doomscrolling about the news and the soon to be president and im seeing so much to be scared shitless about, invasions, removal of vaccines, cost of living increases, revoking of trans rights and how it might make it all the more impossible to get the surgeries i wanted... its just too fucking scary to breathe right now what do i do with myself

Hey, Anon. I'm here. A lot of us are here right with you.

It's scary, to be sure. And I'm not going to sugarcoat the possibilities of things going south very quickly. So, let's jump into some survival tactics.

This post on burnout is a great place to start. There is a lot of overlap with burnout and the anxiety you're feeling.

Allow yourself to slow down and unplug. You are allowed to step away from the news cycle -- events out of your control will unfold regardless.

Don't feel guilty by letting yourself relax. I find it especially helpful to do activities that don't involve the internet -- I've been decorating my house, mending broken crockery, and sketching some embroidery ideas. I try to take the time to get dressed and groomed every day, to remind myself that I matter. I spend more time outdoors.

As you find the ability to relax, you'll be able to focus better on the things you can do to be resilient. Things I have been doing to improve myself and make me a better helper:

Staying on top of my medical appointments and any preventive care I can do

Working to be physically healthier overall to mitigate future medical issues

Getting all my paperwork in order, including passports

Tweaking my financial budget

Researching what estate & family documentation needs to be done to protect my relationship in case my marriage gets dissolved

Brushing up on job skills, getting new certifications to stay competitively employable

Stocking up on my medical and general emergency supplies, especially for bad weather events

Getting in the habit of mindful purchases, curbing my habit of impulse shopping

Selling things I don't want or need anymore to have a little extra money and be able to move house easier, if need be

Building a habit of fixing/maintaining my possessions instead of trashing broken things

Canceling online subscriptions and quitting social networks that make me feel in danger

Getting my personal and any queer-related files out of the cloud and onto redundant solid state drives

Downloading / printing out queer resources and buying queer art that may be banned or monitored in the future

Enjoying physical media again and hunting for old favorites

Keeping in touch with queer friends and allies and making plans in case people (even myself) need to flee

Being visible when I can and knowing when it's best to lay low

Allowing myself the luxury to dig into things Old Me would have saved for "special" events -- aka, wearing the nice clothes and eating off the fine china as an everyday thing

Shutting the fuck up, especially online, when I think my words could be used against me

In a way, I am trying to simply become a better version of myself, one who is calm & self-sufficient, mindful about his actions, and available to help those in need. It sucks that the driving factor is fear, but I intend to use that fear as a catalyst to be stronger and survive.

There is a lot to be done, but there was always going to be work, new regime or not. But please, start with that burnout article so you can jump into your own plans with new hope and energy. ❤️

[apteryxparvus]

AITA for exposing my pro volleyball player boyfriend's monster addiction on r/fridgedetective?

Pairing — Suna Rintarou / Reader

Word count — 2,046

Content warning — none

Summary — When you accidentally expose your boyfriend for hoarding an ungodly amount of Monster energy drinks in his mini fridge, the internet takes it and runs wild.

You don’t think twice when you head to your boyfriend’s mini-fridge. Suna always keeps a stash of snacks and drinks in there for late-night movie marathons, and you’re desperately craving a fizzy hit of Ramune soda. But when you open the fridge…

Monster Energy. 

Monster Energy everywhere.

You don’t even spot the soda you’re looking for. Just rows upon rows of neon cans stacked like Tetris blocks, along with an alarming number of Chuupets squished in the corners. Who needs this much caffeine and sugar?

The fridge hums ominously, as if judging you for your surprise.

Naturally, you take a picture and post it.

For science.

You don’t expect much. Maybe 10 or 20 upvotes, and a couple of comments from bored strangers confirming that, yes, Suna’s energy drink consumption is borderline criminal. After all, it’s just a silly post on a silly subreddit, nothing to lose sleep over.

But when you groggily check your Reddit account the next morning, your notifications are wild. It’s not just a handful of upvotes—it’s thousands. Your post isn’t just trending on r/fridgedetective; it’s made the Reddit front page.

There’s an overwhelming flood of comments, many of them calling out your boyfriend by name. A part of you wants to laugh—because, really, how did they guess so fast?—but another part of you is too scared to even open Twitter or any other social media platform. You just know someone has screenshotted it and blasted it across the internet; probably with a wild caption like: “Suna Rintarou EXPOSED by his own partner”.

The sheer absurdity hits you like a train. Your boyfriend’s unhealthy obsession with energy drinks and frozen treats has gone viral. Your boyfriend has gone viral.

And, at this point, you’re not sure if you should wake him up to warn him, or just quietly pack your things and go into witness protection.

Among the chaos of Reddit notifications, your phone buzzes with a few messages. A quick glance tells you it’s from two very predictable sources.

Kita: Just empty the fridge and restock it with healthy food. He’ll grumble, but it’s for the best.

Atsumu: WOW I CAN’T BELIEVE U TATTLED ON MY BOY LIKE THAT 💀💀💀

You sigh, rubbing your temples. Against your better judgement, you open the Inarizaki High alumni group chat—and immediately regret it.

Atsumu is clearly living for this. You should’ve known better.

He’s on a rampage, flooding the chat with screenshots from Twitter.

"Suna's fridge contents have NO BUSINESS being this cursed."

"Suna Rintarou EXPOSED for his crimes against hydration."

"Monster sponsorship when???"

It’s one caption after another, each one wilder than the last. You groan, burying your face in your pillow, as if that could block out the chaos unfolding on your screen. You can practically hear Atsumu’s wheezy cackles through the text, and his twin brother, Osamu, is doing nothing to help—just spamming the chat with popcorn emojis like he’s front row at the circus.

You sigh, fingers hovering over the keyboard as you prepare to grill Atsumu for being the absolute worst at 7 AM. But before you can type a single word, the bed shifts.

Suna groans softly, stirring beside you. His arm slides over your waist, pulling you closer as he burrows his face into the crook of your neck.

“Mm, what’s with all the buzzing?” he mumbles, his voice heavy with sleep.

“Nothing,” you lie, way too quickly, throwing your phone across the bed like it’s radioactive. You lean in to press a kiss to his forehead. “Don’t worry, just go back to sleep.”

It almost works. Almost. But your phone keeps vibrating obnoxiously—no doubt Atsumu is still spamming the group chat with screenshots and whatever unhinged commentary he’s decided to add. You curse yourself for not muting him earlier, but now it’s far too late.

Suna groans again, this time with the exasperation of someone who just wants five more minutes of peace. He shifts, reaching for the phone you so desperately tried to avoid.

“Why’s Atsumu spamming the group chat so early?” he asks groggily, his thumb already swiping across the screen.

“No reason!” you blurt out, sitting up too quickly. “You don’t need to check—”

But it’s too late. The moment Suna opens the chat, his expression shifts. His sleepy indifference hardens into something sharper. 

Betrayal.

Two days later, you’re settled into your couch, blanket wrapped snug around your shoulders, laptop propped up on your knees. Kodzuken’s stream is set to start in fifteen minutes, and if you’re going to survive whatever chaos the streamer’s chat is inevitably bound to bring, you’re going to need a heavy caffeine boost.

Your eyes slowly drift to the mini fridge in the corner.

You’ve been trying to avoid it ever since the whole incident. But you cannot deny the itch for something cold and fizzy to keep you awake. There’s a moment of hesitation as you chew on your lip, before you finally stand up and pad over.

“Okay… alright,” you mumble to yourself, hand hovering over the handle. “It’s just a fridge. How bad can it be?”

You pull it open.

And the sight nearly makes you drop to your knees.

Gone is the chaotic hoard of neon green Monster Energy cans and suspicious, almost-melted chuupets. Instead, the shelves are pristine, almost squeaky white, gleaming as if the fridge belongs to some sort of soda commercial. And every single slot has been replaced with your favorite soda flavor.

Each glass bottle has a sticky note attached to it, the handwriting unmistakably Suna’s—slightly tilted to the right and a little lazy, like he couldn’t quite be bothered but also cared just enough.

The first note you pick you reads: “I’m doing this for you, even though it hurts 💔💔.”

Shaking your head in disbelief, you pick up another bottle, the condensation slick against your palm. This note reads: “Please don’t post me online again 😔💔.”

A third one in the far back reads: “I hope you’re happy. My dignity is in shambles.”

You choke back a laugh, clutching the bottle to your chest like it’s some sort of love letter.

Everything is just absurd. Dramatic. Completely unnecessary.

But so him.

Kenma’s notification pings from your laptop, reminding you his stream is starting soon. But for a moment, you just stand there, bathed in the soft glow of the fridge light, staring at the ridiculous display of Ramune bottles and heartfelt stickies.

Dinner is a quiet affair, save for the occasional clink of chopsticks against bowls and the soft fizz that Suna’s Ramune soda makes as he takes a long, dramatic sip. You can’t help but glance at him as your phone buzzes with another notification from the group chat.

The #monstersmvp hashtag Atsumu created is still going strong.

You unlock your phone, and cover your mouth trying to stifle a laugh—Atsumu’s latest spamming spree is a trainwreck you cannot look away from.

“What now?” Suna asks, voice flat as he picks at his food.

“‘tsumu keeps sending the eulogies from the hashtag. Ready to hear the best of the best?”

 “No,” your boyfriend deadpans, taking another slow, deliberate sip of the fizzy drink.

Ignoring him, you start reading anyway. “Okay, here goes,” you clear your throat, holding the phone up dramatically. “Rest in power: Gone but never forgotten. Suna’s energy drink hoard was a beacon of poor nutritional choices and excessive caffeine addiction. Taken from us far too soon by the merciless hand of justice (a.k.a. his girlfriend). May its legacy live on in vending machines and gas station coolers everywhere.”

Suna rolls his eyes, but you can see the corners of his mouth subtly twitching, like he’s trying not to laugh.

“Wait, wait,” you say, scrolling further. “It wasn’t Suna’s blocks that made him a true legend. No, it was his fridge full of Monsters. The stash stood as a tall, proud monument to his dedication to caffeine and chaos, but alas, all good things must come to an end. In lieu of flowers, please send Ramune soda.”

He takes another slow sip of his soda, gaze fixed on you over the rim of the bottle. “These people are unhinged.”

“You mean your fans are unhinged,” you correct, waving your phone at him. “You brought this on yourself, you know.”

He sets the bottle down, resting his chin in his hand as he smirks at you, that lazy, infuriating smirk that makes your heart skip a beat even when you’re annoyed with him. “You’re awfully invested in this for someone who caused the whole mess.”

“Excuse me, you’re the one who kept a hoard of energy drinks like some kind of cryptid!”

“And you’re the one who made it go viral.”

Suna shakes his head, clicking his chopsticks. “If I ever get my stash back, I’m putting a padlock on that fridge.”

“Sure,” you tease, scrolling through the wall of text messages. “But you’ll have to bribe me first.”

The morning after starts with the doorbell buzzing like it’s got a personal grudge against your sleep. You groan, burrowing deeper into the blankets as Suna mumbles incoherently beside you.

“Are you gonna get that?” you ask, voice muffled by the pillow.

“Nope,” he replies, eyes still closed.

The buzzing continues, persistent and annoying, until you finally throw the blankets off with a groan. “Fine, I’ll do it. But if it’s Atsumu, I’m kicking him.”

Shuffling to the door in your pajamas, you swing it open, ready to give whoever it is a piece of your mind. Instead, you’re greeted by two delivery people dressed in head-to-toe Monster Energy attire. Hats, shirts, gloves—even their shoes have the Monster logo.

“Delivery for Suna Rintarou?” one of them says, all too chipper for this ungodly hour.

Behind them is a massive, industrial-sized fridge wrapped in black and neon green, the Monster Energy logo glowing ominously on the front.

You blink. “You’re joking.”

“We’re not,” the other delivery person says, already wheeling the monstrosity closer.

You stand frozen as they maneuver the fridge through the door, parking it in the middle of your living room like it belongs there. By the time Suna wanders out from your bedroom, rubbing the sleep from his eyes, the delivery people are gone, and the fridge looms like some sort of otherworldly deity.

“What the hell is that?” he asks, voice rough with sleep.

“Your consequences, clearly,” you grumble.

“You think it comes pre-stocked?”

You stay quiet, keeping your distance from the fridge as if your glare alone might short-circuit the thing. If you got too close, you’d be tempted to whack it with something—like the baseball bat you keep by the door in case of emergencies.

Suna, unbothered by your lack of answer, wanders closer, hand lazily brushing against the neon logo before gripping the handle. He looks back at you with a smirk.

The door creaks open.

Even though the fridge isn’t even on, it’s packed to the brim with dozens upon dozens of Monster cans. Shelves sag under the weight of every imaginable flavor—there are classics, tropical blends, tea-infused hybrids, even some cans with foreign text that scream exclusive import.

“How is this fridge even stocked? It’s not on.” You can’t hold back the groan. “No. Absolutely not.”

“Look at this,” Suna says, picking up a can with a holographic label. He holds it up like it’s some kind of treasure. “I didn’t even know this flavor existed.”

“Put it back,” you say, your voice sharp. “I’m gonna set it on fire, I swear."

He doesn’t listen. Instead, he grabs another can, then another. “They’ve got the white pineapple, the tea blend... oh, and the zero-calorie peach! This is insane.”

“I’m gonna lose my mind.” You bury your face in your hands, trying to process the sheer audacity of the situation. “Who does this?!”

“There, there,” Suna teases, patting your back. “Want a sip?” he asks, cracking open a random can.

You glare at him, contemplating the consequences of slamming the door shut on both the cans and his smug face. Instead, you stomp to the couch, plopping down, and muttering, “I’m calling ‘tsumu. This has his name written all over it.”

Suna’s laughter echoes through the living room, followed by the distinct hiss of him opening yet another can.

Author's note: phew, editing the Reddit posts took ages 🤧 please ignore any discrepancies between the profile pictures of the users pls

i’ll marry whoever buys me a fully stocked redbull fridge, no questions asked

[brian-in-finance]

Review of S715.

Everything about Claire’s arc exemplifies what makes this episode exceptional.

The subtle foreshadowing that this time will be different, followed by the choice to have Claire mortally injured by a gun rather than Jamie, is thrilling — because it is different!

Even though he is surrounded by power at his command, Jamie is the damsel in distress, and Claire, despite a fatal wound, is the only one who can save herself. It’s a show of strength that Caitriona Balfe knocks out of the park with a masterclass in acting.

Seeing Claire refuse to take a man’s word that she’s too far gone as she lays in a pool of her own blood is truly a highlight of the season. We have the honor of watching the best parts of her character shine every second of this battlefield sequence.

Balfe delivers one of Claire’s best performances of the series.

https://telltaletv.com/2025/01/outlander-season-7-episode-15-review-written-in-my-own-hearts-blood/

Thanks for the message, Anon. 😃

It’s a wee bit jarring to see such high praise for Caitríona’s performance in 715, and I suspect my surprise is due to having seen so much fan exuberance on Twitter/X for Sam’s performance, including calls for an Oscar. Um… #TV #🤦🏻‍♂️

Gif: Giphy

Neither does Tell-Tale TV ignore his work.

Sam Heughan taps into fascinating sides of Jamie that exemplify melodrama and emotion in ways early episodes have struggled to lend him.

There's nothing cringe about this meltdown, even as he screams whorish insults. This is a man driven to a feral fury, and as he dips his hands into Claire's blood to declare his alliance with her, Outlander wins more than this one battle.

But your message is about Caitríona’s work 😃…

And it is a pleasure to see Claire slip back on her apron and stand ready to save lives on the front lines. There’s no better version of Claire than this one.

Gifs: MSN

What is tantalizing about Claire’s wounding on the battlefield is that it plays on the best parts of Jamie and Claire while breaking our hearts.

Screenshots: Outlander-Online

I thought Written In My Heart’s Blood was a great episode with some excellent performances. (How about young Florrie May Wilkinson’s portrayal of Frances “Fanny” Pocock? Wow!) Overall, I’m impressed with Season 7B and have high hopes for Season 8. Ever the optimist…

Remember… it is an underrated battle, and what a triumph it is to see her win when Captain Leckie acknowledges Claire’s medical credentials. — Tell-Tale TV

[battlefrankies]

saw ur tags, wanted to give some context because you do bring up some interesting points!

newkama as a term is a combination of okama (a reclaimed pejorative that refers to drag queens/transvestites, who don't always identify as women) and newhalf (a term some trans women celebrities used to refer to themselves in the 90s, but today i've seen most trans women prefer to just be called women) (and the word for trans people in japan today is just english loanwords, literally just 'trans' and 'transgender', so the terminology has evolved)

the newkama and especially iva-chan's impel down group see themselves not as specifically drag queens or trans women, but as people who've transcended the restrictions of gender entirely. they do tap into that campy drag aesthetic though, like you can clearly see the rocky horror influence on ivankov's designs. i think it's a mistake to try and apply concrete labels that we see constantly online to this group (and also, lgbt people in general). oda isn't on twitter reading about how gen Z kids on tiktok want to be portrayed, he's talking to real-life people he meets, but also mostly he's drawing one piece and playing gacha games.

even on momoiro island when they were trying to put sanji in a dress, i think it's important to point out that sanji agreed to that training regimen and discussed it with iva-chan in order to get stronger; he could've left at any time. imo the optics for that section weren't ideal, but it emphasizes the freedom of expression for the newkama who live on that island. there's no pressure to conform to rigid standards of femininity when they're safe and comfortable having body hair and square jaws, but they just wanna wear a frilly dress too. ivankov could (and would) physically alter anyone's body at any point they wanted, but the newkama of the kamabakka kingdom felt no need for that.

are there better ways to portray that? for sure! i'm not mad about oda imperfectly supporting the lgbt community in a time & media environment that was either dismissive or downright hostile to trans people though. it was, again, head and shoulders above pretty much any shonen that was being published at the time. personally, i like that there's such a diversity of trans experiences being depicted in the series with so much affection, to the point where each time sanji said or did anything transphobic, he'd get punished for it. you can truly tell that oda thinks it's dope as fuck that people can just trans their genders, and to me that matters more than optically perfect trans women.

giselle gewelle from bleach, for example, being a really cute trans girl who is also evil, and whose trans identity is openly insulted by a protagonist and also she dies, in 2013. oda having the newkama not just be empowered, heroic characters but also living and thriving on their own island was basically unheard of at a time when 'bury your gays' was so prevalent it's got a tvtropes page. and it's not just that these heroic characters happen to be trans, their establishment of a supportive community in impel down is the REASON luffy could be saved.

i think a lot of people criticize the trans representation in OP in bad faith without context or any intention of trying to understand the context, but i don't take them seriously. the reason we're even talking about the supportive but flawed 2009 trans rep in one piece is because OP has so much staying power and influence in the cultural consciousness. i think it's fair to be uncomfortable with aspects of it, and that speaks to how far we've come since then, which is a good thing. i think the intent of these characters & oda's stance on trans rights couldn't be more clear though.

the trans representation in one piece is phenomenal actually

[minniesmutt]

     I know I’m a few days late to talk about this, but I still want to. I also want other’s opinions on this, and I do have a poll going for the week to see what others say, but regarding Stray Kids Offical Fan Club, as an international stay, it is not worth it in my personal opinion.

     I have seen other stays on social media talk about this as well and why they won’t be getting the fan club this year. I have only been a stay since January of 2023. So, I can only speak about the fan club from last year and not the year before. But I did want to share this in case I’m weirdly the only person you ever see talk about this or value my opinion in some way (please don’t; that’s a lot of responsibility on me, and most of my opinions come off as asshole-y)

     Most of what I have gathered as to why I-Stays are upset or not getting the fan club is as follows: pricing, lack of benefits, and difficulties with yes24.

     Starting with yes24, it is a little hard to navigate, especially if your device is translating it to your native language since not every language can share the same words/phrases when translating from one to another. Sometimes, I have to fill in the blanks in my head when translating from Korean to English on the site, so it makes sense in my head. But that’s not the main reason I’m seeing issues.

     Many I-stays are having payment issues. When they enter their card information, they get a lot of error pop-ups saying something is wrong—yes24 also will not let you use PayPal or any other payment site to pay—and I will admit I remember having this problem last year with the 4th-gen fan club, Stay Hideout. Along with the payment issues, overseas shipping for the kit is 2-3x as much as the kit. Now, the kit is a small box with photo cards, a photo book, ID badges, and lots of other little goodies that (at least for me) kinda just sit on our shrines/displays. The box is about $25 USD, and from what I remember, I paid about $80 last year.

     Some people may think, “$80 isn’t too bad. I’d pay that for all that stuff!”. And if you have the money to spend that, I applaud you for having your finances sorted out like that. Not everyone can afford that.  But Stays are also promised other perks within Fan Club. Part of that is Exclusive FANS content and concert perks—from what I have read, presale codes, fan club ticket prices, and stay zone. From my personal experience, I only got full FAN access— community posts, commenting, interacting with the boys, etc.— and the kit. I did not have presale codes for the tour— my stop is in May— and from what other stays have said on SM, there is nothing for those of us with the membership at the concerts like there is for K-stays. Paying way more in just shipping to receive fewer benefits because we live farther.

     FANS are a whole other thing. If you don’t know and are wondering why I said “full FANS access,” that is because last year when FANS first launched, everyone, fan club or not, could comment on the community. This had led to —I did not see this happening, but I did see the message JYPE decided to put out regarding this— hate being directed towards the boys on the public forum. JYPE then changed everything and made it so that you could only really do anything on there if you had a fan club membership. This did upset a few baby stays, from what I saw, who did want to interact but had joined the fandom after the recruitment period. The “exclusive content” they told us we would get was BTS photos and photos for their birthdays. Then, they would get shared by other stays not long after they were posted.

     Yes, you could sign up for events, but most of them are live, and not everyone can drop everything and get on a plane to Korea to participate in these events. Looking back, there were a few streaming events for their albums last year, and that was it. But those were then posted on the x/twitter account. So it wasn’t “exclusive”

     And with FANS, the only ones actively engaging with stay are Hyunjin, Seungmin, and I.N. Chan and Changbin for a day, Felix and Lee Know are very rarely there. Han posted one thing, and he was never heard from again on FANS. I (personally) would rather pay for their bubble subscriptions than have FANS access.

     Now, if you are okay with all this as an I-Stay, go ahead and buy that membership, babes! If you read this and go, “What the fuck?” I’m with you. I-stays are in the background as they cater to k-stays and j-stays, which I understand. Stray Kids is a Korean boy group first, and they do have Japanese albums and debuts (I do how that all works; I just see J-stays getting better perks than other i-stays, i.e., dome tour), so the company does focus on them more. But a lot of us I-stays are there for the streaming events. We are a very large part of their fan base, and we all know if they could do more for us, they would. Skz does not know us, but they do love us. If you just like having all their merch and stuff, it might be worth it in that aspect, but it's up to you. I just wanted to share what I saw and what I felt.

TLDR: Pay too much for two things and skz are barely active on the community app so it’s not worth it in my opinion.

[omagpies]

No way! Another person who has spent way too much time on apex! Who's your main? I'm guessing BH but I don't want to assume. How did you feel about the BH/Fuse engagement? Do you have any heirlooms? Sorry, not very many people play apex on here.

Also, do you have any apex art? If not that's totally cool but I would love to see it!

you have activated my trap card!! many drawings ahead

my main is indeed bloodhound. i also whip out fuse, mirage, and to a lesser degree octane, but mostly i'm a one trick bloodhound. they were what got me into the game in the first place back in season 7 when i heard their 'i'm afraid of heights :(' voicelines (a cool hunter nonbinary character voiced by none other than allegra clark? sign me tf up), and even though i am Very Bad At Shooting and don't actually like battle royale-type games apex stayed my brainrot for over two years. the brainrot is definitely over now and these days i play it as a social thing, but that's how i acquired 2k+ hours lmao

also they released a magpiehound recolor called 'frosthaven' that i gleefully snatched up and have been wearing it ever since (ft the magpie holospray and the magpie mural on their latest map. i think they are catering to me specifically)

i am. truly Not Good. i am here just to clown and gossip and make poor life choices. my impulse control is too non existent for someone whose best skill is shooting a perfect outline around the enemy and not a bullet within

i had SO MUCH bloodhound art over on twitter good god. out of the following two drawings, the first one was bought out by allegra to sell as signed prints, and the second one was reposted onto apex's IG account, and in general this was the one time i genuinely had a blast on twitter interacting with all the devs and vas before everything went downhill both in respawn and on twitter lol. also i have to say, s10 and the whole White Raven thing fed me so. so so. SO well. the existential angst was incredible.

i participated in a couple of zines/projects as well! i have many thoughts about their canonical(!) respawn system and the resulting unimportance of death. adds to the existentialism and to bloodhound's religious themes

overall it was a very, very prolific period for me, and there are many pieces i'm still very happy with to this day

(^ the second to last one is a reference to the fusehound confession scene, and the last one is related to one of my fics, wooden bones (forest deity!bh au))

shipping!!! miragehound was my initial and most prominent ship, and i will never forgive respawn for not expanding on their backstory (their mothers worked together COME ON. they might have met as children! COME ON!!!!! i have a whole series exactly about the What Could Have Been)

their backstory with boone also fascinated me for a very long time, and my friends and i spent many a yap session dissing the dude until we stopped and thought, hey, what if he really was Just Some Guy who made mistakes, what if he wasn't evil, and that's what pulled me right back into the brainrot when i was already starting to slowly recover from it. boone now has a very elaborate backstory and lore and i hope to god respawn never puts him in the games the way we did because a) they don't GET him and b) i don't trust the fandom with him lmao. i'm super down to blabber about him though just say the word. he's everything to me, my big, sad, hairy man

we also invented in-game stuff for him. he had abilities and skins etc etc (the top row of skins is his titan pilot backstory + talos era + 'default' in-game skin)

this diptych still lives rent-free in my head, i think i really won with this one

where miragehound and boonehound flourished, mirageboonehound wasn't far behind! i wrote how it came to be and all. also Рorn. so much Рorn. seriously.

also this was the first time i redrew the twelfth night as my otp. the second one was mouthwashing

fusehound was an absolute delight to watch blossom, especially since we know it wasn't planned and just Kind Of Happened. i felt that lmao. characters be like that. i'm a bit sadge they shelved the whole talos plotline in favor of romance but at this point i gave up on expecting good lore from apex, especially after they fired herr frozenfroh. i didn't draw fusehound nearly as much, BUT i do have one fic that was basically a dream i had lol

honorable mention goes to revhound!! this is the ship that went really hard with artists and writers. deeply painful, deeply compelling, absolutely incredible. mindblowing angst and just as mindblowing рorn, together or separately. best shit. the one ship i didn't write for because compared to the fandom's behemoths i never felt like i'd be able to contribute anything meaningful lol, i just got to sit back and enjoy

bonus: as one of my friends eloquently put it, bh and their bhitches :)

i was going to put in more pictures but hit the 30 images limit!!! my twitter is now abandoned but if you scroll down just a little you can see all the stuff that didn't make it into this post.

apex and bloodhound also REALLY, REALLY got me writing. i came into the fandom already relatively warmed up after a 170k fire emblem fic, but i ended up writing 200k+ for miragehound, mirageboonehound, and fusehound combined. i was unstoppable. it was insane. i've linked some already but you can peep them all here. bloodhound's pov was especially fun to write for, purple prose my beloved

also you asked me about heirlooms! i'm a lucky motherfucker who managed to get one set of shards from the 500th box and another from just the random 0.4% chance. so i have bloodhound's and fuse's as they are my most played characters :)

[ladykettlechips]

Buttons

I saw this on a twitter thread and, after bawling, thought it would make for a cute little Anthony / Hyacinth sibling drabble. So, here we go. ------------- Anthony had always been her beginning. He was the first person she would cry for when sick, the first person she wanted to hug in the morning and, when the day came to an end, the person she would seek to put her to bed.

When it came to buying clothes, however, it was her mother or Daphne she looked for. So, the day Anthony had taken her to town for a new dress, she had been excited and perhaps a little wary; after all, Anthony was not the sort of person to help his sisters play dress-up.

Even at the grand old age of five, Hyacinth had known this to be strange. That day was special, though, because on that day, Anthony had taken Hyacinth to a fitting at the seamstresses for a brand new dress that he had commissioned, specially for her.

It was blue, similar to the colours that their mother had used to decorate their living room. The buttons, however, were much darker, a piercing mid-blue against the softer hues.

"The colour of hyacinth's," Anthony said fondly, his smile faint. "Father's favourite flower."

Hyacinth hadn't really heard him, far too preoccupied with the buttons that had suddenly caught her attention. They were in the shape of the alphabet.

"A..." she started, tracing the shape of the first letter before her finger fell to the second one. "B..."

C, D, E, F, G...

"H," she finished, and blinked up at Anthony. "Where's the others?"

Smiling, Anthony crouched in front of his sister and looked at the eight letters on her new dress. His eyes had grown fond, his smile bright while he took Hyacinth's much smaller hands into his own.

"Because you're the littlest Bridgerton," he told her, squeezing her hands. "We start from A for 'Anthony' and end with H for 'Hyacinth', a little like the alphabet. Don't we?"

"It ends with H?" she asked, confused. Didn't the alphabet end with the letter 'Z'? Though Hyacinth had always considered her biggest brother quite smart, she couldn't help but think he was being quite silly in that moment.

She didn't question it further, however; Hyacinth was far too preoccupied with twirling in her beautiful new dress to care.

#####

When Hyacinth realised the 'A' button on her dress had fallen off her dress during playtime at school, she screamed.

She had ruined her dress. The perfect dress that Anthony had asked to be made for her especially. How could she hurt her big brother like that, like the dress meant nothing to her? Sniffling, Hyacinth looked down at the place where the 'A' button used to be, and wailed some more.

She was inconsolable. Her friends, frightened by her change in demeanour, scrambled to find a teacher to help. It didn't matter, though; nothing her teacher said or did would calm her down, not unless they found the button her brother had chosen to place on her beautiful dress.

Hyacinth had to be carried away from the playground screaming, the teacher whispering soothing things into her hair while rubbing her back. By the time her mum and Anthony had arrived at the school, Hyacinth was a hiccupping, red-faced mess, her words muddled as she tried to tell Anthony how sorry she was, that she was a bad sister for losing the precious button.

"I-I lost i-it," she wailed, stabbing a finger into her chest as Anthony scooped her up in his arms and hushed her.

"Shhhh, it's okay," he murmured, pressing kissed to her head an rocking her back and forth. "It's okay, sweetheart. It's only a button."

"I-It was y-your b-button," she sobbed, burying her face into his shoulder while he held her, doing his best to reassure Hyacinth it was okay, they would find it. But how? How would they find it? The button was lost forever.

#####

It took a few more minutes for Hyacinth to cry herself to sleep. In that time, Anthony soothed his youngest sister before gently placing her down on the sofa of the staff room. Lips twisting into a frown, he turned to his worried mother and Hyacinth's teacher, Miss Sharma.

"I'm going to look for the button," he announced all too seriously.

Violet's eyes grew wide, her mouth forming into a small 'o'. "Dear, are you really sure that is wise..."

"Hyacinth is beside herself, mother," Anthony snapped, careful not to raise his voice. "You know what she's like; she won't forgive herself unless we find it."

"Then why don't you buy a new button?" Miss Sharma piped up. Anthony groaned; he knew the woman was trying to be helpful but, in this situation, he'd rather she stayed quiet.

"An easy solution, indeed," he muttered, turning his attention to one of the school's more infuriating teaching assistants. "However, Hyacinth will know the difference; the button she lost has a small chip on the top. If I bought her a new one, she would notice right away that it isn't the right one."

Thankfully, Miss Sharma seemed to accept this answer. With a nod, she turned her attention back to Hyacinth who, even in her sleep, was hiccupping and sniffling over the loss of her 'A' button.

"Then you had better start looking," Miss Sharma finally said, her gaze returning to Anthony's. "Lunch starts in an hour; I suggest you find that button before the kids take over the playground."

She smiled then, her gaze soft as she sat beside Hyacinth, a gentle hand brushing through his little sister's hair. For a moment Anthony watched, aware of how attentive she was when it came to the students, before finally turning back to his mother.

"Call Benedict and Colin," he ordered, turning on his heel. "I'll need all the help I can get."

######

Moments before the school bell rang for lunch, Anthony found the blasted button.

"Benedict, Colin!" he cried, his smile brilliant as he held the miniscule button in his muddy, grass-stained palm. "I found it!"

His shout rang across the playground, loud and clear as Benedict - who had been scouring the netball are - and Colin, who had been searching around the jungle gym, looked up, relief flooding their faces.

"Oh, thank goodness," Colin groaned, making his way to Anthony. "Now we only have to deal with your moody a--"

"Language!" Anthony snapped, pushing himself off the ground until he was standing. Closing his fingers around the button, he turned to Benedict, who was slowly making his way towards them. "I appreciate your help, I really do, but please remember where we are. The children could be listening."

Colin rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh," he said, not at all seriously. "They're locked up in their classrooms, Ant; no need to have a cow."

It shouldn't have surprised Colin when Anthony thumped him in the chest. It still managed to knock the wind out of him, however.

"Come on," Anthony grumbled, stalking away from the field towards the cluster of buildings that made up Gregory and Hyacinth's school. "Let's get back this button back to Hyacinth."

#######

Hyacinth had been awake for fifteen minutes before Anthony arrived, her eyes rimmed red and her bottom lip trembling. Hiccupping, Hyacinth burrowed further into her mother's arms while she waited for the lunch bell to ring.

Miss Sharma had given her a chocolate biscuit, the kind that was kept in the teachers biscuit tin. Sniffling, the little girl nibbled around the edge of her biscuit when, finally, all three of her biggest brothers walked through the staff room door.

"Anthony!" Hyacinth half-shrieked, tumbling from her mum's arms. She barely acknowledged her mum's stern "Hyacinth," as the chocolate biscuit fell to the floor, all but forgotten while she clung to Anthony's leg. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

She started to sob again, her nose feeling dribbly and her eyes growing wet. But then she was being scooped up again, her small body filled with warmth as Anthony pulled her close and sighed, his large hand soothing as he stroked her hair and whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, Hyacinth," he murmured. "I found it. We found it."

And then he showed her his hand, dirty with mud and grass and there, in the middle of it, sat her letter 'A' button, chipped on top and now a little more scratched and definitely a little more mucky from the playground. But it was hers. Her 'A' button.

Eyes growing wide, Hyacinth looked at her button, then at her brothers before her lips formed into a grin, her squeal loud and delightful.

"You found it!" she shrieked, joyfully throwing her arms around Anthony's neck.

#####

Later that evening, Anthony sewed the button back onto the dress under Hyacinth's watchful eye. Once it was safely back in place, Hyacinth allowed him to tuck her into bed, her dress hanging on the back of her door proudly.

"You know, Hyacinth," Anthony whispered, his voice gentle while he ran a hand through her hair. "I can easily buy another button if one gets lost."

"But it's special," she mumbled, shuffling beneath the blanket. "You got it for me."

Chuckling, Anthony leaned down to press a kiss to her cheek. "It's only a button," he said. "I'd never be mad at you for losing it, sweetheart. We lose things all the time."

Of course it mattered, Hyacinth thought; it was the button Anthony had specially chosen for her dress. How could it not matter?

"Not me," she replied defiantly. "I never lose anything."

Anthony laughed. "Of course not," he grinned, kissing her other cheek. "You're Hyacinth; everything will always find its way back to you."

Nodding, Hyacinth tilted her chin proudly and smiled. "Exactly!"

#######

20 years later

"What are you doing?"

Looking up from her dress, Hyacinth beamed over at her sister-in-law with bright eyes. Kate stood in the doorway, arms folded across her chest as suspicion settled in her gaze. While Kate had no real need to be suspicious - at least on this occasion - she couldn't exactly blame her, either; Hyacinth wasn't exactly known for her desire to play by the rules.

"Nothing," she said, walking to the door. "I was just adding the final touch to my dress."

Arching a brow, Kate made her way into the room and studied the floor-length gown that now hung from Hyacinth's wardrobe door. It was beautiful, an elegant piece that would undoubtedly be ruined by mud stains and wine spillages by the end of day if Hyacinth wasn't careful.

And, knowing her, she wouldn't be; It didn't matter that tomorrow was her wedding day.

After a moment, Kate finally stepped back with a scrunch of her nose and her brows knitted together.

"You really didn't do anything to it?" Kate asked, still a little suspicious. Grinning, Hyacinth shook her head.

"Nope," she said, popping the 'p'. "Nothing at all."

Thankfully, this seemed to satisfy Kate who, after a final glance, gave Hyacinth a small smile and left the room, but not before warning her Anthony would be stopping by her room for a 'final chance to run away' chat. Chuckling to herself, Hyacinth closed the door behind her and turned back to the wedding dress, her eyes growing wet with tears.

She walked over to the dress and, turning it around, smiled down at her handiwork. There, lining the back of her dress, were eight alphabet buttons, now a faded hyacinth blue and a little chipped from years of wear and tear.

They began with 'A' for Anthony until they came to an end at 'H' for Hyacinth.

[midnight1nk]

Helloooo while I'm here I wanna ask so- the song that was out of nowhere released on the smg4 spotify

I didn't see anything (also can't check twitter rn if anything's on there about it) and I listened to it right and it's.... odd? I wonder if it's like, intentional. As in that they meant to put it out, especially cuz to me, as I think about it.... it feels- AI generated? I mean, hopefully it's not but there is a chance that it could be.

BUT if they weren't hacked on spotify, something I've never heard before- but if they weren't hacked and it isn't AI generated, what could it be possibly for? Especially because it's so different from music they released before.

ah yes, the flareglow situation, hmmm. Haven't heard anyone from the Team come out with an official comment, so we're gonna have to make some concrete "assumptions"...

Scenario 1: Spotify Sucks

We all are no strangers to social media platforms glitching out/not working. There were even several times when all the songs disappeared from the SMG4 profile. So the simple answer is: Spotify just sucks.

Plus, I did look around and, according to @/Minions_Fanboy on twitter, the real artist is smgwave/smg4wave on tiktok. I haven't been able to find the user (yet), but we'll see.

In other words, the assumption that most people had about the "account got hacked" is completely valid.

Scenario 2: The Strangest Clue

Everyone, put on your tinfoil hats because we're about to get silly! :) If this was meant to be intentional, then this is definitely the strangest puzzle (haha get it) we had so far.

(more below cut)

the cover looks like it was made in GMod

all the artist credits say that it's "Smg4"

song is posted on spotify, apple music, heart radio, and youtube (those topic channels but no the SMG4 one)

4. then we have the lyrics, which I tried my best to decipher:

I know (we got); I know (we got); I know you train so hard, We got to save the world; We won't win if we don't (play/plan???) now, I know you have to change around; (x2) Can you please (live??) some more, thank you; (Stewey/steady???) unless; I know you stand for something; I know you train so hard (x4), So hard, so hard (wow); I know you train so hard, We don't (play??) if we don't get; I know you train so hard (x4), We don't win if we get

(I had to listen this on loop to get it close enough holy shit) ANYWAY I can totally see the AI vibes coming from. Since no one has come out to confirm if this really was AI, either way I say "ew". If this is the Team trolling/teasing us (which they kinda have been), then this is one from the music department going "lmao gottem".

But if this is supposed to be part of a puzzle.... (oh no, not the FNAF box goddammit)

Would it be weird for me to say that the beginning of Flareglow is a slower arrangement to Mr Puzzles "It's TV Time" theme??? (ok you can boo me off the stage now) I listened to it side-by-side and some of the beats sounded familiar but maybe my mind has really gone coo coo crazy

apparently someone said that there was a bit of Mario 64 motif in it, especially at the end (not confirmed and still searching)

Not that I support AI (and don't think anyone in Team does) but having it sound like AI may communicate that "something is wrong" and that we the audience would suspect it. Plus the electro beat gives off the glitch effect.

Cover's obviously made in GMod but somehow it's both unassuming and bizarre. We are all familiar with how the SMG4 show uses GMod and their song covers, but you wouldn't think this cover and song would belong to SMG4. It's meant to throw us off and perhaps ignore it entirely. Make us forget about it. The logic is:

SMG4 characters on cover = song's from SMG4

Based on the (awful) lyrics, the singer (Person A) is in the perspective of uplifting someone else (Person B) against a common enemy, final-battle sort of situation. Alluding to a future arc perhaps?

Whoever Person A is, they have been observing how much Person B trying to improve themselves/their powers ("training" being emphasized so many times). Whether it's to level up their skills or to control them, and yes they're two different things. The first people you could think of are SMG4 & 3, it's been a while since they have done some meme guardian power training, and are likely to have character development/arc. And personally, it's giving IGBP vibes. BUT it could also be Melony with her God powers and we did see her God form in the WOTFI '24 arc, but wasn't able to beat against Mr Puzzles (Maybe it was due to her lack of training?)

Regardless, Person B would have to face a moral dilemma. In the events within the song, Person B might have to make a choice that may be out of character for them to do, but for the sake of the world, they have to. Person A reminds them that it isn't out of character at all, and it's based on what Person B believes in. And Person A knows them too well to know that.

They're both running out of time and Person B may feel insecure about using the skills/powers they have been training for, but the choice Person B makes would be to save everyone. Person A & B together. If they lose, it would really be over.

Watch it be entirely wrong by someone from the Team LOL. Well anyway, those are my thoughts and if anyone has anything, send an ask/comment!

If we strangely get a confirmation that it was intentionally released by the Team, I might make this song an honorable mention to the goop!4 website ig

[cervinae-canine]

telling people that their comfort character would abuse them is completely unhinged and can potentially even send said person into an episode if they are attached to said character due to autism, you get it. people should do whatever they want but they should not push their non canon interpretations as factual and get mad when people are uncomfortable. this should just be common sense.

ABSOLUTELY!

IT SHOULD BE EASY TO RECOGNIZE THAT TELLING PEOPLE THAT THEIR COMFORT CHARACTER WOULD ABUSE THEM IS A FUCKED UP STATEMENT.

IT SHOULD BE EASY TO RECOGNIZE WHY THAT STATEMENT WOULD MAKE SOMEONE UNCOMFORTABLE AND WHY THEY MAY HAVE A STRONG REACTION AS A RESULT!!

YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO EXPERIENCE ABUSE IN REAL LIFE TO RECOGNIZE HOW UNHINGED THIS STATEMENT IS.

IF YOU SIMPLY UNDERSTAND THE GRAVITY OF ABUSE AND ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIPS, YOU SHOULDN'T SAY THAT OVER CHARACTERS THAT AREN'T. EVEN. CANONICALLY. ABUSIVE.

[sergle]

what I was talking abt earlier. we have fully looped back around and away from feminism, societally, whereas before it was very Feminism 101 to acknowledge that many parts of existing as a woman in a misogynistic society are painful and upsetting. not that being a woman is Inherently Negative in a bubble. but that living on this earth, in the conditions we're living in, is hostile to women. and that gender is a performance. that many of the Staples Of Femininity as accepted by society are things that you have to create and perform and mold artificially and aren't inherent, that COMPLAINING about day to day difficulties of existing as a woman is something that you're allowed to do. acknowledging these basic, again, feminism 101 things, that something tied to womanhood is more time consuming or more expensive or more dangerous Because Of The Problems. does not CREATE the problems. that when women complain about having to perform femininity, they are not, in fact, oppressing themselves. the call does not come from inside the fucking house. saying that you HAVE suffered does not fucking equate that you believe you SHOULD have suffered.

like I could talk about this for hours. how braindead and one-dimensional the Takes are getting. "being a woman is looking in the mirror and going fuck yeah i'm a woman" damn. I guess any negative experiences you have by living in a misogynistic world... are your fault if you are anything but positive? "you don't actually want liberation" we've fully gone back to telling feminists "you WANT to be oppressed" when anything negative about our society is pointed out. it's not real until I say it out loud, I guess, and then I'm actually the one who caused it. if anybody expresses any unhappiness with how they're treated or the status quo or the language and culture surrounding womanhood and femininity. they've created it, right that second. they invented it just now. it wasn't a problem before somebody complained, right? also trans women aren't braindead zombies who just follow the flow of whatever cis women around them say. I am pretty fucking sure they are very much aware of pain, and are MORE than aware of the swirling torrent of misogyny and standards of femininity than anybody else. actually. and I am pretty sure someone complaining on tumblr that being a woman means always putting on a performance is going to make someone change their mind about transitioning. also "performing femininity" as a necessity to being treated well as a woman is not fucking NEWS to your Local Trans Woman. I AM PRETTY SURE SHE GETS THE CONCEPT. using trans women as a scapegoat for this braindead perspective on gender politics is spineless, meritless, and pathetic.

[tinytimism]

i’m having such a hard time wrapping my mind around liam payne’s death. i didn’t like him as a person and i don’t think anyone whose discussed his abuse of maya henry should retract their statements or feel bad about them no matter how harsh they were because it’s important to talk about to prevent it from happening again. because of his history of abuse and grooming fans i can’t mourn him the way i would’ve ten years ago and any tears i do shed will be for his friends family maya henry and his other victims who shouldn’t feel bad and be made to feel bad by stans who put their faves over the protection and safety of women and girls. i don’t feel like it’s the place of people who didn’t know him personally (knew him through one direction etc) to tell other who didn’t know him because emotions have no morality and people’s feelings over a death shouldn’t be dictated underneath a urfaveisproblematic lens

[harapeveco]

Maybe this is just me but don’t you guys get the impression that newer Eve characters don’t have the same impact as older ones? What I mean is that charcaters like Pattun, Kuru, Bun, Dancer, Seki (tg specifically) and the Okinime desu mama boy are always in fanart I always see fanart of them but newer ones…I only see them on my tl for like a week or two and they just disappear and I never see them again

The only exceptions to this rule I can think of are ofc Tobi and fs Ryuuko but other than that characters from Gunjou Sanka, Don’t Replay The Boredom, Yusei Boushi, Hakugin, etc I just don’t see them like that much compared to when their MVs came out….every once in a while I see the Heart Forecast girls and maybe Raison D’être or Baumkuchen End guy in the wild but it’s very rare…even Akame and Zukin who were really popular when their MV came out are not there that much

It’s funny bc Tohiko came out two weeks ago and I already stopped seeing fanart of it like???? Idk exactly how to explain it but yeh it’s like idk they just don’t have the same impact or charisma? Or maybe it’s that we are so used to fast consumerism we just forget about them after a week or two? Idk does anyone else feels this or it’s only me?

[unloneliest]

the problem of the matter is i did internalize so much of what ex friend believed about me. even though i knew he was wrong and knew what was happening and tried to stop it and if i took more action to stop it would have been abusing power i held in a way i couldn't live with myself for.

[tumbloggingattheendofitall]

And not that it's actually going to stop anyone from coming for me I guess, but like. Not voting in the US this election cycle because of your disgust at the handling of the Palestinian genocide by the US government isn't actually the Great Big Political Statement Of Solidarity you think it is

What it is, is apathy. No I'm not naïve enough to believe that voting blue absolves me of the crimes committed by my country on the word of a bunch of out of touch oligarchs. But not voting doesn't actually absolve us of any of that either, and it only materially makes things worse for everybody, locally and globally, when we allow our political apathy to keep us from Working Towards Better outcomes