#ALSO I do agree with both statements. my issue is when people use the former to disregard asexuality as a genuine orientation

[feathertailedcentipede]

would it be fair to say that "asexuals can still have sex though" is pretty much the same as saying "lesbians can still fuck men though"?

[shivasdarknight]

UPDATE: Volunteer who was reprimanded by OTW calls for the suspension of OTW Board member, Alex T.

Dhobi Ki Kutti gave an update regarding the CCAP that was issued to them on July 19th. In the update, Kutti explains that their response to the CCAP had not been acknowledged by the representative who initially sent it nor any of the Tag Wrangling chairs. However, Board member Alex T. has responded and now Kutti has put out a call for their suspension.

As before, please read the full post if possible. I will be posting the key excerpts.

But to summarize: Alex T. has stood by their racist comments and treatment of Chinese volunteers and have expressed that they are more than willing to do it again. This statement has resulted in two volunteers speaking out against them - Kutti included - and one Board candidate to speak out against Alex T. Kutti has called for Alex T.'s suspension and removal from the board.

Comment from volunteer regarding Kutti's CCAP:

25th July 2023 Posted to the Board Public Channel by Spacegandalf: Also, while I know we can't know who else has received a CCAP, we can observe behaviour that breaches otw policy that continues over multiple years without any changes, and many, many people have pointed out Alex Tischer's racist behaviour (which has spanned years!) and the way Alex has made working with them unpleasant in the way they interacted with people. I just think it's Interesting that Alex is still welcome as a volunteer, but kutti is being told her actions will make her unwelcome if they continue.

Alex T.'s response to Spacegandalf:

26th July 2023 Posted to the Board Public Channel by Board Member Alex Tischer, in reply to Spacegandalf: Or, the alleged ‘racist behaviour’ that people have pointed out consists of a) telling people that if volunteering for the org endangers their personal safety out in the real world they should put that first and take whatever actions to preserve their safety including leaving the org (and at this point I would make the same statement for mental health too, some people have been really affected and to them too I’d say Volubteering [sic] for the Org is not worth more than your personal well-being.) and b) Pointing out that we require a common language in the org to be able to achieve anything. Both statements which I am more than happy to repeat and neither of which go against the code of conduct we all agree to abide by when starting to volunteer. Whereas not abiding to your committees’ confidentiality policy, which you also agree to abide by when starting to volunteer, is very much against the code of conduct.

Kutti on Alex T.'s reply:

With this comment the Board Member has established that their pattern of making racialised hostile remarks, from a position of power, is not considered by the org leadership to be against the OTW code of conduct. The Board Member has also reiterated the racist judgement made against me that my actions to hold the organisation leadership accountable are against the code of conduct. Further, both the previous remarks that the Board Member says they would be happy to repeat, were made to and about Chinese volunteers - the first in a conversation where they were advocating for their own physical safety, and the second when they were advocating for their right to provide communication to users in their own language, as well as their right to be treated with respect and equity. In both situations, the inappropriateness of the statements was apologised for by other people in positions of power - the former by a Chair, and the latter by other Board members. However, at no time did anyone in authority acknowledge that the statements were racist.

From volunteer Entropy:

I think it is the right move on Kutti's part to post what she did publicly, and call for Alex Tischer's resignation. The use of the CCAP and the Code of Conduct to attempt to force privacy above all else makes it impossible to adequately address issues such as this. The voting members of the OTW have the right to know what the people they have elected are saying, especially when it comes to racist, offensive remarks that are not just not walked back, but repeated time and time again. If one suffers no repercussions for their actions, they will continue. The first step in reformative justice is to remove those who do harm from the position which empowers them to do that harm from. I cannot abide by Alex Tischer being a sitting board member, nor do I think we must simply wait them out until their term ends this year. We should not have to "put up with" such disgraceful actions and words because the person will be out of their official seat of power soon. We should not have to wait them out and suffer longer. Alex Tischer must step down, and acknowledge the harm they have caused to volunteers by relinquishing the power they have. If they do not step down, I call for them to be suspended. No one should have to put up with abuse in the hopes that it ends soon. Allowing this to pass without counter-action taken gives an implicit pass for actions that occur in the future. This can only be stopped when we put a stop to letting it happen without consequence. I say this as a volunteer tag wrangler of three years, the behavior I have witnessed from this board member is frankly disgusting. The amount of disrespect toward our Chinese volunteers shown is detestable. Alex Tischer's casual presence in other spaces makes those spaces unwelcoming to those they have repeatedly disregarded without true consequence for their actions and words. Furthermore, I second Kutti's call for an external audit of the board. These issues run deep, but they cannot properly be addressed until we see the ways they are rooted into the organization. The OTW must embrace change, and it must be willing to admit and look into all its faults of the past and present in order to take steps forward in the future.

From Board candidate, Jennifer H.:

The fact that Alex feels comfortable enough to publicly denounce the people pointing out their racist and unacceptable behavior is indicative of how systemic and deep-rooted it is in this organization. To the current and former board members: you have created and perpetuated a culture of racism without accountability, and you have actively caused pain to the volunteers of color who work to keep this organization going. This is why there needs to be more ways to remove board members from their duties - based on their blatant disregard for volunteers of color, Alex never should've been elected in the first place and they sure as hell should not remain a board member or volunteer in the OTW.

It should go without saying that Alex T.'s behavior is inappropriate beyond belief. We should not have to wait for their time on the board to run out. If you are an OTW member with the ability to vote, please go through the contact form and select Development and Membership. As a member, they are required - by the bylaws - to respond to you compared to other avenues.

If you are not and still want to get to them, go through every avenue possible - their twitter, comments on the news section, etc. - and call for Alex Tischer's resignation. Cite Kutti when possible, cite Alex's racist past behavior, and call for their immediate suspension.

Again: please read Kutti's statement and call for Alex Tischer's resignation if you can.

[spainkitty]

WIP WEDNESDAY

I was tagged by @greypetrel but I still almost missed posting this in time, pfft. I finally finished this scene and therefore finished the chapter! There's only one more chapter to finish up and then I'll finally start posting this mammoth on AO3😁 Just for Arja, I made sure to include the little hints of Cullavellan, like, blink and then you miss it, because this is going to be a slowburn from hell and we're only in Part 1 of 3. But now, here we go...

Chapter 6: stolen tribe from stolen heart

“There will be templars here, and more coming if everything goes well in Therinfal Redoubt, but this is also a place for any refugee of the war. Free mages and apostates would be more likely to consider Haven and the Inquisition safe if you’re here,” Adaar said.

Lanil crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around the room. “And everyone else here? You all agree with that offer?”

“Of course!” Ambassador Montilyet said. Although she all but exclaimed it, her tone and bright gaze sounded genuine. “We promised our aid in relocating the remaining free mages. We can’t do anything like that without your input.”

“I’ve had many friends who were mages, and some of them were better people than I ever could be,” Leliana said softly. “I fought alongside Wynne for nearly a year during the Blight. I know how much a single Spirit Healer can do. Your skills and expertise would be as invaluable as your input.”

Lanil was a little, just slightly, flattered. Wynne was one of the strongest Spirit Healers Lanil had ever seen. She had been one of Lanil’s first mentors, and the first one to see her potential with Spirit Healing. She had encouraged Lanil in her earliest memories and praised her progress to Irving a dozen times. To be compared to her made that small part of Lanil, that never quite let go of Kinloch or her rosy-tinted memories of before, preen smugly. She tamped it down, but she could see Dorian smirking at her.

“We can’t let it seem that we’ve ignored Justinia’s legacy when we made ourselves an organization with her writ,” the Seeker said, frowning. “She did uphold the vote of independence. She wanted to find true compromise between the Chantry and the mages. The idea that the Rebellion fell through on something akin to default and Tevinter meddling is infuriating.”

“I can’t even be offended by that statement,” Dorian said with a little sigh.

“There’s been a lot of friction between the former templars and what mages are here,” Cullen said while rubbing his forehead. “Maybe having a mage higher up in the ranks, someone the other mages would recognize as an official rebel, and the templars can see as our ally and as an authority figure, would help. A lot of of them are still using my old templar titles. We need to change the narrative.”

“Well put, Cullen,” Adaar said. Something sly gleamed in her brilliant eyes, but before Lanil could figure out if she was seeing things, Adaar was frowning pensively. “Enchanter Surana, you could work with the Commander to train troops and bridge the enmity between the mages and the former templars. Perhaps we could make you one of his lieutenants? I’m not sure you have the experience to be co-Commander, but it is something we could talk about later.”

“What?” Lanil blurted in shock. “Co-what?”

“That’s a fantastic idea,” Sister Leliana said. “Does anyone have an issue with it?”

“I… uh. No?” Cullen said. Though he looked as flabbergasted as Lanil, as if he too was wondering how the conversation had turned so quickly. They stared at each other, not quite gaping, until they realized, nearly at the same time, how long they'd been staring. Lanil's mouth snapped shut as she glared at the far wall, her ears burning. She was too aware of Cullen's quiet throat clearing.

“That settles it. You will oversee the training of mage troops and former templars with Cullen,” the Seeker said briskly. Adaar and Sister Leliana nodded in agreement, both looking too satisfied. Cullen and Lanil shuffled awkwardly in place, carefully not looking at each other again.

[full-course-identity]

I already tried to say this (somewhat successfully) on Twitter a few months ago, but one particular post here (that I don’t even necessarily disagree w/) keeps popping up on my dash & I really wanna comment on it but I also reaaally don’t wanna start an argument on accident, so uh, here goes -

To preface this: like everyone else, I don’t… love the ant’s attempt to colonize contort DD:DNE into something they’re “Allowed To Access” (it’s esp cool when they use the tag themselves while still, y’know, actively hunting DD:DNE creators for sport); I think their conflation of DD:DNE w/ [mild darkfic you feel shame reading &/or writing, yet still try to self-justify by making sure the bad guys aren’t sexy or w/e (unlike those EEEVIL PROSHI’S)] is contradictory to the entire Goddamn point of the tag, & I really wish the root-rot of moral panic didn’t have to poison & permeate every good thing within modern fandom.

… but maybe we don’t need to reject every aspect of current-day “DD:DNE” communities?

This is still kinda hard for me to formulate for some reason, but like — I’ve been using DD:DNE (both as a tag on my own work, & as a loose “genre” to browse on AO3) for many, many years now, & “in order to use DD:DNE correctly, every single aspect of it must be properly tagged & warned of in advance” is only true if what you Actually mean is “either tag the content, or give the reader a head’s up about a lack of thorough tagging, that way they can still choose whether to risk a trigger potentially popping up later”.

I know that those statements aren’t that different from each other. In fact, I’m actually pretty sure most people reblogging posts phrased as the former innately agree w/ the latter.

… but “no you LITERALLY need to fine-tooth-comb that shit for every potential kink, trope, reference, etc” is the wording that keeps gaining traction!

oh fucking fuck this fucking post wasn’t supposed to post yet fucking Goddamn tumblr I clicked save draft

Look. I know most people probably understand this. It’s not a groundbreaking take.

But I began second-guessing my understanding of DD:DNE entirely (never an issue prior!) when this rhetoric started gaining traction, so indulge me for a sec:

If you, for w/e reason, don’t like extensive tagging (I prefer going in blind & actively cultivate an audience willing to do the same), then… you don’t have to!

There are alternatives to giving up your full hand, y’all. You can talk about it in the tags, the authors notes, the summaries, etc. — you just need to make damn sure the ambiguous-ness of the risk factor here is clear to potential viewers, bc otherwise, yeah: it defeats the whole point.

[thecurioustale]

Actually...Go Ahead and Use Your Vintage Corelle Dishes

(If They Were Made Since 1978)

Don't always believe what you read on the Internet—especially when it comes in the form of fear-mongering "Gotcha!" alerts like this the one in this thread.

What usually happens in the life cycle of this kind of information is that some "Oh no, CHEMICALS!!" weirdo misinterprets or misrepresents some relatively innocuous underlying fact about something and then makes a post about it that goes viral—and suddenly the entire Internet believes, say, that ordinary Cavendish bananas emit enough fast neutron radiation to drop a horse dead in its tracks. And you have endless exchanges online of holier-than-thou people swearing in their most holier-than-thou tones that it's utterly reckless and frankly a little bit monstrous to even have bananas in your house if you have children around, because some people aren't going to survive exposure to a banana simply because you did!

Anyway:

Such a scare happened with Corelle a few years ago, which is kind of a shame because Corelle is objectively superior as dishware to traditional ceramics, being much more stable in the microwave (i.e. resistant to spot-heating and cracking), much more durable, and much more lightweight. But someone somewhere found LEAD, and the whole misinformation how-do-you do played out as I just described, and is still echoing across the Internet today as seen in the fact that this post is still being reshared in 2024.

Vintage Corelle dishware like the types pictured above—which many of us Gen Xers and Millennials remember from our childhoods (in my house we had the Butterfly Gold and Spring Blossom Green patterns, and even today I have a plate of the former and a bowl of the latter)—contains trace amounts of lead in the decorations (e.g. the flower patterns, etc.). This lead is incorporated into the special glass that Corelle is made out of in such a way that it isn't on the surface of the dishware and won't meaningfully come into contact with your food unless the dish is broken or the decorative designs become breached open through abrasion, flaking, or chipping—and even then the amount of lead by mass is very small. But there's really no amount of lead, at detectable levels, that is safe for humans to ingest. So is the lead in these old dishes actually dangerous?

Good information on this is hard to come by for an amateur sleuth, because misinformation dominates the search results and cursory Google searching is the extent of most people's ability to verify a fact in 2024. You can't just buy a lead test kit and test these dishes yourself, because most test kits aren't suited to this kind of application. (Some people online who tried to do their own DIY sleuthing got tripped up by this.) You also can't use the X-ray fluorescence method that the apparent originator of this misinformation (Tamara Rubin) used because it doesn't accurately capture the amount of lead that is in danger of coming into contact with food, and thereby yields ludicrously high and substantively false results. Not that the vast, vast majority of people are going to do their own tests anyway.

Snopes, the information-checking website, covered a lot of the contours of the misinformation in the meme in their evaluation. There are also some interesting discussions deep in the indentations of this Reddit thread. If you know what to look for, these is some good info in both of these resources. I didn't find any good leads on Google Scholar.

The company that presently makes Corelle eventually got wind of this meme a couple years ago, and issued a statement at the time that has since been widely incorrectly repeated to say that the Corelle people themselves agree that older Corelle dishes should only be used as decorative pieces, not for eating on. They didn't say that: They said that they were going to conduct independent testing. Luckily, since we live in 2024 and 2024 is the future, this testing has since taken place, and their website FAQ now says that the testing showed that the lead levels on Corelle back to 1978 are within even the modern limits, and that this dishware is fine to use for eating.

(Stuff older than that may be fine too, but I couldn't find any data and Corelle picked 1978 as its cutoff so that seems like a reasonable lead to follow, as they presumably picked that year for a reason, and that presumed reason could potentially be relevant to the lead availability.)

Now, I know we don't trust corporations very much here on Tumblr, but my own well-honed bullshit detection system takes this particular claim at face value. The makers of Corelle have an awful lot to lose by misrepresenting the safety of vintage Corelle (in the form of lawsuits), and nothing to gain (as all modern Corelle is essentially lead-free and there is no danger to sales).

If you want to "be on the safe side," then, sure, don't eat off the vintage Corelle. But here's the problem with that, and here's why this is about more than just dishes:

Hearing a rumor, and then, in lieu of definitively knowing the truth, choosing to heed that rumor, is often a counterproductive heuristic in life. For one thing, it's a vector for misinformation, bigotry, and social control. It makes you a lot easier to manipulate, both as an individual and as a member of a group. It does a severe disservice to whatever or whomever the rumor slanders—potentially even rising to the level of real harm. It also overvalues your field of awareness, causing you to be responsive to the rumors you've heard but not the ones you haven't—which raises the question of the effectiveness of your decision-making methodology. (Imagine putting out a small fire while a much bigger one rages behind you.)

It sounds so pragmatic: Someone said something bad about vintage Corelle, and it's no skin off your back either way, so to be safe just quit using it. But, as a student of human nature, I warn you that such a mentality is difficult to compartmentalize such that you only use them in inconsequential scenarios like this one. What's more likely to happen is that practicing this manner of decision-making will train you to do it more often, precisely because it is so convenient and practical. I think we should be wary of setting those kinds of precedents in our judgment.

Also, FFS get out there and buy some (modern) Corelle! If you've never used this stuff before, you are in for a real treat. I've slowly transitioned out most of my ceramic dishware over the years in favor of Corelle. But most people don't seem to know about it anymore; it was big back in the day but these days "Cheap!" is the top commandment in commerce, and traditional ceramic dishes are cheaper. Corelle and the company that makes it are sort of just limping along, barely still in business. It's just one more instance of people 50 years ago figuring out how to live better than what we know today.

Well, notwithstanding all the lead! 😂

[thedisneychef]

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwiches

I picked a really bad week to be allergic to peanut butter. Ok, so I can't pick being allergic to peanut butter, but the truth of the statement still stands... This isn't a great week to have a peanut allergy in my house. It feels like everything I've made lately has peanuts or peanut butter in it. An even bigger bummer as everything I've made looks utterly fantastic. The recipe today is a total throwback. While it's something that's still around occasionally in Disneyland, it used to be one of Disney World's signature treats at the Main Street Bakery and Starring Rolls at the former MGM and has since been retired. I have heard that you can rarely find them around in the fall, especially around Halloween, but despite their cult status as a treat that rivals Mickey ice cream and rice treats, it hasn't been found reliably around WDW in about 10 years and Disneyland started phasing them out about 5 years ago. However, there was a time where these little sandwiches were the go-to treat. Creamy, chocolaty, and kept cold (even frozen!), they were like a peanut butter ice cream sandwich and a slice of heaven on a hot summer day. Their taste, retro feel, and former "must have" designation has elevated them almost to mythic cult status with Disney snackers... So much so that when they were brought back for 3 days (that's right, they were randomly available for 3 days), I saw Twitter forwards like you wouldn't believe when they'd been spotted and people giving running updates as to their availability.  Honestly, it was crazy.  I've never seen a snack inspire such frenzy in people. As a result of what I think is the most viral Disney Twitter explosion not involving the new Fantasyland that I know I'd ever seen, I reached out to one of my connections to get some more info about this treat. What I came back with was the recipe, direct from one of the folks who used to actually make it back in the mid 90s. According to him, the snack was good and enjoyed by many, but people complained that it'd melt too quickly and was way, way too messy to really enjoy. Then, as luck would have it, at the place on property where this treat was exclusively available at the time (which I'm not going to name because I don't want to get anybody in trouble for sharing the story with me...), in one of their displays that is refrigerated, they had some extra space and they decided to slide a few of these bad boys in the refrigerated case. From there, the iconic chocolate peanut butter sandwich as it was known was born and became a sensation, eventually becoming available at several places throughout Disney. Nobody really knows why these were phased out... They were time consuming to make and difficult to store, but more importantly they were served in conjunction with a sponsorship with a peanut butter company that has long since expired which may have been the nail in the coffin to this delicious treat. I'd have to agree that, while making these is easy, it certainly is time consuming and requires a lot of space, both on the counter and in the fridge. If you've got both of those issues worked out, then you've got a hit on your hands with this recipe. I served this as is, making no real changes at all. The only thing is that I don't have the fancy-pants molds that they have at Disney, so I quite literally spooned the mixture on the cracker and then molded it with my hands to a square, level shape.  It's not messy or sticky, so I really didn't mind getting hands-on with the peanut butter mixture. I'll also say that I went with a combination of chocolates... I did half of the bars with milk chocolate and a dark chocolate drizzle, the other half dark chocolate with dark chocolate (tempered with whipped cream) drizzle. Honestly, I hate working with milk chocolate because it's such a pain, so for those who don't do a lot of chocolate work, I'd suggest going with a dark or bittersweet and then adding whipped cream to reach a taste that you'd enjoy. But if you're more confident working with milk chocolate without burning it or having it seize, then go for it. Quality of chocolate really matters for this recipe, perhaps more then any other chocolate recipe I've used in awhile. Don't go cheap or you'll regret it. In fact, Disney has a contract with a certain chocolate company that they use for their chocolate work, a company that also has a store in Downtown Disney... Again, can't say the name here because this recipe isn't featured at their establishment, but I have made some marvelous cookies for this blog that come from the same spot if you need a hint... Anyway, they're expensive, but for sure the best way to go if you can find them in your grocery store. ~~~~  °o°  ~~~~ Read the full article

[yooniesim]

Is there like a link I can go to to see what is going on with all this drama? I see so many people posting about it but no one seems to lay out the whole story, just the bits and pieces they feel are pertinent.

Okay, buckle up for this one, kids. I can’t give my personal perspective for all of it, since a lot of this happened while I was on hiatus, but I’ll do my best to link what I can. I’ll split between past and present, because Mack constantly likes to say that people only bring up her past and “old views”, when there’s definitely more concerning details than that.

The “Past” (within the last two years at most):

You can find all the receipts for Mack’s previous transgressions on the blog @mackisakaren. It includes the voting for Trump twice and then defending it incidents, as well as perspectives from Mack’s former friends. Almost everyone that comes into contact with her winds up denouncing her, either because of her past actions or how she conducts herself to them later. One of her former friends came into my inbox recently to explain a little more about that. I’ve had at least 10+ anons from black simmers that said she’s displayed microaggressions and talked over them, not acknowledged their concerns and blocked them for disagreeing with her, etc. I haven’t posted them all yet, but you can check my anonymous and mack3030 tags if you’d like to find some. 

But for the account I linked, the highlights include:

the aforementioned voting record

laughing at harrie being called “shiny wig” (anti-black sentiment)

defending voting for trump a second time because biden “creeps on little kids” (alt-right rhetoric ripped straight from pizza gate 4chan conspiracies) and doesn’t have it together mentally (as if Trump isn’t a self-admitted rapist with more than a few screws loose- Mack called him a “playboy”)

saying that she only regretted voting for Trump after the Jan 6 insurrection

claiming that people putting “labels” on each other is the reason we have so many “-isms and -phobias”

You can also take a look at this post by @/anachrosims, who was previously a good friend to Mack. Mack claims that she hates politics and “both sides”, which is often the route that previously conservative, educated white people take when they feel being Republican isn’t socially acceptable but they still agree with those types of ideals (either “fiscally” or socially). Her friend Texas also claims that she voted for neither Trump or Biden and that both sides are the same, which first pinged my radar as a clue that Mack truly hasn’t changed. Having a neutral or enlightened centrist mindset is unacceptable in an environment where entire groups of people are losing their human rights, being imprisoned, or killed. As anachrosims says, there is no seeing the “other side” when that side wants minorities to disappear. People that use this talking points are immediate red flags for me, because it’s often a cover for their true nature. I also want to make note that the post where Mack tried to “both sides” the issue was only from 3 months ago.

Anachrosims also made another post about how she and the others that were anti-paywall denounced Mack for her past and response to the criticism. I want to emphasize this because all the people claiming that Mack has done all the work for the “movement” and is the only reason it exists are wrong. Although I wasn’t here to witness it, everything I’ve seen indicates that it has always been a collaborative effort within those in the community, and there is no reason to hold Mack up on a pedestal without acknowledging the hard work of everyone else involved. Also, the person Anachrosims took the statement from there, Bucky? That publicly denounced Mack for her voting record and behavior? I’m pretty sure that’s the same Bucky she constantly refers to as the person that was attacked by perma-paywallers with transphobia and was pushed to suicide attempts twice. The fact that she constantly mentions this in her posts while the person involved is no longer online here and publicly made a post against her disgusts me. How dare she blast that all over the internet constantly when the person involved wants nothing to do with her. It’s gross and no doubt triggering and extremely performative.

But let’s move on now.

The Present (within the last month):

Now, my limited interactions with Mack started when I tagged her in this post as a reference for someone that had been doxxed by perma-paywallers. Promptly after, a user started replying on my miiko post about Mack being racist. I asked for receipts because I had no idea who Mack was at this point other than being a person that was doxxed. Mack had come into my DMs at some point to ask me a question, and later on I had messaged her about Miiko in order to have her added to Mack’s red flag creator list. So, when I posted this, Mack defended herself in the replies of the post and came to me to chat about it more. I showed sympathy to her because the person in my replies was very aggressive, and as someone that also grew up in the South surrounded by racism and brainwashing tactics at every turn, I wanted to believe that she had changed. We exchanged stories related to the election and I tried to be as kind as possible.

After talking to Mack and considering the receipts carefully, I decided not to interact with Mack as a precaution (and courtesy to anyone that had been hurt by her) and removed any reference from her from my blog. I wanted to give her a chance to show that she had changed, but I didn’t trust her either. I was going to organize my thoughts better in another post, but EA’s policy update happened then and everything blew up. So, I didn’t really think about it again until the next incident.

I made this post denouncing Mack because I witnessed the harassment of @/gyarutrait and @/saruin by Mack’s friend @/texasthegreatdestroyer. Texas was harassing them because they had blocked Mack because of her past racism, all of it was 100% in her defense. Previous to this post, I had DM’d Mack asking her to get Texas to back off because it was unacceptable for her friend (who she was still DMing and associating with) to be saying ableist and transphobic things to defend her and it needed to stop. Mack told me that she needed more time to think of what to say in a post about it, and to give her time to do so. Over a week passed, and although Mack was active and making posts throughout, she still said nothing. Texas was still harassing @/gyarutrait, to the point where she had to make multiple posts about it, and so I made my post about it. Notably, @/gyarutrait was given proof by Texas that Mack had told Texas her username, knowing Texas’ way of “handling conflict”, more or less sending her after her. Mack made a throwaway post about not being responsible for Texas’ actions and posted a screenshot of Texas in her block list. Nothing else was said or addressed.

At this point, Texas continued to make long, aggressive rant posts about myself and Dreamie. Dreamie had to make another post asking for people to please report Texas’ posts. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t deal with, but I noticed very quickly that Texas (on anon) was making disgusting references to my terminally ill family member that I had only spoken about in DMs to Mack and nowhere else on this site. The only way Texas could have known that is if Mack told her about it, and the only people the anon could be was Texas or Mack herself. This gave even more weight to the theory that Mack was sending her friend after people purposefully while sharing DMs with her. Texas continued sending me anons until I made this reply saying that she wasn’t shit and I wasn’t going to reply to her lame attempts anymore. Take note that through all of this, Mack was silent. And yet...

Mack made a post chastising the community for staying silent over her own harassment by perma-paywallers. She emphasized people’s mental health being attacked and that people could die. I responded that she had no right to lecture anyone on being silent about bullying when she herself said nothing about her friend that is still harassing and stalking people to this day. After all, how did she know that no one was going to attempt to hurt themselves because of that constant and violating harassment in her name? Mack then quickly... ran to Twitter to call me a clout chaser and manipulator that she had lost respect for as a friend... because I called her out for her hypocrisy. She still hasn’t responded to me directly or done anything besides victimize herself. Apparently she’s still talking about me on Twitter and reblogging from people that agree with her, but I have no interest in chasing her vague posts.

I want to emphasis that I chose to give Mack a very limited chance that she was not entitled to. I wanted to give her the opportunity to show with her actions whether she had changed, since I had not been in the community to see her previous actions for myself, and she made it very clear very quickly in the last few weeks that she has not. I would advise anyone reading to not make the same mistake, regardless of your stance on the paywall debate. Because what I’ve experienced is truly the tip of the iceberg if everyone that has come to me to testify about Mack is any evidence at all. I’ve barely even interacted with her and this is the shit show that resulted.

I hope this answers your question, nonny.

[saltymcsaltything]

Your last statement in particular is what is kind of ckonf around in my brain. I *hope* that the bad things get fixed, but I still have no reason to believe they will. I don't want to come across as dunking on the statement or the people who drafted it, because it isn't their doing that my reaction is "I'll believe it when I see it."

This is one of those things where multiple things can be true at the same time, which I think a number of other comments and reblogs have missed. And honestly, I think that the trans members of staff who drafted this absolutely understand everything discussed above, but whether the *rest* of @staff --and particularly the interim CEO and other executives who have far more power and influence -- understand the deeper issues, I can't say, but I have far less reason to trust them.

As a rule, I don't trust anyone in a position of power until they've earned it. Respect and trust are not automatic - that's been literally and figuratively beaten out of me by life experience.

The multiple things that I think are true here:

1. Those who drafted this response did so at grave risk to their jobs. This took a great deal of courage and I genuinely applaud that. I don't want to take away from what they've done here, and I have seen firsthand the risks inherent in speaking truth to power even in very carefully worded statements. Publically acknowledging that they recognize the harm that Matt has done is hugely risky, especially given this reputation among former staff.

2. It's still not enough, for a variety of reasons. And that sucks because I wish that it was.

3. It's very possible that there is recognition and desire by the authors of the statement to fix a lot of the damage that Matt has caused but can't commit to that publically because they don't have top cover.

4. Matt can and likely will (if he isn't already) attempt to interfere with any or all of this while he's on sabbatical, and could undo any progress when he comes back. He especially has ample motivation to prevent the reinstatement of banned blogs that appear to have been targeted specifically for criticizing him, because doing so would be an acknowledgment of his abuse if power.

5. I doubt there is anything to prevent him from coming back whenever he feels like. He could show up tomorrow and permaban all of us and it wouldn't surprise me.

6. The rest of @staff is an unknown. Interim leadership is an unknown. I want to believe any and all of the necessary fixes, both stated and unstated, will actually happen. I wish that @staff writ large had issued or cosigned this statement. I wish that executives had issued or cosigned this statement. The fact they didn't doesn't necessarily mean they don't agree with it, but it doesn't help underscore Tumblr's commitment to the community when the only olive branch we have received is from members of the community. And that sucks, because it's going to take more than the few trans members of #staff who issued this statement to fix the damage.

I wish I could feel better after reading that statement, because under different circumstances something like this would have been encouraging. It rings hollow, and I *hate* that it rings hollow. I have no reason to doubt that the authors are fully genuine, hell, I think they want to do much more than what they've laid out here. If I were in their position, I would be beyond frustrated and would jump at any opportunity to actually address this. But it rings hollow because it feels like the damage is way beyond fixing, especially as long as the looming threat of Matt undermining it all is present.

I'd love to see something from execs and the rest of @staff. I would also love to see transparency on what is being done to address it as things are being done. The only way I think this could possibly work is if the rest of Tumblr staff condemns Matt's behavior and actively supports this statement. And I honestly think that is still extremely risky, not just for their jobs but for the entire platform.

A message from a few of the trans staff at Tumblr & Automattic:

We want trans people, and LGBTQ+ people broadly, to feel welcome on Tumblr, in part because we as trans people at Tumblr and Automattic want it to be a space where we ourselves feel included. We want to feel like this is a platform that supports us and fights for our safety. Tumblr is made brighter and more vibrant by your presence, and the LGBTQ+ folks who help run it are fighting all the time for this, for you, internally. 

A few days ago, Matt Mullenweg (the CEO of Automattic, Tumblr’s parent company) responded to a user’s ask about an account suspension in a way that negatively affected Tumblr’s LGBTQ+ community. We believe that Matt's response to this ask and his continued commentary has been unwarranted and harmful. Tumblr staff do not comment on moderation decisions as a matter of policy for a variety of reasons—including the privacy of those involved, and the practicalities of moderating thousands of reports a day. The downside of this policy is that it is very easy for rumors and incorrect information about actions taken by our Trust & Safety team to spread unchecked. Given this, we want to clarify a few different pieces of this situation:

The reality of predstrogen's suspension was not accurately conveyed, and made it seem like we were reaching for opportunities to ban trans feminine people on the platform. This is not the case. The example comment shared in the post linked above does not meet our definition of a realistic threat of violence, and was not the deciding factor in the account suspension.

Matt thereafter failed to recognize the harm to the community as a result of this suspension. Matt does not speak on behalf of the LGBTQ+ people who help run Tumblr or Automattic, and we were not consulted in the construction of a response to these events.

Last year, the "mature" and "sexual themes" community labels were erroneously applied to some users' posts. An outside team of contractors tasked with applying community labels to posts were responsible for this larger trend of mislabeling trans-related content. When our Trust & Safety team discovered this issue (thanks largely to reports from the community), we removed the contracted team’s ability to apply community labels and added more oversight to ensure it does not happen again. In the Staff post about this, LGBTQ+ staff pushed to be more transparent but were overruled by leadership. The termination of a contractor mentioned in the original ask response was for an unrelated incident which was incorrectly attributed to this case. We regret that the mislabeling ever happened, and the negative impact it has had on the trans community on Tumblr. 

Transition timelines are not against our community guidelines, and weren’t a factor considered by the moderation team when discussing suspensions and subsequent appeals. We do not take action against content that is related to transitioning or trans bodies unless it includes violations of the Community Guidelines.

When it comes to the experience of trans folks on Tumblr encountering transphobic content, and interacting with bigoted users, we understand and share your frustrations. Tumblr’s policies, and Automattic’s policies, are written to ensure freedom of speech and expression. We prohibit harassment as defined in our Community Guidelines, but we know that this policy falls short of protecting users from the wider scope of harmful speech often used against LGBTQ+ and other marginalized people.

Going forward, Tumblr is taking the following actions:

Prioritizing anti-harassment features that will empower users to more effectively protect themselves from harassment.

Building more internal tooling for us as Staff to proactively identify and mitigate instances of harassment.

Reviewing which of the tags frequently used by the trans community are blocked, and working to make them available next week.

We’re sorry for how this all transpired, and we’re actively fighting to make our voices heard more and prevent something like this from happening again in the future. We know firsthand that having to deal with situations like this as a Tumblr user is difficult, particularly as a member of an already frequently targeted and harassed community. We know it will take time to regain your trust, and we’re going to put in the work to rebuild it.

We appreciate the space we have been given to express our concerns and dissent, and we are thankful that Matt’s (and Automattic’s) strong commitment to freedom of expression has facilitated it.

We will continue to fight to make Tumblr safe for us all.

— This statement was authored by multiple trans employees of Tumblr and Automattic.

[adlbeay]

I wanted to talk about the themes in the Walk in the Dust event. The story of Arknights has always had a high level of thematic consistency, but it’s especially prominent in this event. I feel like a lot of the discussion of the story in certain places comes down to “lore” and surface-level plot details, so I wanted to get this out there somewhere.

The two big ideas that are covered in Walk in the Dust are that of revenge and the homeland. Let's talk about revenge first. Long post and story spoilers under the cut.

In the beginning, we are introduced to Elliot, aka Passenger, who by the time we meet him, is an aimless husk of a man. He is utterly empty inside despite being the most powerful figure in the Reefsteep black  market, with vast wealth and political influence under his thumb. Having completed his decades-long quest to slay everyone who was involved in betraying his teacher, he has no more goals for his life. After killing  the Lord Ameer of Ibut, the last of his targets, he realizes that the revenge he had been pursuing was ultimately empty, that the weapons he built and the schemes he engineered to that end no longer moved him. Even the death of the Lord Ameer didn't matter one bit in the political landscape of Sargon.

As for the Sargon army... We live in different times now. The ruling  Padishahs simply care not about what is happening here in this barren  wasteland. My guess is that it matters not to them whether it's the  father or the son that's in charge. Actually, to tell the truth, it  hardly matters to me either.

Ultimately, no one cared if the Lord Ameer was murdered or simply  died in an accident, not even Elliot himself. Sargon continues to be exploited by the Columbian military and the ruling Lords. Professor Thorne remains dead. His research, once entrusted to Elliot to prevent  it from becoming a weapon of war, has nonetheless been used by Elliot  himself to bring even more death. Now, 22 years later, Passenger sees  finding Kal'tsit as his only path to salvation, so that she can once  again give him a purpose like she did when she rescued him the first time.

Folinic's mom, Lillia, also shares the same kind of story. Her husband was killed in Chernobog when the count decided to purge the researchers working on the sarcophagus device. Among the children of the families broken up by this incident are Lyudmila (later Crownslayer), Alex and Misha (later Skullshatterer), and Luisa (later Folinic). Lillia finds Kal'tsit after months of searching, intending to take revenge on  Grand Duke Vanya not just for her husband, but also for Luisa, who never got to know her father because of it. Kal'tsit tries to talk her out of  it, even during the final phases of the plan, but Lillia's mind is set.  She entrusts Kal'tsit with taking care of both Luisa and Lyudmila, as  she knows she won't be able to come back to live a normal life after  this. And... she succeeds. Although it is Kal'tsit who ultimately administered the poison, their plan works flawlessly and Duke Vanya is finally dead.

Except it still ended up being completely meaningless. The Grand Duke was in a glorified nursing home already near the end of his life, and if Kal'tsit didn't kill him then some other conspirator from the Ursus  political backstage would have done it anyway. He was already crippled and blind, and as we find out during the confrontation with the Emperor's Blade, even Kal'tsit only agreed to Lillia's plan because it  defused the conspiracies of other powerful figures who would have used  the Duke's death to spark another rebellion. The only thing that Lillia ended up accomplishing was making sure that Louisa would grow up without both a mother and a father, and Lyudmila would never get the answers she really wanted about her family's death. And, although she ended up not doing it, she was even also planning to go back to Chernobog to kill  Sergei, Alex and Misha's father, for his betrayal.

And this carries on through the future outside the event. Crownslayer ends up joining Reunion because she thinks it will give her the answers  she wants and avenge her father. Folinic almost lets her anger at Atro's death get her into a confrontation with Wolumonde. In the end, Crownslayer is stopped by Kal'tsit and Folinic is calmed down by  Suzuran, but we might be able to imagine what would have happened if  they managed to carry out their vengeance.

The theme of homeland is one that's intrinsically tied to Kal'tsit and has at least a bit of relation to the broader story outside of the event. It's harder to talk about since it's not clearly  split into individual stories like previously, but there's at least one character that exemplifies this theme the most: Old Isin.

Old Isin is appropriately to his name, old as rocks. He remembers being a servant to some lord of a long-lost city that very few even know once existed, and spends his time telling fortunes while trying to seek out people who, like him, also share that past. According to Kal'tsit, the city's people were scattered when it was destroyed, and now only Isin even remembers the origin of the name "Reefsteep". Even then, Isin only has vague memories, and believes it to be his unforgivable sin that  he has forgotten so much about the city.

Old Isin originally helps Kal'tsit and Elliot because he hopes that  she can help him remember about the lost city, and thus absolve his  "unforgivable sin". And Kal'tsit indeed does help him. Isin begins to recall the conquests of armies a thousand years ago, something even with  his age he should not have been a part of, much less remembered.  Kal'tsit dispels the illusions clouding his memory, and reveals that  what Isin remembers is only the stories that the padishah recounted to  him, that the glory of his old city was only a memory of another memory. In truth, the city in Old Isin's memory was merely a stepping stone for the padishah's ambition to conquer the uncharted deserts, and was abandoned just as easily when that campaign failed. His homeland's glory was just an illusion created in his mind by the padishah's charisma.

Which brings us to the Emperor's Blade. Wherever he stands is the dominion of the Empire of Ursus. Whatever he does carries out the Ursus Emperor's will. Or at least, that's how the Royal Guards imagine themselves, single-handedly carrying out their homeland's legacy. Kal'tsit lays it out clearly:

Kal'tsit: Tell me, what does the current Ursus Emperor think of the Pine Valley affair? Or do you mean to tell me the seeds of that uprising, the origins of the crisis were all the will of the Emperor? Feel free to keep deceiving yourself, but the truth is the young emperor is unaware of the events that transpired there. You believe he has no  need to know. You... all of you seek a bygone era. You are just caught up in the former emperor's grand vision!

As does Patriot in Chapter 8:

Patriot: I fought with your fathers. Your strength and tactical acumen are no less impressive than theirs. But you look at the Ursus of those times with rose-colored glasses. What you see is nothing more than your wild fantasies.

The Royal Guards are described in not too unclear words as soldiers  who probably believed too much of their own grandiose affect. They are unparalleled fighters, to be sure, but it isn't hard to infer that those words about executing Ursus's will and each Royal Guard being his own nation are words intended to strike fear into their enemies rather than  statements of any real truth. Indeed, if you know anything about the internal politics of Ursus, the idea of "Ursus's own will" can be seen as more of a nostalgia at a bygone era when Ursus was, or at least seemed, united in conquest under the previous Emperor. The perceived glory of their homeland is what motivates the Emperor's Blade, but like with Old Isin, the truth behind it is shaky at best.

We also have the contrast between the retired veteran at Pine Valley  and Grand Duke Vanya. While talking to Witte, the veteran cuts off one of his own fingers, claiming that the scars he has suffered in Ursus's wars, once considered symbols of his glory and honor, were ultimately meaningless, and he wants this self-inflicted wound to be his only legacy to Ursus. At the same time, the Grand Duke is postulating about how the seeds he had sown in the winter would give birth to beautiful flowers. Even though his actions and the crimes he committed never bore fruition, he is convinced even in death that Ursus's soil will bloom.

The issue of a real or imagined homeland, and its loss, is also  shared by the Sarkaz as a whole not only in this story but in the main story and many other events. It's even arguable that Rhodes Island's mission to help the Infected was originally inherited from Babel's goal of establishing a stable homeland for the Sarkaz. After all, as pointed  out in many places, the Infected and Sarkaz share much of the same discrimination.

Sarkaz Mercenary: Home...? How could us devils... us Infected possibly have one... Kal'tsit: The Sarkaz have tried to rebuild 'Kazdel', their home for centuries, though they have never succeeded. Everyone has a different idea as to what the term 'homeland' means, but as it stands right now,  Kazdel is perhaps as close as you can get to the term's original meaning.

And in Twilight of Wolumonde:

Armed Infected: We’re going home? To what home?

Mudrock: Kazdel. There may be no place for Sarkaz outside of Kazdel.  But in Kazdel, there is a place for you. Not because of tolerance. But because there is... nothing there. Kazdel... is where the homeless go. A land of rootless people.

So what does all this have to do with Kal'tsit?

In the ending cutscene, Passenger asks Kal'tsit whether this "Rhodes  Island" is yet another passing persona to be used to accomplish a goal and discarded when it's complete. Like the persona of the Trusted  Advisor, or the Servant, or the Laterano Cleric, will she abandon Rhodes  Island as well? Kal'tsit initially puts up a front saying he has no  right to ask, then bluffs about having thousands of answers, but is pushed by Passenger saying he'll even accept a lie. In one of the only times we get to see Kal'tsit faltering, she actually has no answer to this.

Unlike the other characters we see throughout the story, Kal'tsit has no homeland. No matter how fake or illusory it is, Old Isin and the Royal Guard have something to believe about a place where they can belong. The nobles in Victoria, as incompetent as they appear from the outside, are dedicated to defending the peace of their home despite having no ruler. Even the ostracized Sarkaz can ultimately go back to Kazdel, as unpleasant as that might be. But while Kal'tsit wanders the earth to keep the homelands of others from falling into chaos, she has no homeland of her own to go back to.

In one of the trailers for Chapter 9, we hear a recording from Theresa, addressed to Kal'tsit: "I hope this Rhodes Island can be a place to call home, a place you can always return to."

[five-rivers]

Danger First

Chapter 2

Heya @pocketramblr. I have no self-control.

.

Izuku expected his anxiety to subside, one way or another, once the exam was over.

As always, the universe set out to prove him wrong.

Home was more or less okay. But, for some reason, minor household repair issues started to bother him so much he spent the rest of weekend working on them

Then there was school, which was even more hellish than usual, despite being exactly the same as it had been since the sludge incident. Izuku was way too aware of how much of a threat everyone there was to him, specifically. Especially the teachers.

His hypervigilante state did keep him from getting poked (smacked) quite so much by the teachers, or cornered by 'fellow' students quite as much as usual, but it also led him to hide in the library storage room. He'd never be able to look at the librarian the same way again. Not knowing she kept multiple copies of books by anti-quirkless hate groups on hand.

And all through the week, he got nothing but silence from All Might.

But the end of the week came, and with it a letter from UA, which told him-

.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, FIRST PLACE?"

.

"I don't know, Nana, Banjo makes a good point."

"Don't take his side just because he was your predecessor. You all know a One for All holder would never resort to such devious- Yoichi, why are you making that face?"

"In an unjust world, bribery can be a tool for justice. I'm sure Eighth didn't have to, though."

"That's it, I'm not talking to any of you anymore."

.

"Anyway," said All Might, wiping blood from his mouth and glancing nervously at the other beachgoers. "Congratulations, young Midoriya."

Izuku felt his lip wobble. "You're not mad that I couldn't use One for All?"

"Not at all! Actually, in some ways this might be better. We'll have some time to experiment privately. And if you're in school when it finally turns on... well, we'll just say you're a late bloomer, alright?"

"Okay," sniffed Izuku, rubbing his eyes. "I just... I couldn't use it. What if-"

"Hey, hey, it's alright, my boy. No need to cry. You passed the entrance exam without using a quirk at all! You should be proud. Even with a quirk, it's an incredible accomplishment. Also, just so you know, I had nothing to do with the selection process. Just in case you were worried about favoritism."

Izuku sniffed and nodded.

.

"What a strangely specific denial."

"Uh, Banjo, usually I'd be reveling in the chaos, but I think Nana is seriously considering ghost murder right now. Maybe you shouldn't insult her kid anymore?"

"You and Hikage would protect me, right?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I'd sell you to Satan for one corn chip."

"So would I; it's been way too long since I've eaten. As long as it is Satan and not All for One, you've got my blessing."

.

"You certainly proved this old man wrong."

"You aren't old," protested Izuku.

"We'll have to agree to disagree on that," said All Might. "Here, sit down with me," he said, settling on the sand.

Izuku hurried to follow suit, and for a while, they both just watched the ocean. It was nice, today.

"I owe you an apology, young Midoriya."

"H-huh?"

"For what I said on that roof," said All Might, "and for what I... implied later."

"You already apologized for the roof, though?" said Izuku, confused. "I mean, that day..."

"That's what I'm talking about," said All Might. "I shouldn't have- The way I apologized, when I offered you One for All... It was like saying that you couldn't do it without a quirk, that you needed a quirk to 'fix' yourself and... well, obviously I was wrong. Quirk or not, you're going to be an amazing hero."

.

"Oh," said Banjo, "I can already tell this is going to be a problem once he finds out about Danger Sense. Gonna blow a hole right through his confidence."

"Maybe he won't find out?" suggested Nana, who'd wrestled her murderous impulses into submission. Temporarily. "Danger Sense is pretty low key."

"I feel like I should be offended..." said Hikage. "But if I got offended, that would be offensive to people who don't have quirks..."

"I don't know," said En. "If someone insulted your legs by saying they were so skinny it was like they weren't even there, would you being offended be offensive to people who don't have legs? Or would the original statement be the offensive one?"

"Somehow, I feel more offended after that."

.

"Oh," said Izuku. He felt himself crying again. "Are you, um. You're not going to- Are you- Do you want it back?" he whispered. "One for All?"

"No, no, of course not. You... There's no one I'd rather have it. I'm just... even if you didn't, you could be a hero. But I'm hoping... I'm hoping you'll keep it."

Izuku swallowed and nodded. All Might awkwardly raised his arm.

"Do you mind if I...?"

"Sure?" said Izuku, not entirely sure what he was asking.

All Might put his arm around Izuku and gave him a sort of sideways hug. Izuku leaned into it. It was the safest he'd felt since the entrance exam.

Because, surprise, surprise, that anxiety hadn't gone away.

"What did you say?"

"Oh! Uh... it isn't important, it's nothing."

"It didn't sound like nothing," said All Might, concerned.

"I, well, I, ever since the entrance exam... maybe even a little bit before? I've been really... jumpy? About everything. I think it's just because I'm a wreck, but..."

"Huh. Well, you know, that could be a facet of One for All."

"R-really?"

"After I got One for All, it seemed like it was easier for me to tell when people were in danger and needed help," said All Might. "S- A friend who knew about One for All used to joke it was my original quirk. But it was subtle and intermittent, not constant."

"Huh," said Izuku. "So... it might have been One for All all along? Trying to get me to help people?" He picked at his lower lip. "Maybe... I noticed a bunch of stuff I usually don't... I'm not sure I would have seen all the people in trouble during the exam."

.

"So much for not noticing-"

"His confidence... let him have it for at least a little while..."

"He seems to be taking it alright," said Yoichi, hopefully.

.

"I'm sure you would have helped them if you did notice, regardless," said All Might, "and that's what was really being measured, so my earlier point still stands."

Izuku nodded. "It would be really strange for a quirk to have two completely different applications like that."

"Yes, but One for All is a rather strange quirk, and I've seen odder split quirks." He fell silent for a moment. "I can't think of a way to test for it, though. Speaking of which, we should find some time to try and work on One for All before the school year starts. How do you feel about coming to UA after school?"

.

"Th-thank you for helping us with this, Recovery Girl!"

"It's no trouble, dear," said Recovery Girl. "I'd be here at this time, anyway. You wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork I have to go through. Just try not to break too many bones."

Izuku nodded vigorously, still somewhat in awe of being in the presence of not one but two incredible pro heroes. And at UA.

It was like living in a dream.

Except for the highly suspicious mostly-hidden wall panels and the very intense feeling of being watched through camera by an incredibly threatening being. It was fine.

"Alright, young Midoriya! Are you ready?"

"Y-yeah!"

"Then come at me, you zygote!"

.

Nana stared at her (former) student in despair. "Toshi... why... out of all the people..."

"So, you admit he can make bad decisions-"

"Bad and immoral are two different things."

"I think calling people zygotes is pretty immoral, actually..."

Silently, Nana agreed.

.

Izuku blinked at All Might- not because of the zygote thing!

... Okay, partially because of the zygote thing.

But mostly because he was still in his skinny, prone-to-coughing-up-blood form.

"Are you sure?" Izuku asked. "What if I..." he trailed off, blushing. What he was about to say sounded so stupid, and more than a little conceited, but...

"Hey, even like this, I'm much tougher than I look, young Midori- Ahem, I mean, zygote!"

"Toshinori, don't you think role-playing as Gran Torino is a little much?" asked Recovery Girl.

"Ah, do you think so?"

Recovery Girl shot All Might a truly terrifying look, but Izuku's mind was on something completely different.

"Is- is Toshinori your name?" he asked, awed.

Blood drained out of All Might's face, making him look more skeletal than usual. Should Izuku not have asked? Was it supposed to be secret? Oh no...

"Please tell me you haven't been training this boy for most of a year without him even knowing your name."

"Oops?" said All Might, faintly.

.

"He did do that, didn't he?" asked Yoichi, his eyebrows almost touching his hairline. "Nana, your boy is a disaster."

"All of us were disasters. We're still disasters."

"I'm not."

"Hikage, you spent most of your adult life living in the woods, completely isolated from humanity."

"I know, it was great."

"Unbelievable."

.

"Back to what we were talking about before," said Mr. Yagi (Mr. Yagi! Izuku knew All Might's name! And had permission to use it!) after Recovery Girl was done scolding him. "Focus on actually hitting me before worrying about accidentally hurting me. Today, I just want to get a baseline. Next time, we can work on basic punches and throws."

"So, do I just-?"

"Yep, just come right at me!"

.

The next hour consisted mainly of Izuku being thrown bodily into various padded surfaces. Despits this, according to Mr. Yagi, he was much better at dodging than expected. As a bonus, although he certainly felt sore and bruised, he didn't break any bones.

He also didn't manage to activate One for All. Not even a little bit.

Nor did he on any of the other days leading up to his first day as a student at UA.

.

Aizawa Shouta, down two nights of sleep and dreading the new batch of bright eyed hero hopefuls he'd be teaching- and crushing the dreams of- next week, glared blearily at a computer screen. Currently, it displayed a student's name, a quirk name, and the single least helpful quirk description he'd ever seen. Which was saying something, because he'd seen Hizashi's original quirk description.

Midoriya Izuku

Quirk: undetermined

Description: None.

I am either too tired or too sober to deal with this, decided Shouta. However, sleep simply wasn't on the table, and getting drunk was illogical. In that case, simply not dealing with it was the only option.

Nevertheless, he picked up his phone and called Nezu.

"Good evening, Aizawa!" said the internally chipper maybe-rodent. "Or should I say good morning?"

"Midoriya Izuku."

"Ah, you're browsing your class list, I see. Any thoughts about their potential?"

"Illogical." It would be, to make a call about a student's potential without meeting them first.

"Quite so!"

"Midoriya. Quirk," grunted Shouta, reminding him why he was calling.

"Ah, yes, he is a strange case. He's listed as quirkless in the registry."

That woke Shouta up, just a little. He'd seen a handful of documents for the quirkless over the years. If Midoriya was quirkless, his file should read N/A, not undetermined.

"What?"

"I have reason to believe that he might have been diagnosed in error," said Nezu. "I am still investigating. In the meantime, I would appreciate it if you kept an eye on him. Assuming, of course, that he isn't expelled!"

Shouta grunted and hung up. He minimized the window on his computer and pawed through his files until he found the entrance exam video for Midoriya.

A kid who passed the UA hero course practical entrance exam either entirely quirkless or with a subtle, stubborn, or invisible quirk on rescue points alone. A kid who seemed to run straight for danger on purpose (mostly on purpose, Shouta amended after seeing him collide with the invisible girl, coincidentally pushing her out of the way of some sort of water pressure quirk. There was just no way he could have known she was there). A kid who had almost certainly faced brutal quirk harassment since the time he was four and most likely possessed the self-confidence and trauma to match.

"Least he's good at dodging..." muttered Shouta. He rubbed at one grainy-feeling eye and pulled his sleeping bag closer around his shoulders. Kid wasn't all that bad at falling, either. Some light martial arts instruction, maybe?

He paused the video and reopened Midoriya's file, flipping to school and admission records and exam results. He usually didn't look closely at this part of the file, it was enough for him that the students passed, but, exceptions...

Speaking of exceptions, Midoriya's file was a mass of contradictions. Unusually high written test score that didn't correspond with middle school grades. Dozens of citations and black marks on his disciplinary record that should have kept him from even being invited to take the exam, but a letter of recommendation from All Might.

He frowned at the last one. There was no way...

He shook his head, and clicked on the link at the bottom of the file. It brought him to a herotube video about a year old. A hostage situation with a vaguely familiar middle schooler and slime-like villain. Also, a bunch of heroes, but none of them seemed to be addressing the suffocating child. Shouta felt his lips curl. Even if this was in the past...

Then Midoriya Izuku ran into the frame and tried to pull the other boy free, just seconds before All Might arrived and punched the villain so hard it started to rain. Then the video ended.

Alright, then.

Shouta's admittedly currently-less-than-razor-sharp mind presented him with two possibilities. One, Midoriya was All Might's secret child and All Might had bribed Nezu into letting him take the exams despite his less-than-stellar records. Two, this child had, with bloody fingernails, managed to claw a single spark of luck out of an otherwise bleak existence by impressing All Might enough that he got Nezu to ignore the otherwise damning records.

If the first, well, he had still passed the practical without use of any obvious quirk. He probably had some potential.

If the second... Shouta had been a hero long enough to recognize the circumstances that drove people to desperate, and sometimes unforgivable, acts. Dangling a single hope in front of someone only to snatch it away at the last minute...

Forget the maybe-quirk. This was the real conundrum of Midoriya Izuku.

The rat knew he wouldn't expel Midoriya with these stakes. It would be the height of irrationality.

(Even if he did turn out to be All Might's kid.)

What a pain.

He flipped through a few more profiles, quickly reviewing 1-B as well, before hitting redial on his phone.

"Calling again so soon?" asked Nezu with a squeaky chuckle.

"I want Monoma." He paused. "In my class," he elaborated.

"Oh? Whatever for?"

"If I'm going to have to figure out Midoriya's mystery quirk, I want to make it as easy for myself as possible."

There was silence on the other end of the like, and Shouta checked to see whether or not he'd hung up accidentally. He hadn't.

"I must say," said Nezu, finally, "I had not considered that solution. Depending on the mechanics of Monoma's quirk... I cannot think of any reason to deny your request."

That was a strange way of phrasing it.

"We'll exchange him with Bakugo, in that case."

"Not that I'm complaining," said Shouta, "but why him? Why not..." He racked his memory. "Mineta. He's got one of those body part quirks Kan likes."

Nezu chuckled again. "Normally, I would pick Mineta, but, by my calculations, a classroom that contained both Monoma and Bakugo would be demolished within thirty minutes of their arrival."

Shouta groaned. Why did they even let people like that in?

No, wait, he had an answer to that, actually.

"Forget a mouse, a dog, or a bear," said Shouta. "You're a sadist."

"Some certainly think so! But one thing's for sure! I'm the principal!"

.

The door to class 1-A sure was big... and intimidating... and radiating a faint sense of malaise. But, then, Izuku's middle school classroom had done far worse, so...

He opened the door. No Kacchan. Thank goodness. He must be in the class B, then, because there was no way he'd let Izuku beat him to school.

The strict boy from the entrance exam was there, though, and, oh, dear, he'd noticed Izuku and was coming right for him.

(Oh, gosh, and the invisible girl was here, too. He felt himself blushing furiously.)

Still better than Kacchan.

"Hello!" he said, rather loudly. "I'm from Somei Private Academy! My name is Iida Tenya!"

"Oh, uh, I- I'm from Aldera Middle School..." said Izuku. Was stating the name of your middle school a normal thing? He hadn't read about this in any manga... "I'm Midoriya Izuku."

"Pleased to meet you!" He moved his arm in a rather robotic fashion, taking a deep breath.

Oh, no, was he about to yell at Izuku again?

.

"Danger Sense isn't even going off right now, Izuku," said Yoichi, despairingly. "Why are you still so nervous?"

"Maybe we never really gave him Danger Sense after all, and it was his natural anxiety the whole time."

"Please stop denigrating my quirk."

.

"Midoriya... you... you perceived the true nature of the practical exam. Meanwhile, I was blind! I misjudged you! I hate to admit it, but you were the superior candidate."

Oh, that was nice, but... "I didn't perceive anything, though. I had no idea rescue points were a thing. I was mostly just trying not to die."

"Ah! That curly hair! It's Midoriya!"

"Oh! Um, Uraraka?" Please, please, let him have remembered her name right.

"Yeah!" said Uraraka, smiling brightly.

Augh! Too cute!

"I'm so glad you're in my class! I was so worried I wouldn't know anyone here."

"Y-yeah. T-this is Iida, by the way," said Izuku, trying to get attention off of himself.

"Nice to meet you, Iida."

"It's nice to meet you as well, Uraraka!"

"Yeah! So, we've got the entrance ceremony and guidance sessions today, right? I wonder who our teacher will be- They're all supposed to be pro heroes, right?"

"Um," started Izuku, "that-"

"If you're here to socialize, then get out."

.

"That's a teacher, huh," said Yoichi.

"Why are you saying that like you've never seen one before?" asked Banjo.

"I've seen teachers before," said Yoichi. "I've seen all of your teachers. The ones you've had while you had One for All."

"Okay, now you're saying that like you've never had teachers."

"Yeah, that is kind of strange, Yoichi," said Nana.

"I had professors," said Yoichi.

"Still weird."

"I went to college. And med school."

"Did you graduate?" asked En, interested.

"No."

"Why not?"

"My brother kidnapped me, kept me in a vault for a while, and then I died."

"I didn't know what I expected," said En, shaking his head.

"Wait, weren't there several years between the vault and the whole dying thing."

"Yeah, but I'm ignoring them."

"Because?" Banjo hooked his thumb over his shoulder at Second and Third.

"Yep," said Yoichi.

.

"Todoroki. You were the highest scorer on the Recommendation Exam. See how far you can throw this ball with your quirk. Stay in the circle. Anything else goes."

A boy with white and red hair stepped forward, scowling faintly. He took the ball and stared at it.

"Time is valuable, Todoroki."

And then there was a glacier.

Izuku felt his jaw drop. How was he supposed to compete with that?

.

"My name is Monoma," said a blonde boy, offering his hand.

Izuku stared at it a moment before remembering handshakes were a thing.

"Midoriya," he said.

Monoma then offered his hand to Uraraka and Iida as well. "I look forward to experiencing UA's superior brand of education with you," he said.

Izuku laughed nervously. "You're confident," he said, glancing at the track where two others students were doing sprints. It would be their turn soon.

"But of course!" Monoma struck a sort of pose, fingers splayed out on his chest. "I welcome this sort of challenge, this opportunity to prove myself! It just goes to show, UA only accepts the best of the best!"

Monoma was called away to the starting line a moment later. "Two good, one dud," he mumbled under his breath.

What did that mean?

Then Monoma was at the starting line, and he was using Iida's quirk. Did he have a copy quirk? That was so cool!

... Is that what he meant by good and dud? Did he... did he see that Izuku didn't have a quirk? Oh, no... What if he told everyone? Even if people were being nice to him now...

"What's wrong?" asked Uraraka.

"U-um," said Izuku. "Nothing?"

.

"Oh, gosh," said Yoichi, crying. "I just want to wrap him up in a warm blanket. You deserve friends."

"Yeah, kid, it'll be okay," said Banjo. "Bakugo's just a freak. And so was your whole school. Place gave me MLA flashbacks."

"Sure glad they aren't around anymore," agreed En.

.

All in all... Izuku didn't do terribly. Especially given that he didn't actually have a quirk, and this was a quirk assessment. At least, he didn't think he did. At least, he hadn't tripped or hurt himself.

It had, in fact, been a rather good day. No Kacchan. No bullies. The teacher had clear standards and requirements, and he stated them up front.

He had been getting... bad vibes... from the short, purple-haired kid, and he'd noticed other people frowning at him, especially the girls. But he hadn't been able to put his finger on why, even though he had been watching him carefully during his turns.

Other than that...

UA really was the best.

"By the way, no one's getting expelled. It was a logical ruse."

Monoma raised his hand.

"What is it?"

"I must object!" said Monoma.

"You... want someone to be expelled?"

"In fact, I insist! To allow this to continue would blemish the reputation of the school."

"Well said, Monoma!" exclaimed Iida. "Living up to the reputation of UA and all the alumni who have come before us is a duty of us students! But what blemish are you talking about? Surely, as Mr. Aizawa said, we all went plus ultra!"

"Maybe so, but my concern has more to do with moral standards!"

"If you kids keep going like this, I'm just going to go to sleep. You're giving me a headache."

Izuku caught movement out of the corner of his eye, and a wave of unease went through him. He turned to see-

"Hey! What are you doing?" he demanded, shocked and more than a little horrified.

Once again, he was mortally embarrassed on behalf of the invisible girl.

"I wasn't doing anything!" said the small purple boy.

"You were looking up her skirt!"

"It isn't like there's anything to see!"

The invisible girl gasped and quickly moved away. "Gross!" she said. "That's terrible!"

"See? See?" said Monoma, wildly. "This is what I'm talking about!"

"Next time," said Aizawa, "get to the point faster. Time is valuable. Mineta."

"What?"

"You're expelled."

"What? You can't do that!"

"Go complain to Nezu."

UA really was the best.

"Midoriya."

Okay, never mind. He was doomed. Completely doomed.

"Monoma. I want to talk to you after class. The rest of you are dismissed."

Midoriya stood nervously as Uraraka and Iida bid him goodbye. Was this it? Was Aizawa going to expel him after all? At least it wasn't in front of absolutely everyone... But what was Monoma doing here?

Speaking of which, Monoma looked nervous, too... Was he okay? Surely, Aizawa wasn't going to expel him, too.

"Is this about me using other people's quirks?" demanded Monoma. "Because you said anything goes! I wasn't cheating. You can't expel me!"

Oh. There was some trauma there. Izuku could tell. Did people make fun of him for his quirk?

"I'm not going to expel you," said Aizawa, looking up at them from where he laid in his sleeping bag in the grass. He almost looked like he was praying for patience. "I need to ask you some questions about your quirk. For future reference and to better serve your needs as a student. I know how tricky meta quirks can be."

"Oh," said Monoma, slightly deflating. Then he sent a curious glance at Midoriya. "Is he-?"

"His matter is slightly more sensitive. If you would like me to send him away while we talk, I can do that."

"No, no, it's fine." Monoma sniffed, his eyes suspiciously wet. "What's the question?"

"You copy quirks through DNA contact. Do you decide when to activate passive quirks you copy, or can you choose?"

"I can choose, as long as it's within my time limit."

"When you first make contact, can you tell what quirk a person has?"

Monoma shook his head. "No, sir, I have to activate it to do that, so I can get duds- oh, that is to say, quirks I can't use because I don't have the proper activation conditions, like Midoriya's. He's got some kind of stockpile. I can get duds without realizing it. But I can tell whether or not someone has a quirk."

"Were you able to test all your classmates' quirks today?"

"Not everyone, yet," said Monoma. "I usually try to avoid more extreme mutation quirks outside of controlled conditions."

Aizawa's head bobbed up and down minutely. "Great. That should be enough for now. You're dismissed."

"Yes, sir! I look forward to seeing your superior lesson plans tomorrow!" He paused. "Midoriya."

"H-have a good day, Monoma."

Monoma had felt One for All! What a relief. Izuku had been half worried he'd lost it somehow.

But why did Aizawa want him?

"Um, sir?" he asked. Sort of asked. 'Sir' alone wasn't a question, even if it was said in an inquisitive tone.

Aizawa's eyes turned red, and his hair started floating. Izuku felt... Huh. Calmer, somehow? He was no longer vaguely aware of how the light post over there could fall on him, or any of the other many minor dangers surround him and oh, gosh, he was no longer aware of the dangers! How was he supposed to stay safe like this, when he felt like he'd been blindfolded?

Aizawa blinked. Everything came back.

"Wow," said Izuku. "That was so cool! Was that your quirk? Is it an emotional quirk? It made me feel calmer at first, but then I was, I don't know, too calm, and it made me anxious, but then-"

"Problem child," said Aizawa, and Izuku froze at the reprimand. "What I just did was erase your quirk."

Erase?

His quirk?

"Oh my gosh! You're Eraserhead! I'm a huge fan!"

Aizawa closed his eyes. Was he counting? No? Did he fall asleep?

"You do know you're listed as quirkless, right?"

"Yes?"

"But you just had a reaction to my quirk that a quirkless person definitely should not have."

"O-oh?"

"Combined with Monoma's ability to sense your quirk, I'd say you are not, in fact, quirkless."

"But I have the toe joint?" Izuku wasn't sure why he'd said that. He shouldn't be arguing against this, because, as Aizawa had said, he did have a quirk. It just wasn't exactly his.

"Yeah, that's an old wives' tale."

"Really?"

"As real as my quirk counselor license. Whoever diagnosed you was a quack."

"O-oh."

"My initial impression from your entrance exam video is that you might have a sensory quirk of some kind. On the other hand, we should take Monoma's assessment into account, and consider stockpiles. Either way, I would like to schedule some time to test things out with you."

"You- You'd do that? For me? I mean, I don't want to be a bother-"

"This is literally my job."

"It... yeah, I guess so." His previous teachers would have considered it a bother. Except Mr. Yagi, but Mr. Yagi wasn't really a teacher. He was more of a... a mentor.

(Or a dad.)

(Oh, no, he did not just think that. Bad. Bad brain. Bad brain that read too much All Might RPF as a pre-teen.)

"Besides, even if your quirk doesn't have many applications in hero work, it will be useful for you to know what it is and how it affects you." Aizawa yawned. "Also, don't tell your class that I'm Eraserhead."

"O-okay," said Izuku. "Of course, sir, but... why?"

"I have two full time jobs. I get my entertainment where I can. You can go now. We'll schedule tomorrow."

Izuku nodded, and Aizawa just... zipped his sleeping bag the rest of the way closed and rolled over.

Was... was he just going to go to sleep here? In the middle of the field.

"Um? Mr. Aizawa?"

A grunt came from the sleeping bag.

"This is... isn't this kind of a dangerous place to sleep?"

"Go home, problem child."

"... okay."

[theroyalsims]

BREAKING: CLIVE HARLOWE FINALLY BREAKS SILENCE, ISSUES OFFICIAL STATEMENT RELEASED VIA THE BRINDLETON BROADCASTING COMPANY

Several weeks after his name was first dragged into a controversy of royal proportions, Clive Harlowe, Princess E’s former personal aide and ex-flame finally broke his silence via an official statement.

The Brindleton native sent a written statement to the Brindleton Broadcasting Company, which was then first publicly aired during last night’s evening broadcast. The rather lengthy statement is reproduced in its entirety below:

“In light of recent events, I would like to once and for all set things straight. So many lies have been said, so many half-truths passed off as facts, and in the process, people have been left hurt and relationships shattered in its aftermath.

 In the Autumn of last year, I fell in love with a wonderful woman who is not only beautiful, but brilliant, generous, and kind. We were together for some months, however, when the public found out about our personal relationship, the both of us, including our respective families were bombarded by abuse from the public and the media. Things became so bad, that we both realised the danger that has befallen us. While she and her family are well-equipped to deal with the public scrutiny, my family and I, however, are not. 

My parent’s cottage in the country and their small bakery were vandalised. They were tailed by photographers on a daily basis. Overnight, our small village was taken over by reporters and photographers, hoping to catch any story about me, my past, or my family. My girlfriend was also put under extra scrutiny, which pained me since she has worked so hard for so long to prove herself.

I realised that this cannot go on. I spoke with my girlfriend, and we agreed to let each other go for a chance at peace and quiet. I loved her very much, and I still do, and every day, it hurts me that we had to make that decision for the sake of our families’ happiness. I also decided to leave Brindleton, in the hopes that things would go back to normal, especially for my parents. There was no fight. There was no drama. We parted as friends with fond memories of each other.

My former employers heard of our decision to separate, and of my decision to work abroad. Out of the kindness of their hearts, and their sheer generosity, they gave me a good reference and helped me find a good job in my field of interest. They also helped me apply for a scholarship - which I eventually got by passing multiple examinations and interviews. Like everyone else who resigns from a job, I also received the remainder of my salary of which I was due. I found a small flat which fit my income. I do not own it. I pay a monthly rent, which I get from my salary. There was no money. There was no ‘gift’ flat. There was no bribery.

I am dumbfounded as to where and how the rumours began. I am a private person; a nobody - an ordinary bloke from Brindleford. My parents are simple people who live in the flat above their small bakery. I just happened to work for a powerful family and fall in love with a public figure. With that, I suppose comes all the intrusion and loathing. I don’t deserve this. The woman I love does not deserve this. And more importantly, our families do not deserve all this hate and unwanted attention. As much as I would’ve liked to remain quiet, I am left with no choice but to finally say my piece, since my silence was initially construed to be ‘confirmation’ of the vile rumours, which could not be further from the truth.

So now, I would like to offer my humble and deepest apologies to all the members of The Royal Family, especially to Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness Prince Jacques, and to Her Royal Highness The Crown Princess who have shown me nothing but kindness, generosity, and understanding from the very start.

Finally, I also want to apologise to Her Royal Highness The Princess Eleanore. I should have done more. I could have done better. - because God knows you deserve only the very best. I also want to thank Her Royal Highness for giving me an opportunity to love and be loved in return. 

-Clive Harlowe”

The statement is expected to be the “final” word from Clive, who has since refused any interviews, follow-ups, or even calls for more comments from the press. Rumour has it that the young man has also denied several offers to write a tell-all book as well as a 7-figure deal for an exclusive primetime interview with a certain media mogul and TV host.

(Above: A poker-faced Clive was seen earlier today leaving a coffee shop near his office. After releasing a lengthy “official” statement to the Brindleton Broadcasting Company, the young man has since refused to comment on the issue any further.)

Clive has also gone back to his usual job in Windenburg after reportedly taking a week-long leave from work, perhaps to lay low and let things quiet down a little.

However, despite the seemingly clear statement from Clive, there are still those who claim that the statement was “coaxed” out of him by either The Queen and/or Anya to help with the current situation, especially since both royals have seen a decline in their popularity over the past few weeks.

Do you think this statement is sincere or does it seem fishy? You be the judge!

[jackoshadows]

One of the things that totally baffles and frustrates me in the asoiaf fandom is the fanon that Sansa is smarter and more diplomatic than Jon and Dany.

How can anyone read the books and come to the conclusion that Sansa is more diplomatic than Jon and Dany? On what basis is this comparison made? Jon and Dany are military leaders and rulers respectively who have successfully negotiated from disadvantaged positions. What is the equivalent of this for Sansa?

These are the issues that Dany faced in Meereen -  olive trees burned down, winter on the horizon making agriculture disadvantageous, former merchants and slaves with no money and a blockade on Meereen by surrounding regions. Jon has 19 decrepit castles on the wall that he has to refit and rebuild and get ready and he has no money, food or men to do this. What is Sansa’s more smarter and diplomatic tactics to deal with these issues?

What is his tax policy? How does he feel about crop rotation? How does he handle land disputes between two nobles, both of whom think that they should have the village, so they burn it down to establish their claim. This is the hard part of ruling be it in the middle ages or now. It’s not enough to be a good man to be an effective ruler. It’s complicated and it’s hard and I wanted to show that with repeated examples in my books with my kings and hand of the kings - the prime minister if you would - trying to rule. And whether it be Ned Stark or Tyrion Lannister or Tywin Lannister or Daenerys Targaryen or Cersei Lannister trying to deal with the real challenges that affect anyone trying to rule the 7K or even a city like Meereen and it’s hard. You know, we can all read the books or read history and say oh, so and so was stupid and made a lot of mistakes and look at all these stupid mistakes they make. But these kind of mistakes are always much more apparent in hind sight than when you are actually faced with the decision about, oh my God, what would I do in this situation. How do I resolve this thing? Do I do the moral thing? But what about  the political consequences of the moral thing? Do I do the pragmatic, cynical thing and kind of screw the people who are screwed by it? I mean, it is HARD. And I want to get to all of that - GRRM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJCb3xyWyAg

Where has Sansa dealt with the above issues to make a determination on how she would do better than Dany? Or even do better than Cersei for that matter?

Here is GRRM talking about how frustrating it is that he was not able to compare Daenerys and Cersei as rulers in ADWD:

His biggest lament in splitting A Feast for Crows from A Dance with Dragons is the parallels he was drawing between Cersei and Daenerys.  

Cersei and Daenerys are intended as parallel characters --each exploring  a different approach to how a woman would rule in a male dominated,  medieval-inspired fantasy world.

GRRM, SSM,  July 08, 2007  

George regrets that Cersei and Dany will not be contrasted directly.   He likes the extra breathing room to flesh out the characters. Bran  didn't have any chapters and Dany's ending was different. Now he likes  the way she ended. I think he actually may be doing more with Dany.  

Comic-Con (San Diego, CA; July 20-23)

Where has he talked about contrasting Dany and Sansa? Or Sansa and Cersei? Where are the parallel leadership arcs for Dany and Sansa or Jon and Sansa like there is for Jon and Dany in ADwD?

Jon Snow has negotiated a loan with the Iron Bank, Dany agrees for peace with Yunkai by marriage with Hizdahr and Sansa managed to persuade an eight year old to eat his dinner. How are they even compared at the same level?!

It took an entire book and Ned Stark losing his head for Sansa to realize that the Lannisters were not the good guys. Despite the Lannisters doing increasingly evil things like ordering Sansa’s pet wolf killed. Her younger siblings like Arya cottoned onto that in their first chapters. Sansa then thought that beautiful, charming Margaery was simply the best and the Tyrells ended up using her. She thought Dontos was a good guy. In the Vale, she is pushing the Maester to do what LF wants with respect to SweetRobin. How is she smarter than Jon, Dany or the rest of her siblings? It’s this weird changing of canon in the completely opposite direction. Take the least smart character among the youngsters in the books and make them the smartest in fanon.

I know the show is responsible a lot for pushing this piece of fanon, when Benioff, Weiss and Cogman stripped book Jon and Dany of their leadership arcs and tried to hand them off to Sansa to prop up their favorite character.

But what’s baffling is the so called asoiaf book experts writing about stupid Jon and smart Sansa. About psychopathic assassin murder baby Arya and clever, measured leader Sansa, about ignorant, impulsive Dany and calm, compassionate, hope for the future Sansa. The thing is, no one knows on what basis and metrics they come to this conclusion. It just is. There are no detailed essays comparing Jon and Sansa’s leadership arcs, or Dany and Sansa’s arc of being rulers. But Sansa is still somehow more intelligent and diplomatic.

It’s also connected to this rather sexist strand of thought that only women who wield soft power are smart and level-headed. Tyrion is the only male character allowed to be smart and women who wield hard power like Dany or gnc characters like Arya and Brienne are impulsive, arrogant and ignorant.

In some ways I can see why this has happened. A lot of fandom want Sansa to be special in some way and have an important role to play. And since her narrative story arc is with Littlefinger, she is assigned to be the SMART one. But to be special, she has to be the only smart character.

Plus, Sansa has progressed the least in her arc compared to her peers. She’s a blank slate on whom her fans can project their desires and wishes for her character. The show did something similar - only D&D were too lazy to come up with something original and gave her Jeyne Poole’s story.

But still, there has to be a basis for such statements about the book characters.  It’s not just enough to keep repeating that Sansa is the smartest ever - like ultimate hacks D&D did on the badly written garbage show did. They were rightly laughed at for their ‘Sansa is the cleverest person’ dialogue. But for some reason such statements are accepted for the book version.

The books are well written with gradual character development. Surely, if Sansa is smarter than Jon and Dany we should read that in the books? That this fanon has literally become canon despite not having any basis at all in the books is one of the most frustrating aspects of asoiaf fandom.

[joontopia]

Summer in December | KTH

pairing:  kim taehyung x reader        ↳ hufflepuff!taehyung x slytherin!reader

rating: nsfw, 18+

genre: hogwarts!au, friends to lovers!au, fluff

warnings: mild angst (?), reader is a little whiny about the weather (im so sorry idk why i did that), mentions of alcohol consumption, some cute hand holding, sweet kisses

word count: 4.7k

a/n: this is my secret santa gift to the lovely @sly-merlin​ for @kafenetwork​ Holiday Treat event! I hope you enjoy this! It’s been so fun getting to know you the past weeks! ♥️🐧 penguin

Also, thank you to my lovely soul-twin-mate @escapingreality4now​ for reading over this and editing it for me. you the bestest and i love you so much *smoochies*. And thank you to @kimtaehyunq​ for helping me fix my banner issue last minute, i appreciate you and love you!

Rain. That is what has been falling from the grey, cloudy sky for the last three days. Cold, pelting droplets of evaporated water are what you have shared your days with during this cold winter. Not the beautiful, white fluff that was promised in the forecast. Not the very weather that you stayed at school for over winter break instead of going somewhere summer-y with your family. No, that would just have been too perfect. Sitting at your table at the Three Broomsticks, you let out a sigh as you stare out the window, elbow perched on the table as your chin rests in your hand. It was nearly four in the afternoon, though you couldn’t tell by the vacancy left from the sun in the sky hidden behind darkened storm clouds. When you agreed to stay as one of the prefects on duty, you were hoping it would come with days spent playing in the snow. Building snow people, and having the occasional snowball fight. Not trudging through mud puddles and slipping on hidden ice patches. You nearly slip into another day dream when you’re interrupted by the barmaid approaching your table. 

“What’ll it be, dear?” The barmaid asks, a bright smile painted across her face despite the dreary atmosphere set by the disappointing weather.

“Oh um, two butterbeers, please,” you order as you sit up in your seat, trying your best to return a cheery smile as bright as hers. She lifts her brow at you with twinkling curiosity and a hint of laughter in her eyes.

“Terms that bad this year?” She asks with a teasing smile. 

You giggle, appreciating the light lift of the mood as you join in on the jest, “No, just the temperament of the weather.” You both let out a soft chuckle, your smile matching hers slightly more realistically with the slight change in mood. “I’m actually meeting someone, they should be here soon. They’re not both for me.” As if on cue, you both turn to the entrance at the bell chime of the door, signaling a new customer. Standing there was your friend and fellow Slytherin prefect, Ohria, searching the bar for where you sat. Once she spots you in the corner by the window, she waves and smiles, walking toward you with her cheeks rosy pink from the cold outside. 

“No judgement here, dear. Just poking fun. I’ll have those right out for you two,” the barmaid says as she turns back to you. She gives you a light pat on your shoulder and a wink before walking back towards the bar, nodding her head in greeting to Ohria as she makes it to the table, sitting in the vacant seat across from you. You sit back in your chair, smiling at your friend as she starts removing her scarf in coat.

“Sorry, I’m late! Had to make sure Joonie had everything he needed for the next two weeks packed and ready to go. For how smart that man is, he sure can be forgetful,” Ohria rolls her eyes in feign annoyance, the shy smile and blush of her cheeks giving away her true feelings of adoration for her boyfriend. “He’s meeting me here when he’s done if that’s okay. We’ll be leaving in the next hour or so.”

“No worries, it’s fine. I can’t believe you’re going to be visiting Korea. Leaving me here with the sleet and rain while you get to go build your snow creations of your future children with Namjoon.” Your bottom lip pushes out in a pout just a little as Ohria sticks her tongue out at you. You were happy for her, really. At least one of you will get to enjoy some snowy fun during the holiday break. 

“Oh come on, cheer up. I’ll be back before you know it and so will the snow. Besides, Joonie told me a certain Hufflepuff prefect is staying during the break as well. Maybe that can preoccupy your time before I get back, hmm?” Ohria teases you as she wriggles her eyebrows. 

You feel your cheeks warm, knowing the exact Hufflepuff prefect she was referring to. A one very handsome and tall Kim Taehyung, your classmate and longtime crush. You spent the better half of this school year innocently flirting with one another, enough to make you wonder if he felt and cared for you the same way you do him. You smile as you look away from Ohria, watching as the barmaid approaches with your drinks, placing them in front of you. You thank her before turning and continuing your conversation with, “As wonderful as that would be, I highly doubt Taehyung would want to spend the majority of his winter break with me.”

“Oh, please. He practically can’t keep his eyes off of you when you’re near each other. The both of you really. Just ask him. Besides, what else would there be for the two of you to do here but hangout with each other?” Ohria says before taking a drink, her last words more of statement rather than a question. 

You let out a little sigh, knowing there was no sense in arguing her point. You grab your drink, taking a sip as you ponder her words for a moment. “I suppose you’re right. But how do you suggest I even ask him? I wouldn’t even know where to start to find him. Just show up at his common room door and wait until he leaves?”

Ohria hums in contemplation before turning to look out the window, smiling slyly at whatever caught her eye. “Looks like you won’t have to,” she says nodding her head towards the window causing you to turn and take a look yourself. 

There walking past the window and towards the front door was Namjoon and Taehyung, the former holding his wand up as a clear light emits from the tip, forming into a makeshift umbrella for the two men. You feel your cheeks flush again as Ohria turns in her seat, waving the two boys over to your booth. You look up as they make it to the table, smiling as you make eye contact with Taehyung. You notice his cheeks are colored with a rosy hint as he returns a smile to you. You try to not think much of it, using the cold weather outside to be the cause. Ohria stands up from her seat, greeting her boyfriend with a kiss before sliding into the empty seat next to you, the two boys taking up the seats across. The barmaid approaches again, taking the boys order and returning again shortly with two more mugs of butter beer.

“Dreary weather, isn’t it?” Namjoon asks, breaking the silence before taking a big drink from his glass. Everyone nods as you hum in response, finding it suddenly hard to form words with Taehyung sitting across from you. You’re not sure why you find it hard to speak to him this time, always joking and conversing during the school year. Maybe the possibility of some possible time alone has you feeling slightly off your game. 

“How are you, YN? I hear you’re also staying here during the break,” Taehyung asks, softly smiling as he waits for your response. You smile back, lips beginning to part in response when Ohria jumps in and answers for you instead.

“Yes, she is! Sadly, I’m leaving her all by her lonesome for a while,” she says with a pout, wrapping her hands around your arm and laying her head on your shoulder. “You’ll take good care of her for me, Taetae, won’t you?”

You give Ohria a little pinch on her thigh and she lets out a tiny squeak, letting go of your arm. She lightly swats your arm before scooting away from you, Namjoon looking at her curiously as Tae shoots up an eyebrow and chuckles.

“It would be my pleasure. What do you say, YN? Mind keeping me company during the break?” He gives you another boxy smile and you smile big in return.

“Yeah, that sounds great,” you manage to squeak out, nudging Ohria with your elbow as she starts to giggle again next to you. 

Namjoon jumps in, talking about the plans he’s made for him and Ohria once they get to Korea. Taehyung throws out his own suggestions and you add your own commentary here and there, easing you and your friends into easy conversation. Before long, another hour has passed. Namjoon looks down at his watch before announcing his and Ohria’s time to go. Everyone stands up from the table, leaving tips and payment on the table for the barmaid before walking towards the door. 

Ohria turns to give you a hug before Namjoon begins helping her back into her winter coat. “If you need me, I’m only an owl away. I’ll be back before you know it. Promise me you’ll enjoy yourself?” 

“I promise,” you tell her. Waving to her as she follows Namjoon out the door, blowing you a kiss before it closes.

“Mind if I walk you back to the castle?” Taehyung asks you, wrapping his scarf around his neck as he looks down at you. 

You nod your head and smile, grabbing your winter coat off the hook on the wall. Taehyung reaches and grabs it from you, catching you by surprise. “Let me help you with that,” he says as he holds it open for you. You give him a shy thanks as you slip it on. He rubs his hands down your arm once it’s secure, his hand slightly brushing yours as he moves around you and opens the door. You were happy to see a break in the rain fall, allowing for the walk back be a little less treacherous in the cold. 

“So what would you like to do this break?” You ask, looking up at the tall man walking next to you. 

“Hmm,” he hums, puffs off transparent smoke coming from his mouth as he breathes out into the cold air. “I got a few ideas. I can run some by you now and we can discuss it over breakfast in the morning?”

“Sounds good,” you say with a smile. Taehyung smiles back at you as you both fall into another easy conversation on your way back up to the castle.

Rain, again.  You can’t see it, the sleeping quarters of the Slytherin dungeons lacking windows, but you can hear it hitting the ground above. And it’s coming down hard. You roll out of bed, your movements sluggish as you get ready for the day. You make your way into the common room, stretching your arms in the air as a yawn overtakes you. The room is nearly vacant. Only a pair of 2nd years hanging out on the couch sharing their collection of wizarding cards with each other. The door swings open, Yuta walks into the common room, looking around the room until he spots you and smiles. “Ah, Y/L/N. Perfect timing. You got a visitor outside.” 

You tilt your head to the side, wondering who would be coming to see you when your memory hits you. Your promised breakfast with Taehyung. Your eyes go wide as your cheeks heat up and you quickly make your way to the door. “Ah, yes. Thank you,” you say as you give a quick smile and wave to Yuta. He lets out a snicker walking past you further into the common room. 

Once outside, you see Taehyung leaning against the wall, arms crossed over his chest, head tilted down towards the floor. When he hears the wall covering the door to the common room open, he looks up, blinking the tiredness out of his eyes. His boxy smile takes over his face when he sees you.

“Good morning,” he says, his low baritone dripping from his mouth like honey as he walks over to you. He gives you a quick hug, a kiss landing on your check right before he pulls away. You feel your cheeks warm again, a big smile forming on your face as you begin to walk side by side towards the dining hall.

“Good morning,” you squeak out. You clear your throat, your voice still hidden behind your own sleepiness. “How did you sleep?” 

“Not bad. Rain helped lull me to sleep. The smell of breakfast from the kitchen woke me up. How about --”

“Watch out!”

You both stop quickly in your tracks from the shout coming from a sideroom to your right. A white wisp in the shape of a dolphin zooms in front of you, dissipating into nothing as it crashes into the wall on the other side. 

“Sorry about that!” You turn to the doorway of the sideroom. Your classmate, Jimin, stands there rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands. A sheepish smile on his face as he looks at you and Taehyung.

You let out a giggle as you smile back. “It’s alright, it looked harmless. What were you doing with that dolphin though?” 

“Ah, I’ll show you. But you gotta keep it a secret, okay?” Jimin waves you two into the sideroom and you both follow him. There in the empty room, you see an oversized snow globe. Colorful wisps of smoke inside swapping from shapes of hearts into waves of water.

“I was trying to get that dolphin into here. It’s a Christmas gift for my girlfriend, Tina. I’ve been struggling with Charms class this year and she’s been helping me out. Her patronus is a dolphin, so I figured this would be something she’d enjoy.” Jimin waves his wand in the air, a new cloud of wisps spout from the tip, once again forming into a dolphin. He flicks his wrist, the dolphin successfully jumping into the water of the snow globe this time as he turns to you and Taehyung and smiles. You both clap your hands in applause as he bows, his eyes disappearing from the wide smile on his face when he stands straight.

“That looks awesome! I’m sure she’ll love it!” Tae praises.

“It’s really cute, Jimin. You did great!” You smile at him as you start to turn back out of the room. “We were just on our way to breakfast if you wanted to join us.”

Jimin shakes his head, smiling the whole time from your praises. “I’m going to work on this a bit more, but I’ll see you guys up there. Thanks!” He gives you a wave goodbye as you and Tae walk back out of the room, continuing your way towards the great hall.

Your first full day spent with Taehyung was wonderful. Something you needed to help take your mind off the mundaneness that has been the winter weather. It’s the next morning. You once again find yourself in the great hall, sitting across from Tae and Jimin as they are both talking animatedly about the last quidditch match that took place before the break. Your eyes are on Tae, watching the way his adam’s apple bobs up and down as he speaks. The way the soft curls of his hair bounce just slightly when he laughs. He flashes his boxy smile, the sight of it taking you back to the day before. 

After breakfast, you had both played a few rounds of wizard’s chess. You won every game but the last, finding the pout Tae gave you every time he lost was too cute for you to go easy on him. After each loss, he would jut out his bottom lip, begging you with matching puppy dog eyes for one more rematch. Only stopping once he finally came out the victor.

You spent the rest of the afternoon walking through the courtyards of the school grounds. The rain seemingly subsided for the day, leaving little puddles of water scattered on the ground. Finding a dry bench, you sit down next to Tae. He took the chance to entertain the two of you by charming the puddles, using droplets of water to create figure skaters that would glide across the surface or little fish and dolphins hopping back and forth across the puddles. You couldn’t help your giggles, how your eyes lit up in fascination as the figures danced across the water. You remember looking over at Taehyung, how your breath caught in your throat at the way he was watching you. His eyes warm with adoration as his signature boxy smile graced his face. You wonder if it was your hopeful thoughts playing tricks on you, the way it seemed like he was leaning in towards you. The moment being interrupted by the sky once again falling out. You were remembering how the warmth of his hand felt in yours as he pulled you to run for cover when the sound of your name pulled you from the daydream.

Back in the present, you notice Tae and Jimin looking at you expectantly. You blink owlishly at them, slight embarrassment creeping in as you realize you have no idea what they asked you. “S-sorry, what was that?” you stammer, looking down at your plate to hide your blush as Jimin snickers at you.

“Lunch at The Three Broomsticks and then afterwards we do a little walking or shopping. What do you think?” Tae repeats, a hopeful expression on his face. 

You go to respond when you’re interrupted by excited gasps that fill the great hall. “It’s starting to snow!” you hear someone shout. You look up at the enchanted ceiling, the previously dark clouds now turning a light shade of grey as little snow flurries start to fall. A wide smile grows on your face as you look back down at Taehyung who's already watching you with a smile of his own. 

“Let’s go get dressed,” he says, standing from the table. You follow him, rushing out of the great hall with the rest of the students. Tae turns towards the direction of the Hufflepuff common room, shouting over his shoulder “I’ll meet you back here!” before disappearing out of sight.

You run with Jimin to the Slytherin common room, racing up the stairs to your dorm to dress in something warmer. Your smile never leaves your face, excitement coursing through your entire body. The snow is here. Finally. The weather you have been waiting to see since you decided to stay at school for the holidays finally made its appearance. Dressed in your thick winter coat, you make your way out of the dungeons, walking back to meet Tae in front of the great hall. Once there, Taehyung’s face lights up with another smile. He offers his gloved hand to you and you take it, speeding up to keep up with his long strides as he pulls you to the doors leading outside.

The moment you step outside, you're met with the disappointed grumbles of other students, passing you as they walk back into the castle. Taking a few more steps outside, you turn the corner to see what has caused everyone to be so upset and your face drops. The snow flurries that fell from the sky not too long ago have turned back into cold, icy rain. Washing away any evidence of the snow that had barely stuck to the ground.

“Dang, I knew it was too good to be true,” Tae mumbles as he lets out a sigh, still holding your hand as he stands next to you. You shared his disappointment. Maybe a little too much with how quickly you could feel your mood turning south. You watch the rain, suddenly feeling the desire to be alone. The dreary weather sucking all the motivation for fun out of you. Dropping your hand from Tae’s, you turn back towards the castle to walk back inside.

Feeling the loss of your hand, Tae turns around and follows you. “I’m sorry, YN. I know you’ve been looking forward to the snow.”

You give Tae a soft smile, looking back down at your feet as you continue to walk back inside. “It’s okay, Tae. It’s not like you can control the weather.” Your attempt at a joke at the end is delivered poorly due to your mood. You can tell by the forced smile Tae gives you as he watches you with a sorrowful expression. Once back inside, Tae places his hand on your shoulder to stop you and you turn to face him. “We can still have a good time in Hogsmeade. You still want to go?”

You give him another soft smile, trying your best to make it look genuine. You want to go, you really do. But just the mere thought of spending anymore time out in the miserable, cold rain sinks your mood even lower. You know you would be no fun to be around like this. “I’m actually not feeling too well. Could’ve been something I ate. I’m just gonna take it easy for the day. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

You turn and start to walk away, barely hearing Tae’s “yeah, see ya” as you wave him goodbye over your shoulder. You make your way back to the Slytherin common room and towards your bed, planning on curling up in the warm sheets and hope tomorrow is a better day.

It’s been two days since you’ve seen Taehyung. Only catching him in brief passing at breakfast the morning after the teased snow day. You had every intention to apologize to him for your attitude, feeling guilty for having felt like you took your bad day out on him. Only he didn't give you the chance with how quickly he ran out of the great hall, saying something about needing to speak with Professor Flitwick and that he’ll catch you later. You didn’t see him for the rest of the day. The next day, you didn’t even see him at breakfast, only being made aware of his absence from an owl he sent explaining how he was going to be busy in the library the whole day. You couldn’t help but feel like he was avoiding you.

Making your way into the dining, you see Jimin waving you over, handing you a letter as you sit across from him. You open it, half expecting another letter of avoidance from Taehyung. You were happy to see that it was from Ohria, gushing about her trip with Namjoon to Korea. Wishing you a happy holiday and how she can’t wait to hear how your week has been going. You fold the letter and place it in your back pocket before filling your plate with food. You’re near down with your food when you spot a familiar figure running up to you from the corner of your eye. You turn towards him, standing from your seat as he reaches you.

“Oh, great! You’re here,” he says, grabbing your hand as he starts to pull you towards the entrance. “Come on, I have something to show you!” You stumble a little as you try to keep up with him. As you step into the hallway outside of the great hall, you decide now is as good as time as any to finally apologize.

“Tae, wait,” you say, tugging on his hand to stop him. He looks back at you, eyes wide as he looks at you, waiting for whatever you're about to say. “I want to apologize.”

He furrows his brow, turning to face you completely as he takes your other hand in his. “What? What do you have to apologize for?”

“The other day. I wasn’t in the best mood, and I was kinda rude to you. I just… I didn’t know if that’s why you were avoiding me the last two days.” 

Tae smiles at you. He lets go of one of your hands, lifting his now free hand to push a loose strand of hair behind your ear, causing your cheeks to warm from the sudden touch. “I didn’t mean for you to think I was avoiding you. My absence does have to do with that day, but not because you were rude. Which you weren’t, by the way,” he reassures you, tapping the tip of your nose. Your lips turning up into a smile from the cuteness. “Just follow me, yeah? That’s what I want to show you.” You nod your head, following Tae as he continues to lead you through the hall and out the doors into the castle grounds.

“Tae, wait! I don’t have my coat,” you whine. Tae pulls you closer to him, wrapping his arm around you as he continues to lead you to your destination.

“I know, I got it covered. Just trust me.” 

You go to argue, your words cut short when you see a large dome in the middle of the courtyard. In the dome, you see a cute little forest setting. Snow littering the ground and the tops of the evergreen trees. You’re at a loss for words, only a subtle whisper of a “wow” leaves your lips as you look at the enchanted globe in awe. 

Tae watches you carefully, drinking in the sight of your amazement. He grabs your hand again, pulling you closer to the dome and inside. He smiles at the giggles you let out while you step onto the snow. He commits to memory the beautiful smile that adorns your face with each crunch of your step across the snowy surface. He walks you to the middle of the dome, turning to face you once you reach it. “This is what I’ve been up to the last few days. Trying to learn how to control the weather.” 

You let out a snort at his joke, how he parroted your words back to you. You lightly push his shoulder, a big smile covering his face as he watches you walk around the globe. He pulls his wand out of his jacket pocket, pointing it up at the top of the globe as he gives a quick flick of his wrist. Suddenly, tiny snowflakes start falling from the top of the dome. You look up and close your eyes, smiling when you can feel the coolness of the fluffy ice land on your cheeks. Opening your eyes as you look down, you look back over at Taehyung as you continue to walk around the tiny winter wonderland. “You did this all for me?”

He nods his head, his eyes never leaving you as he watches you explore. “I wanted to see you smile. I love seeing you smile.”

You feel your own cheeks warm at his confession. Suddenly, you feel a little shiver run through your body from the chilly air. “This still doesn’t cover the fact that I don’t have my coat,” you tease as you walk back over to him. 

Tae laughs, shrugging off his coat and placing it around your shoulders. He points his wand back up to the top and flicks his wrist again. The top of the dome turns into the image of a shining sun and you can immediately feel the warming rays as if it was the actual sun in the sky. “Told you I got it covered,” he says as he winks at you. 

You look around, happy to see that the enchanted snow is still intact and not melting, the warming temperature from the charm not having any effect. You hear Taehyung clear his throat and you look back at him, noticing the light blush that now adorns his cheeks. “I learned one other thing,” he says nervously, once again flicking his wand, this time towards the nearest tree. 

You watch as a branch extends out above you, small leaves blooming until a big group of green leaves hangs over the two of you. You examine it, noticing the tiny white and red berries that are scattered through the cluster of green. “Mistletoe,” you breathe out in a whisper. 

You feel Taehyung's hand on your cheek, pulling your face back to look at him. His eyes twinkle with mirth as they meet yours, his lips turning up into a soft smile as he starts to lean in. “I know this wasn’t exactly what you had in mind, but I hope it at least made you happy.”

Wrapping your arms around his neck, you pull him down, closing the distance between you as you catch his lips in a soft, quick kiss. Breaking apart, Tae leans his forehead against yours as you both smile. “It’s absolutely perfect,” you reassure him, watching as his beautiful boxy smile once again graces his features just before he leans back in locking your lips in another kiss.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

This is gonna sound dumb. I'm a JKer, but Vmin is making my head spin. Do you think it's possible both JK and Tae are in love with JM? Tokyo video, hints of living together, the way JK looks at JM like he's his world. The way Tae looks at JM like he's his world. The songs Tae wrote. SN confirmed what I already suspected. It's about JM. The tension JK & Tae had and JM being the one to lie to JK/set up them talking seems sus. Its making me wonder if JM is in the middle. Vmin's wrecking my ship LOL

One thing I want to get out of the way right away is this—this is the last time we’ll answer a question that concerns another ship. Our blog is supposed to be about vmin, namjin and BTS as group, and while we are all for everyone shipping whatever they like, I’d prefer to not talk about other ships on our blog. Not because we don’t like them, we don’t, but because the only ship we see as having true potential to be real is vmin, and perhaps namjin, and that’s it. Therefore, there isn’t really a point for us to talk about other ships in a romantic sense at all. If someone would like for me to talk about JinKook, for example, I’d gladly do it (I adore their bond and dynamic) so long as it isn’t meant as the romantic ship but the friendship between those two.

The only reason I’m replying to this, and a second mildly “similar” ask, is because it, in a way, plays into what I recently said about JK here. That’s it. So, now that that’s out of the way, the actual reply:

Let’s put it like this—it doesn’t sound dumb, necessarily, and the fact that as someone who ships a different pair you can still acknowledge that perhaps another might be true, that shows that you see things much more realistically than some others do. But, at the same time, I can’t agree with your statement, not because I don’t like your ship (quite honestly your ship has never even for a second made me go “huh?”) but because it would create an awful situation within the maknaes and I don’t think there’s any kind of hint for that. At least not in a romantic sense.

A while ago Admin 2 wrote a reply in which they argued that JK might simply be a vmin ally, as in that he helps them shield their private life and relationship from prying eyes because he loves his hyungs and all three of them know that the two main maknae ships are powerful “tools”. Here, again, it’s important to differentiate between ships and the real-life bonds between the members.

More below the cut because, as always, this got very long:

Do I think JK is in love with Jimin, or has been at any point in time, romantically? No.

From all the arguments you’ve mentioned, the one that stuck out to me the most was “he looks at JM like he’s his world”, which might simply be a shipper bias. We all have that. But I especially think it happens a lot with JK. While I’ll admit he does look at Jimin with deep admiration, it’s also true that he does the exact same thing with Namjoon and Seokjin, as examples. It’s very hard to properly read someone’s eyes and body language in general and do so without a bias (especially a confirmation bias). I actually wrote a post on that a while ago.

And yes, I would make the exact same argument for vmin (and namjin) as well. While yes, there are instances where we see what some have lovingly dubbed ‘Taehyungie’s Jimin smile’ or ‘Jimin’s TaeTae smile’, I don’t take any of those as “proof” or arguments for why I think vmin might be real. We have a plethora of other far stronger and more convincing arguments, so using different looks and expressions in one or the other members eyes, to me, is a bit pointless. Just look at the way Namjoon sometimes stands off to the side and looks at all the members with this deep love and pride. Does that mean he’s in love with all of them? No, of course not. Or the way Tae might look at Hobi or Yoongi. Does that mean he’s in love with them as well? No.

(The pictures of JK looking at Tae and Jimin in the blue suit, as far as I’m aware, were at the same award show. The last picture of JK on the right is him looking lovingly at ARMY, does that mean he’s in love with all of us as well? No.)

Unfortunately a loving expression doesn’t come with a precise label of “this is a loving gaze for a person I admire deeply” and “this is a loving gaze for a person I’m in love with”, so while we can identify their expressions as something related to “love”, everything else is us projecting and speculating. At the end of the day all the members deeply love and admire each other and have moments where they look at each other like they’ve hung the stars in the sky.

So, while these moments and pictures of JK looking “lovingly” at Jimin or Tae, or Tae looking “lovingly” at Jimin, or Jimin looking “lovingly” at JK or Tae, are very cute and lovely, they don’t really represent any kind of evidence for the presence of romantic feelings, even more so when those pictures are taken when another member sings or is saying something.

Placing Jimin as “the one in the middle” would cause drama that I quite honestly think has never been an issue within BTS in such a manner. One thing that I think all members value insanely, because otherwise the group would’ve long stopped working and fallen apart (and not just come close to it for different, unrelated reasons), is communication. Yes, it’s something they had to learn over time and haven’t always been great at, but with something as big as this, they would have to do it, especially if two members would’ve realized they’re in love with the same member. To me, and I don’t want this to sound mean or like I’m belittling your feelings/thoughts, this simply sounds like something straight out of a YA novel or teen drama on TV, or one of those manipulative, agenda driven videos on YouTube.

“The tension JK & Tae had and JM being the one to lie to JK/set up them talking seems sus. Its making me wonder if JM is in the middle.” This I think is a bit of a misinterpretation on your part, which I totally get, there were a million ways in which people interpreted this moment and perhaps I shouldn’t position myself as ultimate unbiased judge, but, well, you asked for my opinion so…The way I see it is that, if we believe Tae’s and JK’s words like we should, then it makes sense that JK might’ve been a bit apprehensive about the conversation with Tae, which would’ve called for the ‘need’ to involve Jimin (after all we know that Tae asked Jimin to help him) and have him “trick” JK. But, what I think is much more likely, is that it was simply staged in such a manner for entertainment purposes. I highly doubt Tae and JK didn’t discuss wanting to have this conversation for the cameras sometime beforehand but maybe they simply hadn’t decided on when to do it, so Tae used the chance on that evening to do it. But honestly that’s basically speculations on my part, and everyone else’s.

I don’t believe for a second that the conversation in ITS was the real, proper one JK and Tae had about this topic, because that would simply be way too personal and a breech their own privacy. Much more I think it was simply a conversation set up in order to communicate the situation between JK and Tae to us, show that while they had these awkward parts between them they still want to make an effort to “fix” things, and that they are still getting along no problem. Which they obviously do. That is the most important part for me in all of it, the fact that they felt comfortable enough to share this with us, to face the uproar I’m sure they were aware it would cause within certain parts of the fandom, and yet…they still did it.

The whole scene of involving Jimin might’ve simply been for theatrics and to make it more interesting to watch (and offer for a great episode cliffhanger) and also to loosen up the atmosphere a little.

One thing though I’ve found very curious since the time when the episode aired was the question of why Jimin and Seokjin remained close by and played with a ball in the dark, of all things. But I’ll never know the answer beyond theories and that’s fine. The bottom line is that Jimin didn’t act as “the one in the middle of a love triangle” but more as a third party who has a strong friendship with JK (thus it was clear that JK would listen and follow him outside) and who’s soulmates with Tae (thus it makes sense that he would help him arrange that conversation and help him get rid of his nervousness). Admin 2’s theory is that Jimin was nearby as support for Tae and Seokjin as support for JK, since we know they share a close and deep bond as well.

As for the “living together hints”, which rely mostly (if not entirely) on the car sharing argument, I spoke about it here and here, and GCF Tokyo. Well. I know that one is used as crown argument but if we apply the same logic, I’ve seen applied to it, then we could also say that GCF Osaka was JK’s “couple vlog” for vmin, since they were the main focus in that video. We could say that GCF Helsinki was him hinting at the band falling apart/breaking up since the song was a sad one seemingly talking about a relationship coming to an end and each party going a different way, one taking the ocean and one the desert. Others claim that GCF are J*k*ok specific because Jimin is the main model, but that’s something JK himself has negated at least twice to my knowledge.

Personally, GCF Tokyo has been in late 2017 while we have 2021 now. It was a moment in time where, according to some, vmin were “d*ad” and J*k*ok on the rise, but we know the former isn’t true. It was a hard time for everyone, a challenging one, and curiously enough, a few months after the Tokyo trip, Tae began working on Happy Christmas, a duet for himself and Jimin that’s very much romantic sounding and was likely meant as gift for Jimin. If he knew JK was into Jimin romantically, that his feelings might be reciprocated, that Tokyo was a romantic trip, I think there is absolutely no way he (Tae) would’ve done that.

So, all in all, while you, anon, can think whatever you like and what you think is likely, this is my opinion which can be summed up easily as: vmin are vmin and JK is their close friend, but there have never been romantic feelings from JK toward Jimin, while it seems that there are a lot of (requited) romantic feelings from Tae toward Jimin.

Admin 2 has a theory, and perhaps it’s delulu and unsubstantiated, but they want to share it anyway: We know that when Tae started filming Hwarang and the Wooga squad was formed, Tae spent quite a bit of time with them. Perhaps that has a kind of loose correlation with the timing of the Dumpling Incident and their 4am meeting at the park and all the implications of what meaning it truly might’ve had for Tae and Jimin, that he saw spending time with his Wooga squad as a form of “”escape””. The Tokyo trip was simply a gift from JK to Jimin that was meant as a kind of cheer up gesture for Jimin. I don’t think it was their romantic/intimate trip, as so many try to show it as such, because if it were so, we wouldn’t have heard so much about it because we know Jimin is a very private person. Also, if it were such an intimate thing, why would they have created so much around it in form of videos and even interviews, a whole PR thing? Shippers, of course, created this entire mythos out of their trip, a whole fantasy.

Let’s be real, some of the stories and theories being shared by some about the trip are not only impossibly unrealistic but also insane and stupid at times, since they contain twisted “facts”, agenda-based interpretations and things that are simply impossible, like them supposedly having gotten married during that trip. In a country that doesn’t have same sex marriage. Just to return to a country that, also, does not have same sex marriage. As idols.

If Jimin and JK would’ve wanted to go on a romantic, intimate couples’ trip together, I’m 100% sure we would’ve never found out about it. Easy as that.

Lastly, the way these questions are set up and thought out, this whole thing about drama and jealousy and love triangles, they sound like stereotypical “teenage girl” thinking, classic by the book like YA books and teen movies marketed toward girls. Which isn’t meant as shade against you or teenage girls, but there’s a difference between how boys act and how girls do, how of course boys and men also cause drama but it’s a different kind of drama, while this whole jealousy thing is more of a girl thing. It’s part of nearly every plot written by and for girls. And if you notice, most of those YT videos are built upon this scheme, and why is that? Because mostly girls watch it and they’re made by girls/women.

I, just like Admin 1, think that if Tae realized that there’s something romantic between JK and Jimin, Tae would’ve immediately stopped with all the romantic songs, the picture, and everything else. But instead vmin progressed the way they did, and we are where we are today.

The second ask we got is this one and it might be the first time Admin 1 truly got angry and went on a rant:

From anon: Its kinda obvious Vmin use JK to get to each other. No doubt they all have a special bond, but I noticed in one vid, JM slaps JK's ass, but turns and smiles smugly at V and V smiles, but when JM walks off, the smile fades and V tilts his head and gives JM a go to hell look. lol. V grabs JK to sing to him, but V's not looking at JK, his eyes are glued to JM. When JM walks off, V just leaves JK standing there. Jikooks cooking live V calls. JM knows V's watching and nuzzles JK's neck. Kinda obvious

Let me be frank for a moment—this is completely bizarre to me, nasty and stupid. I’m sorry. I know it makes for fantastic drama, it fuels analysis videos (which brings in clicks and thus more revenue), but IF this were at any point in time real, do you really think BTS would still be BTS today? Do you really think the members would be as close as they are today? Do you really believe something as ridiculous as this happening in real life would fly? That Namjoon, as leader, as well as their managers and team, would allow for something like this to happen? And perhaps that last question might sound weird to you, but it’s true.

Also “I noticed in one vid” this fascinates me, and also confirms everything I need to know about this ask—I know where theories like this come from and I think I’ve made my stance on it clear in a previous reply, but I’ll repeat it one more time: analysis, theory and compilation videos are manipulative, inherently biased and agenda pushing and, in most cases, have zero connection to real life. They create bizarre scenarios and theories that push ideas of jealousy, betrayal, and powerplay because that’s what brings in the clicks, because people love drama, because that means things are happening and that’s exciting. But, with a band as big, kind, humble, and beautiful as BTS? That’s rude, disgusting, and presents the members as the exact opposite of who they are as people.

Things that happen on stage are, in many cases, preplanned “fan service” meant to entertain the audience. A split-second facial expression or supposed “mean eyes” between members are usually a bias reading or might simply have a completely unrelated cause, depend on the angle you watch the moment from, and a billion other factors that have nothing to do with drama, jealousy or any such nonsense.

Presenting the maknaes, and especially Tae and Jimin, the way you do, do you know what that would make them? Abusers. It would mean they abuse their position of seniority over JK and use him for sick games, knowing that age hierarchy wise he wouldn’t be able to “defend” himself quite the way same age friends would between each other, or an older member. It presents Tae and Jimin as evil, nearly vile, and toxic, like they see JK only as a toy to be used for some kind of game between each other, and that is truly disgusting and uncalled for.

Also, all of this erases JKs autonomy and place in the band, as artist and human, and presents him as just a toy to be used and played with, which again is the same thing shippers also do with him. I have a whole post about it. Read it and maybe think about everything you just said again and why you did so.

I don’t know what the point of this ask was, but for future reference—we will never answer such an ask again and I will not allow such ideas any kind of space on this blog.

That’s all.

Admin 2: Everything that happens on stage during concerts is more or less preplanned by the members. We know that vmin love roleplaying. I’ve noticed that in their interactions on stage they occasionally also use some elements of their roleplays. I wouldn’t be surprised (I think I know which video you are talking about, I’ve seen it) that what’s shown in that video is one of those typical vmin moments/behaviors. Especially if the video you mean is the one I’m thinking about is the same video that ends with JK standing between Jimin and Tae and while they bow, he brings Tae’s and Jimin’s hands together, which would mean there are no hard feelings at all and that JK is consciously involved in it all.

We should also remember that Tae interacts and does fanservice with him, so why do people not suspect that Tae also uses Jin for his “games” with Jimin? Or when Jimin does something with Namjoon, that he does that in order to make Tae jealous? Because we know it’s all planned and done on purpose for fans and there is no space or reason for anyone to do jealous or “use” another member for anything like what you suggested.

If there really were a reason for Jimin and Tae to want to make each other jealous or anything else, it wouldn’t happen in places where we see it, wouldn’t be happening on stage during a BTS concert since it would threaten their image. What happens on stage has no correlation with their private life, as in, that you don’t take your issues on stage.

Think about Burn The Stage and the conflict between Tae and Jin. Namjoon at the time wasn’t mad at Tae for bringing up the issue, he was merely mad because he’d done so just before going on stage, meaning that hurt feelings would go on stage with them and it could interfere with their performance and interactions. Knowing that, would Jimin and Tae do what you claim they did? No. If they interact and do things with JK on stage, none of it is meant as a way to “get at” another member or to create jealousy, it’s simply entertainment, fanservice, things meant to get a reaction out of the crowd. They are professionals. And such behavior has no space on a stage during a professional concert carried out by artists who are professions.

[monkberries]

They dealt with all of the above. Ringo was treated as a joke for pretty much everything, especially since this was the era of prog rock. His personal life was also tabloid fodder. George was derided as being a dour spiritual nut who was out of touch. He along w/ Ringo didn't get the respect he deserved as a guitarist bc his style wasn't in at the time & people knew little about his role in The Beatles. All credit went to Lennon/McCartney. 1/2

John had the benefit of having the rebel genius image, but even he became a source of ridicule with all the stunts he pulled with Yoko and the way his career declined after Imagine. He wasn't deified to the degree he was in the 80s. I'm not trying to say Paul never had a hard time, but the way this fandom talks as if he is the only one who faced extreme criticism or disrespect just tells me they haven't looked much into the other Beatles' lives. The man is more admired than most musicians. 2/2

(IDK if this screenshotted anons were from the same person or not, but I’ll just answer them in this one since it’s all the same subject.)

Here’s what I think is valid, as I see it: Paul fans are upset by the way his music was treated by the music press, especially in the first few years of the 70s, while the music of the other three were generally given at least the benefit of the doubt. They’re not upset about the tabloid gossip, the purely personal stuff – they are upset, specifically and with good reason, at the way Paul’s music was treated and the way the music world’s personal dislike of him seeped into their music reviews. I’m gonna focus in on 1970 through the end of 1974, since this is where a lot of the complaints spawn from, and things start to shift in a big way in 74. You didn’t ask but contemporary writings about their early solo music is something I’m fascinated by anyway and you turned the wind-up toy key in my back, so. Off I go. This is gonna be so, so long.

At different points in the decade, all of them were subject to a sullying of their personal reputations. That is where I do agree with you: all of them were subjected to that by the press, to varying degrees, at varying times, and for various reasons for each of them. That is just what happens to public figures the longer they are public figures. Tabloids mess with everyone no matter how beloved they are. 

However, that’s not what I generally see Paul fans getting upset about. What I see is that they’re upset at the way the much more legitimate and widely respected music press approached Paul’s music and talent in general. It is widely received knowledge now that the critics treated Paul’s music differently than they did John’s and George’s and even Ringo’s; the trashing was not “equal.” They came at John and George with the assumption that their talent was real and ongoing outside of the Beatles, their genius unquestionable, their motives pure and well-intentioned and honest. Paul was not afforded these assumptions. Some examples to show what I mean, most of them found through wikipedia, rocksbackpages, or rollingstone.com.

John

Plastic Ono Band was Robert Christgau’s number one album of 1970 in The Village Voice. from Creem’s review: “John's record, of course, has been righteously raved over ever since its release, justifiably. It's interesting and even enlightening to see a man working out his trauma on black plastic but more than that, it's totally enthralling to see that Lennon has once again unified, to some degree, his life and his music into a truly whole statement.” From High Fidelity’s review: "a tremendously exciting listening experience, perhaps the best any Beatle has ever offered." In their Imagine review, Rolling Stone called POB “perfect.” A couple reviews in the mainstream were more mixed, put off a little by the rawness of it, but overall the rock world quickly grew to see this album as a work of genius.

Imagine was even more widely well-reviewed, despite a mixed review from Rolling Stone (John fell out with Jann Wenner around this time, curiously). Here’s a passage from rateyourmusic.com: “Imagine was actually one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year, aside from this tepid review in Rolling Stone. Indeed, much of the rock press seemed palpably relieved that the former Beatle hadn't gone completely off the deep end. ‘It's the best album of the year, and for me it's the best album he's done, with anything, or with anyone, at any time,’ Roy Hollingworth wrote in the 10/9/71 issue of Melody Maker. ‘The album is superb,’ Alan Smith agreed in the 9/11/71 issue of NME. ‘Beautiful. One step away from the chill of his recent total self-revelation, and yet a giant leap towards commerciality without compromise...I have no criticism at all.’”

Some Time in New York City was admittedly John’s nadir, and the press was vicious about it, both personally and musically, deeming the album egotistical, lacking in energy, and devoid of sincerity. However, many maintained a reverence for the genius that came before it and hopeful encouragement for the future. Rolling Stone said that “The Lennons should be commended for their daring;” Creem said it wasn’t half bad; and even though NME’s article was scathing, it ended with a plea for John to return to form, saying, “Don't rely on cant and rigidity. Don't alienate. Stimulate. You know, like you used to.”

Mind Games, though reviews were mixed, fared far better in comparison. Again, there is a hopeful tone to the reviews, a sureness that John can do better. From Rolling Stone talks about the music being a return to POB form, but the writing is his worst yet; however, Landau qualifies this by saying the lyrics aren’t “offensive, per se, just misguided... [John Lennon’s admirers] might even be able to withstand something more challenging” and then praises John’s voice, his production, and a few individual songs. In Melody Maker, Ray Coleman says, “if you warm to the rasping voice of Lennon and, like me, regard him as the true fulcrum of much of what came from his old group, then like any new Lennon album, it will be enjoyable and even important.” Christgau is more middling but also says, “Still, the single works, and let's hope he keeps right on stepping.”

Walls and Bridges seems confusing to reviewers in retrospect. They couldn’t seem to come to a consensus on it. The musicianship was widely praised, for the most part, though Rolling Stone criticized the first side on this front; reviewers alternately said it was “the latest chapter in John Lennon’s Identity Crisis” (Creem) and “truly a superb album by any standards” (Melody Maker). Throughout the Rolling Stone review, the author is able to thoroughly critique the songs, for better or worse, with a neutral affect and without resorting to insulting John personally. He ends the review on a positive note: “When one accepts one’s childhood, one’s parenthood and the impermanence which lies between, one can begin to slog along. When John slogs, he makes progress.” Again, even though the reviews aren’t all positive, we can see, especially and most importantly in the most influential rock magazine of the time, the acknowledgment of his talent, a sense of excitement for what John will do next, and a belief that his work is authentic and honest.

George

All Things Must Pass, I mean. Apart from a couple of outliers like Christgau in The Village Voice (he called it “overblown fatuity”), it was incredibly, almost universally beloved by the music press when it came out. There was quite a bit of surprise that such a talent had been under everyone’s noses all this time, but I don’t think anon is quite correct that all the credit for the Beatles went to Lennon/McCartney. For example, Ben Gerson in Rolling Stone recognized George’s talent within the Beatles like this: “Up until now, George has been perhaps the premier studio musician among rock band guitarists. From the electronic whine which began “I Feel Fine” to the break in “Hard Day’s Night” to the crazed, sitar-influenced burst on “Taxman,” George exhibited an avant-garde imagination and a technical flawlessness, as well as the ability to stay within the bounds of a song, which has remained unparalleled.” In Melody Maker, the feeling of journalists was summed up thusly: hearing the album was “the rock equivalent of the shock felt by pre-war moviegoers when Garbo first opened her mouth in a talkie: Garbo talks! – Harrison is free!" The personal nature and honesty of the lyrics were praised as well; Time described it as an “expressive, classically executed personal statement.” Ben Gerson did call his proselytizing offensive, but in the next sentence says that George redeems himself from that with the personal plea in Hear Me Lord.

Concert for Bangla Desh - again, some cynicism from Christgau in The Village Voice (must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day) and of course tax issues dogged it later, but overall, for the rock press at the time, this was a crowning achievement that George pulled off. He was praised all over the press, countercultural and mainstream, for his live musical talent, the group of musicians that joined him, the lack of political motivation, the sincerity and goodwill, and George’s ability to bring back  "a brief incandescent revival of all that was best about the Sixties" (Rolling Stone). To this day he is credited with creating the model for future charity concerts. 

Living in the Material World - Nothing could have topped the one-two punch of ATMP and the Concert for Bangla Desh, but honestly, LITMW came pretty close for some journalists. Rolling Stone again praised George’s honesty and authenticity: “ Despite the occasional use of “psychedelic puns,” Harrison’s lyrics are so guileless they convey an extraordinary sincerity that transcends questions of craftsmanship. Similarly, the devotions we are called upon to share with Harrison, though they communicate no specific, private torment, do have the authenticity of overheard prayers and are therefore sacred.” Melody Maker said, "Harrison has always struck me before as simply a writer of very classy pop songs; now he stands as something more than an entertainer. Now he's being honest." The pushback against his pious attitude and lyrics picked up some steam with this album, particularly with Christgau (again) and Tony Tyler of NME, who called it “so damn holy I could scream.” However, it was far from the consensus opinion at the time, and with the biggest rock magazine in the world at your back, you can withstand quite a bit.

Dark Horse, oof. That poor man. It did get some positivity in Billboard and Melody Maker, but my god, the reviews for this album and its subsequent tour were so cruel. I suspect when these anon(s) talk about the others being treated terribly by the press as well, this, along with John’s STINYC, is one of the examples they would give, and they’re not wrong about that. This was the point where George’s piety and what they perceived as a sanctimonious attitude finally started really getting to everyone, and the album plus the tour was the perfect opportunity to dogpile on him. I guess it was to be expected; no one can ride that high forever, and the press loves to knock people over and kick them while they’re down. Rolling Stone called it “disastrous,” “shoddy,” and called his guitar work “rudimentary,” eventually declaring that George had “never been a great artist.” This from the same magazine that was practically worshipping at his feet the year before. Yowch.

Ringo

Sentimental Journey - The less that’s said about this album, the better.

Beaucoups of Blues was actually quite well-received. No one called him a genius for it, and it wasn’t a serious personal record and therefore wasn’t treated that way, but journalists seemed uniquely able to let themselves enjoy this record despite the serious/political/personal tone of most musicians at the time. Melody Maker believed Ringo had  "conviction and charm" and that because of that, the album stripped away the serious “hip posturing” and let you just enjoy the music on its own terms. The Village Voice said that Ringo was “good at making himself felt.” Although Rolling Stone’s tone was a bit more cruel than other magazines (there was a crack somewhere in there that Ringo wasn’t as smart as John), it also called him lovable and the record “a real winner” where the songs “sound terrific.”

Ringo was a total smash and I think people forget this. It’s remembered only because it’s an album that was worked on by all four Beatles, but actually, the critics fuckin loved it. Ringo was praised in Rolling Stone for his unpretentiousness, sensibility, and essentially collaborative nature: “Ringo was always the figure of conciliation within the Beatles, undoubtedly the most genial, conceivably the most sensible, and the one with the smallest musical axe to grind. His very lapses bespoke the esteem in which the others held him; had they not liked him so much, those perfectionists would never have allowed him to sing. Perhaps because as the drummer he stood outside the process of creation, he had the best perspective from which to see the Beatles as a unity. Ringo has never had any pretense of self-sufficiency. Once he had gotten his special projects out of the way (projects for which John, Paul and George's talents would have been unsuited anyway) Ringo was ready to call upon the three most obvious people to assist him with writing, singing and playing. As Starr's first "pop album," Ringo signifies a homecoming, not just of family, but in musical style as well.”

Goodnight Vienna was kind of a minor album for Ringo, but still, reviews were pretty good. Rolling Stone praised his “unalloyed sincerity which is his trademark and trump card.” Yet again, we see the theme of authenticity popping up in these reviews - if you are perceived as authentic, honest, and sincere, that takes you a long way with music reviewers in this time period, and Ringo was nothing if not wholly, completely himself.

Paul

McCartney - One of the main complaints of Paul fans is that Jann Wenner forced Langdon Winner, the author of the review for this album in Rolling Stone, to rewrite his article and put a more negative spin on it. The result is that Winner praised most of the music but totally undermined his own praise by questioning the authenticity of the tone and deriding the press release that came with the album as much as he praised the music. He ends the article like this: “I like McCartney very much. But I remember that the people of Troy also liked that wooden horse they wheeled through their gates until they discovered that it was hollow inside and full of hostile warriors.” This was a huge blow at a time when personal authenticity and substance were considered paramount. Melody Maker also questioned the legitimacy of his genius, saying “With this record, [McCartney's] debt to George Martin becomes increasingly clear.” Most other reviews weren’t any better.

Ram, I mean, Jesus Christ the reviews for this. It’s a widely respected album now, even made the RS top 500 albums of all time list last year, but at the time people were still so angry with Paul for supposedly breaking up the Beatles that they were still taking it out on his music a year later (imo). Landau in Rolling Stone called it “emotionally vacuous” and said it lacked conviction, saying also that it was “so incredibly inconsequential and so monumentally irrelevant you can’t even [hate it]; it is difficult to concentrate on, let alone dislike or even hate.” NME called it “the worst thing Paul McCartney has ever done.” Threaded through these reviews is a belief that the songs are devoid of meaning and that Paul’s happy domestic front is just a frustrating lie; Christgau in The Village Voice said he was “infuriated by the McCartneys' modern young-marrieds image” - infuriated because he clearly doesn’t believe it, rendering Paul dishonest and his music inauthentic. Once again journalists are unable to review Paul’s music without sniping about him as a person.

Wild Life - Though the situation remains largely the same - reviewers refuse to take him seriously, believe anything he says, or treat his musical talent as anything but vacuous fluff - the reviews aren’t quite as bad as they were for Ram and a bit of positivity begins to stir. It’s evident especially in the Rolling Stone review, where Mendelsohn wonders if Paul is making crappy fluff on purpose to piss John off because it will sell just as well anyway. It’s not much, and on top of the fairly strong criticism there is almost no hope for future Paul releases: “My own conviction is that we'd be foolish to expect anything much more earth-shaking than Wild Life out of McCartney for a good long while... In the meantime the reader is advised to either develop a fondness for vacuous but unpretentious pop music or look elsewhere for musical pleasure.” But it’s something.

Red Rose Speedway Paul continues to be lambasted by a lot of the press on this album for being lightweight and having no meaning behind his songs (at this point it’s just repetitive to quote the articles, just trust me that they say basically the same thing they were saying for the past three albums too), BUT I think a nuance that gets forgotten in all of this is that Rolling Stone gave it kind of a decent review. It seems like they finally quit gatekeeping and realized that songs don’t need to have some deep personal meaning to be good. Kaye is still not very nice about Paul’s lyrics but he recognizes that he doesn’t have to take Paul’s music on the same terms as he takes John and George. Paul’s music is less personal, but that doesn’t make it unworthy. He calls it “pleasant, accessible without concentration” and praises Paul’s voice and arranging skills. It feels like for this album, Rolling Stone took the stick out of its own ass when it came to Paul and finally relaxed enough to receive Paul’s music on his terms rather than theirs. Which, imo, primed the rock world for...

Band on the Run, Paul’s comeback. Even though Christgau in The Village Voice remained unconvinced (he called it “a pleasant piece of hackwork”), almost everyone else adored it. It seems weird to us now, but the general sentiment seemed to be that people were surprised by how good this album was. NME said, “The ex-Beatle least likely to re-establish his credibility and lead the field has pulled it off with a positive master-stroke”; and although Landau’s review in Rolling Stone overflowed with praise, he also said, “I'm surprised I like Band on the Run so much more than McCartney's other solo albums because, superficially, it doesn't seem so different from them.” 

I hope I’ve been able to demonstrate a general trajectory with the musical reputation of each Beatle here. John starts off on two incredible high points, crashes and burns, and then works his way back up. He DEFINITELY missed with STINYC, but even when he followed it up with Mind Games, there was still a hopeful tone to the reviews, sort of like, “Ah, well, the last two weren’t great but we’re still looking forward to what John will give us next.” Until the Dark Horse tour/album, which did sour the press on poor George, the music press adored him. It was hit after hit with him. He could not miss. Three high points, one after the other, then a monumental crash. Ringo seems to stay fairly high, even if the records aren’t serious records. All three of them start out incredibly well, and the music press was able and willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Paul was given none of that. Perhaps because he was out of step with the attitudes about music at the time, perhaps because journalists hated him for breaking up the Beatles, perhaps because they believed John when he painted Paul as “establishment,” perhaps a combination - whatever their issue was, Paul was given no benefit of the doubt to start with, no faith in his genius, and no belief in his authenticity. He was just a hack to the music press for the first few years of the 70s; he started at the bottom and was forced to work his way up, unlike the other three. It started, imo, when Wenner forced the journalist who wrote the McCartney review in RS to rewrite the article, and it spiraled from there. He was seen as hollow and uncool, as one of the anons said, “straight” in the parlance of the time - straight meaning “establishment.” This is kind of where I do start to roll my eyes a little bit at stans, when they get upset at people calling him “establishment” and trying to prove that actually he was so anti-establishment that people couldn’t handle it or whatever, without trying to understand what the word “anti-establishment” meant at the time. But there are also really substantive arguments you can make that say Paul’s music was not taken seriously because of a personal grudge against him.

I’m not saying that all of them didn’t have run-ins with the music press. I’m saying there is nuance here that I don’t think these anons are allowing for in the first few years of that decade. They came at George and John and Ringo with a positive, or at least neutral, slant most of the time. They came at Paul with a negative one. Case in point are the reviews of Band on the Run that were surprised at how good it was. That stuff gets people’s hackles up. The others didn’t have positive reviews rewritten to be more negative. The others didn’t have albums savaged that are now on the Rolling Stone top 500 albums of all time list. I do agree that John, at least, and George post Dark Horse, had a harder time with the music press than people generally remember or care to think about – deification is retroactive, I guess, and as Paul fans we should definitely recognize that Paul wasn’t the only one who went through a rough time with the press. But I do think Paul’s situation was made uniquely and unjustifiably difficult for those first few years.

I mean, at the same time, I cannot stress enough how much this did not affect his bottom line. Despite the horrible reviews, Ram still made a ton of money, McCartney made a ton of money, Band on the Run and Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway all made a ton of money. He had a fanbase, a huge one, that followed him loyally and faithfully through the early 70s as he was getting savaged by the press, and through the middle and late 70s when he was touring. At some point, you have to step back and go, wait. Why does any of this matter? This was 50 years ago. He was a multi-millionaire then and is a billionaire now. And you are right; whenever people over-generalize and try to make the case that Paul was always badly reviewed and the others were press darlings, I tend to get annoyed because they’re totally missing the actually interesting nuances of the situation (that can be easily found online! I found most of the music reviews through snippets on Wikipedia!) In conclusion, I guess my point is that both “Paul was vilified while everyone else wasn’t” and “everyone was equally vilified” paint the events of the early 70s with brushes that are too broad and miss the nuance that was evident in the way the press interacted with their music.

[thedisneychef]

Chocolate Peanut Butter Sandwiches

I picked a really bad week to be allergic to peanut butter. Ok, so I can't pick being allergic to peanut butter, but the truth of the statement still stands... This isn't a great week to have a peanut allergy in my house. It feels like everything I've made lately has peanuts or peanut butter in it. An even bigger bummer as everything I've made looks utterly fantastic. The recipe today is a total throwback. While it's something that's still around occasionally in Disneyland, it used to be one of Disney World's signature treats at the Main Street Bakery and Starring Rolls at the former MGM and has since been retired. I have heard that you can rarely find them around in the fall, especially around Halloween, but despite their cult status as a treat that rivals Mickey ice cream and rice treats, it hasn't been found reliably around WDW in about 10 years and Disneyland started phasing them out about 5 years ago. However, there was a time where these little sandwiches were the go-to treat. Creamy, chocolaty, and kept cold (even frozen!), they were like a peanut butter ice cream sandwich and a slice of heaven on a hot summer day. Their taste, retro feel, and former "must have" designation has elevated them almost to mythic cult status with Disney snackers... So much so that when they were brought back for 3 days (that's right, they were randomly available for 3 days), I saw Twitter forwards like you wouldn't believe when they'd been spotted and people giving running updates as to their availability.  Honestly, it was crazy.  I've never seen a snack inspire such frenzy in people. As a result of what I think is the most viral Disney Twitter explosion not involving the new Fantasyland that I know I'd ever seen, I reached out to one of my connections to get some more info about this treat. What I came back with was the recipe, direct from one of the folks who used to actually make it back in the mid 90s. According to him, the snack was good and enjoyed by many, but people complained that it'd melt too quickly and was way, way too messy to really enjoy. Then, as luck would have it, at the place on property where this treat was exclusively available at the time (which I'm not going to name because I don't want to get anybody in trouble for sharing the story with me...), in one of their displays that is refrigerated, they had some extra space and they decided to slide a few of these bad boys in the refrigerated case. From there, the iconic chocolate peanut butter sandwich as it was known was born and became a sensation, eventually becoming available at several places throughout Disney. Nobody really knows why these were phased out... They were time consuming to make and difficult to store, but more importantly they were served in conjunction with a sponsorship with a peanut butter company that has long since expired which may have been the nail in the coffin to this delicious treat. I'd have to agree that, while making these is easy, it certainly is time consuming and requires a lot of space, both on the counter and in the fridge. If you've got both of those issues worked out, then you've got a hit on your hands with this recipe. I served this as is, making no real changes at all. The only thing is that I don't have the fancy-pants molds that they have at Disney, so I quite literally spooned the mixture on the cracker and then molded it with my hands to a square, level shape.  It's not messy or sticky, so I really didn't mind getting hands-on with the peanut butter mixture. I'll also say that I went with a combination of chocolates... I did half of the bars with milk chocolate and a dark chocolate drizzle, the other half dark chocolate with dark chocolate (tempered with whipped cream) drizzle. Honestly, I hate working with milk chocolate because it's such a pain, so for those who don't do a lot of chocolate work, I'd suggest going with a dark or bittersweet and then adding whipped cream to reach a taste that you'd enjoy. But if you're more confident working with milk chocolate without burning it or having it seize, then go for it. Quality of chocolate really matters for this recipe, perhaps more then any other chocolate recipe I've used in awhile. Don't go cheap or you'll regret it. In fact, Disney has a contract with a certain chocolate company that they use for their chocolate work, a company that also has a store in Downtown Disney... Again, can't say the name here because this recipe isn't featured at their establishment, but I have made some marvelous cookies for this blog that come from the same spot if you need a hint... Anyway, they're expensive, but for sure the best way to go if you can find them in your grocery store. ~~~~  °o°  ~~~~ Read the full article