#I think I got an ask like this before and I've entertained this topic both times but

[quiet-admirer]

What's your thoughts on the average weight increasing? For me personally the end goal would be body neutrality but idk if it's weird but I wouldn't mind if the average person kept getting fatter. Even beyond kink I think it could have some positives like fat people actually being accommodated in places like restaurants since most people would be fat now.

In terms of kink, population health and weight is a turn-off to me. Disinteresting at best and upsetting at worst because it's a bit too close to the kind of real-life fatphobic messaging that I took to heart and contributed to my eating disorder as a kid. As someone in my 30s, I was a child when the "war on obesity" shit was starting, so it's a particular sore point that did not get converted into a fetish for me.

As far as reality, I think population health and weight as a "scientific" field is so severely tainted by moral panic, flawed data obtained from systemically fatphobic sources, and is fundamentally built on assumptions that have been thoroughly refuted by robust research for decades now as to render it... I don't know, unworthy of any serious intellectual consideration I guess I'd say.

That is to say, I spent about 45 seconds looking to fact-check the assumption that human body weight actually is still increasing on average according to what any recent research has to say about it, saw that it looks like it's still the same phrenology-level of bullshit it's always been, and closed the tab with an eye-roll. Even within that whole circle, scientists don't even agree on why they think body weight has been increasing.

But let's say it was all true and people are getting fatter: no I don't think it would lead to systemic change for the benefit of fat people in the timespan of a few decades, in my opinion I think the moral panic would only get worse. We are talking about a society that still performs bariatric surgeries and pushes diabetes medication that can cause gastroparesis as a fun and cool way to lose weight for people who have no health conditions but just happen to be fat.

[dapperhannah]

Feeling Human Again (part 1)

Chan x Reader

Chan's been too invested in working on music that he's neglected almost everything. You are over waiting for him to finish and take matters into your own hands. Until he takes them into his.

content warning (this chapter but probably the next one): sex, oral, dirty talk, subxdom, please dont ever read this chan or i will jump into the moon

Somehow it had never gotten easier on Chan's studio days. He warned you off the bat that he was almost completely unreachable.

"I really focus on those days, babe. I need you to know it's kinda like I drop off the face of the earth for 12 hours."

"I'll be fine! I'll just text Felix to give me attention. He's pretty good at keeping me entertained with goofy videos or coming over to play games."

But when deadlines would get closer and closer, almost everyday was a studio day. A week would go by with the only messages you'd get from Chan were a good morning and good night both at the wee hours of the night. You knew it was taking a toll on him when you could see the dark circles under his eyes during the few moments you would get with him.

Today was going to be different. Chan's good morning text came around 6AM as usual, with the same kissy face emoji. Great, you think, He's in the studio. Mission is a go.

Sneaking into the studio wasn't very hard. Hyunjin, Felix, Minho, and Jeongin were all practicing in the dance hall. They didn't even question when you came through anymore. It was pretty normal just to come hang out while they rehearsed. They hollered for you to come hang out, but you waved them off.

Passing by the gym, you saw Changbin deeply focused on weight lifting while Jisung very leisurely walked on the treadmill, eyes closed and mumbling the song he was singing. It was always such a treat to see how each of the kids spent their freetime. The album was still a few weeks away, but their managers had them on a short break to catch up on just feeling human.

Chan's studio was right around the corner now. There was nothing in the way of you and distracting your man to feel that human way. But, of course, there was Seungmin.

It was no surprise to see him wandering the halls, but to bump right into him caused both of you to jump.

"Minnie!"

"Y/N!"

You comically clutched at your invisible pearls, Seungmin pretending to cover himself up as though you'd caught him in the shower, both laughing up a storm.

"What are you doing?" Seungmin asked, his little puppy head cocked to the side, "I'm just about to join the guys for dance practice if you wanna join!"

"Thank you, Minnie, but I've got... other plans." You eyed the door to the recording studio, the windows blacked out and the "DO NOT DISTURB" sign plastered on the outside.

Seungmin nodded knowingly.

"He's been in there so much recently. Even though we still see him every night at the dorm, it's like he's not even there. I miss him."

"Me too. I'm going to try and get him to come back to reality - even just for a bit."

The sweet puppy boy nodded again, a goofy grin spread across his face, before he ran off down the hall. It was both sweet as well as heartbreaking that the guys missed him. Whenever you'd text back and forth with Felix, it would eventually go from stupid memes to talking about Chan. You both really loved and admired him so it wasn't very hard to get to the topic.

Turning the door handle quietly, you slid into the dark room. The front room that was usually lit up and comfy was filled with shadows. A glow was emitting from the soundboard and you could see the shape of your favorite Aussie. His headphones were on so you knew he couldn't hear you, but it still felt necessary to tiptoe.

Chan's eyes were closed, lost in whatever music he was listening to. His outfit was lazy comprised of the same hoodie and sweatshirt you'd seen him wearing the last time you two had a whole day of rest together. It took everything in you not to pull open the door and jump on him.

But that wouldn't be necessary when Chan's eyes flashed open and glanced your way. You were in the dark, there's no way he could see you... right?

"You don't have to hide, I know when the door opens and closes."

You felt like a deer in headlights. You'd never bugged him during his producing session. It felt like a sacred time for Chan and who were you to intrude on that.

"Y/N, please. Just come here."

You sheepishly entered the soundboard room, head hung down, looking like a guilty puppy who just ripped up the couch.

"Babe, I just missed y-"

Before you could even finish, your sweet love wrapped you up in a tight embrace. It was warm, needy. The touch of someone who was so starved for any sort of affection.

"Miss you too. I'm sorry."

Pulling out of the hug, you can see the tears well up in Chan's eyes. You felt them in your own as well, overwhelmed by his and your own emotions.

"Baby, Chan, please. Do not be sorry. You've been busy."

"I know, but I've been neglecting everything. It's amazing I at least eat a little bit and shower."

You run your hands through his hair, absorbing the serotonin that just came from the fluff on his head.

"You need to take more breaks - and not just for me. The guys miss you too."

He hung his head down the same way you had before. You took his face in your hands, turning to face you directly.

"And don't give me that pouty face anymore please. I'm here now."

Wiping the wetness trapped in the corner of his eyes, Chan's demeanor changed. Something took over him in that moment that was so out of pocket.

"You are here, huh?" He whispered with a smirk. His arms wrapped around you, where they slowly melingered from your back to your waist to your butt.

"Yes... Chan, what's up? You know we're here. At your studio. With your management and other memebers literally down the hall."

The mischevious look on his face only intensified as you spoke.

"Well, this is a soundproof room. And the doors lock."

[infernothechaosgod]

alright i've been foaming at the mouth bc of this, we all know our beloved michael has more apperance in comics like alot ALOT more and we get to know more abt him and his lore and other characters lore and such so i've been scrolling through comic titlecards with him and i found This

According to description its about mickey working on a case with his ex and it raising some brows with ppl

And I. NEED. TO. READ. IT

I looked into it if mickey has an ex of any sort long before and nothing came up ever zero news, I even made a character bc of it (bc I don't like it when characters first love is also the "true love" of theirs like Let em have some experience pls thats one of the reasons ppl take first break ups so so hard bc they think there never getting that "pure true" but thats a topic for another day)

Now since the ex in question isnt on the cover i speculate there might be some joke like "oh no we just call X activity his ex its an expression lmao" BUT with a fat B

Samatha (mickey's wife/ex-wife) is never mentioned anywhere despite teachnicly being one of his love intrests and I had to find out about her by reading the tanslation of a single comic shes in (that btw got banned you can read it at @ mickeymousemysterymagazine)

So there might be a chance theres accualy an ex of mickey in this comic and I wanna see her (and then I wanna compare her to pallea cuz she was oryginaly made with that intent)

Lisen i know its not a very beloved trope but I just really like seeing how diffrently each relationship played out and what could have been and an ex of a character often can tell you alot about the character themselfs also anytime theres an ex of some sort one of 2 things happens

1 drama

2 the ex is accualy chill

I like both okay, I vibe with both both are entertaining for my small chicken brain (unless it takes some weird turn)

I've been trying to get my hands on a pdf file or a online post or a screenshot or even an irl copy to buy but theres just nothing zero news man ABSOLUTE ZERO

So what im trying to ask is...anyone got a link or knows where to get a link from or anyone sells it?...anyone?

[sunwarmed-ash]

🔥Sinful Sunday🔥

love me or hate me, I just don't care

Chapter 3: feel the love, I don't feel enough, I don't like to be alone

Ship: Pre-slash Steddiegrove

Fandom: Stranger Things

Rating: Explicit- Violence, language, eventual smut

TW: Child abusive, homophobic language, violence Tags: Billy Hargrove centered, numb Billy, fighting, unhealthy ways of dealing with stress, the homoeroticism of Billy Hargrove and Steve Harrington, enemies to friends to lovers, pre slash, Eddie Munson & Billy Hargrove, tags to be added

Preview:

It’s a relatively boring Tuesday night at Family Video and Robin and Steve are just about out of topics to gossip about. That's never happened before, but honestly, it's been weeks since anything remotely interesting has happened. Since their fight and awkward apology, Billy’s been avoiding Steve like the plague. For a while it was nice. It gave Steve a chance to process their last interaction. But now that he has, the lack of resolution is it's driving him nuts. They need to talk about it. Their fights. Because, in all actuality, now that Steve’s ‘gotten his revenge’ in so many words, he realizes, embarrassingly, he didn't have much reason to hate Billy Hargrove. After that night, Billy’s attitude towards all of them shifted. It was like a completely different person was running his flesh suit now. Nothing like the proud, boisterous, asshole they all met back in October. A part of Steve hates to admit it, but he kinda misses fighting with Billy. Not the bash-each-others-teeth-in kind of fight, the normal, totally not homoerotic way Billy used to tease him. Steve hasn’t seen that Billy in months. He wonders what happened to him. 

That next moment, Eddie Munson comes flying through the front doors, eyes wild as he slaps the front counter with both palms. 

“You are not going to BELIEVE who I just saw!” Eddie shouts, and Steve doesn’t think he’s ever seen Eddie smile this big before.

“Why are you yelling? We’re right here,” Robin scolds, but Steve is interested. This is the most entertained he’s been all day. 

“Who?”

“Billy. Hargrove.” Eddie says, like the man had gone missing or something and not just rececedied into emotional unavailability. 

“Like you saw him and talked to him, or saw him from a distance?” Robin asks, not nearly as excited for this news as the boys were.

“Well…okay, I saw him through the window. But! He’s working at Melvalds. After school. That’s why we haven’t seen him around.”

“Melvalds?” Steve repeats, curious why hasn’t Joyce mentioned anything yet? Or Max? “Since when?”

“I don’t know but dude, he looks hot.” Eddie pants, waving a hand in front of his face like a fan. 

“What?” Steve laughs, face flushing red at the public mention of their shared, ever growing obsession with the blonde. 

“I've never seen him wear his hair in a ponytail before but, phew, its doing it for me Steve.”

“Just about anybody would do it for you,” Robin mutters and Eddie throws a challenging grin her way.  

“Says the girl who creamed herself when Chrissy got a new scrunchie.”

Robin flushed redder than Eddie’s nail polish before smacking his arm hard. 

“Shut the FUCK UP!”

Steve and Eddie both explosde into laughter at Robin's expense before Steve changes to more important matters. 

“Okay, so when are we going?”

[aihoshiino]

different anon! but i 100% upvote other anon's comment of you being the professor of hoshino-aiology 😎👍 your posts about her give me a newfound appreciation for her and imo you should be the one writing 15 year lie frfr 🤧👏✨️

and if you haven't written anything abt it, could you share your thoughts abt the spica ai chapter? i liked ai and saitou in it but i was shocked at how intense the b-komachi bullying was :0 poor ai 😢

THANK YOU ANON…….. god can you imagine what this manga would be like if i had been given that kind of creative control. you're going to read my 15 volume hoshino ai backstory flashback and you're going to love every single chapter of it!!!

When it comes to Spica, I have pretty mixed feelings on that first chapter. For transparency's sake, I broadly dislike the novel overall and I think it takes away from the relationships it depicts more than it adds. Like I mentioned in a previous ask, my issue with Spica (and its depiction of OnK's world and characters) is its tendency to flatten and simplify many of the interesting interpersonal wrinkles that characterize these central dynamics in the main story. This is much more evident in the GRSR chapters (as outlined in that post) but you can absolutely see it in Ai's chapter as well.

POST-WRITING CLAIRE EDIT: So while this post initially started as me broadly skimming some of the issues I had with chapter 1, it has ballooned into a much, MUCH longer essay about what it is about Spica that I disliked and why, broadly, I think it fails to work both as a standalone piece and as an addition to OnK as a canon. I'm pretty negative about the book in this post and very critical of the writing so if you really liked Spica and it would bum you out to see me take it apart, feel free to skip this post.

On the surface, Ai and Saitou's dynamic is pretty true to the main story and I will admit that I do enjoy their rapport in this chapter and just that we got a chapter focusing on this relationship full stop. Ai and Saitou's relationship is one I've always been particularly soft for and getting a whole chapter that was basically just exploring its early days was really nice. But it's also a very rose tinted view of that relationship in a way I think does it a bit of a disservice. I discussed this in my OnK anime rewatch but Spica's take on Saitou (and thus on his relationship with Ai) frames him as a wholly positive and supportive figure whose desires for money and success in the entertainment industry are explicitly, textually said to be secondary and unimportant to his uncomplicated kind desire to support them as they succeed. There's almost this sense of "wow, isn't it so noble and cool that saitou is kindly allowing these tweenage girls to work themselves ragged making money for his company!!!" that's a bit icky to read.

This is in line with the bizarre ways Spica portrays idol culture, in particular the 'oshi'/fan dynamic. This is another thing I've discussed before, so I'll borrow my previous words on the topic:

The Japanese text of [chapter 137] takes this dehumanization a step further: Rather than the wasei-eigo term アイドル (aidoru), when calling [Ai] an idol, Gotanda uses the word 偶像 (guzou) - an idol by its original definition. It goes beyond just reducing her to an animal - it’s objectification in the very literal sense. Ai is an idol, a ceremonial object of worship, an inanimate vessel for the dirty desires of the people around her. [...] Spica [...] depicts the moment that Ai starts down this road, committing herself to being an idol who will love and support everyone, even people who hate and scorn her. This is framed by the novel as being something of a breakthrough for her and being liberating for it but I came out of it feeling deeply unsettled in a way I don’t think the novel wanted me to be. [...] Spica depicts the moment that Ai goes from アイドル to 偶像 without seeming to realise that’s what it’s doing and thus does so in a way that is not just uncritical but wholly celebratory. In a lot of ways, this makes sense - Spica, broadly speaking, is about the “oshi” part of Oshi no Ko: the emotional fulfillment of not just receiving support but in the act of giving support yourself, in cheering someone on and seeing them succeed. Spica depicts these sorts of relationships in a straightforwardly and uncritically positive light, even in cases of parasocial relationships between fans and celebrities.

There was a lot on that topic that I left out just because that chapter review was already getting so fucking long and unhinged but Spica's entirely uncritical and celebratory view of idol culture in general always leaves me feeling deeply uncomfortable every time I engage with the text. There's a degree to which this can be excused, because Spica takes place in the POV of characters who have drunk the industry kool-aid and thus would not necessarily interpret some of this stuff with the same critical lens as a reader. A charitable interpretation of the material is that, like Viewpoint B and 45510, the story is choosing to refrain from commenting on these troubling elements for the purposes of allowing the reader to have their own take on it.

This would be nice… except it's just not how Spica handles emotional beats at all!

When talking about Spica in the past I have jokingly referred to it as being written like 'the emotional equivalent of the Superdictionary' and by that I mean that it has absolutely no restraint or subtlety when it wants you to Feel Something. When Spica has an emotional beat, it hammers it in until any organically resulting resonance with the material has been reduced to a fine paste. When it has Thoughts and Opinions about a topic, it will explain them to the reader in excruciating detail so there is no risk of the reader taking away anything that wasn't intended by the author.

My point is that there is every indication that Spica's straightforwardly celebratory portrayal of idol culture and the way fans respond to idols is something intended to be taken at face value with no further interrogation. Spica is, by and large, entirely uninterested in acknowledging the ugly underbelly of exploitation, dehumanization and misogyny that drives idol culture and idol fandom.

I think the best way to illustrate this is to look at the scene near the end of the chapter where Ai finally sits and reads her fan letters. The first two are genuinely warm and sweet but the third always jumps out at me in a way I don't think was intended by the author;

“Hello, Ai-chan. I'm a devoted listener to your streams. B-Komachi's songs and talk shows have honestly become my sanctuary. I'm currently stuck working to the bone at a terrible company. They hardly pay me anything, and every day I just want to die. But what keeps me going is knowing I have your streams to look forward to every week. I’m not even kidding. Ai-chan, you're my reason to live!"

The story does not for a second pause to linger on this letter but I want you to stop and really take it in. While we know nothing about this letter's author outside of what's written here, but given that they have a job they can be presumed to be an adult. In addition, the final line of the letter in Japanese is 『アイちゃんは俺の生きる希望！』, using the masculine first person pronoun 俺 (ore), implicitly gendering the writer as a man.

An adult man writes to Ai to traumadump on her uninvited about his suicidal ideation and telling her in no uncertain terms that she is the sole, singular reason he is alive. Ai is a twelve year old girl.

Spica frames this as an entirely good, wholesome and affirming moment for her. It's one of many similar moments where Spica's celebration of idol culture clashes so strongly with the main story's that trying to make them tonally cohere is almost impossible. In fact, mild tangent, but I was working with the Spica TL team on chapter 1 right around the time chapter 137 dropped, and reading the ending of this chapter back to back with 137's tearing down of Ai's exploitation at the hands of the idol industry was some real injury-worse-than-whiplash inducing shit.

To be clear, I don't need Oshi no Ko to have a huge UM ACKSHULLY THIS IS WHY THIS IS BAD!!!! digression every time characters have positive interactions with the concept of idols. It is fundamentally dishonest and lacking in nuance to portray idolhood as something entirely and unrelentingly negative or to act like idols hate every single second they spend as idols. Sarina and Gorou's POV chapters do a very good job of highlighting what I talked about earlier - Spica's ruminations on the 'oshi' part of Oshi no Ko and how a relationship of support can be emotionally fulfilling both for the person being supported and the person unreservedly providing it. But that's purely from a fan perspective and I think it would be really interesting to Spica to take the opportunity afforded to it by being in Ai's POV to properly interrogate what Ai enjoys about being an idol.

But the way it chooses to do so just feels atonal both with Ai's arc and relationship to idolhood as portrayed in the main story and ways the manga has talked about 'oshi' culture in chapters published before and after Spica's release. It clashes with Oshi no Ko in ways I find difficult to satisfyingly reconcile.

This sense of clashing with and contradicting Oshi no Ko is an issue Spica has more broadly, in big and small ways. Some of this is just small, incidental details but other issues are larger and added all together, it results in a sense that Spica was not written by a person fully keyed into Oshi no Ko's world and characters. Like, just off the top of my head, here's some things that stuck out to me just from chapter 1:

Ai notes that she was separated from her mother a long time prior to the story's timeframe but given the ages give for her in 131 and here in Spica, it cannot be more than three years max since she was removed from Ayumi's care.

B-Komachi's formation and Ai's joining the group are both said to have happened 'three months ago' as of chapter 1's timeframe and thus to have happened more or less at the same time. This contradicts the Akasaka written material that consistently frames Ai as being one of the senior members, yes, but as having joined the group after Nino, Takamine and Watanabe.

The portrayal of Ai's bullying by the other B-Komachi members in no way matches Nino's account of it in 45510. This isn't even in a way you can put to Nino being an unreliable narrator. The details are so different that the only way to reconcile them is to assume these are two separate instances of bullying and that Nino just. Didn't mention the first time it happened for no reason.

On the subject of the bullies, the two girls targeting Ai are implied by their physical descriptions to be Takamine and Mei. While we don't really know anything about Mei yet, the vicious and unapologetic hostility Takamine displays clashes with her 'tough love' roughness that we are shown in the main story. In addition, this contradicts 45510's very explicit statement that Ai's bully was IMMEDIATELY fired from B-Komachi, no questions asked, the instant Saitou knew who she was. There is no indication in Spica that Ai's bullies so much as get a slap on the wrist for their behaviour.

Spica attributes B-Komachi's current success almost entirely to Ai and portrays her as working very hard on set and communicating with every other member of staff almost excessively to the point of annoyance. Not only does this contradict the early manga's portrayal of Ai as being antisocial and uncommunicative on set prior to her being sent to Lala Lie, it also contradicts chapters that were released following Spica that explicitly credit Nino as the key figure for B-Komachi's initial boom of success and states that Ai joined the group after Nino had cemented their popularity.

There are absolutely ways that you can handwave these contradictions and sew up the internal logic but to me, the nature of these contradictions matter to me less than the fact that they exist in the first place. This implies, especially given that some of these are in material written by Akasaka after Spica was published that he and Tanaka were, to some degree, not on the same page about the book's material.

There's some other things scattered about that aren't necessarily direct textual contradictions but nevertheless feel really out of step with OnK's takes on these characters. And like… I have tried to be relatively measured and good faith in my critiques so far but there is a part of chapter one that makes me so just bees buzzing around in my brain flames on the side of my face blood boiling in my veins insane that you must allow me to just uncharitably tear into it.

[Ai:] “Ah, now I get it. Are you buying a gift for your girlfriend, President? You like them young, after all…“ Finally, it clicked. The president, being considerably older than his girlfriend, needed the insights of a girl closer to her age in order to pick out the perfect gift. If that was the case, that explained why Ai had been roped into this. [Ai:] “Well, not that I should be getting into your business or anything, but…President, be careful when you mess with underage girls, okay? Nowadays, you’ll seriously end up in jail.”

I'M SORRY. WHAT THE FUCK AM I READING RIGHT NOW. SHE WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This moment actually makes me so angry that it is difficult for me to clearly and calmly articulate what I find objectionable about it. I understand that it sounds very dramatic, but this is the first in a very consistent line of Spica bringing up the idea of adult men engaging in romance and/or sex with underage girls with this blithe, jokey and dismissive tone that entirely undermines everything Oshi no Ko itself says about CSA. The fact that it starts off this trend by putting these words in the mouth of Ai, WHO IS HERSELF A FUCKING CSA VICTIM, and treats the entire exchange as a throwaway joke honestly makes me feel a little bit sick.

This is part of a much broader and more troubling trend in Spica of Hajime Tanaka simply not being able to write young women in a naturalistic and human way. It's difficult for me to express exactly what it is that feels so off other than to say that it's Covered In The Fucking Ooze in a way typical of Men Who Can't Write Women. Ai's bullies in chapter 1 are so cartoonishly and stereotypically catty and mean that they barely feel human and they are written with all the distinct individuality as Thing 1 and Thing 2. The more complicated, two-sided conflict between two flawed people as seen in Ai and Nino's relationship is totally absent here. It's just the most vapid, stereotypical depiction of Teenage Girl Bullying you can imagine.

On top of that, there is a consistency with which Tanaka puts the topic of sex into the mouths and minds of these young women that fees… icky and offputting to me in a way I find difficult to articulate. In general, the voices of these young girls feel off and inauthentic in a way the main series never struggles with. For all I've criticized Oshi no Ko for in the past, something I think Akasaka is consistently and surprisingly good at is writing female characters who feel just as distinctly well realized and fleshed out as his male characters and that he does so in a way that does not rely on completely degendering them - their experiences as women are important to and inform that their characterization but does not entirely rule it. Despite overwhelmingly centering girls as the heart of its narrative, Spica barely feels capable of writing them as people.

All this together gives Spica this really strong sense - to me - of not really fitting in with the spirit of Oshi no Ko as a story. It's not just that the narrative voice is different but that there is an underlying flavour to Spica's takes on this world and its characters that clashes with the original. The cast as a whole just feels off, not blatantly OOC in a way you can directly point to but just enough to feel uncanny and give me a THEY WOULD NOT FUCKING SAY THAT!!!!! moment for almost every single person with a speaking line. It feels, as I put it on the Oshi no Brainrot server, like a thing that exists not because there was a part of the OnK narrative that worked best as a light novel but because somebody, somewhere thought a Oshi no Ko light novel would make some money and decided to have one churned out.

oh my god anon I'm so sorry lmfao you did not ask for this GIGANTIC ODYSSEY OF A POST!! This was just one of those asks that tapped into a topic I had already been having extensive conversations with myself about in my brain (I have a very boring job with a lot of time spent alone lol) and the more I typed, the more of those thoughts spilled out. I think a big part of why I am so compelled (derogatory) by Spica's missteps and mishandling of its material is that there is so much potential here and so many points where the material really comes close to just being flat out good.

A moment in chapter 1 that I think about a lot is Ai thinking about why she hasn't been reading any of her fan letters - because the last letter she got was her mom's lawyer telling her that Ayumi had gone missing after her release from custody, thus confirming for Ai that she had been abandoned to the system by her. Because of her association between those emotions and the act of reading a letter, she simply can't bring herself to open any of her fan letters because of the lingering anxiety.

Not only is this an entirely human and believable traumabrained anxiety kid fear for her to have but it's totally in line with Ai's flaw of avoidance and unwillingness to engage with or confront things that make her anxious or uncomfortable. It's also paid off wonderfully and in spades when she does finally confront that fear and is rewarded for it by an avalanche of love and support from her fans. It's one of the few moments in Ai's chapter where I think Spica really does well in conveying what a person like Ai gets out of being the 'oshi' in the oshi/fan relationship.

But this otherwise great moment is ruined by like… all that shit I said up there lmao. Spica is just laced through with this issue where moments that come so, so close to working and being really good are just marred by other issues in the text around it or trip themselves up in other ways. It's frustrating both because it comes so close to doing fresh and interesting things with the characters and because… I didn't want to dislike Spica! I was so, SO excited for it to come out and so willing to give it the BOTD even as summaries leaked and I was put off by the plot beats. But the more time I give to it in my brain and the more I try to engage with it in good faith, the more I come away frustrated and feeling like my time has been wasted.

[midnightinwales]

@grapesnolives thank you for the link, I'll check it out during the weekend. I agree that their experimentation is always beautiful and fascinating to hear. They had singular sensitivity to the emotion – sound axis. And you can never be bored with it.

I've moved us to a new post, since our conversation is veering off the topic of the original post and I think we've hijacked enough of that already ;)

Unfortunately, I don't have the source for that quote about Robert, as I have been consuming a lot (and I mean A LOT) about LZ in the past few months, but in quite a chaotic manner and I haven't been taking notes. But If I come across it again, I'll send it to you. I was also surprised by it, but I guess it makes sense, since it was originally Jimmy's band and I believe that as time went by and Jimmy was losing his grip on reality more and more, Robert might have felt constricted a bit or started to develop a need for more independence. Nothing unusual in that, it happens in pretty much any band. He might have also been genuinely annoyed at the endless solos, quite like Bonzo, and JPJ probably too. I mean, to make a six and a half minutes long song into 45 minutes is both amazing and unnecessary lol. And Robert did have a bit of an imposter syndrome, still has, actually. He often spoke about them as 'three musicians and me'. 'I'm just a wedding singer who sang with musicians', and how his elaborate singing style developed as a method to stay in the song, cause the long musical intervals made him feel irrelevant. He definitely wanted to impress Jimmy and there was a lot of reverence for him as the worldly, knowledgeable, experienced musician who created his own band. But that began to disappear when Jimmy got heavily into heroin imo and definitely lost after 1977. Robert's priorities changed. His view of life changed. The love was still there, but Jimmy was no longer someone that Robert had to live up to, so to speak. Now he was someone to protect (and, in a way, someone to mourn). But the initial experiences formed Robert as a singer, set his standards and informed his view of musical expression.

I've also noticed that he makes fun of Bonzo (the diarrhea jokes will live with me forever, thanks Bob :/ ) and JPJ (and himself, occasionally), but not of Jimmy. IMO that's because he and Bonzo were 'bros', mates, and that's typical friendly behaviour in this kind of relation. JPJ was also a guy in the band and concert is entertainment, so it's only fair to make people laugh. It created a sense of dynamics, each band member had his quirks and image to play with. But with Jimmy he is only ever sweet and attentive. Not least because Jimmy Page can't take a joke imo. He's quite fragile and Robert knew it very, very well. But this doesn't read to me as reverential, but rather as caring. He knew not to make Jimmy the centre of attention that he might not see as entirely friendly. And his mysterious image had to be uphold too. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but whenever Robert speaks to Jimmy his tone of voice slightly changes. It becomes softer and warmer. ‘is it alright, love?’ kind of thing. He definitely wanted to be in Jimmy’s good books and for more than one reason.

I’m not surprised you thought they were a duet, seeing the photos. I recall seeing photos of LZ throughout my life and they’ve always been focused on J and R. I didn’t know what the other band members looked like before I started listening to the band. I knew Bonzo’s name because of his tragic death, like I do many other musicians’ who met their ends way too early, and knew that he is recognised as one of the, if not the greatest rock drummer of all times. But that was about it. IMO, he is the greatest of them all and he’s the only one whose drumming makes me genuinely tear up. There is as much emotion in Bonzo’s drumming as there is in Robert’s singing. Astonishing.

If you’re asking how I got into the story of J and R, it was quite simple really. I remembered the photos I’ve mentioned (mostly the WLL mic in the hair singing) which have always looked very suggestive to me and had heard before that part of the magic of LZ was the interplay between the two, and so when I finally got into their music I started doing my research to see if my initial impression was correct. And found plenty of evidence to confirm it, some of it much more straightforward then expected. But if you’re asking how I got into LZ then I’d say it was time for them to come into my life. One night on YT they appeared on my list and the journey began. I knew some of their songs before (STH, WLL, Dazed, a couple of others) and I had quite an emotional experience listening to Stairway as a young teenager, but that was the extent of it. I firmly believe that music comes to us at the right time and there’s no point in forcing it. It will find you if it’s meant to. And it will be a journey you’ll never forget.

Have you always been interested in drumming or is it the first time when it has captured your attention so much? Have you been into LZ for a long time?

[cagemasterfantasy]

3rd life remastered IRL segment 2 part 1/2

A note to all of you this story is ficitonal everyone portrayed in this story (save for Slimer) is real and is used in a fictitious manner. This story is entirely satire. It is recommended to read the other parts of 3rd life remastered before reading this part. This story talks about touchy topics mainly Suicide and Self Harm. With that being said please enjoy.

After session 2 is over I exit my tent at Minecon that I've been sitting in for the past 3 hours and see Scott waiting outside for me. Scott: See you aren't in costume and we are about to sign autographs for our fans" Me: Hey alright it's hard to find a costume that's of a slime ok" Bigb: We can help with that" Bdubs: Yeah we have something for you" Me: Why are you guys looking at me like that" Tango: You're going behind the scenes and we're going to dress you up now let's go we're all dressed like our avatars you aren't and that's not fair" They then begin leading me backstage Me: Hey get your hands off of me" Once backstage I see Jimmy holding a bucket filled with liquidy green slime Me: Ok this is ridiculous JImmy: You wanted to have a slime as your avatar so we're turning you into a slime" Me: I hate all of you" bdubs: Hey lighten up you always wanted to be a slime so we're turning you into a slime" Bigb: Yeah think of it as a slime filled day of fun" Jimmy: I'm just going to dump this whole thing on you and you are going to like it" Me: you son of a bi-" I don't get to finish that as Jimmy runs up to me and dumps the entire bucket onto me Me: UGH SOME OF THAT GOT INTO MY MOUTH YOU IDIOT" Scott: Now you're a slime just like you've always wanted to be" Bigb Bdubs Jimmy and Tango burst into laughter Me: Oh you think this is funny huh?" Scott: Relax you can take a shower once you get back to the hotel"

I return to where I'm supposed to be seated and sit down a glistening green mess. The first person to approach is a girl in her teens. She has pale arms teal and yellow fingertips blonde hair and glasses on. What I don't know is this is my editor doodl3 finally meeting her after all this time. I see Rylee jump into Jimmy's lap. Me: You are a definite traitor Rylee" doodl3: Aww doggo being cute" Me: So how does it feel finally being in front of me" Keep in mind I don't know she's my editor doodl3: You're a lot slimier than I thought" Me: Blame Jimmy the Loser for that" Jimmy's eyes perk up and he looks at me Jimmy: Hey come on now I least I don't unintentionally embarrass myself all the time like you do" I look back at doodl3 Me: So do you want a picture or a autograph" doodl3: Both" Me: Alright and what's your name?" "Call me Jill" She says as she steps in front of me with her phone out me giving her a slimy peace sign" Me: Alright so what do you want me to write" doodl3: Sorry for scaring you with that video" I look flustered. Scott heard what she said and speaks up for me Scott: Excuse me young lady I am going to have to ask respectfully to please not bring up the video about him around him alright" Me: Hey Scott it's fine I don't mind talking about it but yes please choose something else for me to write" doodl3: It's been my pleasure to make you laugh and entertain you for all these 10 years" I write that down and say to her "Hey I got a proposition for you I will put a slimy handprint on this paper if you go over and insult Jimmy for covering me in slime" Scott has a grin on his face doodl3: Coming right up" Jimmy: Hello there little girl what's your na-" doodl3: Hello Loser Idiot" Everyone looks at her stunned for a second before everyone except for Jimmy bursts out laughing Jimmy: I AM NOT A LOSER" Me: Yet you never win anything"

I fall out of my chair laughing everyone else is cracking up when suddenly I feel my chest tightening and begin coughing and can't use my inhaler due to it being too slimy. Scott and Joel are the first to notice and they quickly shut up and run over to me. Joel takes off to find Grian who has my backup inhaler and as soon as he returns with it I'm all blue gasping for air. Scott: Stay with me" Jimmy: Don't die on us now buddy" Tango: Help's on the way don't worry" Joel finally runs back and uses my inhaler on me. doodl3 meanwhile looks absolutely horrified at what she saw. I get back up relieved Me: Thanks Joel" "no problem we're all here for you. Go on take your inhaler" Me: You hold onto it I'm all slimy right now and about to kick Jimmy's butt later" Jimmy: No I was doing what I had to do it's not my fault you had your mouth open" I decide to uphold my promise and give doodl3 my slimy handprint. Later she sees me getting into a cab with Impulse Scar and Tango heading back to the hotel funnily enough the same hotel she is staying at.

As soon as she arrives back she sees me get out of the cab. Me: JIMMY" Jimmy: Uh oh" We head into the lobby where I'm chasing (question mark) JImmy around a couch "Come back here. Come here I'm gonna kick your butt" Jimmy: I told you it's not my fault you had your mouth open" doodl3: Still mad at Jimmy I see?" "Oh hey Jill what are you doing here?" doodl3: This is where I'm staying for Minecon and it seems I'm with the lifers" "Probably not Jimmy in a minute while they were dressing me up in the middle of speaking and Jimmy dumped the whole bucket of slime on me without warning and some of it got in my mouth" doodl3: oh really huh? Want me to kick his butt" Jimmy: No I don't feel like getting kicked by a girl please" Impulse: Hey come on now let's all be civil about this" Me: You could have at least told me to strip to my underwear beforehand now because of you one of my inhalers got ruined and I almost died because of you" Jimmy: I didn't know what to do this was all Grian's idea" I sigh Me: Hey since we're staying here together Jill I'm about to head to the pool after I get showered off want to meet there or are you busy?" doodl3: Sure"

I'm in my hotel room in the shower full temperature there is steam everywhere. Scar comes into the bathroom and see all the steam coming from above the shower curtains Scar: Hey how hot are you making that?" "As hot as it'll get to get this slime off" Scar: You're going to turn that down right now mister" Me: Or what" Scar then flushes the toilet. Meanwhile doodl3 is walking to the pool with Cleo and Mumbo Mumbo: Really now so you're the one who edits and moderates Slimer's streams? Well I say you do a really good job" All 3 of them then hear me screaming from my room and shortly after Scar runs out laughing Cleo: What did you do?" Scar: He was in there taking a shower to wash the slime off of him and I flushed the toilet on him when he wouldn't turn the temperature down. " Cleo: Are you insane" Mumbo: He's going to emerge looking like a lobster" doodl3 doesn't do anything but chuckle at the thought Cleo: Scar I am glad you are not my roomate because you wouldn't be alive if you did that to me" Impulse: Did what to who" Impulse approaches with Lizzy and Bigby Cleo: This Pimplebrain just cooked Slimer like a lobster" I then emerge from my room in a tshirt and my swim trunks my skin red all over just as Jimmy appears as soon as he sees me he bursts out laughing. "Ryan be lucky I have asthma or I'd be chasing you around this hotel to kick your butt" doodl3 then bursts out laughing at the thought Scar: Oh no I'm so scared you're not going to hurt your Scar Wars buddy are you?" "Ryan I am going to kick your butt while you're asleep tonight you're not even going to see it coming"

At the pool everybody is in their swimsuits and ready to go into the water. Mumbo: You got your inhaler nearby?" "Yes and this one is my waterproof one and let's hope Jimmy doesn't ruin this one" Jimmy: Oh shut up" Cleo: Don't worry if something happens we're here for you" Impulse: Yeah don't worry just stay in the shallow in" Lizzy: We got you don't worry"

I stay in the shallow end with doodl3. "So what made you start watching me?" Doodl3: I love how funny you are. I especially love how you lost in tnt run to Tango" "Oh shut up I was beating him and then blocks suddenly started disappearing" doodl3: You lost miserably and you know it" I see everyone else doing a underwater breath contest and I hear the voices "Do it" is all they say "HEY LET ME JOIN IN OVER HERE" Scott enters as I shout that having just gotten ready Scott: I think you should relax It's not a good idea" I'm already under the water Scott: You idiot" My asthma begins to kick in due to the Chlorine and unfortunately my inhaler gets sucked into the skimmer in the deep end I'm now underwater screaming doodl3 is trying to pull me up to the surface along with Scott. Thankfully the others have noticed and are swimming over to me. Jimmy is in the skimmer fishing my inhaler out. The others manage to get my arm free and pull me out of the pool. As soon as Jimmy uses my inhaler on me Scott says "YOU IDIOT I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO UNDER BUT YOU DON'T LISTEN" doodl3: you really need to listen to Scott on this one" "Look I'm sorry I just felt left out" Scott: Felt left out? You could have died. Do you know how many times you've almost died and now you want to test it over some stupid contest?" Mumbo: Hey it isn't stupid but-" Impulse: You're missing the point"Cleo: You have to be absolutely insane" Me: I just don't like feeling left out and I didn't know there was chlorine in the pool" doodl3: Feeling left out? You're life is more important then being left out?" Scott: And yes there's going to be chlorine it's an indoor pool"

After a little bit of arguing with everyone I get dried off and head out with doodl3 trailing behind me to the banquet hall. When I see Rylee exit with icing on his mouth. He runs over and hugs doodl3. "Oh yeah don't mind him he loves people but who was the one who-" I see Tango eating a fruit parfait "I should have known TANGO DO NOT FEED MY DOG" Tango: It's a yogurt parfait they're dog friendly" Me: do not make yourself the 3rd person who's butt I have to kick today" "who are the other 2?" "Jimmy and Ryan" I then turn to doodl3 and say "Sorry you aren't allowed in here this is for lifers only" She just shrugs. Little do I know she IS allowed in there due to her being my editor and mod. doodl3: Eh it's fine I don't mind I got plenty of other stuff to do anyway like pet puppo" Me: Traitor" doodl3: Awwwww you aren't a traitor" Me: Well I'm going to eat and then see where the night takes me"

As soon as I'm in the banquet hall I text @doodl3 not knowing that I've been with her the entire time. The text says "man day 1 of Minecon and already I'm exhausted. I already have to kick Scar Jimmy and Tango's butt already. Don't know how much more I can take" I then hear the voices again "Do it. Do it. Do it. Do it"

end of irl segment 2 part 1/2

[justanamesstuff]

Can I request a blurb where the reader has autism and finds a trampoline and just has a bunch of happy stims while boncing and giggling and matty just watching for afar lovingly, and encouraging her, and she asks him if they can have a trampoline in thier backgarden?

(you don't have to if you don't want to)

A/N: my dear anon, i've made some research before writing this but please if you hate it, if you want me to delete it or if there's one single error please tell me!! I don't want to disrespect or even offend anyone. Thanks for requesting this, had fan writing it :)) I really hope you like it ♥

The band and their respective partners, Jamie, Polly, Patricia, John, and Gabrielle were invited to a barbecue at Ross's house the first Sunday all of them had free.

They had a nice meal, even though the guys teased Ross about it. He brushed them with just a 'fuck off'. All of them were laughing and having a pleasant time. Thanks to Y/n, they didn't make her feel out of place or nothing closer. Matty kept his hand attached to hers, even when they were properly eating. She tried to assure him she was alright, but he felt the urge to touch his girlfriend, letting her know he was there all the time. Matty wanted and needed Y/n, as much as her craved him.

Adam, Carly, and George were cleaning the table, meanwhile Charli and the girls entertained Hann's kid with papers and colourful pencils. The rest of the boys still seated with Y/n at the big table were engrossed in a conversation about a topic she couldn't concentrate on.

Y/n's sight moved outwards, to the big patio surrounding the back of the house. Her sight fell on the pool, thinking about how nice it must be having it during the hot summer days. Quickly after, her eyes fell on something far to the right side of the house. She couldn't stop her body from moving.

Matty's sight instantly followed her.

Y/n opened a door, finally out. The singer followed her, watching his girlfriend ran towards a trampoline Ross had for when Hann's kid or his nieces and nephews visit him. Y/n was bubbling with excitement, and Matty couldn't help to smile.

He took a cig out of his pack, lightening, meanwhile Y/n checked if the pad was dry enough for her to jump. Once she was satisfied enough and her shoes were off, she didn't hesitate to get it.

Matty walked until his face was perfectly visible from the opening in the net around the trampoline.

"Having fun, baby?" he asked.

Y/n jumped around in circles, feeling a little tired from the activity but enjoying it too much to just stop.

She jumped up and landed a few centimetres before her boyfriend.

"Yes! Get in, get in!" Y/n insisted.

Matty dropped the rest of his cig to the grass and trampled on it. She watched him left his own shoes beside hers.

After the first jump up, Matty started laughing. He couldn't contain it.

"I forgot how fun this was!" he exclaimed.

"Right?"

"Come here, baby." he jumped closer.

"No!" Y/n yelped, moving as far as she could from him.

Matty chuckled loud trying to get her, they moved in circles until he was close enough to pinned her down. He was above her, both of them breathing hard.

Y/n felt his fingers brushing her hair out of her face.

"Got ya." he pinched her cheek.

"Stop!" she whined, moving her face to a side. Matty took the chance and kissed her cheek with a big sound. "Matty!"

"What?" he moved upwards, looking down at her with such love in his eyes.

"Can we get one?"

"A trampoline?"

"Yes, please!" she begged.

"Whatever you want, princess. I just want to see you this happy always..." he moved so the tip of his nose contact hers.

"Thank you." Y/n answered shyly.

"I love you." Matty let her know. Y/n struggled to say it back, so he added, "Hey, it's alright...I know." he reassured her, looking directly at her eyes.

"Can we join you guys?" Polly interrupted the moment, pointing with her head towards the little kid --Hann's son-- waiting to get in too.

The singer and her girlfriend looked at them. He replied, "Of course!" Matty moved to rest beside Y/n.

Hann's kid screamed and Polly helped him to jump. Y/n sensed Matty kissed the side of her face, feeling fantastic about her next purchase.

[fraeuleintaka]

AAIC Previews

This is the 61st post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 20 days left until release!

Today's topic: some Previews of the Investigations Collection!

Since the start of August various magazines and gaming channels have posted previews of the Investigations Collection. They've been able to play the first few cases of both games and wrote about their first impressions, most of them being old fans of the series and having played I1 back in the day but never I2. I won't go through all of them like I did for the interviews with the devs previously since there really are a lot but I'm going to talk about a few of the major points most of them mentioned and agreed on that I found the most interesting.

The different gameplay structure of Investigations in comparison to the main series is a welcome breath of fresh air and a lot of fun

That's what I've been saying! I feel validated here. Nothing against the other AA games but the Investigations games are just better but the Investigations gameplay style works so well and I hardly ever see that acknowledged in the fandom. I think they picked exactly the right combination of different but similar which really makes them stand out in the best of ways.

The more logic based gameplay mechanics are a lot of fun and very fitting for Miles as a protagonist, they ground the setting in a good way while still keeping the characters and situations as wonderfully wacky as before

Also something I've been saying for a long time! Miles just has the best skills and mechanics, that's just how it is. I especially appreciate how many previews note the characters and story developments being just as good and interesting as AA is known for because I've seen too many people calling I1 lacking in that department and I just can't understand that at all.

Miles as the protagonist is a particular highlight, he's an amazing character to be in the head of and his commentary and his interactions with other characters are highly entertaining

One of the major reasons why I adore the Investigations games so much so I completely agree with this. There's a reason Miles is my favourite character in the entire series after all and my favourite to play as. He's unique in all the best ways, could comment on the most boring stuff imaginable and I'd still find it interesting (I'm like Ema in that way) and can interact with any random character and make it entertaining just with his contribution alone. No other AA character has been able to match that for me.

The initial cases gave very good impressions, they seemed like the start to a compelling story and most previewers were eager to see more

Again, with the overall fandom's comparatively negative opinion on I1 I'm quite happy to see more positive judgements be thrown its way. I don't have any doubt that I2 will blow most people who haven't tried it yet away with how incredible it is but it's still good to see my own impressions validated.

There's no notable difference (in tone or quality) between the I1 and I2 localisations, most previewers felt right at home with both

That's very good to hear! From what the devs said, that's what they were going for and more and more supports the impression that they fully succeeded. Fantastic!

The various enhancements of the collection were judged very positively, especially the HD chibi sprites, and all the extras were very appreciated; some called it the best collection yet

That was to be expected but I still love to hear it. I've been fangirling about all of this for the last 60 days now so I'm glad I'm not the only one 😄 It's always nice to read positive comments about things you love.

The logical deductions the game asks of you are clearer than the main series sometimes is, maybe the game is a bit easier because of that but only in a positive way

This I found very interesting and not many previewers put it quite so clearly (some also found it too easy and others deliciously challenging) but it did pop up a few times. Several called it overall less frustrating because of that and while I never had major issues with any game in the series in that way (only ever isolated incidents) I do agree that the Investigations games handle their deductions and logic chains unusually well. They always make complete sense and there are (almost) no weird jumps or strange detours before you arrive at the conclusions the game wants you to. Maybe that also partly stems from Miles being the protagonist since he usually knows what he's doing and follows a concrete strategy instead of just guessing half of the time but it's definitely another point in the games' favour.

The closest thing to a negative point that most of the previewers mentioned is that the pixel art looks out of place against the HD backgrounds

I feared this might be the case. You can't really keep the backgrounds on the DS graphic level or they'd look insanely blurry on the larger screens but with crystal clear background art the pixel art of the sprites in the foreground looks jarring. No idea how you could possibly avoid that. It's not relevant for me personally since I won't actively be playing with the pixel graphics anyway but it definitely isn't great for the people who want to. On the positive side, if that's the only thing most previewers even came close to criticizing, this promises stellar reviews and ratings for the release of the collection!

[its-xornoth-bitch]

LONGGG RAMBLE SORRY KING

Hey it’s the system that said your Xornoth was DID coded before, saw that you got another ask after about it that seemed kind of accusatory? Idk if it was intended to be but like-

THOUGHT I would clarify that we didn’t see any issue with it being offensive in the slightest, if that’s what the other person was implying?? You’ve said DID wasn’t even your intention, and if it’s read as DID it’s still not like. An offensive portrayal imo?

The whole “evil alter” trope is obviously Not Great but like- You haven’t written what that trope actually usually implies (secret murderer rest of the system not telling blah blah), and frankly pushing too far in the opposite direction to it is also silly. Not every alter in a system is going to be a saint, and especially in cult environments, having a harmful alter loyal to abusers is VERY common and very much an accurate real issue. It’s ridiculous to say that there shouldn’t be fiction about our actual real life experiences because it could give uneducated people the wrong idea.

Idk. This might just be a silly ramble but like. Please don’t get paranoid about misrepresenting something you weren’t even trying to write, tell your story as you were planning. Its epic and the reason we were happy to point out the comparison is that we literally NEVER get accurate depictions of actual harmful alters in stories, and it’s refreshing to see even something similar. “Evil alter trope” didn’t even occur to us till we were trying to figure out why the other ask seemed off.

Thank you! That ask has sorta been in the back of my mind so. Thanks for a positive perspective.

And yeah, I was sorta thinking about that. I have this sort of. Strict rule set for myself. I won't do anything I can't do well or accurately, so absolutely, I'm not trying to portray DID or any other identity disorders, but like I said before, if you want to read that, by all means do. My intention with all of this is entertainment (both mine and others) so if someone wants to see themself in what I'm doing, I have no problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is when people make my 'misrepresentation' of something I'm not trying to represent my fault. I'm going off topic here, but I operate on a don't like don't read policy. If you're gonna tell me I'm awful for making Xornoth be awful sometimes, fuck off. If you have genuine criticism, phrase it nicely. I've got enough to stress about as it is without random people telling me I'm a terrible person behind a screen. Thanks!

[demonsfate]

munday topics ! // accepting // anonymous asked . . . 23. another RPC you’re no longer part of (Luna) 🐰

geeeee... is it embarrassing to admit that i've been in SO MANY RPCs? (i've been rping on tumblr for 10 years now!!) i wouldn't even know where to begin. i guess i'll talk about one that i've been thinking about! but... i don't know if it can even be CONSIDERED an RPC, because like... my muse was from something so "niche" - that there were NO other RPers for it. and like, i'm not even talking about "oh it's a dead fandom" - like i legit believed there was no other RPers for it EVER. at least, i couldn't find any evidence of it existing. and hell, it only got a few RPers 'cos i managed to get people into it. MOST ppl legit believed this muse was an OC before following LOL.

but i wanna say before revealing what i'm talking about is that i wrote him back in 2018-2019, and liiike oddly enough now it's gained traction. i dunno if it's 'cos smiling friends is so popular and ppl are checking out other [adult swim] content but yeah!! i now notice on twitter, exceptional fanart or posts tend to get 1k likes. and then i notice MORE fanart popping up on tumblr! i even see fanart of mah favorite ship with my former muse! and even my old posts are getting regular notes now! and it's like whaaa?! where were y'all back when i was in the fandom?! like i swear - there were SOME fans, but barely any. i couldn't find ANY fanart to reblog at all. it's frickin wild!

anyway, i wrote bill dickey (and later, who i headcanoned as his twin brother, aaron winkleman) from the eltingville club! which was a comic book making fun of toxic nerd culture in the 90s. many also know it as welcome to eltingville, as sadly, it has a pilot from the early 2000s for [adult swim] that never picked up!

USUALLY when i write muses from unpopular fandoms, i STRUGGLE to get interactions like y'all won't believe. usually it ends with me giving up because i just can't get any mutuals at all. but bill was a special case! ppl ended up LOVING bill despite not knowing about his source material, and i ended up getting a lotta great interactions! i guess because bill is such an entertaining character, it's easy to like him despite how horrible he is! lol! plus as i said, many ppl thought he was my oc at first. XD i did get like 10 people reading it!

because the fandom was gaining traction again... i had CONSIDERED going back to the blog (since i actually still have it up!) buuuut... i also know i am VERY bad at managing more than one (or two) rp blogs at most. so...

like jin & devil, i'd also often write bill & aaron shenanigan posts, they went about the same, too... except probs even louder.

and in this case, there is no "good" one. both bill & aaron were horrible, horrible ppl lmao. (and yes, this is referring to the "area 51" raid if y'all remember that LMAO)

aah just talking about it makes me nostalgic. :') funny enough, this series also screwed over bill because i can't escape bad media that screws over my favorites DUNNO WHY SDFDSNJ. except in this case, it was the ending. hooo boy. i went on long rants about the ending like i would on this blog. like that may make me sound like a hater - but the ending was so BAD, they legit forget a character's name. they legit call one of the MAIN CHARACTERS by a different name. that's how bad & inconsistent it was. (tho it's also worth noting the ending happened after a 10+ hiatus, the creator was clearly done with it and didn't want to bring it back, but only did due to wanting to make a commentary on something that was happening at the time)

now i'm starting to get a lil nostalgic for these guys talkin' about 'em again. :')

[kharmii]

the narrative goes more and more into hate hate and even more hate... it's tiring... I'm sure it is for you as well...

so with this ask I want to know something that you enjoyed recently. Something making you feel better. You can also infodump a little about one of your favorite topics.

I hope you don't mind this blunt question. Just think it's important to take a break and focus on the positive as well.

Just so happens I have a facetious rant. When I first got into Dabiten, I thought....why are there no videos on YouTube of Geten with his hood down? There are a few with glowing eyed gremlin Geten fighting Dabi, but fans might have made them for Dabi because Geten is the most background of background characters. I was all set to make my own compilation video months ago, but then I realized one can't download episodes off Crunchyroll onto a PC, just mobile. I'm old, and I like to do all my work on the PC. The project was abandoned.

Fast forward to two days ago when I had all the episodes I needed to make my compilation video downloaded thanks to the My Hero Academia wiki which is one of the most edited there is. One can look up a character they like and find data on every appearance they've made in both the anime and manga. I also had to relearn how to cut and splice together edited scenes. The last time I did this was six years ago when I made the Best of Renegades Mindbender video from G.I. Joe: Renegades.

Before I made the Geten video, however, I wanted to make a compilation video of the absolute best most funny thing I've ever seen on MHA -that is still funny six months later- and that is during S6.E.12 Dabi's Dance when Best Jeanist asked Bakugo if he was able to look beyond himself and pick out a good hero name. Bakugo replied he had a name and wanted to tell him in person. It was Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite!

Five episodes later in E.17 The Wrong Way to Put Out A Fire, Best Jeanist passes Bakugo in a hospital hallway and asks, "Great Explosion Murder God Dynamite, are you okay?" I about died. I put those two scenes in a compilation video, along with two more scenes with other characters -Ingenium and Rumi Usagiyama- calling Bakugo by his new hero name. When I went to upload it to YouTube, it was immediately blocked for copyright so only I could see it. In order to get it unblocked, I'd have to cut the first fifty seconds of a minute and a half video.

I appealed the decision claiming 'free use for entertainment purposes'. After all, everybody and their grandma is putting up similar MHA content with no problem. I also credited the people who owned the franchise. Looking at the details of the copyright issue, it turns out the owner has a content ID claim against the content (which might be why my idea hasn't been done before). I still disputed it. The owner of the copyright has a couple options.

After you dispute

After you submit a dispute, the person that claimed your video (the claimant) has 30 days to respond.

What the claimant can do

Release the claim: If the claimant agrees with your dispute, they can release their claim. If you were previously monetizing the video, your monetization settings will be restored automatically when all claims on your video are released. Learn more about monetization during Content ID disputes.

Reinstate the claim: If the claimant believes that their claim is still valid, they can reinstate it. This means that your dispute was rejected and the claim stays on your video. You may be eligible to appeal this decision.

Submit a takedown request: If the claimant believes that their claim is still valid, they can submit a copyright takedown request. If the takedown request is valid, your video is removed from YouTube and your channel gets a copyright strike. Learn more about options for resolving a copyright strike.

Let the claim expire: If the claimant doesn’t respond within 30 days, the claim on your video will expire and be released from your video.

I still haven't heard back from the owner of the copyright. Best case scenario is they release the claim, but I'd be happy if they'd ignore it and let the claim expire. That would be the ultimate in delayed gratification, but at least I'd get to share the damn thing twenty-eight days from now. Expect to see it here in exactly four weeks if that happens.

In the meantime, I'll eventually get working on the Geten video for fun. We'll see if that also gets a content ID claim against it. If so, hopefully that too will expire after thirty days, and I won't have wasted my time for nothing. Sheesh, this never happened after I posted all those G.I. Joe videos. Hasbro Studios, LLC, the owners of the franchise, just put a copyright claim against all my fan videos so that they were advertised and had a link to the movie The M.A.S.S. Device | G.I. JOE A Real American Hero | 40th Anniversary Special | G.I. Joe Official put on all my videos.

Side note: I love how all YouTube videos somehow automatically generate a transcript of every bit of text in any given video. That's amazing programmers were able to make that happen. I'd like to see the punctuation be accurate and have the ability to cut out the timestamps every other second, but the fact it exists is amazing enough. Maybe someday...

-Like seriously, why do we have this on YouTube.....

.......but not this:

[swollenwithangst]

i have a story to share with everybody (if you'd like to listen).

to begin, my workplace is fairly lax about personal expression so long as its not overtly offensive/religious/political. so that means i can be my full, well... alternative(?) self as i please. this last week, i went to work with dark makeup, a black sweater, black pants, docs. whole shabang. emo. grunge. whatever. definitely not your northwest cowboy though. and for reference, i work at an family entertainment place (essentially you must purchase a ticket for admission, theres a gift shop, and so on). on that day i went to work all dressed up, i had two darling, budding alternative kids compliment me and each time i think about them, i well up with tears.

the first was maybe 14, max. with presumably her family who were all of the oh-so common diesel-truck cowboys that make up the majority of residents in my area. i was checking them all in and this angel turns and says to me as i'm finishing their transaction, "you're beautiful." to which a) i about threw up. she had such a look of adoration in her eyes, i was a bit overwhelmed. it reminded me of when i first stepped into a hot topic and realized that my friends and i weren't the only ones (tbf, i had limited internet access for a long while, i didnt know there was more of us), and b) i in turn complimented her back, telling her i thought she was gorgeous. she beamed so graciously at me, it made me so happy.

the second in that same day was from less of a "yeehaw" family but more of a, well, city? area? they were so painfully average that i forgot most of their details if i'm being honest. their daughter though, who i at first took for being 15-17, was wearing a three cheers shirt, so of course i had to compliment her. she lit up at that and thanked me, and they all went on their way to enjoy the day.

for about an hour, i helped guests and went about my business, before she approached me again (🥹❗️) and promptly asked, "is your heart in ohio?" ...now before anyone comes for me, my brain is a taco shell that got abandoned in the oil. it's beyond fried. i blanked on what to say. so i just kinda chuckled and said, "i know i've heard that before, and what it's from, but i can't remember the proper response for it." (YES YES, I KNOW. OHIO IS FOR LOVERS OKAY?)

she told me it was okay and proceeded to drop the biggest bombshell on my heart. this girl said, "i know this is random but i think you're really cool. i used to have the like, scene haircut but i got bullied for it." to which i first was like, 'aww, i've been there' (especially when i tried to cut my own fringe bc my mom wouldnt take me and i wound up with the world's worst cowlick). even more so because not once in my life has anyone ever thought i was cool. then she adds, "i'm 12 but i've been like this since i was 9."

this had my brain going in an entirely new direction. first off, i was 9 years older than her... okay. second, oh my god she's a baby. third, i have new inkling of hope for this generation... maybe the kids are alright. we talked for a little longer, talking about hair dye and where she's from and all. it was such a sweet, genuine interaction.

overall, these were both super wholesome experiences that i'm really cherishing. maybe to some this is an odd thing to have feel so special, but for me, i'm happy i could be even a vague blur in those girls' minds as they go on to form and shape their identities and forms of self-expression. even just giving them a small confidence boost from seeing someone else like themselves. it's something a younger me would have benefited from, and i can only hope i was adequate enough for them.

[banavalope]

Calling it an ARG isn’t just ‘technically’ incorrect its 100% incorrect. It wasn’t even a fandom thing the creator made it as an art project and it blew up overwhelmingly and now they don’t even want to do it anymore

Look bud, you’ve kind of got me between a rock and a hard place here. The artist has asked people not use his words as artillery against each other, and quoting him directly is the only way I can accurately respond to you, so we've come to an impasse.

Anyway I wanna talk about ARG semantics instead, which is an interesting conversation we can both have together.

It involves analyzing analog horror as a whole to understand how we've arrived at having both a modern, and a traditional, definition of ARG.

To make a long story short, just in the event you're not here in good faith or perhaps don't like reading long essays - also to like. Do everyone a favor rq - the word people are looking for to properly define Welcome Home is ergodic analog horror. This is the umbrella term you're all looking for. Ergodic. We're moving on now.

Might I also recommend two video essays I love if you find this topic interesting: Ergodic Literature: The Weirdest Book Genre by CloudCuckooCountry and History of Analog Horror by Alex Hera

So lets ask: What makes something (not Welcome Home, we're not talking about that anymore, I do literally mean Something in General) "technically" an ARG?

Our modern day definition of an ARG has quite honestly become interchangeable with the term ergodic literature, most likely due to "ergodic literature" being an obscure term; however, the evolution of the analog horror genre subverting what it means to be "a game" is a much more likely cause that I think is important to appreciate.

By traditional definition - perhaps having been lost to time, this was the early 00s after all - an ARG is only a proper ARG when there is a game master orchestrating a game, and the story does not, will not, and can not progress without player participation. There are quite a few famous ARGs our there that went on for years before being finished because the participants got stuck. It's entirely on you to finish the narrative. Think of them like global LARP sessions, a lot of visiting physical locations to get your next clue is involved.

There are lots of traditional ARGs, some famous ones include projects like I Love Bees, Blair Witch Project, and the very infamous "Hey Peabrain, you teleport?" that happened right here on tumblr dot com. These games are my experience with defining what is or isn't an ARG.

Of course, time moves on with or without us, and I've come to accept that ARG is a broader term than it was before.

It's important to note that ARGs are the direct birth parent of modern analog horror. In fact, while analog horror has always existed as a sort of artistic backdrop, it wasn't a named genre until Local58 offhandedly defined itself with the term "analog horror". Many well known analog horror projects such as Mandela Catelogue, Gemini Home Entertainment, or Mystery Flesh Pit National Park, take much of their inspiration from the groundwork Local58 laid, and took to calling themselves analog horror as well, as one might expect.

Now, these influential supergiants are in, what you might call, "read only" format. Audience participation is not needed for the story to progress, which is a necessary component of an ARG.

Until it isn't!

Looking at art projects like This House Has People In It, Liminal Land, Doki Doki Liturature Club, or House of Leaves - just to name a few - they are all alternate reality "games" (one of them is literally a game). AR"G"'s, if you will.

The narrative presents itself as being contained, but very much is asking you to engage with it, if you so choose. They lay out clues to be found that take you to the next Easter Egg, and a deeper story can be ascertained, but only if you want. This is, technically, an ARG.

You can also just choose to play Doki Doki without digging into the sound files and extracting the meta data to get the secret art, or just watch This House Has People In It without finding the related secret website explaining Links Disease, either option is a "correct" way to read the media. You only stand to gain a different perspective by looking into more.

Which again, that's ergodic literature.

But these projects are famously considered ARGs.

These projects were huge, some of them mainstream, and were a lot of people's first time introduction to analog horror and ergodic literature. Some of these self define as an ARG when that's technically incorrect.

Altruistically, what these projects are accomplishing, is creating accessibility to the game space of the ARG genre. Cherrypicking all the self contained, gamelike elements, without committing to orchestrating a game. Traditional ARGs are typically extremely time sensitive, and one might "miss out" for arriving late to an event, or having limited access to necessary tools. Perhaps some people feel unsafe at the prospect of going to an unknown physical location, on the hope it's part of the game. Traditional ARGs were once incredibly niche for that reason. Modern AR"G"s keep this to a minimum, if not outright omit it in favor of telling a good story.

I'm not sure if there's a recent example out there of a traditional ARG, other than Hey Peabrain? Certainly there are some, to be honest with you I've moved on from traditional ARGs in favor of modern ones and other analog horror media subgenres, but my point being that they're becoming less common as they're increasingly replaced by Hunt-A-Killer style story ""games"". Shortly, we'll see some of the same evolutions begin to happen as digital horror outpaces analog horror as the shiny new popular horror genre. With digital horror's inclusion of formats like tiktok, I would expect to see us circle around again to traditional games being explored within the alternate reality space, as it lends itself well to that kind of thing.

In general, people are going to be familiar with this form of ARG, where "game" means "a story asking you to engage with it", and will default to using ARG in that way. In the broader experience of others, ergodic literature is an ARG, even though ARGs are not ergodic literature, technically. Most ARGs calling themself an ARG are not ARGs, mntechnically.

With any luck, this essay was compelling. It's just a thinker, really, I'd be interested to hear what you - or anyone - might think.

I'll reiterate, here, in closing, that by no means is this analysis meant to be seen as being in defence of, or opposition against, how anyone chooses to use the term ARG. I'm making no statements about Welcome Home or the people who took to it as if it were a traditional ARG. Neither am I expressing my opinion on the way fans engage with art projects, or even actual ARGs. That's a whole other conversation we aren't having here.

[mp3minded]

I really didn't want to make this post, but I just couldn't sit with my thoughts here.

@loveislandthegame I apologize for the awkward context I'm tagging you for, but I want this to be an actual open dialogue where anyone can feel free to share their perspective (and that invite extends to anon too), because that's what I want this to be, and it was this post that made me want to have my say too;

Before I get to anything else, I want to list off everything I agree with you and anon on;

I'm a firm believer in the player having a breadth of choices for LIs to endgame, so I wish Sienna and Hazel were in-game options for anon too, especially considering..

I also agree that there only being 2 sapphic options for this season tops is a serious lack of options for wlw players.

Whether or not the player is strictly sapphic, or fiercely loyal to who they coupled up with last before the reunion, I do agree that being forced to kiss another man for the "kessing" game was horribly handled, because it takes an important choice away from the player.

There was a definite lack of well-written women this season, that lose facets of themselves that lie outside their interests in men.

Considering the layoffs Fusebox had awhile ago, I think there being at-least one incel writer on the Fusebox team is a very likely case.

I'm not sure if we got the same anon, but my first and second points are stances I've elaborated on before here;

Now, I can confirm that Liam's three-way after the show was with Sienna and Hazel, not Bea.

Liam also apologized to Bea after the show, and probably didn't even know if he was forgiven or not until this moment, because realistically she probably didn't want to text him back, understandably so;

Now, the bit from anon's ask that, as a black stan of Liam, did bother me;

"It'd have made just as much sense as Bea and Hazel fulfilling all of Liam's white boy fantasies. Because women of color are once again written to be toys for the sexist white man to entertain himself with before he confesses his feelings for the main character."

Even though I've confirmed Bea was nowhere in his three-way, and it was Sienna instead, there's still more I want to respond to here.

I don't like talking about race on this sort of topic because there's no pathway that would "win" here.

There's canon, where he doesn't limit his grafting pool to white women, which lends way for him to then be insinuated as a race fetisher. It's also insulting to Liam stans of color such as myself, and Hazel (though I wouldn't call her a literal Liam stan, she's just involved here too), because it implies that we lack the capabilities to make our own judgement calls on whether or not someone is only interested in us, as black women, because of our race.

And if it was only white women he pursued outside of MC instead, he could then be given side-eye for a coincidental trend like that.

Hazel has expressed that it went beyond physical attraction for her and Liam, for at-least some point in time, and it appeared that the sentiment was mutual from his end as well;

If it was just a laugh for Liam the whole time, he wouldn't of done any of that.

And again, I don't like talking about race here. But anon has expressed interest in Sienna (besides Hazel), and;

Both Liam and Sienna are blonde, green-eyed white people, whom would've had interesting enemies-to-lovers arcs, if Fusebox had let it be an option with Sienna too.

I guess the other main thing I was upset about, besides the race stuff, was that the last thing I want is for the fandom to be any more divided on this stuff than needed, in my opinion.

I don't expect most people to understand my interest in Liam, because I know that he's farrrrrr from perfect. But, the same can be said for Sienna, and really, it just comes down to not yucking other people's yum.

[ihearyou-jikook]

Hi lovely! I'm an avid Jikook supporter and I will always be.

However, there's two things i always go back to. I really wanted your opinion on them!

Mijoo. The hugging picture and the drinks. Her managers/staff debunked the drinking photo, saying that Jungkook was doing something and then met up with her and other people, so it wasn't just them at the table.

The hug, though. Idk, it seemed intimate to me? Her managers, herself and Bighit denied the rumors, but what do you think of the whole thing? Do you think Jikook had bern broken up at the time and they had a brief fling?

2. The girl outside the meat restaurant. Theres that video of Jungkook in black clothes, he signs something and then leaves, and supposedly a girl is waiting outside. I saw the whole video and it seems like he's going to walk past her, but the vídeo ends before that. Here it is: https://youtube.com/shorts/D6khz38appQ?feature=share

Could just be a girl standing outside. But people still talk about it.

So, what do you think?

Anon Ask #2

Hi! I wanted your opinion on something i've been thinking about, with taennie coming out and stuff. Do you remember when Jungkook was seen leaving a meat restaurant and, supposedly, there was a girl with him? You can see her standing outside. What do you think of that?

In my opinion, it was more likely to be a staff, since they're always accompanied by managers/staff wherever they go. I don't think Jungkook would be that bold like Taehyung. I also believe in Jikook, but I remembered it and started thinking about it.

Does anyone know who that girl was? Besides the fake Yubi rumors?

Hello Anons!

Before we get into this, there are 2 things I wanna touch on.

First, I am not the best person to come to about "off-cam" rumor moments. I typically see it, make an opinion on my own about it and move on. I don't keep receipts and I don't have sources. So I apologize if that's what you guys were hoping for. My response to your questions won't be very long or thorough.

Second, both of these Asks were worded nicely and I appreciate that. My Jikook spidey senses tho, well, it's telling me that the next wave of trolls might be coming thru with this kind of stuff to try to drag JK in light of Taennie.

So after this post, I won't be entertaining this topic any further than this.

Alright, coffee & Anon asks, let's get it ☕☕☕

The Mijoo situation was denied first and foremost. && The whole thing seemed sus on her part. No, I don't think Jikook was broken up, nor do I think they had a fling. Why? Because if you've been watching and listening to JM & JK you see that both are romantic AF and respect each other very much. Even if they were going through a rough patch or were on a break I highly doubt they sought out other people.

Newsflash for anyone unaware: It is possible to mutually decide to take a break in a relationship to figure your shit out without being intimate or seeking validation through other partners. I have personally done this and here I am married to that person.

No, I don't think the hug was all that intimate. She had a bf. So that tells me right there, JK ain't hugging this woman, who has a bf, with any interest in her because he's respectful. And her bf would have probably felt threatened if anything intimate was going on there because JK ain't the only man who has possessive tendencies in Korea.

Everyone loves to pair JK with women which I really can't understand why. I personally don't even think he is bi. Pan maybe.

Also if I'm remembering correctly she did tattoos for him? Which he had covered up right?

For the restaurant clip where JK walked out and there was a chick standing on the street 🙄🙄🙄 IMO, looked like he was gonna walk past. The clip is so short, there really isn't much you can tell from it. I have no idea if she was identified. It could have been anyone.

This moment is a drop in the sea of JK voicing who he has loved for years on end.

K, that's all I got for ya! Baiii.

Lip biting Jai-kay inc...