#I also could not get the original quote I wanted to post properly

[maybethistimemegz]

Criminal Minds - One Quote per Episode ↳ s04e11 - Normal

[nofomogirl]

Good Omen's problem with having two canons

They're fundamentally different. That's the problem. That's my point.

For quite a while I focused almost exclusively on the new season of Good Omens, but now I am slowly delving into analysis that takes the entire show into account, and I've encountered a little obstacle. Namely, things from S1 can be really tricky to interpret.

Fair warning: this post is going to zig-zag between various points but I want you to trust me and take this scenic route with me. It will take us somewhere eventually, I promise.

The Arrangement

It's one of the core elements in the Good Omens universe and at the same time a perfect example of the issue I want to discuss. So let's have a closer look together.

In the book, the Arrangement is presented to us in two passages:

the first one, where it is first - very briefly - mentioned:

Aziraphale had tried to explain [free will] to him once. The whole point, he'd said - this was somewhere around 1020, when they'd first reached their little Arrangement - the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be.

and the second one, where it is properly introduced and explained:

The Arrangement was very simple, so simple in fact, that it didn't really deserve the capital letter, which it had got for simply being in existence for so long. It was the sort of sensible arrangement that many isolated agents, working in awkward conditions a long way from their superiors, reach with their opposite number when they realize they have more in common with their immediate opponents than their remote allies. It meant a tacit non-interference in certain of each other's activities. It made certain that while neither really won, also neither really lost, and both were able to demonstrate to their masters the great strides they were making against a cunning and well-informed adversary. (...) And then, of course, it had seemed even natural that they should, as it were, hold the fort for one another whenever common sense dictated. Both were of angel stock, after all. If one was going to Hull for a quick temptation, it made sense to nip across the city and carry out a standard brief moment of divine ecstasy. It'd get done anyway, and being sensible about it gave everyone more free time and cut down on expenses.

In the show, the Arrangement is presented to us in two original scenes in the cold opening of S1E3:

(I am quoting most relevant dialogues only)

537 AD, Wessex:

C: So we're both working very hard in damp places and just canceling each other out? A: Well, you could put it like that. It is a bit damp. C: Be easier if we both stayed home. If we just send messages back to our head offices saying we'd done everything they'd asked for, wouldn't it? A: But that would be lying. C: Eh, possibly, but the end result would be the same. Cancel each other out. A: But my dear fellow... well, they'd check. Michael's a bit of a stickler. You don't want to get Gabriel upset with you. C: Oh, our lot have better things to do than verifying compliance reports from Earth. As long as they get paperwork they seem happy enough. As long as you're being seen doing something every now and again. A: No! Absolutely not! I am shocked that you would even imply such a thing. We're not having that conversation, not another word!

1601 AD, The Globe Theatre:

A: I have to be in Edinburgh at the end of the week. A couple of blessings to do. A minor miracle to perform. (...) C: I'm meant to be heading to Edinburgh too this week. Tempting a clan leader to steal some cattle. A: Doesn't sound like hard work. C: That's why I thought we should... Well, bit of a waste of effort, both of us going all the way to Scotland. A: You cannot actually be suggesting what I infer that you are implying. C: Which is? A: That just one of us goes to Edingburgh, does both. The blessing and the tempting. C: We've done it before. Dozens of times now. The Arrangement- A: Don't say that! C: Our respective offices don't actually care how things get done. They just want to know they can cross it off the list.

S2 doesn't actually reference the Arrangement. But it does reuse the dialogue about free will where the 1020 date is dropped. We will get back to it.

The challenge of adapting Good Omens

Good Omens shares a certain characteristic with all of Terry Pratchett's solo books I've read - it couldn't care less about "showing instead of telling". Which I love, just to be clear. A book is a written medium. It's made with words and one of words' major strengths is that you can use them to just tell things point blanc.

Good Omens does it a lot and it's fantastic.

Look at that second passage from the book I quoted earlier.

From just those few sentences we learn a lot about the relationships between:

Heaven and Hell (opponents and competition)

Aziraphale and Crowley (two individuals in the same position and in direct contact with each other)

Aziraphale/Crowley and Heaven/Hell (field agent and a remote HQ that are not in direct contact)

Aziraphale/Crowley and Earth (two individuals and a space they live in)

Heaven/Hell and Earth (a board where the game is played, only winning or losing matters, what actually happens on a board does not)

It's really an extra condensed worldbuilding gem sprinkled with humor, so it's no surprise it's become one of the most iconic passages from the book.

I mean, just browse through some interviews with David and Michael - especially the ones from 2019 - where they explain what Aziraphale and Crowley are about. You'll be hard-pressed to find any where they don't reference that specific paragraph, consciously or otherwise.

But it's only this neat on the pages of the book, where narration like this takes mere seconds to absorb. It's impossible to convey the same information in a visual medium with anywhere near the same efficiency.

The fact that the majority of Good Omens is like this was, in my opinion, a main challenge the adaptation faced. The book is very narration-heavy. It's full of fun facts about characters, side jokes, hilarious comments, etc. Some of that precious material was salvaged by introducing God as a narrator, but there was only so much of it you could squeeze into a TV show. The rest had to either be fit into dialogues or lost in translation from the written medium to the visual one.

Obviously, in the case of the Arrangement, it was the dialogues.

Book canon and show canon

We all know they're not the same. Neil Gaiman also pointed it out several times. But I think our mistake is that we still tend to think about them as complementary.

Look at the Arrangement again. The show canon seems to merely expand on the book canon. Add extra details and fill in the blanks. The Arrangement works the exact same way, except now we also know more about how it started.

If we compile what we know from the book with what we know from the show, we get a more detailed timeline:

Crowley first proposes the Arrangement in 537 (show).

The Arrangement starts in 1020 (book), ie. Aziraphale finally agrees to it (show - deduction); we don't know for sure if it's a "basic version" (not getting in each other's way), or a "full version" (doing each other's jobs) but we can assume it's the former.

In 1601 "full version" of the Arrangement is in place for some time (they've done it dozens of times) but Aziraphale still objects and needs convincing.

But read that description from a book once more.

Does it really fit into the version of events shown in the TV series?

The Arrangement in the book is something that just happened. A natural, and in a way inevitable result of Aziraphale and Crowley's circumstances. We are never told who came up with it first because it doesn't matter. Because it could have been either of them. Because after five millennia on Earth, they were both ready to do it. They were both of the same mind. For all we know it might have been an unspoken agreement all along!

But for the show, the creators had to come up with a good reason for the Arrangement to be discussed out loud. And what could be a more natural situation for someone to describe and explain an idea than trying to sell that idea to someone else?

For that practical reason - among many others, no doubt - the Arrangement is not only explicitly Crowley's idea, but an idea Aziraphale vehemently rejects at first. He needs to be convinced and even when he finally relents he's never entirely comfortable with it. He keeps objecting and it requires Crowley's constant effort for them to keep cooperating in any way.

The fact that Aziraphale is reluctant gives Crowley a perfect reason to keep convincing him ie. talk about the Arrangement. But the fact that he needs to explain and keep convincing Aziraphale means that Aziraphale is no longer a person who understands the same things and feels the same way.

That is a huge change.

Of course, you may say that what I've written about the Arrangement in the book is just my interpretation. It's true that technically there's nothing there that would contradict the events from the show in any way. The thing is, the events in the show aren't very compatible with the overall characterization of the ineffable duo in the book.

Evolution of Aziraphale and Crowley

You might have read that our leading pair was originally conceived as a single character that Neil and Terry eventually decided to split into two separate individuals.

My reaction when I first learned about it was: "Of course they were! That makes so much sense!" Because honestly, as a person who watched the show first and then read the book, I was surprised at how few differences there were between the two in the original text. If you squint your eyes really tight, you can see how book!Aziraphale and book!Crowley are two versions of the same character. They're far more similar than their show versions.

Most importantly, their attitudes toward Heaven and Hell are pretty much identical. Perfectly mirrored in every regard. What Hell is for Crowley, Heaven is for Aziraphale. What Hell is for Aziraphale, Heaven is for Crowley. In. Every. Possible. Way.

Allow me to present some evidence from the book.

Exhibit #1: the end of the scene where Crowley convinces Aziraphale to interfere with Warlock's upbringing

'You're saying the child isn't evil of itself?' he said slowly. 'Potentially evil. Potentially good too, I suppose. Just this huge powerful potentiality, waiting to be shaped,' said Crowley. He shrugged. 'Anyway, why're we talking about this good and evil? They're just names for sides. We know that.' 'I suppose it's got to be worth a try,' said the angel. Crowley nodded encouragingly. 'Agreed?' said the demon, holding out his hand. The angel shook it, cautiously. 'It'll certainly be more interesting than saints,' he said. 'And it'll be for the child's own good, in the long run,' said Crowley. (...)

When Crowley first points out that good and evil are just names for sides, and then insists it's something they both know, Aziraphale doesn't react in any way. That's because these aren't things that book!Aziraphale disagrees with. He does indeed know it and doesn't deny it.

Also, please note just how cynical the angel is here with his comment that influencing the Antichrist would be a more interesting project than influencing saints!

Both would be rather OOC for show!Aziraphale.

Exhibit #2: the scene just after Warlock Dowling's birthday party, when it becomes evident he is not the Antichrist

'You said it was him!' moaned Aziraphale (...) 'It was him,' said Crowley. (...) 'Then someone else must be interfering.' 'There isn't anyone else! There's just us, right? Good and Evil. One side or the other.' He thumped the steering wheel. 'You'll be amazed at the kind of things they can do to you, down there,' he said. 'I imagine they're very similar to the sort of things they can do to you up there,' said Aziraphale. 'Come off it. Your lot get ineffable mercy,' said Crowley sourly. 'Yes? Did you ever visit Gomorrah?' 'Sure' said the demon. 'There was this great little tavern where you could get these terrific fermented date-palm cocktails with nutmeg and crushed lemongrass-' 'I meant afterwards.' 'Oh.'

Can you imagine this kind of exchange in the TV series? Can you imagine show!Aziraphale being this realistic about Heaven, and show!Crowley so naive about it? There's no way.

Show!Aziraphale genuinely believes that Heaven is good at its core.

Book!Aziraphale knows Heaven isn't any different than Hell and would punish him just as ruthlessly and unfairly as Hell would Crowley.

Show!Crowley understands both Heaven and Hell on a very deep level and is highly aware of their true nature.

Book!Crowley buys a piece of celestial propaganda about ineffable mercy and actually expects Heaven to be forgiving.

Let the magnitude of that difference sink.

Exhibit #3: same scene, a bit further

'So all we've got to do is find it,' said Crowley. 'Go through the hospital records.' The Bentley's engine coughed into life and the car leapt forward, forcing Aziraphale back into the seat. 'And then what?' he said. 'And then we find the child.' 'And then what?' The angel shut his eyes as the car crabbed around the corner. 'Don't know.' 'Good grief.' 'I suppose (...) your people wouldn't consider (...) giving me asylum?' 'I was going to ask you the same thing. (...)'

This is just a cherry on top, really.

Yes, in the book, when things go pear-shaped, both Aziraphale and Crowley consider seeking asylum on the opposite side.

Do you need more proof that book canon and show canon really aren't as compatible as they may seem?

Free will

As promised, let's get back to that dialogue because while it may not be obvious at first glance it really illustrates perfectly the problem arising from balancing between two canons.

Here is the full quote from the book:

Aziraphale had tried to explain [free will] to him once. The whole point, he'd said - this was somewhere around 1020, when they'd first reached their little Arrangement - the whole point was that when a human was good or bad it was because they wanted to be. Whereas people like Crowley and, of course, himself, were set in their ways right from the start. People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked. Crowley had thought about it for some time and, around about 1023, had said, Hang on, that only works, right, if you start everyone off equal, OK? You can't start someone off in a muddy shack in the middle of a war zone and expect them to do as well as someone born in a castle. Ah, Aziraphale had said, that's the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. Crowley had said, That's lunatic. No, said Aziraphale, it's ineffable.

And here, for comparison, is how it was reused in S2E3:

A: There is a stolen body in that barrel! This is wicked! C: Oh, I'm down with wicked! Anyway, is it wicked? She needed the money. A: That is irrelevant. Look, I am good. You, I'm afraid, are evil. But people get a choice. You know, they cannot be truly holy unless they also get the opportunity to be wicked. She is wicked. C: Yeah, that only works if you start everyone off equal. You can't start someone off like that and expect her to do as well as someone born in a castle. A: Ah, but no, no. That's the good bit. The lower you start, the more opportunities you have. So Elspeth here has all the opportunities because she's so poor. C: That's lunacy. A: No, that's ineffable.

I'll be honest with you - I didn't like that scene in the show. It felt jarring and off. Aziraphale was acting like it was his first day on Earth and it was frustrating to watch.

Then, on one of the rewatches, just as I was rolling my eyes at "that's ineffable", a bulb lit in my brain. That line didn't work there because it wasn't created to be there! In the book and in S1 "it's ineffable" was kind of Aziraphale's catchphrase but in S2 it only appears this once. More importantly, in the book and S1, the fact that the angel would say that was all a build-up to the scene when he threw it in Heaven's face at the Tadfield Airbase. Using that word in S2 was like trying to make a running joke that has already reached its destination run again.

And just like that one line the entire dialogue didn't fit because it wasn't meant to be there. It was created for an entirely different context.

What's the difference?

Firstly, book!husbands' conviction was very shallow and it wasn't uncommon for both of them to spout slogans without meaning them. Therefore, book!Aziraphale's words didn't carry that much weight. The very fact that the conversation took place at the same time they formed the Arrangement tells us something about how serious he was. But show!Aziraphale's relationship with his beliefs is different, so when he says things like that it's a much bigger deal.

Secondly, the book explicitly states that Aziraphale and Crowley only developed free will on Earth, due to extended exposure to mankind. The show never really makes a stand on the matter but based on what we've seen so far I think we can safely assume that angels and demons are capable of making their own choices as much as humans do.

In other words, in its original context, the conversation was just Aziraphale talking about a concept he didn't fully grasp, quoting propaganda he didn't fully subscribe to. He was being ignorant and mildly obnoxious in an endearing way.

But using the same dialogue verbatim in the Resurrectionist carried a completely different meaning. Aziraphale who utters it in the show has no reason to be so ignorant about free will. Aziraphale who utters it in the show genuinely tries to defend Heaven. Most importantly, Aziraphale who utters it in the show, doesn't just idly bicker with his friend about general things but is judging an actual human individual that's right in front of them. That, more than anything else, makes it sound heartless and ignorant.

What is the problem with having two canons, exactly?

It's time to wrap things up.

In the opening paragraphs, I've mentioned that I've noticed the issue while interpreting scenes from S1, and yes, that was the case and I do believe that the existence of two canons is especially problematic for S1. That's because pretty much every scene in S1 is potentially like that dialogue about free will in S2, except subtler and harder to spot.

A grand majority of what we see and hear in S1 comes directly from the book. But while words and actions were kept, in some instances things that gave them their original meaning might no longer be valid in the show universe. Sometimes they easily take new meaning, and we don't even notice. But sometimes there's this dissonance that's not as easy to work around.

S1 deviated from the book and created its own canon. But the difference didn't seem to go very deep and it seemed perfectly reasonable to use some trivia from the book to shed some extra light on the content of the show. I used to do it in my head, even though I was aware of the changes that were made.

But S2 expanded the show canon so far beyond what was in the book that I'm really not sure it makes sense to compile them anymore.

There are a lot of things that were only explicitly stated in the book that I keep clinging to. But perhaps it's time to let go...

Thank you for your patience.

I know all of the above isn't exactly a revolutionary discovery, but I needed to get it off my chest before writing anything else.

[hauntinglyhaunted]

Creepypasta Headcanons!

(Jeffery Woods, Eyeless Jack, Toby Rogers.)

Starting off with our crispy himself!

Jeffery Woods:

I actually believe he'd be moderately okay with self care (with the exception of showering, because he's gross 🧍)

Like, he def keeps different kinds of lotions to help hydrate his burn scars (I'm projecting ikik) and has a variety of different scents.

I actually think he doesn't have a strict preference for what kind of music he listens to, but tends to listen to heavy metal or older emo music.

Def listens to ICP. You can't change my mind.

I actually heavily headcanon him as someone that'll pick at his skin, specifically the skin on his fingers/hands. It's a bad habit that he has tried (and failed) to shake off.

Drinks monster/energy drinks like its WATER.

He's the type of guy to point at someone's concert shirt and ask them to name 3-5 songs

Eyeless Jack:

Out of any of the pastas, I believe he'd be the best when it comes to self care-- Considering the idea of him originally wanting to be a surgeon.

Carries hand sanitizer with him EVERYWHERE.

I believe he has a habit of over washing his hands and is constantly using hand sanitizer.

He has sensitive hearing from his heightened senses, so I believe he'd keep earplugs on him 24/7

Tried to prepare organs like someone would a sandwich, he regretted that.

The type of guy that doesn't pick up on humor. You quote something online around this guy and he'll just take it as you being dead serious.

Tried to eat human food so he could feel "normal" again, but it made him sick. Still tries it every now and then, but it can result in him just curled up on the floor. Think of how some people that are lactose intolerant will still eat dairy (you know who you are 🙄)

In some med schools, it's actually preferred to know a second language (that could also just be where I live, so 🚶) and I actually believe he knows bits of Spanish.

Parts of his life before the sacrifice is actually a major blur for him, it's like looking through a fog for him.

Hates the smell of mint.

I feel like he mainly uses echolocation. Or if he could "see" anything, it would probably be like seeing the temperature of something

Example:

Bro constantly cold. It could be the middle of July and he'd probably be LAYERED up. Long sleeves, hoodies, etc.

Toby Rodgers:

Chews. His fingers, the scar on his cheek, dead skin on his lips, he just chews.

Unironically wears socks and sandals

Due to high levels of stress, I like to think he'd have white steaks/patches in his hair. :]

Tried to give himself a piercing once, it didn't work out. It scarred.

Either Midwest emo or grunge, you can't change my mind!

Has listened to the front bottoms (father...) and the mountain goats.

Listens to Nirvana sometimes. 👏

Due to his trauma, he prefers to not drive or ride in the passenger seat. He either forces himself to sleep or zones out SOOOO hard.

Since he can't go get his hair cut professionally for obvious reasons, some of his hair is uneven since he doesn't know how to cut it properly.

Toby doesn't like sweetened coffee, he either drinks it black or eats instant coffee because "it works faster"

He regretted this.

Got my first ACTUAL post down! Hope you guys like it! Tried to keep it lighthearted since it's a starter. I take requests btw. :]

[missadacackle]

The Magic System

You can never have resources enough as fanfic writer and I really got curious as to how the magic system works in the Witching World. It seems all logical and plain, but here are some analysations I did regarding how I think, based of the series, the magic system works.

(this will be a long post)

Source and Origins

There is little known about the sources and origins of the craft. However there are a few things we do know: 

Witches work with the fundamental forces of nature (As I quote Ada in s1 e1)

Every magical place, like schools and assumably the council too has a foundings stone 

Founding stone gives said place the ability for magic to work like it should be, it’s unknown what exactly the founding stone does, whether it keeps the protective spells in place or make sure that said place is hidden from non-magical sights

However, it is known that without the Founding Stone, the magic does not work properly and the place to which it belongs will freeze. Unknown if the freezing only happens when the founding stone dies, or also when it’s removed from the properties of the magical place

Every magical family has its own founding stone, though this we call a grounding stone

Every witch family has one and the stone is passed down per generation of witches 

A grounding stone does not have its own power, it needs elemental sources, and energy from outside, e.g. the energy from a comet 

A grounding stone only has use when a witch loses her magic (see The Craft and Control)

A witch’ powers increase every year (As I quote Hecate in s1 e12)

────────⊰❖⊱────────

Rules and Hazards

Government: The Magical council Lawbook: The Witches’ Code Ruler: The Great Wizard or Grand High Witch

So the craft has a civil law system. 

Lawbook: What we know of The Witches code is that it’s divided in sections, which are on their turn divided in paragraphs, which again can be divided in clauses. How many sections there are is unknown. 

However, something that is known, is that the rules in the witches code can be quite outdated and are strict on certain subjects. E.g: inheritance of goods and Gender roles. The eldest daughter gets everything and wizards can use wands, and play wizardball, and witches focus more on chanting. Long not all witches agree with these strict limitations. 

There are witches who put themselves above the code. Free spirits. Free spirits are more loose with the code. They see the code more as guidelines than actual rules. These witches could be seen as hazards for the witching society. 

  Examples and known free spirits are Agatha Cackle, Miss Gullet and Miss Mould. 

Further hazards to witching society and the magical system are the non-magicals. This is the reason for witches to hide themselves and blend in among the ordinary people. It’s known that witches have had periods in which they openly performed magic in front of non-magicals, but after war(s). Mentioned in the series is the war between Great Wizard Guy Fawkes and King James VI of Scotland, they hid themselves from the non-magicals for their own safety. 

Authority The Witching society is ruled by A Great Wizard or Grand High Witch, which could be compared to a monarch or empress. The Great Wizard of Grand High Witch is head of the Magical council, but seems to have absolute power, as only they can change the code, whenever they want and wherever they want. Derived from the series they “are” the code. They also have supposedly twice as much power as any mere witch. As quoted, surprisingly from the great wizard, magic in the wrong hands can be dangerous. Seeing the title Great Wizard or Grand High Witch is usually passed down in the family (Further discussion, see The Craft and Control), this could also form a hazard. They wield a lot of power and if this does fall in the wrong hands the entire witching society could fall apart.

Notes: Worth mentioning is that spells like annihilation-spells seem not to be against the code, which are great damaging spells and could turn out to be life threatening. I’m not sure how the code covers this, but that seems a little irresponsible. 

Besides that a student being given a wishing star, the most powerful magical spell existing?? Of course as soon as they know about what it does a kid won’t care about whether their wish is against the code or not, they have an underdeveloped brain.

────────⊰❖⊱────────

The Craft and Control

Said earlier is that a witch’ powers grow every year as they become older. Quoted from the series the magic of witches is passed down from mother to daughter, and most of the time inheiritated. It’s unknown if for wizards the magic is passed down from father to son and so on. 

What’s also unknown is how the first witches got their magic. However It is known that every first witch of a witching family has received a grounding stone, like stated earlier. This grounding stone is also passed down from mother to daughter just like the magic. This makes me also assume that titles like Great Wizard are also passed down from parents to the eldest child (of the same gender).  

However s3 also shows us that the first witch of a long line of witches can come from non-magical parents. How things exactly work is a mystery, but it is said that if the belief in magic is strong enough, it will eventually give a certain generation the magical abilities. 

Witches start to learn to control their magic at the age of eleven at school. Whether there is pre-school for witches or the parents have to take the responsibility is another mystery yet to be solved. Though the series seems to imply it’s the parents' responsibility, as I quote Ethel: “Didn’t your mother teach you anything”

Magic can be lost and taken away. The part “taken away” is specifically mentioned to be section seven of the witches code, which is a duel between two witches and the loser has to forfeit their powers. Lost magic can be seen as a magical-burn out, in which a witch overworks her powers so badly that her magic just stops working all together. In this case you need a grounding stone to get your magic back. A witch can also willingly gift her magic. In this case it must really be her will and she must have physical contact with the witch she wishes to gift her magic to. 

Another option is willingly giving up her magic with a spell ending her witching hours. There is no reverse spell for this known, and even if so a non-magical being would not be able to cast that spell, so the consequences are irreversible. 

Then the craft in dept: 

There are two sorts of witchcraft known

Traditional Witchcraft, consisting of mainly spells based on potions

Modern Witchcraft, Consisting of verbal spellcasting without potions

The craft is taught in different subjects

Spell Science

Potions

History of Magic

Chanting

PE (including Flying lessons)

(and for the people wondering what the difference is between spell science and potions, because I myself wondered that for way too long: In potions class the girls learn the spells and how to brew the potions needed for spell casting, Spell science is the theory behind the spells)

────────⊰❖⊱────────

I think for now that's all I have to say about it. I hate that there is not much known about the origins of the crafts and that we have to guess a lot. This is as close as I could get and if I forgot anything feel free to add to it.

[sophfandoms53]

Okay time to get sappy a week after the finale LMAOO

As always, The Tag is my favorite part of the season and if we get good feeds along with it? A feast. And a majority of this season was like that, and I shall highlight some of my favorite memories from throughout the season and the tag that I will always be thinking about in years to come

- This is the funniest one for me, but us being locked out of the tag during reilly’s eviction and how we discovered that just minutes before the episode started, but that didn’t stop us from live blogging anyway LMAOO.

- And then they had the AUDACITY to announce the pressure cooker was finally coming back the following week and we couldn’t even properly celebrate together so we were all just screaming into the void😭 (or the nether region lol)

- That random vegan person who dropped the season bc Felicia asked for real butter lmao??

- Omg that chipmunk account we all thought was ohthecleverness and y’all called it the squeakuel and i think this person vanished from the tag

- GOING BACK TO THE PRESSURE COOKER, THE FEEDS THAT NIGHT??? Immaculate.

- It was magic to watch that in real time with each other. The shock we were in that the hgs broke an hour and then come to find out they almost broke the original record by mere MINUTES.

- The panic every time someone we liked dropped. The collective “CORY NO”’s live rent free to me.

- Us STRESSING so badly when Cameron wouldn’t let go and then America threw it to him😭 truly was magic tho

- Watching Cory go from someone the tag tolerated to being the IT boy of the season and the tag, iconic, that speech and debate boy had those hgs clawing walls

- Cory shutting down any misogynistic or problematic comment from anyone (the 21 turned 22 year old being the most responsible person this season should be studied)

- Corswhores that’s it LMAOO

- Cory suffering from the second juror curse

- America truly being one of us

- Cirie a queen to watch live

-omg that time Cirie said “I ain’t never played with people this stupid before.” SHE WAS AHEAD OF HER TIME

-Izzy deserved sm better from the edit, you could not escape this girl on the feeds

-The episode edits sucking for a vast majority of the season and for the houseguests (i swear i’ve never seen a season’s edit and its feeds be completely different from each other before how tf did that happen)

- Our collective hatred for the multiverse twist

- FUCKING BOWIE JANE

- Everything about Felicia really, the FBJ remix, her and Mr B (smooches), even tho she was pawned all summer watching her game was so fun

- HISAM ROBBED KING BUT HE SAVED US FROM THE REILLY CULT

- Us being split just like the house during the Izzy flip (we managed to stay more civil than twitter ever did, as we should)

- AND HOW COULD I FORGET THE JARED AND CORY FIGHT IN THE HAVE NOT ROOM???

- Two hours of Jared forcing everyone to go in circles, Cory reaching his limit, Jag coming in, Cirie coming in, Bowie just sitting there

-“Who the fuck is for real for real???”

- This exchange kills me everytime idk why

Cory: You also told me seven deadly sins was fake.

Jared: Who THE FUCK told you that???

Cory: YOU DID.

Jared: You wanna know why I told you that?

- Jared’s “YOU must’ve misunderstood.” about Matt, and then Cory’s immediate “WHOA, WHOA, NO.” Lives rent free

- “Jared, you have been yelling for forty minutes.”

- That gif of Cirie face palming as she listened to her son completely obliterate their games

- Cory’s face palm image

- This happening on a hot dog bed

- Mecole, America, and Blue all getting ready downstairs while this was transpiring upstairs LMAO

- I can literally quote and go on about this fight for hours, and im so mad i cant go back and watch the unedited version anymore (UPDATE SOMEONE UPLOADED IT ON YOUTUBE LETS GO)

- Y’all remember that assignment i did about this fight? Not only did i get a perfect score but i also got a bonus point and my prof wrote a note that i was so descriptive he wanted to watch LMAO

- The post season being less chaotic than the actual season is such a funny ending

-everyone joining cameo???

- And lastly, How did your game change for, I’m gonna say the better, when you joined the Mafia with Matt and I :D

Alright all of that highlighted, despite the chaos and the exhaustion of this 100 day season (BB gods never do this to us again oh my god) it’s been such a pleasure to open up the tag and read my morning newspaper the last three months LMAOO.

This has been the most active I’ve been in the tag thus far and with a season this all over place, it was a trip. But, truthfully, I’d do it again. You guys always make all the nonsense worth it because despite the different sides we’ve been on all season, we know this show is a train wreck and that our real enemy is always production 😭

Thank you guys again for such a lovely community these past few months, and we shall be back in few weeks tragically 🥲🫡💙

[squaloropera]

alright, I was originally gonna make this as a comic but I’m really busy so I can’t manage that. I swear, this is my last anti-fujoshi post and then we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled inane nonsense.

firstly, I’ve seen a lot of people saying that they dislike the term ‘fujoshi’ to describe these people because of its misogynistic origins. I find this to be reasonable, so I will be referring to them as maiali pervertiti instead. It’s Italian! Hope y’all like it xx That out of the way, let’s begin.

I have put real, genuine, actual research into this. I scoured maiali pervertiti blogs to find their arguments, their mindsets, their justifications. As far as I could find, there are four main arguments. These being the following: ‘It’s just fiction, not reality’, ‘Hating us is misogynistic’ ‘hating us is transphobic/homophobic’ and ‘hating us is racist’. I will be unpacking each of these, looking at them from both perspectives, and explaining why exactly they’re flawed perspectives. Hopefully, a properly researched and informed take on this will help to clear the waters.

Let’s start with the first take. The ever-quoted ‘it’s just fiction, not reality’. This is an argument you’ll find in a lot of places, mostly in any place which is in support of questionable things being treated as erotic. Pro ships and pro-shippers also love to tote this. Now, on its surface this argument seems logical. However it starts to fall apart when you think about it critically. When we consider how the brain works, you’ll see what I mean. To be concise, the human mind slowly accepts things the more it’s exposed to justifications for them, regardless of how reasonable those justifications are. It associates a bad thing with ‘but nevermind, it’s fine’ and you stop feeling shame or regret over time. This is why you’ll often see lolicons say downright atrocious things about child characters- they’ve justified it for so long that they don’t see a problem with it.

Now, on the ‘it doesn’t affect reality’ claim, let’s look at other groups for this. Think about how many studies have been done saying that men who watch rape porn are more likely to become rapists. Think of all the people raised on the ‘I can fix him’ mentality on tv growing up to get in bad relationships or romanticise abuse under the idea that they can make an abuser better by loving him. It’s no secret of society that, actually, fiction does affect reality. The most concise, albeit silly way I’ve heard it put was ‘But you’re still jacking off to it. It’s affecting your dick and balls’. And I think that sums it up.

Next, let’s look at the ‘If you hate us you’re misogynistic’ claim. The mentality behind this claim is that women in Japan were referred to as ‘rotten girl’ for liking yaoi and bl, and to continue that rhetoric of not liking them is the continuation of misogyny. Again, this is a take that seems logical right up until you pick it apart. First we have to understand that the reason these men were calling these women rotten was because they disapproved of them exploring their sexuality and reading erotic content at all. They don’t hate women for reading gay porn, they hate women for reading porn period. The gay people criticising maiali pervertiti on tumblr aren’t hating them for the same reason. We don’t hate you for reading porn, read all the porn you’d like, we just want you to stop fetishising us. The difference is in the context; the men who were shaming Japanese women were shaming them for exploring their sexualities, were shaming you for treating an entire minority of people like they’re a porn category and for spreading gross, abusive content of mlm because you think it’s hot. It’s also important to note that Japanese women mostly started reading yaoi and bl because of the culture toward female sexuality in Japan. They couldn’t read erotica of straight couples, or they’d be seen as perverts. They couldn’t read wlw erotica, or they’d be seen as lesbians and shamed. Their only option for exploring their sexuality became mlm erotica. You, Lindsey from California, do not share this same issue.

Next we have the ever-irritating ‘If you hate us, you’re a transphobe’ argument.

*deep, deep sigh*

stay with me, fellow trans achillians. We can get through this. This argument is based in the idea that transmascs, specifically mlm transmascs, might read yaoi to explore their genders through sexual content. Unfortunately, exploring your gender through erotica and having a fetish are two different things. I personally did explore my gender through gay sexual content. Mostly fanfiction and mental fantasy, but with the odd fanart or comic sprinkled in there for flavour. The difference is that I never had a fetish for it. Most maiali pervertiti seem to argue with a very subtle straw man by implying that reading mlm content is the same as reading the gross rape porn yaoi that ‘fujoshi’ spaces are steeped in. This is not the case- there is a clear divide. I personally consumed actual, healthy content of gay sex. To go further with this argument, I actually think it’s actively harmful to perpetuate the idea that young trans people struggling with their gender should be exploring it through the things that are spread in fujoshi spaces. I’ve read some pf this stuff mostly by accident or against my will and that shit should not be associated in a young trans person’s mind with their gender. It isn’t safe.

Next we have ‘it’s homophobic to hate us’ which is definitely. A take. The rhetoric here is that by hating on the fetishisation consumption of yaoi, you’re really just hating gay men.

this is just… can I drop the nuance voice here? It’s bullshit. It’s gross bullshit. Gross, steaming, cowpat bullshit. Okay, nuance voice back up, let’s explore. maiali pervertiti, please understand that it’s mostly gay people who don’t like you. This is, again, a straw man argument. They’re trying to yell homophobia so they can ignore the real criticisms. The problem isn’t the homosexuality, my dear sweet perverted little fucking weirdos, it’s the rape porn and incest and abuse. Just read normal fucking mlm content I’m begging you.

Finally, we have the ‘it’s racist to hate us’ argument. This is an example of what I like to call ‘the firemen diversion’. This name comes from an example where a person might take the statistic of their being higher fatality risk the more firemen walk into a burning building, and then using it as an argument to suggest that it’s dangerous to call the fire brigade if there’s a fire. There’s a tiny nugget of reasonable argument in there, but it’s backing up a complete and utter bullshit lie.

This is basically what this argument is. The idea here is that the term ‘fujoshi’ was originally a reclaimed slur, and that westerners are changing it to degrade women again and are therefore misunderstanding the actual language behind it.

Now, this is based in a little bit of truth. Westerners do, in all fairness, misunderstand the term. I can’t speak for the reclamation of the slur, considering how I don’t know if that’s true, but I do know that the way it’s used has been quite incorrect a lot of the time. That’s the true bit. The rest of the argument, however, is nonsensical. While yes, some people misunderstand the word ‘fujoshi’, it doesn’t mean that the criticism of the culture (especially the culture in the western world) is racist. Please, don’t cry racism when you see people asking not to be fetishised. You will end up making the actual movement against anti-Asian hate crimes (which have increased in recent years, need I remind you) look less credible. Once again, I am asking allies to shut the fuck up talking for the minorities they claim to represent while being batshit insane x

TL;DR: no, it is not misogynistic, racist, transphobic or homophobic when gay people tell you to stop fetishising us. Stop arguing straw men and just take accountability.

Also, maiali pervertiti are the female equivalent of straight men who watch lesbian porn. But somehow worse. That’s all, have a good day.

[age-of-moonknight]

Do you know comics where moon knight team up with strange? Or deadpool?

Or where he interact with magic marvel characters?

Oh, for sure! Moon Knight has teamed up with Doctor Strange a couple times, as well as with Doctor Voodoo and Clea. There's also the Damnation event which involved a whole slew of magic users and magic-adjacent characters, including Doctor Strange, Doctor Voodoo, and Wong. The event itself, however, is,,,,unfortunately (fair warning, the following is largely just my opinion) not the greatest in its portrayal of MK. It tends to use Mr. Knight as the comedic relief and the "comedy" boils down to "ohohoheehee I'm so unstable and can someone please recommend me a psychiatrist," which can be...abrasive if you're feeling charitable and I've seen others who were feeling decidedly less charitable describe it as a little offensive. Which is a shame, because at least in my eyes, the event has a great line up and could have been even better. I'll throw in the citations though for anyone who wants to check it out and form their own opinions.

MK's relationship with Deadpool is uuuuh unfortunately a bit more rocky. Moon Knight's goals rarely line up with Deadpool's in the 616 Universe, so MK doesn't "team up" with Wade so much as, as I said in this post (and I quote myself not to self-aggrandize, but because, well, I'm not particularly creative in my metaphors), use Wade like one of "those stress-relief squeeze toys." Moon Knight was greatly intrigued when he discovered Wade can't die and consequently uses that to his advantage. Outside of the 616 continuity, Mr. Knight is much more sympathetic to Wade in Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again, but gosh, I never feel great recommending that series without some degree of forewarning. While I genuinely enjoyed some moments, as you can probably guess from the title,,,,it has such a terribly sad ending that still kind of haunts me tbh. But I'll include that just in case you're curious! All of the associated citations are beneath the cut as this was starting to get a bit long (whoops mea culpa)

Doctor Strange

Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980), #36: A classic two hero team-up

Marc Spector: Moon Knight (vol. 1/1989), #44 and #46: Strange was pivotal in I guess what could be considered exorcising a demon out of Moon Knight

“The Empty Tomb,” Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood (Vol. 1/2022), #2: I'm not entirely sure if this is 616-compliant (and I kind of hope it isn't personally), but this is another case of Marc approaching Stephen for medical/mystical advice The following are instances I found of MK and Strange being on a larger team together but their interactions are comparatively minimal

Marvel Knights (Vol. 1/2000), #8

Original Sin (Vol. 1/2014), #4

Punisher (Vol. 13/2022), #9-12

(Special Note) The Avengers (Vol. 8/2018), #33: the infamous time Marc punched out Strange and stole the Eye of Agamotto, which Marc mentions he wishes he could properly apologize for in Death of Doctor Strange: Spider-Man (Vol. 1/2022), #1 and is pointedly brought up by Wong in Moon Knight (Vol. 9/2021), #9 (the Damnation event is also alluded to in that latter issue) Deadpool

Vengeance of the Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2009), #7-8: Their only major interaction, as far as I'm aware, but it's not a team-up unfortunately (mainly they just beat each other up)

Deadpool (Vol. 4/2008), #28-9: Some collaborative work together, but the most interaction they have is when Moon Knight needs very little prompting to snap Deadpool's neck (unfortunate all around)

Deadpool (vol. 4/2008), #49.1: the previous incident gets a one-page musical reprise (this is Deadpool we're talking about, so you know I'm not kidding hahaha)

Deadpool: Assassin (Vol. 1/2018), #4: They do manage to have a comparatively amicable one-panel interaction here though...

“So White. Yet, So Dark,” Moon Knight: Black, White & Blood (Vol. 1/2022), #1: ...but not amicable enough that Marc will lend Wade the Mr. Knight suit the next time they see each other

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe Again (Vol. 1/2017) #1-3

Doctor Voodoo

Moon Knight (Vol. 1/1980), #21: Classic team-up

Marc Spector: Moon Knight (vol. 1/1989), #6-7: Classic team-up

Black Panther (Vol. 3/1998), #20-22: Collaborated on a team together

Clea

Strange (Vol. 3/2022), #5: An absolute delight of a classic team-up

Doctor Strange (Vol. 6/2023), #2: Mr. Knight calls her and Stephen in on a case

Bonus: according to Strange (Vol. 3/2022), #9, after working together, Clea thinks Moon Knight is a "dear," much to Stephen's consternation.

Moon Knight did work with the Strange Academy kids in Strange Academy: Moon Knight (Vol. 1/2023), #1, but that ends on a bit of a cliffhanger (for MK at least) that never did quite get resolved, unless I missed something entirely.

The issues Moon Knight appears in for the Damnation event are as follows, in chronological order:

Doctor Strange: Damnation (Vol. 1/2018), #1-2

Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider (Vol. 1/2017), #15

Doctor Strange (Vol. 4/2015), #387

Doctor Strange: Damnation (Vol. 1/2018), #3

Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider (Vol. 1/2017), #16-17

Doctor Strange: Damnation (Vol. 1/2018), #4

And with that, I'll leave you with something that could have been and something I will never miss a chance to bring up: Greg Smallwood's Midnight Sons (I WEEP for roads not taken, let me tell you)

I hope there's something in here that is of interest to you! Happy reading!

[delicatebluebirdruins]

Ethan's Diary

February 6th, 2021 Mia and I had another fight. I accidentally mentioned what happened there three years ago and she blew up at me. We finally settled down in our new life in Europe and can bring Rose up properly. But... I still feel like a part of me is trapped in that hell hole back in Louisiana.

I know Mia doesn't like to talk about it, but can we really just forget everything and pretend it didn't happen? Shouldn't we face what happened there so we can live our lives with Rose without it hanging over our heads? We owe her that much at least... I know Mia knows this too. She wouldn't have exploded like that at the hospital if she didn't care.

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

emphasis mine: Mia feels a tremendous level of guilt for a) joining the connections b) starting with Evie at what ever point she did c) letting Evie get away whilst getting Alan away from when the incident took place d) trying to keep Ethan away but failing i have already said why the message wouldn't have fucking gone through and that is because storm and evie made her lose a door idk what to tell you e) Ethan gets hurt by her first of all under the influence of Evie

Mia in the bakers incident report (obligitory it should have been part of basic game and it should have had a moment of BSAA confirming they got all information about the connections she could give them) says she wants "to forget everything"

its normal to shy away from something painful, she spent 3 years in padded cell thinking of everything (when not in Evie La La Land). there is also a element of how her mold infection affected her after being treated by the BSAA. I got asked by @mushroomwithsomeink some time ago if Mia has abanonment issues and to an extent she does (the answer was not very good). Mia was part of a hive mind for years she knew where Jack was and was probably aware of everything else happening around her (all because of her not being able to convince Evie to stop or have the guts to break out the murder kit). The thought that the BSAA apparently let them live but without setting them up with therapists? (though the BSAA are the same people who let Chris still recovering from amnesia and binge drinking into the field- also plugging the fanfic catch me floating circles in fish bowl)

random thing as I was tying "forget everything" I had a thought about Riley Flynn from Midnight Mass (and ended up looking for quotes from the show and interesting ones will be under the read more- give them a look and see why i thought of Mia when i reread these)

Both Mia and Ethan have CPTSD I have no real thoughts what i shared is honestly explanation enough

from the NHS website

Complex PTSD - Post-traumatic stress disorder

You may have complex post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) if you have some of the symptoms of PTSD, and also have problems with managing your emotions and having relationships.

Symptoms of complex PTSD

The symptoms of complex PTSD are similar to symptoms of PTSD, but may also include:

feelings of worthlessness, shame and guilt

problems controlling your emotions

finding it hard to feel connected with other people

relationship problems, like having trouble keeping friends and partners

Causes of complex PTSD

Complex PTSD may be caused by experiencing recurring or long-term traumatic events, for example:

childhood abuse or neglect; domestic violence; sexual abuse

torture, sex trafficking, or slavery; war

You may also be more likely to develop complex PTSD if:

you experienced trauma at a young age

you were harmed by someone close to you who you trusted

you were unable to escape the trauma

treatment for PTSD and CPTSD is hard and when the other person your primary support is also dealing with it? that is even worse honestly there is a thing called secondary trauma

from mind: 'Secondary' means that although the original (primary) trauma happened to someone else, the impact it's having in your life is traumatic for you. It doesn't mean it's any less significant than any other kind of PTSD, or any easier to deal with. Our page for friends and family has some tips on looking after yourself.

both Mia and Ethan are dealing with the primary trauma from the baker estates and secondary trauma from each other

from PTSD UK

"Anyone who cares for a person living with PTSD can reduce the impact secondary trauma has on them if they carefully approach the situation. The first step is to learn the signs of secondary trauma:

– Emotional exhaustion – Increasingly negative perception of self – Depression – Anxiety – Difficulty eating or sleeping – Feelings of hopelessness"

ETA1 Speaking about it would be a way to make it all real again to acknowledge this horrible shit that Mia is partially responsible for (i know its not part of RE universe but the fic bruise won't heal the stain stays put from the numbers show is pretty much the thought i had with this addition for sure)

Riley: I don't know. That's kind of the whole thing. I don't know. I have no idea. I mean, in prison, it was easy. I had things to do, you know? Count the days. Count down the sentence. Eat, sleep, read. It's all pretty spelled out for you. Regimented. But here? Here I have nothing. What, am I going to get a job? Go to school? I have no money, no prospects. I just exist now. That's it. I have absolutely no purpose at all. I'm just sitting in my parents' house, breathing, and serving no purpose to anyone whatsoever. I'm just living. [long pause] And that's the worst part. Because I shouldn't be alive, Erin. So I don't know. What do I do here? I eat. Sleep. Shit. I don't know. Walk home now, eat dinner, wait out this fucking storm.

-i think the debrief and everything directly after might have been anywhere between six months and a year for Ethan and Mia

Riley: No, alcohol isn't good or bad. But the version of me that would come out when I had enough to drink, he was bad. He was selfish and careless and he ruined my life. There is a saboteur inside of me, and I always thought, you know, we'd work it out. We'd learn to live with each other, because he wouldn't really hurt me. Not me. I fed him, so he wouldn't hurt me. And then one morning I woke up and found out he killed someone. I had killed someone. So who's to blame there? I am to blame there. And God? He just kind of let it happen, didn't he? See, that's the part I cannot square. Because you're right, there is so much suffering in the world. So much. And then there's this higher power. This higher power who could erase all that pain, just wave his hand and make it all go away, but doesn't? No. No thank you. The worst part is that it lets all the rest of us off the hook. We can watch so many people just slip into these bottomless pits of awful and we can stand it. We can tolerate it because we say things like, "God works in mysterious ways." Like there's a plan? Like something good's going to come out of it? Nothing good came out of my drinking. Nothing good came out of me killing that poor girl. Nothing good came out of Joe Collie's drinking. And not a single good thing comes out of Leeza never being able to walk again. Nothing good came out of a metric ton of crude oil filling up the bay. And the only thing, the only fucking things that lets people stand by, watching all this suffering, doing nothing, doing fucking nothing, is the idea that suffering can be a gift from God. What a monstrous idea, Father.

"No Pain. No Memory, No Awareness That I Ever Was. That I Ever Hurt Someone."

eta 1 I mentioned their fics in this post so it makes sense in my head to plug them @screechthemighty @talistheintrovert

[whump-n-comfort]

🔪 this is a sideblog! if you see interactions from a blog called @halorocks1214 in your notifications, that's me :)

🩹 on that note, I go by Halo! I use she/her and he/him pronouns and am proudly aroace 💚💜

🔪 I'm one of those guys that has always been into whump as a kid—I REALLY enjoyed the kidnapping episodes in animated shows lol—but didn't have a name for that enjoyment until I got onto Tumblr and immediately felt at home with all y'all cool people 😎

🩹 as you may have seen by this blog's title and description, most of this blog's motif is sharing hurt/comfort content! I will be upfront and say that I project a loooot onto my faves, which is why I like to see them comforted so much (touch starvation is a bitch 😔) and in general prefer "soft whump" most of the time or explicit happy endings for the harder tropes i'm into

🔪 however, I still also enjoy whump because of its core foundation: being able to beat the shit out of your favorite character. sometimes, I will find something that does not have comfort in it that I want to share because it's simply too good not to! if all you're here for is that sweet sweet comfort, feel free to blacklist the tag #no comfort to avoid those sparse posts :)

🩹 outside of that, I tag art as #art and gifs as #gif as well as gifsets as #gifset when applicable; #whump trope for the posts that get more descriptive and #whump prompt for the posts that are more quotes/"fill in your characters here"-type interactions; #whump meme is self-explanatory and #whump community is for sharing love to all you lovely people out here browsing this corner of Tumblr; I occasionally tag #fave whumpee on characters that have stuck with me through the years (characters in the tag liable to change as time goes on); and of course, #~my stuff~ are the posts where I'm OP; #before whump was here is a cheeky tag I use for specific moments I remember feeling strong whumperflies for growing up but still had yet to learn about the term "whump" lmao

🔪 everything else is up in the air as tagging goes. I try my best to catch as many descriptors in a post as I can, but I'll admit some stuff could slip through. let me know if you think a post is missing something and I'll be sure to add proper tags 👍

🩹 my squicks are mainly things like pet whump, mind break, forced full-nudity, betrayal/broken trust between close characters (if it's because of a "twist villain" then that's fine), and heavy NSFW, so, for the most part, you won't see those on this blog, but my philosophy has always been that if it has comfort, I'm willing to give it a shot, so even if it's really rare, it could happen. remember to just let me know if I'm missing a tag!

🔪 my inbox is always open under the "💌 insert rambles here 💌" button if you ever wanna submit whumpy thoughts. I try to post everything I get, so feel free to hit me up! all answered asks regardless of what they contain will be tagged with #ramble tag

🩹 I will occasionally take requests in the form of "[A] replied to [B]" scenarios, sentence starters, or if you are feeling particularly nice, requests about my OCS! (questions and inquiries about them are always welcome regardless of request status) be sure to watch the "REQUEST:" blip in the description to see whenever they are open as I will switch "CLOSED" to "OPEN" to signify they are, and if they are open because of something like an ask game, I will convert the status into a link that will take you to the original game so you don't have to scroll through a bajillion things to get to it

🔪 as mentioned, this is 99% a SFW "soft" whump blog, but I still support my more NSFW and otherwise "dark" whumpers! I am a firm believer in that there is no "correct" way to enjoy whump. whatever your reason is that makes you enjoy it is valid and as long as you are properly tagging your content then keep on doing stuff that brings you joy :) we may not interact with each other all that often because of squicks or personal preferences, but just know that I will have your back and defend your right to write whatever you want ❤️‍🔥

🩹 I do believe those are all the topics I wanted to cover, so if you managed to make it this far, thanks for checking out my blog, and most importantly, the whump community in general! If you decide to stay, well, then hope you enjoy it to your fullest capabilities :D

[fantasticstrawberrydream-blog]

Okay so I'm a little late to the party and I don't think I've ever posted something here, but I saw the rwrb movie like five or six times since it's been released and I have things to say.

Might contain spoilers because I am unable to write a review that's completely spoiler free so be warned.

Okay so first of all, the book is one of my favorites and I was so hyped for the movie and the waiting nearly killed me but it was so worth it.

The movie did not disappoint me in any way, it was beautiful from start to finish.

Yes, they cut a lot of things from the books (June and Leo for example) and I feel like the thing with the emails could have been explained better, like who leaked them and how, but I feel like we all still know who did it.

The movie has a running time of exactly two hours (there is a little post credit scene so keep watching you guys!!) and I have to say that when I watched it for the first time, I was crying for one hour straight because the second half was heartwrenching.

Nick and Taylor totally understood the assignment, I couldn't imagine a better cast for our FirstPrince. The banter in the beginning was just so perfect, the cake scene was hilarious and I am so glad we get to see it on screen now. One of my favorite scenes is the one in the supply closet in the hospital where they properly talk for the first time and the friendship starts blooming.

The filmmakers visualized the texting between Henry and Alex in a very cool way, I won't say much because spoilers.

I kinda missed Alex's bi panic after Henry kissed him, in the book it was way funnier, but I understand that you can't include every little detail in a movie and it was a bit fast paced but still, it was perfect.

Matthew Michael López said they would not hesitate to show how two men have sex with each other, and even though you don't see very much (because it's no porn obviously) the scene when Alex and Henry first sleep together is both sexy and romantic, but not in a super erotic way (I don't know how to describe it it was just very beautifully made in my opinion.)

My most favorite scene in the book is the one where Alex storms into Kensington Palace to tell Henry that he loves him. Now in the movie it wasn't exactly like in the book, not so wild and chaotic, but they used a lot of the original quotes from the book and Nick and Taylor absolutely killed it. They were crying, I was crying, I think the whole world was crying and you could see that they were really feeling what their characters felt. It was just perfect.

The scene in the V&A was also perfect (I feel like I use that word a lot but honestly, the whole movie was perfection). They didn't dance to your song but to can't help falling in love with you instead, and in my opinion it fits so much better, I was a sobbing mess when they played that song, and Alex saying „History, huh? Bet we could make some“ out loud just completed the perfection of that scene.

When the emails got leaked the whole affair was a little cut short but you could still feel the hurt and devastation that Alex and Henry felt, and Alex's speech in the White House had me crying my eyes out. Same when the two of them talk to the King and there are hundreds of people infront of Buckingham Palace weaving pride flags, I don't think I've ever cried this much.

Election night was also a little cut short and I am realizing now that I kinda missed Liam too, he was a funny guy in the books, but the very end where they go to Alex's childhood home in Austin stayed true to the books.

This felt like writing an analysis for school, but I think I coverd everything I wanted to say.

That movie is beautiful. Maybe very different from the book at times but beautiful nevertheless.

[wolfjackle]

I managed to get in on the Oban Star Racers bluray drive. For those who don't know, Oban is a French-Japanese cartoon that aired in 2006. Beloved cult classic for those who remember it.

The creators of the show were the ones trying to remaster it because the DVDs were out of print, expensive, and hard to find. (I know. I had to trawl Ebay for affordable copies.)

I want to quote some parts of their posts from the kickstarter.

...it already took us three full years to locate, negotiate the rights, and then restore, recalibrate and resynchronize the 11 different dubs which will be featured on this Blu-ray release

I want to reiterate: the PRODUCTION studio struggled to track down official dubs. And even after doing so, they were unable to get the rights to the English opening song and the bluray only features the Japanese opening. (Which is absolutely lovely, but I have a fondness for the English opening because it's what I grew up with.)

Unfortunately, a number of these international masters had been so badly damaged with time that they became totally unusable (such as the Indian languages dubs of Episode 12), when they were not simply lost for good (such as episodes 14 to 26 of the Polish dub). Other dubs had also not been properly recorded from the start, which caused other issues. As a result, in a few languages the voices may sound a little deeper. But at least we were able to save and preserve 10 of these international versions - 11 if we count the Polish dub, which we will include in our release using a lower quality alternative sound source for the second part of the series. A few years more, or even months, and we may have lost much more...

Even after all that work, they couldn't save everything.

Actually, after digitizing the original HD video master tapes, we realized they too were badly damaged in places. Luckily, we had two different sets available and little by little were able to patch every shot that needed fixing.

Some examples of glitched or damaged footage that had to be repaired:

Here's a link to the (closed) kickstarter where I got the above quotes and images. There's more info in updates, but I feel like the above is a good summary.

I was shocked when I read the above. How can the production company have to spend so much time to track down and get rights to their own media? How could dubs be lost and the original high def footage be damaged so badly?

And what happens to all the movies and shows with creators who don't or cant spend the time, money, and effort on restoring their work? It is impossible for a group of fans to do what Sav! did to restore Oban. And I'm so, so lucky it happened to a show I'm a fan of.

But had it not happened? This would be another piece of lost media out there with no option but piracy.

People with most mainstream tastes imaginable should not open their mouth on how anti piracy they are btw. Yea no shit you can depend on legal sources to watch Marvel and listen to tswift and Maroon 5. Thank you so much for signing the petition to close that platform that was the only one i could download this 2008 romanian dungeon synth ep from

[illithilit]

These aren't going on separate posts bc I'm lazy but. The romance headcanons I mentioned doing!

Orianna

Has technically """dated""" plenty of people, but you'll notice the quotes; is it really dating if you're smitten kitten and she's draining you dry of resources or the will to hang onto the souls of yourself and or those you love....? Probably not. The singular person she's dated that she felt anything for was someone who ironically had the aforementioned situation in reverse -- bc yanno, when you're the token backup son of a devout Lolthite noble house, you'll do anything and everything you can to get ahead. Even if that means charming the woman who you figure out to be a devil demigod into granting you magic and planning on taking her divine spark for yourself. Let it be known, though, that she consumed his soul immediately following killing him, so technically he doesn't exist anymore. She still loves the Drowic culture tho

Succubus adjacent without actually being at all a succubus. ( Partially bc I had originally planned on making a succubus, and then the muse evolved. )

Thoroughly enjoys sex, and is equally comfortable with relationships that are built on nothing more than it.

It's not as if she dislikes polyamory in theory, but in practice, I think if she actually fell in love with someone again, she's going to be a bit obsessive about them and would get too jealous for it to be a good idea to have anyone else in the relationship. Bc I note: she could easily turn into the horrifyingly toxic ex / girlfriend if properly motivated. ( Read: this could be your vibe, specifically: "I will kill your friends and family to remind you of my love." )

That said, unless things go in that godawful direction, she's the sort to want to know every little detail about her person, and will remember them all with keen accuracy. ( Might not come across in writing, bc I am extremely disabled in this area whoops. ) Gift giving and service is definitely one of her love languages, and she will positively spoil her partner. So is physical touch tho; one must be willing to cuddle her.

Demiromantic af, but sexually attracted to anyone with enough intelligence. The whole gender thing has never and will never be a factor here.

Tends to quickly lose interest in people if they only express interest in her sexually. Whether this ends in her blowing them off, using them for her own gain, or throwing them out on their face largely depends on the context of the relationship. To be clear, this by no means implies that they need to be interested in her romantically, it's just that if she feels like sex is all you see in her, she tends to want to burn your world to the ground. ( Rafiki vc: look harder.... Throw in an appreciation of her cruelty, or maybe her intellect. That sort of thing. )

Blurg

The thing you have to understand with him is, he's not fit into hobgoblin society well before he was grown; he was that weird kid that the others of his village were either very cruel to or otherwise wouldn't have a thing to do with. Yeah, he grew up with close relationships to his parents and siblings, but like.... My point in this is, between that, and the traumas of growing up in a community ( including himself from a fairly young age ) that frequently participated in surface raids, you get used to death and the notion that no one's safe or permanent. So even after he escaped and put together his own life, he hasn't exactly been one to let anyone get particularly close to him and you can see it in the way that the others speak well of him, but with no real personal knowledge, and how he will tell you a whole lot about his background, but if you pay attention, it's actually p divorced from having anything to do about him specifically. Which is to say, he absolutely never let anyone get close enough to date them even if he's had a passing interest in them. ( It's also why I struggle to picture him in a relationship with anyone but Ome tbh, but that's got another tangent involved. )

Prefers to be pretty well bonded to a partner before he's willing to sleep with them, both bc in his mind, it's a bonding experience, and bc he needs to be comfortable enough with someone to be okay with be vulnerable with them. ( Both in a 'sex leaves you open' type ways and also, he's middle-aged and not sure what he's doing in this area. )

May possibly be comfortable with a poly relationship, but likely only in the circumstance that it's not just one person dating others, it's everyone dating each other, and he was comfortable with the other person well before this was suggested.

100/10 spouse material; he's thoughtful, willing to communicate and compromise, and loves cooking for his partner.

Can be sexually and or romantically attracted to any gender, but is highkey demi.

Mourndax

Definitely had a teen love before he was married to Xune, but it was a bridge he burned in the most scorched earth fashion he could before the wedding out of grief. He and Xune weren't exactly on good terms, but she at least attempted to treat him as a friend -- though her acting in public as if they were married is what seared the resentment and disdain into Mourndax's mind. Never let it be said that he took the bad situation or his hatred of Xune quietly, bc he definitely tried to kill her and their child before he left. And he'd try again too if he saw either of them again. ( No, I've never bothered actually naming his child; he doesn't even know the kid's gender let alone their name, and I am equally apathetic. )

Since coming to the surface, he's had flings here and there, but he's never actually properly dated anyone since he was a teen.

Probably wouldn't be into polyamory??? But I'm not a hundred percent sure here either

Can be v sweet, thoughtful, and protective as a partner, but also tends to not acknowledge that he is. He's v tough and you will not see otherwise, understand?? He bites >:T

Wholly and completely gay in each and every way

Grazilaxx

You look at a mind flayer, and most people's assumption is look at the virgin. Except Graz is not. Graz has spent a lot of time among humanoids, and as such allowed them to mold curiosity into experience. Mind you, its exes do rather read like a grocery list of things is doesn't like in partners ( it likes the decisive, confident, communicative sorts tyvm, everyone else fuck off ) but that's distinctly bc it's figured out what it does and doesn't like through experience bc its younger self had a hard time conceptualizing such things and thus gave most that asked a chance.

A lot of its previous relationships ended bc it tends to be a p intense person that doesn't have much interest in carving out pieces of itself to make room for anyone else. It's not internalized this as something wrong with it so much as an acceptance that it's not everyone's cup of tea. If it's close enough to someone, however, this will translate into it getting cagey about pieces of itself being visible, bc it half expects the pattern to keep repeating. Doesn't mean, though, that it actively masks who it is; it just may not be super open about itself or else side step particularly personal things.

Surprisingly sappy and sentimental when in love, and likes to spend time by existing in the same room together. May not understand your hobbies, but will support them all the same. You might even find little gifts relating to them among your things you don't remember buying.

Not concerned with anyone's gender; anyone may apply. I'm not..... I'm not sure how exactly to describe its orientations, but if it likes your vibes, it might be attracted to you.

May consider casual sex on a case by case basis bc it does actually enjoy it usually, but do be warned: Graz is a dom, and you're not going to get it into a submissive role without sufficient bonding and skill.

[jazz-vcd]

Final Reflection

Task 2 was a rollercoaster ride (it was a lot of fun, but I was also scared that I wouldn’t make it to the end). It was a big project, so I will break the reflection into parts.

First up was the collage for which I presented Neville Brody’s quote “typography is a hidden tool of manipulation in society.” I chose this quote partly because I believe it, partly because I love how seriously designers take themselves, and mostly because it sounds cool. I cut the quote down to just 5 words “a hidden tool of manipulation” as the full quote was too long and cluttered the page. I knew I would probably lean towards Postmodernism and grunge in my collage, so when a classmate brought a collection of old art magazines to cut up, I plundered accordingly. I was picky with my letters, collecting letters with a handmade/printed look that were similar sizes and colours. Initially I wanted to make a collage like a hidden objects game so that I could use details as features on different pages of the zine. I tried many iterations of the collage but ultimately felt the images I had weren’t cohesive, so I decided to cut back to only the fortune teller since he tied in nicely with the quote.  I followed Constructivist influences when creating the sunburst and positioning the words. Overall, I love the way the collage turned out, although it is off-centre which really frustrates me – in future I’ll be sure to measure things out properly before cutting them up or gluing them down.  

Collage evolution (#DesignIsAnIterativeProcess)

Next up was the monogram, which was the section I struggled with most. Silly as it sounds, I don’t like my name, so I wasn’t keen on investing time into portraying it. Still, I gave it a go- I do appreciate a good monogram (and it was mandatory). I found myself drawn to older monograms; those made by creatives who used traditional making techniques like printing or engraving to sign their works.  Our first monogram exercise tasked us with hand drawing 2 monograms inspired by 3 different font styles. 

Dodgy attempts at hand lettering

Of the styles I experimented with I wound up really liking the blackletter designs, so I sent it to Illustrator using the Adobe Capture app, where I edited it to improve the quality of the vector and position the letters more nicely together. I kept some of the texture of the original drawing to maintain the handmade feeling, but edited enough so it felt refined. My monogram was well made, but could have been more interesting – I really struggled to find ways to weave the letters J and T without it looking like a stick. I am interested in pushing myself on this front to improve my typography and hand lettering skills.

Brainstorming alternative monograms

Process of designing final monogram

Final monogram (in a container)

Finally, all the pieces came together for the zine. I got Covid right in the middle of this project so it was a little hectic for me. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed the making process and felt that it was a great creative exercise.  My font choices were Kiln Sans (sans-serif)- a textured font styled to look like a wood-block print; and P22 Typewriter (serif). Both of these fonts came from the Adobe Fonts library, and both emulated the handmade look that I love. I enjoyed playing with the layouts of the text and tried to develop a look that blended the geometry of Constructivism with the chaos of post-Modernism. That being said, after looking more carefully at the magazine spreads of Greiman and Carson, I could have done with a more careful use of grids in my layouts (particularly on pages 4 and 5). I enjoy learning the Adobe suite so most of the issues I faced during the creation process felt like learning opportunities – except for the problems that made me feel crazy... I'm looking at you printing set-up. It took me four tries to get all the pages printed in the right order, I had to add an extra collage in the middle to make the pages divisible by 4, then the pages printed unaligned. I cut them to size as best as I could, but realised that I definitely need some practice with using bleeds/slugs/etc to achieve the desired results.

(Bonus collage/mini-poster in centerfold!)

Final zine spread, cover to cover

This project (and class overall) has helped me to further develop my own art style, while encouraging me to see a project through to completion – something I really need to work on outside of uni. This process has also deepened my understanding of the history of design, giving context to and (I think) improving the overall quality of my work.

[princesscolumbia]

In my original household, the central rule was “Do whatever will keep you from getting hurt by the person with the most power.” From this we learned to make choices based solely on fear of consequences, no innate ethical system, so we learned to misbehave without getting caught. We learned that if you can force someone to do something they don’t want to, you’re allowed to, because that’s how rules are decided, the most powerful person always gets their way. We learned that asking questions of someone with power over you is dangerous and you have to figure everything out on your own. We learned to keep secrets about how badly we were hurt. There was no oppenness, no conversation, no negotiation or questions or teaching, just fear and hatred and a lot of pain.

Gonna piggy-back off this for a moment; You know all those evangelicals who push to get laws passed that make it illegal to be queer in public or abolish women's rights or end protections for minorities?

This. This quote is the reason.

See, it's super easy for someone who grows up questioning everything (and is encouraged to) to slip the restraints of an arbitrary set of rules and actually speculate on morality and ethics. Questioning everything leads to actual well reasoned conclusions that best serve all parties involved in anything.

But.

BUT...

It also means that you have to learn to question the authority of the people who you axiomatically trust as "good people." Through sheer statistical numbers, we can infer that 80-90% of "good people" actually are (or at least want to be) good people. And at some point early in their development, they were told that that person (imagine me pointing to the person with the most power) is The Goodest Person Because They Have The Most Power. Maybe they are (good people tend to gather power, but not in the ways you expect, but that's another post) but maybe they're not. The trap, the horrible, hellish, nightmare trap, is the person looking to the most powerful are sincerely wanting to Do Good, so they Follow Orders. If they Follow Orders and Do Everything Right, then they're automatically Doing Good.

Why, this is easy! I'm a Good Boy/Girl (and you know it's a binary) if I just don't think and follow orders! I'll just work within the rules and the rules are absolute and that means I'm automatically good!

And soon, this becomes a crutch. Then a dependency. Then they would be 100% traumatized if you try to even budge that structure and set of rules.

And then, the next horrible step, the part that moves this from "trauma response" to "generational abuse," they repeat the cycle with their children.

When the "good" "Christian" asks with a completely straight face and 100% unironically, "How is an atheist supposed to know right from wrong without God?" and the atheist legit has no answer because they can't understand the basis for the question, this is the divide. The "good" "Christian" cannot conceive of not being told what's good or bad, right or wrong unless the word is coming from a higher authority. And the atheist looks at the "higher authority" and sees an abusive bully (no, not God, but the person who put themselves between the believer and God) and cannot fathom how someone could espouse a doctrine of evil without being evil themselves...

It's nearly an impossible gap. To properly heal the person who's convinced they're doing the right thing while doing evil, you have to completely rip apart their entire world view, likely down to the most basic, childhood trauma level, and then slowly, without once even hinting at the behaviors they grew up around, and you have to do it in a comparative vacuum where nobody else can impact their healing.

And that's a level of pain that, if not consensual, lands you squarely in "evil" territory.

So the people who question everything have to treat the people who question nothing like toxic exes they still have to see at family reunions because That One Cousin swears they can "fix them." We'll be there, but fuck you, we're not talking to you and stay the HELL away from my kids!

a friend of mine is a science educator. not a classroom teacher - he does the kind of programs you see in museums, fun experiments with lasers and dry ice and shit.

yesterday, a young girl asked him why he was allowed to pour liquid nitrogen all over his own arm but he didn’t want her doing it. I braced myself for some dumb “well I’m an adult so I’m allowed” non-answer, but instead he surprised me by giving some of the best science (and life) advice I think you can give a young person:

“well, it’s one of those rules designed to keep you safe. and following the rules really can help you stay safe, but they’re not perfect. sometimes, usually because they’re too simple, the rules let you do things that aren’t safe, or don’t let you do things that are safe if you know how to do them. one of the reasons I’m good at what I do as a scientist is I try to understand how things work so I can figure out my own rules for keeping myself safe. and sometimes my rules are little more complicated than what I might hear from other people, but they work better for me. like, I let myself play with liquid nitrogen, but only in really specific ways that I’ve spent time practicing. you should follow the rules you’re given at first, but if you take the time to understand how things work, maybe you can make your own, better rules.”

I loved this response. it’s a great encapsulation of two really important things I think people need to learn and re-learn all the time: on the one hand, listen to genuine authority figures; when someone knows more than you about a subject, don’t treat their expertise as “just another opinion” and act like your ignorance is just as good as their knowledge. but on the other hand, don’t obey anything or anyone blindly. recognize that rules and systems and established ideas are never perfect. question things, educate yourself, question things more.

and then, of course, a parent had to butt in and spoil this wonderful lesson by saying:

“but not the rules mom comes up with!”

everyone in the room laughed. except me. I gave her a death glare I’m pretty sure she didn’t notice.

because no. no. your rules are not above reproach if you’re a parent. the thing about the dictates of genuine authority figures - people who deserve to have power, and to have their positions respected - is that they are open to question. genuine authority figures are accountable. governments can be petitioned and protested and recalled. doctors must respect patients’ right to a second opinion. journalists have jobs terminated and credentials revoked if they fail to meet standards of integrity and diligence. scientists, to bring us back full circle, spend their entire careers trying to disprove their own hypotheses! you know who insists on being treated as infallible? megalomaniacal dictators, that’s who. oh, and parents.

I’m beyond sick and tired of this “my house my rules, this family is not a democracy, I want my child to think critically and stand up for themselves except to me ha ha” bullshit. my friend gave this kid the kind of advice that doesn’t just help people become good scientists - if enough people adopt the mentality he put forth to that girl, that’s the kind of advice that helps societies value knowledge and resist totalitarianism. and her mother shut it down because, what, she didn’t want to deal with the inconvenience of having someone question her edicts about whose job it is to wash the dishes on Mondays?

we already know you’re more likely to be a Trump supporter if you’re an authoritarian parent - and that this is a stronger predictor of your views on the current president than age, religiosity, gender, or race. I’ll say this another way in case you didn’t catch the full meaning: people who believe in the absolute, unquestionable authority of parents are more than two and a half times as likely to support Trump as people who don’t, and that’s just among Republicans. we can’t afford to treat the oppressive treatment of children or the injustice of ageist power structures in our society as a sideshow issue any longer. the mentality that parents should be treated by their children as beyond reproach and above dispute is a social cancer that has metastasized into the man currently trying to destroy the foundations of democracy in this country.

in short: parents, get the hell over yourselves before you get us all killed. and kids, learn as much as you can, and then make your own rules.

[petunia-petals-please]

My Experience Working For Upwork

To Start Out

I would like to say that so far everything has been going really well for me on Upwork. I get an invitation for a job, I do the job and then move on. It has been extremely nice and easy to do. Quite frankly, I look forward to getting a job on Upwork. It fast, easy money if you ask me. Who wouldn’t want to do it? Most of the projects that I get so far are for voice recordings. I even got to do some recordings for the app Bixby.

And Then Today Happened.

I got invited to do a job for this guy who wanted 88 articles total to post on a social media account for his company. I agreed to do it even though I didn’t feel as though the pay equaled the work load. He was only offering 70$ for 88 articles which included 22 sub articles in each milestone. He wanted me to create sections for promotions, motivations, humorous, testimonials, trendy news articles, and an info graphic.

I Tried My Best

I did all of my research on the company. The company was a loans and credit building company with a partner affiliation. I have never done anything like this before. So, I asked a bunch of questions to make sure I was getting everything right. That should have been my first red flag. He asked why I wasn’t able to comprehend the task because I was asking so many questions. However, I continued anyways. I did the best that I could on the assignment. I made 2 testimonials, found a bunch of motivational quotes that related to loans and credit building, wrote several promotional offers that the company offered from my research, and even wrote a couple of clever jokes. In the original assignment that I submitted, he told me that my work was fine and that I was on the right track. However, upon submitting the final draft, he hated it all. He told me that none of my work related to anything he was asking for. Don’t even get me started on the news articles I found to relate to the topics as well. He told me that I clearly don’t know what a call to action was even though I copied his examples to the best of my ability. He insulted every bit of my work and then threatened to cancel the contract.

I was Flabbergasted by the man’s remark on my work. I have never had anyone tell me that I was such a failure before in my life. Well at least not the way that he did. He just kept tell me that I wasn’t understanding the concept and that he didn’t understand what I wasn’t getting about his instructions and that I didn’t know how to comprehend what he was telling me over and over and over again.

I just started doing Upwork, so i don’t really understand how the payouts work. Until now. I thought that I was going to be getting the full 70$ for just the one excerpt because that is the original contract that I had written up for him, not realizing that the new contract he made up and I accepted was a totally different contract. I originally asked for a payment for each milestone assuming that it was only one project. NOT a several week thing with 88 excerpts. But that was error on my part for not taking the time out to properly read the new contract and what all I had to do.

I went to the Upwork community to file a dispute because I didn’t feel that it was fair of him to be able to ask for yet another revision of the work after I had submitted several copies of the work I had already done. One of the support members that I spoke with told me that I should just cut my loses because it is a little amount of money. I do not think this is fair. It should not matter about the amount of money. It is the principle of the matter. Now that man has all of these copies of the work that I did and I cannot do anything about it. Nevertheless, the support member that I talked to about the situation had also recommended to me that I should start using res PNG files so that next time I submit to a job they are not able to just copy my work over and do whatever they want with it.

To Conclude,

If you are working for Upwork, make sure that you put yourself first. Make sure that you are covering all ends so that the person hiring you to do a job can’t just take advantage of you and steal all of your work like what just happened to me. It really sucks but now I know better for next time. Be careful with the jobs you take. Another person even recommend to me to just keep submitting the work until the client gets sick of it and cancels the job so that you can then file a dispute to get your money. Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter. KNOW YOUR WORTH

[cerastes]

This isn’t Yet Another Twitter Is Cringe post, I want to talk about it a little bit. Being a bit more active there as of late (’active’ being very much a stretch, I only retweet fanart and cosplay, and occasionally post “I love Specter/I love Dusk/I love Platinum”) the Atmosphere Of Posting there is a bit bizarre to me, the Kinds Of Posts you see.

Mind you, I am fully aware that I have an extremely specifically curated netspace here, where the only things I see are bizarre, absurdist posts, literary references, netlore, and crass humor (aka perfection for me), and I only follow friends or people that I have interacted with to certain degree, so I’m trying to let that not color my perspective too much, but where I am going with this is that the limited amount of characters you can put in any given tweet in addition to how visibility works in there, while you could argue fosters creativity and ability to synthetize your argument into something more concise (”if I had more time, I’d write you a shorter letter”), does also have many drawbacks, the ones I wish to focus on today being that the formatting of the website is a tad bizarre to navigate, since anything that does require a lot of words to properly convey or explain, needs to be broken into several smaller posts. This post, for instance, would be 3 and a bit of a fourth tweets long so far. It’d be Very Awkward. I think it’s very awkward.

That, and the fact that Twitter puts things on your timeline from people you don’t follow, based on how much interaction these tweets have plus how relevant they are to your posting, results in the heaviest, most popular tweets and users being people that post generic ‘prompts’: Since you have a limited wordcount and relevance is based on interaction, I see that a lot of “recommended” tweets are stuff like “Tell me what your OC feels about this following scenario/how they’d react” or “Do you enjoy playing [game]? What do you think could be improved about it?” or “Prove you watched this show by quoting it [screenshot of Courage the Cowardly Dog]”. 

End of the day, Big Numbers there mostly come from things where the onus is on the retweeter, rather than the creator of the tweet. That is, the content of the original post is very lean, but it lets people talk about whatever they want, in their own terms. This isn’t bad, per se, it’s just different, and not my preference.

Most recommendations I get are art, because 95% of the posts I interact with are art, but sometimes these other posts like “What character do you ship your Doctor self-insert with?” or “What would you change about the game?” come up, which I have no interest in and would rather get another piece of fanart instead.

I think that system could improve if you could hit the meatballs menu (the three dots button) and click on an option that says “I am not interested in this post” so the algorithm remembers and starts having reference for what to place there and what not to place there. Unless I’ve not seen it, the option does not exist, with the closest option being “Mute this User altogether” which is... A bit extreme for a single post I don’t hate, but would rather not bear with the style of going forward.

This is all just musing about “what if Twitter was my main platform”, which isn’t and hopefully won’t be the case, as my preference is the “you make your own timeline” dashboard system that Tumblr has adhered to (it’s best aspect to be honest! A very good aspect, at that!). I dislike posts being recommended to me from outside of my follow list at all (another thing I like Tumblr doing is that it recommends blogs; Twitter does recommend users but also posts) but if I had to necessarily deal with it, I’d like for there to be a system to directly tell the algorithm what posts I strictly don’t want to see.

In any case, due to the prompt-like nature of these posts, I think posts there are impersonal to a fault; I don’t think we should know everything about everyone, especially on the internet, but part of what makes banger posts, bangers, is that there’s a certain pizzazz to the original poster, the way they decided to convey what is likely a funny story or concept, in their own particular way. If you ask me if I’d rather be known as the Clown Ejaculation guy or the My Wife Is A Demon (affectionate) guy or, among some more recent people, the Lucina Blowjob guy, etc, or Someone That Makes Prompts, well, I’d take all of the former. I want to get to know more of the former, even, that’s where my favorite kind of blogs to follow originate from.

Different strokes for different folks, obviously, but yeah, the Atmosphere in Twitter is a lot less personal, more sterile, “plastic friendly”, even, whereas Tumblr, with all of its numerous flaws, at least has more personality, and we can tell each other to fucking die if we want to, without it being more than a 5 minute interaction that we then just move away from.