#I want to know what other people think of my problem and if y’all agree

[queseresere]

More for @chrisrin ‘s gemcyt AU!!! The knights my beloved!

I am happy with Wels and Hels. Having said that:

I like both Fire Opal and Black Fire Opal in general. I am conflicted on the design though. FO is more elegant and by far my favorite. However, BFO is much closer in tone to Hels and Wels. I also think it would be funny if the two swords just equal more swords. That was the original reason for the two designs; I could not decide on the weapons FO/BFO should have. The coloration of the two makes me feel like BFO would be more realistic in terms of fusion when looking at the counterparts. In my mind, to excuse having two designs, the fusion is very unstable and therefore the outcome is fluid. I imagine that depending on who is in charge the exterior appearance may differ. But BFO introduces another modifier to the gem type so I wonder if it would be more realistic to have it be a three gem fusion, especially with the introduction of more colors. The colors bring up another issue and that is the design. It was very difficult to balance the colors of BFO to look good together. However, I think this could be looked at positively as a representation of the incompatibility of Hels and Wels.

To summarize, Fire Opal feels too pastel and Black Fire Opal feels too complex/jarring so I am having trouble settling on one design.

[whoreforchr1s]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒

bf!chris sturniolo

a/n: y’all please give me one-shot suggestions���🙏

- HUGEEEE pda guy like he wants his hands on you 24/7, whether thats on your waist, you hands, you thighs or even your back, it doesn’t matter. expect this man’s hands to be GLUED to you.

- compliments all the time! even if your sick and look disturbingly gross, he would still think you are the most beautiful human to walk this planet, and he will always tell you that.

- he defo gets jealous easily but trusts you with his whole heart

- you guys are just literally bestfriends in a relationship. i dont know if this makes sense, but y’all literally laugh at anything and just get along so well!

- he acts all tough but he has a HUGE soft spot for you.

- he honestly doesn’t like pet names, but ‘ma’ is an exception. He calls you ma ALLLLL the time, but nothing else. Not babe, not baby, nothing! but if you call him babe or baby, he loves it. But he’ll just stick to ‘ma’

- morning 🪵 pretty much everyday.

- protects you all the time from haters. if you get hate, he will be replying to every comment/ message that he sees. even if you tell him it doesn’t bother you, he doesn’t care, no one is gonna hate on his girl.

- back to the pet names, when talking to other people like his friends or just random people, he always labels you as ‘his girl.’

‘oh sorry, i’m going with my girl’

‘i gotta go find my girl’

- matt and nick always tease him about sappy stuff he has done for you/ said to you.

- he’s defo the type of guy that pretends to hit it from the back when you bend over to get something.

- he’s low-key a freaky bitch..

- whenever you are in a short skirt or dress in public, he always walks behind you so no creeps can stare at you.

- ass guy. i think alot of people agree that chris is an ass guy, of course, but my man loves soke boobs too. Like he loves grabbing and slapping your ass, and loves backshots, but honestly when your wearing a low neck shirt, he can’t help but stare..

- if you’re a reader, he will always ask about your books and what is happening in your current read, he has no idea what your saying but he just loves to hear you talk about something your so passionate about.

- he finds it hard to say no to you, you wanna do his makeup? sure thing! wanna get a cat? okay! no problem!

- he loves complimenting you. He knows that sometimes you are a bit self-conscious, but he will do everything in his power to make sure you know how beautiful you are. because, you are the prettiest person he has ever laid his eyes on.

masterlist!

[yourreliablenarrator]

“Displeasure”

⇢ Leon Scott Kennedy x Fem reader

[Contains: Profanity, some suggestiveness, drinking (mostly wine and whiskey), this is Leon from RE4R (after the mission with Ashley).]

Trope: Enemies to lovers(?).

Word Count: Idk (I’M SORRY Y’ALL 💀)

Note: This is my ever first attempt to make a small, little one-shot. Of course, there are going to be some errors and mistakes in my work, and it’s been a while since I last wrote something. This also my first time writing and posting it public, so I am both nervous and excited all at the same time! <3

P.S.: Also, if you have any criticism or concerns about what I write or how I wrote in this oneshot, please don’t hesitate! I really don’t mind any criticism since that will help me to write better and more efficient! Thank you so much!

(Edit (7/22/24): Forgot to mention that I did rush this and I do promise not to do this mistake again since I want for people, like you, to enjoy content like this. 💛)

He couldn't figure out why he agreed to attend this party organized by his colleagues. He wasn't really into parties, unless they offered drinks to help him forget about his own emotions and problems.

The music pumps through his ears as he navigates the crowd. Every sense was bombarded by various stimuli, especially from the partygoers. Nevertheless, he persists in pushing through the throng of people.

All he was going to do was have a few drinks and then leave without uttering a word. Or, well, that's what he planned in his mind, and he hoped not to have any interruptions from any of his coworkers.

As he walked up to the bar, muttering a request to the bartender to give him two shots of whiskey. The man behind the counter only gave Leon a nod in response and walks away to fix him up some glasses.

While he was waiting, more like spacing out, he notices that someone sits next to him. Yet, he decided to pay no attention to them as he keeps his gaze trained to the wood counter.

However, the person’s voice next to him catches his attention.

“Fancy seeing you here, Leon.”

Quickly, he turns to look at the person next to him, only to realize that it was you. Of course it had to be you out of anyone in this building.

You and Leon didn’t have the best relationship with one another. You both bicker and make snarky comments to each other. Every time you teamed up in a mission, you and him always left with the most annoyed look on your faces. No one knows what happens during those missions, but at least you both get the job done.

You were wearing a red, skimpy dress—something to catch his eye and makes his face redden. He almost wanted to look up and down your body and make a flirtatious comment, but he hated you—right?

He lets out a tired scoff, turning away from you the moment he realized that his small cups were already in front of him. He grasps one of the shot-glasses with narrowed eyes, his teeth gritted together.

“What do you want?” He grumbles in a low, displeased tone, taking a quick sip of his whiskey.

“Why do you always think I want something from you?” You responded with another question, he could feel your eyes trailing up and down his body, almost making him want to shiver.

“Because whenever you’re around me with that cocky, little grin, you either want to annoy the hell out of me or you’re that drunk and you want to make out with me.” He explains, which only made you feel more amused.

“Touché,” you mutter with a bigger smile, trying to keep yourself from laughing.

Leon only rolls his eyes in response, taking the last sip from his second shot of whiskey. When he places it down on the counter, his eyes were now on your face, which had a big smile.

He wasn’t sure if he wanted to strangle you or kiss you senseless.

“Can you leave me alone?” He asked, adverting his gaze from you once more and looks back at the bartender who gave him a third glass.

“Well, can we talk?” You ask him with a raised brow, leaning your chest against the counter to try and catch his gaze, but it was a futile effort.

”’Bout what?” He asked, looking down at his small cup.

“About us.”

Confused, Leon’s face immediately turned towards yours once more, realizing that you weren’t joking about this. It was slightly surprising since, well, you weren’t exactly a girl that would take anything seriously as much as he does.

“…Like what?” He added, shifting his body so he didn’t have to keep his heard turned while his body was towards the counter.

“Well,” you began, shifting closer to him on your seat, “we’ve accidentally been at each other’s throats ever since we first met. I don’t think that we should… well, y’know, be enemies, I guess?”

“You guess?”

You only shrugged your shoulders in response.

Hesitant, Leon ponders at the prospect at being friends—or at least allies—anytime you both went on missions. It did seem tempting, but he was clearly reluctant since this was so sudden.

“Look,” he began with a sigh, shaking his head. “If it’s just because you want to sleep with me, then I don’t really care about being on good terms with you.”

“Nah,” you answered.

He exhales sharply, gripping at his small shot of whiskey in his grasp.

“Alright,” he answered, turning his gaze back onto the counter in front of him. “Only on one condition: you stop giving me those weird looks like you are right now.”

He doesn’t want to admit, but those “weird looks” were making his heart flutter and his pale cheeks more flushed with color.

“Deal.” You responded before raising your cup up with a smile. “Cheers to a new friendship.”

He scoffs at first, but finally raises his glass before he quickly chugs it like he hasn’t drank anything for a week.

“Damn,” you chuckled, cocking your head to the side. “Calm down, Leon. Does that whiskey even touch your tongue?”

“Yeah, but I don’t give a shit.”

…

Hours passed, most of the people who were here for a good time were starting to leave. Yet, you both were still there on the same seats you were on for the last few hours.

You both were pretty drunk, and Leon usually had a high tolerance to alcohol and could hold in his liquor, but he was probably on his fifth drink of the night besides the first few whiskeys he had at the start of the night.

He was starting to loosen up to you.

Well, he already was, but maybe a bit too comfortable around you.

He was rather a bit touchy when he was drunk, and you didn’t really expect that from him. In all seriousness, most people would assume that he was a sleepy drunk or maybe even an idiot when he was drunk, but not this flirtatious.

Yet, you didn’t really mind this.

It was finally time when you both decided to part ways for the night; or that’s what you planned to.

Just as about you were head to the door, something came over Leon that almost made him want to shout stop and ask you not to leave. Instead of doing that, his subconscious thought immediately went to grasp your wrist. It was firm, but gentle.

When you turned to him, his face was flushed, but you weren’t sure if it was because how much he drank… or if this was something else?

“Hey,” he began in a low, gentle manner.

“Yeah?” You asked with a small grin, trying not to snort at how his words were slurred together.

“Do…” his voice trails off, as if he was afraid of being rejected by you. “Do you wanna come over to my house tonight?”

He was caught off guard by what he just had asked. Yet, he still did it anyways, and now he was holding his breath and waits for your response.

Then, you finally gave him a sweet, sultry smile in the process. You took a small step towards him before pushing your lips against his, pulling him into a passionate, warm kiss.

When you both pulled away, you look at him with a chuckle.

“Sure,” you replied. “Hope you don’t mind staying up late.”

He laughs in response. “Don’t mind.”

He pulls away from you before he takes your hand into his, intertwining your fingers with his. Finally, you both start to leave the party with big, excited grins on your faces.

It seems like neither of you were going to get any sleep tonight.

[handofmidas-writes]

I didn't hate season 4. Or the love triangle. Let me explain.

Okay. Listen. Listenlistenlisten.

I know everyone is pissed about season 4. I hear you. I get it. I don’t think anyone is thinking that this was a well-executed season. Not by any stretch of the imagination.

But hear me out.

The bones of the thing are good in principle. The arc makes sense at the heart of it. Again, hear me out.

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

The entire series is about saving the world by stopping the apocalypse. And as all the Fives in the deli have shown, the apocalypse is due to the Hargreeves siblings’ very existence. Reginald has fucked over every iteration of the kids to bring back his wife who died as a result of her own actions in creating marigold. He couldn’t give her up, and he was willing to rip universes apart to get her back. Five has tried time and time and time again to save his family, ad infinitum. He knows how to solve the problem, but he can’t bring himself to do it. Until this Five. They are, as we here on tumblr love to say, doomed by the narrative.

Five also says the universe loves balance. We saw this in season 3 with the kugelblitz. They were an impossibility in the universe and the kugelblitz formed to solve the problem by eliminating them. Impossibility for impossibility.

One of the Fives founded the Commission to solve the problem. It happens every time.

Abigail’s purpose through the whole season is to ensure the Cleanse, to reset the universe to the correct timeline. She shouldn’t be there. The kids shouldn’t be there. They are a direct result of Reginald releasing marigold into the world to enact his plan of resurrecting Abigail. The universe is trying to return to homeostasis, balance itself. And in every iteration, it needs to rid itself of the marigold, the substance that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

Ergo, the principle is sound, in my opinion.

The execution was shit, as I’m sure we all can agree.  I don’t like that they cease to exist, necessarily, and I think there were other avenues they could have taken to avoid that. But I can stomach it.

The shit storm is certainly in the characterizations. They did almost everyone dirty in some way or another. I think it could have been saved with a few more episodes, but we know that Netflix sucks like that and the season definitely suffered after the strike. I won’t be going into all of the characters just now since I’m apparently a loquacious bitch and don’t have the space. (And I know this is all being screamed into the void anyway. None of y’all will be reading any of this lol.)

Here’s where I’m going to ruffle feathers. I buy into the whole Diego/Lila/Five thing. And here’s why. (Cut here because this bitch got real long. Like 1.5k words long. Oops.)

The first episode is called “The Unbearable Tragedy of Getting What You Want.” Is it a slightly contrived Now That We’re Not Superheroes Our Normal Lives Kind Of Suck thing? Absolutely. Has it been overused in basically everything ever? You bet. Does it kind of work here? Yeah, actually.

These people legitimately don’t know what to do without powers. They’re coming fresh off the heels of trying and failing to save the world 3 different times. That takes adjustment. A lot of adjustment.

Lila and Diego fall into parenthood, which is a huge thing in and of itself. It’s not surprising that Diego turns into the stereotypical suburban dad, the breadwinner because that’s what he thinks his role should be. It doesn’t fully make sense that Lila turns into a housewife, but I can see her trying to throw Diego a bone and trying to make up for how she’s treated him in the past. Not to mention proving herself as a mother.

It makes sense for Lila to want to get out of the house and do her own thing, without her kids and her husband. It makes sense for Diego to resent his low level job when all he’s wanted to be is a badass and a hero.  Their frustration about their family life is understandable. Being a family is a lot of effort. There’s a loss of freedom when people become parents. And these are two headstrong people who have things to prove to themselves, to make sure they show up for their kids. Which leads to breakdowns in taking care of themselves and their relationship to each other.

Now, the sticky bit comes in with the whole love triangle. I know folks hate the subway subplot. Here’s the thing, despite how it was executed, it makes sense, too.

It’s an interesting way to portray the Many Worlds Theory and it’s plausible enough that Lila and Five connect in this way because of their shared knowledge of the Commission. It makes sense that they explore it together.

Which leads me to this: Five is incredibly lonely. He spent 40 years alone in an apocalypse and tried everything in his power to get back. He fell in love with a mannequin because she was the only thing keeping him tethered and sane-adjacent (sweet Dolores, we’ll never forget you, queen). He was desperate and alone and persisted because he had to.

He joined the Commission to try and stop said apocalypse and then inadvertently ended up in another. He’s tired of trying to save his family over and over and now he’s not sure there’s anything he can do to save them this time. And now here he is, stuck in the labyrinthine Subway of Fuckery with Lila and they can’t get out. Lila who has the same training as him, the same knowledge base, who went with him to the remnants of the Commission in season 3 and tried to save them all. Let’s call them frenemies, I guess.

And now here they are. Stuck together and feeling helpless. Enduring every fucking thing under the sun, watching each other’s backs, and they only have each other. And they’re tired. They’ve been searching for a way home for six fucking years. So, they decide to stop running and catch their breath. I won’t say it’s an inevitability, but Five is so lonely and scared. And Lila is lonely and scared and without her children. But they’re safe with each other, and they take comfort in each other, and it’s so easy to blur those lines.

So yeah, they end up together in the now infamous cottagecore greenhouse with the strawberries. And they try not to think about Diego. Is it right of them to do this? Well, no. But are people messy as hell? Yes. And are their actions understandable? Also yes.

So, to me, when Five finds the notebook and keeps it hidden from Lila, it tracks. Because he’s so fucking scared of what’s going to happen now. What if they still can’t make it back? What if they can’t save the world this time? What if it all comes down around his ears again? So he hides in easy domesticity and thinks about the solace they’ve found in each other.

And Lila, understandably, blows up when she realizes Five has hidden this from her. Because for her, this was a way to cope. To survive, as she says. She loves her children. And she loves Diego. She didn’t stop loving them. She couldn’t stop loving them. But she might just love Five, too. And isn’t that scary as hell?

People are many faceted, my friends. Does it make what she did morally right? Of course not. But does it make sense? I truly think it does.

The limited number of episodes is one of the largest contributors to the half-baked-ness of it all. There’s not enough time to flesh out a proper resolution to the whole thing. Which led to Diego’s hunch from episode 2 of Lila cheating with Greek guy/Five accidentally being correct foreshadowing. Which then resulted in a heavy confession from Lila in front of the entire family (which I was digging, just like the siblings, tbh). And then the boys started throwing punches and the whole love triangle thing went completely down the shitter (a dubious and debatable statement, I know).

So, that leaves us with Lila who is now in the middle of two brothers. Said brothers are now physically fighting out bad blood and pent up frustration. And only part of it is due to Lila.

Diego’s character is criminally underdeveloped. He was always halfway between the underdog and class clown and his characterization in this season falls spectacularly flat in all aspects. He’s a character who has fought to prove himself over and over again, and is still trying to do that here, but nothing really lands. Diego and Luther are comic relief mostly. And Diego’s role, unfortunately, ended up being a stick in the spokes of a sloppy love triangle and pretty much nothing else.

Five is obviously the favorite in Blackman’s eyes. Five is knowledgeable. Five always has an idea. Five is the one the family looks to for answers, more often than not. Five is the one who almost always opts to save his family in some way, shape, or form. And this has resulted in Five being sad and helpless, in a way. He has been building this emotional bomb for decades and across timelines without any real release or acknowledgement. So Blackman chose to have Five get his emotional release in the form of “a love story” with Lila. Doing it this way, with the limited number of episodes, left Diego’s part woefully inadequate.

No resolution really takes place here. Diego kind of “wins” insofar as he convinces Lila to take their family to the subway and she takes his hand first when they all say goodbye. Five gets the teary “I hate you for this,” after she ends up choosing self-sacrifice with the others, which we know means “I am so incredibly sad and I hate that you told us the truth because it means everything ends for real this time and I’ve had to let my family go.” Then she holds his hand, too, showing that all is forgiven, here at the end of all things.

There’s definitely not a resolution for Diego, and it can certainly be inferred that he still pretty much hates Five’s guts. I get the feeling that Five is just resigned to finally ending the cycle. He knows he’s hurt Diego badly and I think he does feel bad for it, but it’s not translated into the final scene, which leaves the whole situationship hollow and earned it the well deserved hate for hilariously poor execution.

So that’s it, friends. That’s my unpopular opinion and way too many words justifying it. I surprisingly have more I could blather on about, but I’ll spare y’all from including any more in this post. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

And for a final palate cleanser for those of you who do not care about any of this: I think we deserve a side plot of Five and Derek the Twink from the CIA. The true OTP. (Also Brisket Five, who is the real MVP.)

[theheartnexttophan]

I MET THEM!!!!! They’re so sweet!! I kinda blacked out during my M&G but I have a video so I know what they said!

More highlights from the show under the cut! (Including spoilers)

When we arrived, there were a bunch of us stood outside the venue, and a whole parade of at least 200 suited lawyers walked past us, looking very judgmentally/confused at all the phannies, Dan mentioned the lawyers later 😂

I totally panicked during my M&g and didn’t say anything I wanted to, but it’s ok! I hugged them both and their sweaters were so soft omg

Dan said he liked my flower crown

Their voices sounded so different during the M&g! They sounded way lower

They looked a bit different too, like more like actual human beings (duh!)

They sang lizards and rave time from two separate questions during the preshow

There was an entire convent of at least 8 Sister Daniels (most of them came separately)

Like I said before, Dan said they’d just past an anniversary (not a wedding anniversary!) and it was 15 years of Dan and Phil and Phil said, no but seriously imagine it

The heart eyes on stage omg!!

They touched!!!1!! So many time, Dan kept touching Phil’s shoulder

They broke character a few times, it seemed like Phil did when Dan asked why the phouse isn’t called the douse, at one point Phil seemed to forget what he was supposed to be saying and Dan had to repeat what he said

The conspiracies were toilet, fake, tour bus, wedding (it seemed to me like most people were saying Vegas but… yk)

They kept making jokes in the show and preshow about the altitude and lack of oxygen in Denver (as someone from Texas I agree!)

Dan bit Phil pretty hard in the boxing segment, there was visible teeth marks and spit on Phil’s arm 😭😫

Phil doing the dance looked like he was trying to follow Dan, like Phil was playing just dance! He was sooo precious tho!!

Everyone was sooo loud omg, I’m prob part of the problem, my throat hurts from screaming

Shoutout to the people we met in the M&g line and agreed to film their M&g only to realise we had seats right next to each other so we hung out the whole night! Yall are awesome!! 💜

And shoutout to the group of us waiting at stage door, y’all were so sweet!! 🫶

Thanks to all the people who traded bracelets and stickers! That was so fun!

Ok, I think that’s what I remember off the top of my head! I had the best time ever and it was so amazing!! I love you Dan and Phil and I love you phannies!! 🥹🫶💜

[elviraaxen]

I’ve been hyper focused on cowboy hats for what feels like weeks and from what I can gather….. there’s a reason people simplify cowboy hats like the applejack hat or woody hat

neither of these are true cowboy hats, as you can see;

the anatomy of the TRUE cowboy hat is that the rim is bent down in the front and back and folded up at the sides. Neither Applejack nor Woody has a truly curved hat, which I think is important for the readability for a true cowboy silhouette.

Now, there are different models of cowboy-adjacent hats that are simpler, there’s the australian outback hat and the cohan cowboy hat for example;

HOWEVER!! I think we can all agree that while these hats are good in a pinch, this does not read as a true cowboy. A cowboy could be wearing a t-shirt and jeans but add a cowboy hat, boom that’s a cowboy. These hats would need to be accompanied by spurred boots, chaps, vest, the whole shebang, to communicate that it is in fact a cowboy and not a city-slicker with a fashion sense.

So where am I getting at, what’s my problem?? The Cowboy hat is descriptively and extremely difficult to draw, that’s the problem, and while I can see why it is often substituted for other hat models that roughly read as the same thing, or why it is simplified to a symbol like in applejack’s case, this is … not good enough for my taurus ass.

Moreover, besides just having difficult anatomy, The Hat is significantly easier to mess up than most hats. It has a delicate silhouette, that if drawn only slightly off model, turns into a completely different hat or looks doofy as hell. It is also HUGE and when drawn in comics (like in my case) is often simply in the way, but make it too small and again, it’s no longer a cowboy hat.

And, finally, it is also one of those hats that is worn really low on the head with the base being just above the eyebrows (to shield the eyes and face from the elements), and so when a character looks down just a twinge, boom, away goes the eyes and half the face. Not good for comics if you want them looking down but you want to see their eyes.

Hard to draw, hard to turn, hard to pose, hard to make sense in the composition of a drawing.

MY issue, however, is that I WANNA BE ABLE TO DRAW THE COWBOY HAT EFFORTLESSLY DESPITE ALL OF THIS ANYWAY!!! To me it’s really important that I at the very least can draw a decent cowboy hat in all angles. Just as like.. a principle. I’d feel bad giving up considering I have a very important cowboy on my hands and I’m also a fukken professional character designer and it’s EMBARRASSING not being able to draw a HAT!!!

Sure, I know some 3D artists whom I could commission for a sculpt to put in clip, BUT WHAT IF IT’S THE APOCALYPSE AND I WANNA DRAW SEXY COWBOYS?? I need to do this y’all. For me.

The saga continues, and I will be back a stronger artist. Wish me luck, comrades.

[starrysnowdrop]

Were there any barriers to you establishing your OCs relationship? Perhaps social or cultural stigma? Or a concern that "ships" with that character were already overdone? Or simply a fear of being seen as "cringe"? If so then how did you overcome this?

Ohhh now this is a good one, as this is something that I’ve been told, that I have inspired others to “overcome their fears” of shipping based on certain stigmas in the FFXIV fandom, so let’s get into it shall we? Oh and I will apologize in advance, as this WILL get long.

The Stigmas

Hali x Aymeric

So for Hali x Aymeric, the obvious stigma is that Hali is a lalafell, and Aymeric is not. Though I’ve seen lately that this stigma has waned a bit, especially here on Tumblr where people who infantilize lalas don’t seem to last long, but keep in mind that there is still plenty of lala infantilism on the bird app and other places like Reddit and in game.

For my main ship, that is really the only thing that I see that makes the ship “problematic” to some in the fandom; some people still see lalafells as “child-coded”, despite lalafells being a fantasy race of little people, no different to gnomes, hobbits, dwarves, etc. in other fantasy media, and despite the in game world treating lalafellin adults the same as any other race.

Yume x Zenos

(Yume’s blog: @firelightmuse)

So for Yume x Zenos, but also to a lesser extent Urania (Hali’s Azem) x Hermes, and my other secret ship that I haven’t revealed yet because it’s still in development, these ships fall into the category of being “problematic” because they are Hero x Villain ships at their core, and because Zenos, Hermes, and the secret ship partner are all major antagonists in the story, they have many haters.

Now there isn’t anything wrong with not liking certain characters, as I truly think we all have certain characters that we just don’t vibe with for one reason or another. But there is a problem, however, when people go after villain shippers just because they happen to not like those characters.

Just like with the Lala infantilism problem, villain ships get a lot of hate in the fandom, but for different reasons. I would guess that the main reason is the haters assume that villain shippers either don’t see that the villains have done bad things and/or try to minimize or excuse the villains’ bad behavior. Now I won’t say that there aren’t a few people out there who will truly excuse a villain’s bad behavior and try to make them out to not be as bad of a person as they are written in canon. But I really do think that there’s not as many of them as the haters are likely to believe.

Remember: just because someone is a fan of a villain doesn’t mean they agree with their actions, and a writer is NOT the same as their character. For example, Yume may minimize and/or downright ignore all of the pain and suffering Zenos has inflicted upon not only her, but innumerable others, doesn’t mean that I as Yume’s writer share the same views. I actually consider Yume to ride the thin line between anti-hero and villain herself, just so y’all know.

How to Overcome the Stigmas

So now that the individual stigmas of each of my ships have been outlined, how did I overcome the stigmas? And how difficult was it for me to do?

Well, if you’ve followed me for several years already, you might’ve seen that Hali, my lala WoL, is not the first WoL I have written. That honor goes to Yume, who is a Raen Au Ra and she doesn’t come with the same stigma that Hali does as a lalafell. So I had the privilege for several years of being able to write Yume without the infantilism that Hali would have to fight against in the fandom. But those years gave me enough courage in my own writing to create Hali and to fend off the stigma of lala x non-lala shipping and my own insecurities surrounding it.

Though it was difficult, and it took me a long time to do so, I eventually realized that I was happier and way more fulfilled when I wrote what I wanted to and not what I thought my followers or my friends or anyone else wanted. Trust me, I tried more “popular” and less “problematic” ships before, and even though they were nice at the time, I ultimately dropped them because I realized that I didn’t feel fulfilled, and that I was scared to write for more “problematic” ships because I feared the backlash.

One HUGE thing that I highly recommend is to find yourself a good support system to surround yourself with. Whether that be reaching out to your mutuals here on Tumblr or joining discord servers with like minded individuals, having people there who can help you through your journey in shipping will help greatly! Trust me, I wouldn’t be where I am today without my support system to be there for me when I’m having a bout of anxiety and/or insecurity with my writing.

Another thing that I highly recommend you do is to Unfollow, Hide, and/or Block haters liberally!! Please, it’s for your own mental health and wellbeing to do so! If you’re wanting to ship your lala oc for example, never hesitate to block the lala haters out there! No good will come from seeing the hate all over your feed, because it will just bring you down.

That’s about all I have for now. If you have any other questions on this subject, please do not hesitate to send me a message, DM, or ask!! I am always happy to help with any questions or advice when it comes to shipping! Thank you so much @mimble-sparklepudding for the ask, and thank you all for reading this very long winded answer!! 💖

[phillesterlover]

Kinda scared to post this on Twitter but when will people realize that qrting and talking about something you don’t like brings more attention to it than just simply ignoring something you don’t like/blocking a user who makes you uncomfy. People are gonna act every kind of way it is what it is and everyone has a different opinion about rpf and sexual content/jokes. If you don’t agree with what someone’s doing or you’re worried DnP might see it and be uncomfortable…just ignore it. That’s the best way to make something go away. Any time I’ve seen explicit sexual content about dnp on my Twitter tl it has always been through a qrt or indirect. Seems like you’re inadvertently becoming the problem you’d like to stop.

Also - Dan and Phil have been doing this for a long, long time y’all. While it doesn’t say anything about whether it’s ethically right or not, they’ve been exposed to sexual content about themselves online for over a decade. They’ve sought out and read/viewed some of these things as entertainment. I think that there are lines that they definitely don’t want crossed, which to me is invasion/inclusion of their families/friends who are not content creators, privated/deleted videos/posts being reposted. Other than that, I think they’re grown, internet savvy and can accept the fact that people write smutty fanfic about them. The same people I’ve seen mad about this situation also have several tweets referencing their formspring posts, which I imagine make them more uncomfy than a tweet about them having sex in 2024.

Now if you don’t like accepting sexual content about real people, THAT IS OKAY AND VALID. Just ignore it. It would be different if DnP were to come out and say “hey, this thing actually makes us super uncomfortable and we’d like you to stop doing it.” THEN we can all become internet warriors defending their honor. But if anything they’ve been pretty clear that they don’t care. So I wouldn’t worry about it on behalf of them.

Now about the minors situation, even if an account is not a private account, if someone has “Minors DNI” or “18+” in their bio/username then that to me is an automatic warning that explicit/nsfw content is possible. And even then, as much as I don’t want minors exposed to sexual content, let’s all be real here. Most of us were 15-17 reading mature fics on AO3 unfazed. We watched DnP start the skinfic and knew EXACTLY where it was headed. You can put all the safeguards in place and minors will STILL be able to access explicit content if they look for it. We can’t make it fully safeguarded, so the only thing we can do is just be responsible about the content we put out there and hope that it’s tagged properly.

Sorry about the rant, it’s just getting so annoying seeing this drama continuously pop up. See something you don’t like? Ignore it. DnP don’t need you to be their internet police for them. Writing something explicit? Include 18+ in your bio, tag your fic appropriately. Also, have a mutual/friend who posted something you don’t like- you could always DM them and have a convo before deciding to put them on blast and create a hate campaign against them. This is just my opinion though, so if you disagree, feel free to reply/message to let me know your take.

[uhohdad]

two things you’re never going to see from me is complaints on the portrayal of konig’s character (or anyone else, really) and “rules” on how to write your COD fanfiction.

idk about y’all but when i write it’s incredibly self indulgent. i write about what i want to write to satisfy my own sexual creative needs and i think y’all should do the same. you’re not gonna see me throw a fit if i don’t agree with your portrayal of a fictional man with 3 pieces of confirmed lore. if i disagree that much i just won’t read it? i’m not going to rain on your parade and tell you that you should stop doing your creative outlet and sharing your stories bc i don’t agree with how you want to write his character or bc you don’t follow canon.

you wanna portray him as a stone cold and ruthless killer who thirsts for the blood of his enemies? as the big soft uwu boy everyone hates so much? you want him to be 20y/o, 45 y/o, 60y/o? mean, kind, confident, anxious, smart, himbo, reserved, persistent, wholesome, a pervert? you want to strip this man of everything you know totally OOC and just borrow his appearance for a coffee shop AU? it’s okay! chances are there’s other people out there who were craving just the thing you’re cooking.

no one is doing this for a living, we’re all writing fanfiction about our imaginary boyfriends in CALL OF DUTY as a hobby. it’s just not that serious. this goes for all creative fandom works, too.

i’m personally very picky about my fanfiction, but who’s silly little problem is that? that’s my silly little problem. i’m here for the grind, the chase, the dig. too weak to handle scrolling back 100 pages on ao3 just to find the perfect strangers to enemies to friends to lovers 100k word porn with plot with accurate character potrayal you were looking for? you might be in the wrong business if you can’t handle the hunt, my friend.

y’all are making free content for us to consume. that’s more than enough, and the priority at all times should be to make sure you’re having fun writing. I’d rather you all share your OOC goofy little fics that you felt motivated and inspired to write than a canon friendly story you had to force yourself to get through for our sake.

anyway i’ll go to bat for fic writers any day of the week.

tldr; don’t ever let anyone dictate how you express yourself creatively, give yourself permission to go nuts like a 6 yo old with paste, glitter, and elbow macaroni. free yourself from the weight of the chains of creative stifling and see how close to the sun you can girlboss. let us seethe at the hands of your raw muse.

and as always, thank you for sharing your art with the world.

[donniesbabygirl28]

HEY could you do a dally x reader were the reader is a soc and the gang is a little skeptical of dally dating a soc they still excepted the but they’re just a little skeptical about it. Anyway, the reader invites all of them to a party on the last day of summer, and they all go, and the soc’s try to start an argument about how they don’t belong here and the reader stands up for the gang and it to changes there opinion about the reader and dally’s like in ’awe’ and thanking the reader for sticking up for the gang?

If you can’t the ignore this request hope you have a good day/night :)🤍

Omg yesssss! I was just about to go tf to sleep but I just couldn’t ignore this request.

“Maybe she’s usin em .” Steve said, out of the blue as him and Soda worked on a new car that came in.

Soda stopped and looked at him.

“Who, y/n?” He asked, not completely surprised but not totally convinced.

Steve nodded as he put some parts together.

“I mean, why else would a Soc want dally? No offense to dally but, I never woulda though that he actually woulda taken a liking towards her.”

“I guess your right.”

And what a coincidence that the Curtis gang and two-bit were having the exact same conversation.

“Hey, how do y’all feel about Y/n?” Two-bit asked the Curtis brothers.

Darry just shrugged.

“Shoot, ain’t my kid, ain’t my problem. I mean, I care about Dally but if he wants to let a soc break his heart, ima let him.” Darry stated, basically giving out his opinion.

“I don’t know, I haven’t really talked to er. I’ve seen er before but..you know.” Pony said, shifting his position on the couch, returning back to his copy of “Gone With The Wind”

Johnny sat up and snuffed out his cigarette.

“I don’t mind her.”

“What about you, Two?” Pony asked his sideburned buddy.

“I mean, I don’t know. I think she’s just gonna hurt Dally. Hey! You know, what if she just wants something?”

That all agreed.

Just then, Dallas walked through the door.

“Hey guys.” He said, as he shut the door behind him.

“My girl wants y’all to come to her party tonight, she wants to meet y’all. And she’s super excited.”

The gang didn’t know what to think.

They felt off.

“I would love to.” Darry replied.

Dallas turned to the rest.

“What about y’all? Y’all down?”

The gang nodded.

They really wanted to meet the girl that had Dallas Winston wrapped around her finger.

You were a nervous wreck.

What if your hair looked crazy, you thought as you brushed your hair for the 50th time.

You put lights up and set out a speaker with the best music you had.

You didn’t want to be a bother.

You just wanted to meet his friends.

You wanted to make a good first impression.

You heard the doorbell ring.

You ran down and let some people in, telling them where the food and drinks were.

You took coats and hung them up.

You gave everybody bracelets, which you handmade.

Dallas opened the door, letting himself in.

“You look nice, babe.” He said, giving you a peck on the cheek.

“Thanks, Dally. What did they say?” You asked nervously.

“Oh, yeah they’re comin.” He said

You were scared.

You ran around, trying to make everything look absolutely perfect.

You straightened up pictures.

You fixed your hair constantly.

You changed shoes about a hundred times.

You settled on a pair of rose gold heels.

“Babe, you look great, don’t get so nervous.” Dallas reassured you.

You calmed down and later on the doorbell rang.

You got pale.

The closer you got to the door, the clamier your hands got.

You opened the door to see what looked like greasers.

They must be Dally’s friends.

“Hello everybody. I’m Y/n- oh uh. I made bracelets for everyone.” You said, passing out the bracelets.

“A pleasure to meet you.” Darry said, shaking your hand.

You could tell he was the dad of the group.

“Same to you.” You replied.

By the time you got to two-bit you were laughing.

You don’t know what happened.

When you and two-bit looked at each other you both were laughing your asses off.

You invited them inside.

“The food is over there. And over there is the couch and the tv.” You said, pointing.

Dallas just watched you in the corner.

Then a group of your “friends” walked up to you.

“Those don’t look like Socs.” Your friend, Mary sneered.

You looked at her, shocked at her harsh words.

But you stayed quiet.

The harassing continued.

Bobby, her boyfriend looked at the gang and laughed.

“They don’t belong here. They are dirty. They don’t belong with us socs.”

You looked him right in the eyes, absolutely fuming.

“Look here, Bobby. You have no right to treat such lovely people like that!” You yelled, catching everyone’s attention, even the gang.

“They are human beings too! You guys are cruel! And I would rather be a greaser than what you guys call “upper class” because your attitude is just disrespectful and disgusting.”

You were getting angrier by the second.

“You guys are pigs! And if anything, I need some thrill in my life, because what you guys provide is nothing but..but bullshit!” You screamed. You never cursed that much.

Especially not in front of so many people.

You stepped closer to Bobby.

“Oh and, Mary. Did I tell you about Sophie?” You said with a smirk.

She looked at her boyfriend.

“Who is that?” She asked him.

“Nobody-“

You cut him off

“His side broad. Yeah. I told. Because people like you don’t deserve my respect.”

The gang was standing by Dallas, absolutely shocked.

Dallas, was in awe.

“That’s my girl.” He thought to himself.

“So if you don’t mind, get the hell out!!” You were fuming, opened the door wide open for them, Bobby and Mary arguing on the way out.

This probably ruined your chances of being friends with his family.

Later on the party was over.

You told people goodbye as they walked out, saying they had a great time.

When everyone was gone, you felt strong arms pick you up and swing you in a circle.

But it wasn’t Dallas.

It was Two-bit.

“Thank you! You have no idea how long I’ve hated him!” He said, setting you down.

You laughed.

“No problem.”

“Honestly, we thought you were gonna be just like every other soc in this town. But what you showed me tonight missy, is something I’ll never forget, and you are apart of us now.” Darry said, giving you a hug.

“She ain’t no soc!” Steve said, making the gang laugh.

Everyone else left the party and you sat in the couch.

You felt arms around you.

“Thank you so much, doll.”

You were a bit confused.

“What for?” You questioned.

“For sticking up for my friends.”

You looked at him shocked.

“Well they shouldn’t treat y’all like that. That’s just insan-“ you were cut off by a kiss.

It was soft.

“I love you.” He said as he pulled away.

You both laid on the couch and watched movies all night.

Oh boy, did you love your man.

[wackyscreamswithraisin]

Indefinite Hiatus and Clearing the air BIG TW ON //PERSONAL

Before I say anything this is the fanfic summary: It’s/ it was revolving around Raisin and Malcom (and Hamilton) from the Smart Talk With Raisin short, somehow stealing a meta cartoon remote from the, inaccessible to them; Cartoon Network ‘toonworld’ (like when you see the characters crossover in CN bumpers). They’d watch Courage the Cowardly Dog on their tv in their room like a comfort, but with the remote they start meddling with the character’s awareness of meta for entertainment - and when Barbara accidentally fuses with a glitched artefact, she is unable to be reverted to normal and she breaks the constructs of her own minor characterdom to try and track them down. The fic idea has changed a lot over the years but that’s what it (currently) has changed to. It’s rather Pibby adjacent and would focus on a lot of what’s changed about cartoons between every half decade - yeah it’s very complicated and over the top lol.

I know y’all are sick of me making these long ass walls of texts instead of proper content and I’m really sorry I keep pulling this 💀. I was going to make a nicer pinned posts] of explanation but since this blog is in a confusing place at the moment I just decided to do it quick instead so I don’t put it off.

For those who don’t want to read the full thing: TLDR,

1. I have personal attachment to Fred that has probably affected my judgement

2. My thoughts on Fred as schizophrenic rep is certainly not universal and the partial embarrassment about writing content revolving around him continues to catch up with me

3. The related problems below are reason why I have been so adverse to seeing Fred as being a r-pist m—-ster or SA’er

And 4. I’m starting to accept that it’s not that deep if my fanfic never gets told. Even if it would make me happy, it’s not the end of my work or me if I don’t. Nevertheless I hope you all understand and I’m sorry for any disappointment.

On the personal issue: First, bc some might not know, I am mentally ill and have had a vague diagnosis of psychosis for years that was never fully decided and that I understand now and abridge as ‘schizopsec’, but follows all the traits of OSDD 1B, enough that I tend to use both terms. ‘Fred’ is one of my alters - he’s my main ISH (internal self helper), caretaker, and fictive (fictional introject), and he has been for around 10 years. This is not a joke. This is as cringe as it sounds, even worse in real life when he fronts of course, and is embarrassing for me to admit even when I attach this post to my main blog where I share schizospec upliftment posts. It’s a complicated and excruciating subject matter for many many reasons, and it’s important that I clarify this, even though it’s uncomfortable for me, since this naturally affects my ability of separating Fred the alter from Freaky Fred in my writing and art. This is part of why I have to keep scrutinising my writing drafts. I believe I can keep them separate, but this is part of the reason why I guess my attachment for him and making content to do with him is there at all.

My thoughts on Freaky Fred in episode : As a schizospec, putting the alter aside, schizophrenic representation means the world and the moon and the stars to me, even when it’s bad. I can’t tell if this is an agreeable opinion amongst other schizospec/ psychotic people, but even damaging and dangerous rep involving homicidality like the axe crazy maniacs have something of catharsis in their rises and falls that I can appreciate, depending. Sexually depraved and violent rep however, crosses a line; obviously schizo killers in fiction are heavily drenched in misinformed stigma and is mostly bullshit and can be dangerous- we are dramatically far more likely to hurt ourselves or be hurt - but I think most people would agree that sexual violence is a different evil altogether, and I cannot stand to see the marginalised mentally ill conflated with such horrendous shit.

There’s the problem. I think Fred is a schizophrenic; other than him getting the equivalent to straightjacketed at the end and taken to presumably some asylum or how he narrates/ talks/rhymes in his own head and otherwise barely talks just disjointedly - he’s got that classic 90s-00s cartoon crazy grin and is instilling fear in the viewer through said unbalancedness,his whole deal is very ‘of its time’ on displaying scary madness. And, all that being said, even though he’s clearly not good rep by any stretch of the imagination, he doesn’t harm anyone - he’s even ‘nice’ - or at least doesn’t seem to be blatantly malicious. The bar is on the floor, but that’s already better than idk William Afton or something.

Fred as a predator: The point of view of Fred as a metaphorical molester is pretty obvious and is a popular opinion, and it would be dishonest to say I don’t completely see it, especially with how he says naughty - the implication steers more into the sexual predator area. Hair shaving isn’t violent as much as taking something away - subtracting, and this can be interpreted in a murderous or SA fashion, but the murderous interpretation I stick with, one akin to Sweeney Todd, is a very flattering view of it and I know it. It’s easy to see how it comes off fetishistic which favours an SA view and is naturally the reason why a lot of people see it as rapey.

The episode as a metaphor for SA or CSA enabled in a household that turns the other way is popular, and at first I didn’t like this theory because it felt like a dark theory made almost to tarnish child content with a deeper or darker meaning, which I had seen a lot elsewhere. But this wasn’t really honest; ‘The Mask’ works well as an episode with no subtext but is respected moreso as an episode clearly about domestic abuse and misandry born from trauma. ‘Freaky Fred’ can also be this.

I think the well and honest truth for me is, even when I do everything I can to touch grass, and remove my personal connection to the character/ the idea of him through the alter, away from the conversation; I really don’t want Fred to be a schizophrenic and a sexual predator character at the same time, and I cannot remove my view of him as the first one, but I have to admit that, in some ways, both was intended for him and this episode in some variation. It’s pretty upsetting to think about; I know a majority audience isn’t going to be that invested in the representation of mad people, especially not in cartoon antagonists, but it matters a lot to me. Obviously it would still be bad if he wasn’t a crazy character and it would still be scary and awful if he acted more ‘normal’, but that craziness is there and the combination feels particularly wretched because, once again, schizophrenics are far more likely to be victimised.

What I’m trying to say with all this; Fred is a mad character who despite being the most offputting and scary character I’ve ever seen in my life, managed to become irremovable from my psyche for almost my whole life, for better and for worse, and in some small way, seeing him as so scary and uncomfortable, but equally ‘good-willed’ and harmless by technicality in that episode, made me feel a little less alone. But people who have been yucked out by this blog and this fixation as I said before are fully in their right, and I am taking a step back to consider if I want to continue with making stuff to do with Fred or not.

The fanfic?: I still think about the story a lot but as you can probably tell I’ve made it very convoluted by involving a meta narrative, and as I’m just about to head into university by the time I’m writing this, it’s difficult to tell what will come of this. I will let you all know, but it’s in a continuous grey area and I don’t want anyone to get their hopes up. I’m sorry.

Will I still post art?: Maybe haha, I never know how to feel when I post it. Sometimes I worry it gives off the impression that I ship post-shaving incident Barbred (I don’t) or that I endorse Fred’s ‘freakiness’ at all. And sometimes I think it just looks bad, as in not a good recreation of the ctcd art style, or too sad - like idk why I think the audience is just going to understand these alarmingly emotional pieces when I’ve been pretty scarce on context, I apologise for everyone’s who’s gotten tonal whiplash scrolling. Fred art may come up elsewhere on my other blog which I will reblog here if I think it’s appropriate.

If you read all the way thank you so much💚, I hope you get what I’m saying, and if you don’t I understand. Consider following my main zebedeezing if you want somewhere I post more often though non ctcd related.

[laughing-drawing-aces]

part 2 of my morgana analysis

in season 3 morgana also gets gwen arrested by showing uther- arthur and gwen’s relationship. now while she doesn’t set gwen up for magic morgana had to have known that uther would assume that gwen enchanted arthur. she is a servant and he is the prince - uther would’ve come to that conclusion with how he is with magic and morgana knows that. yet despite this she still goes ahead with her plan. she allows someone who she saw as a friend to get punished and for the king to come to the conclusion that magic might be the problem. she uses her oppression and other peoples oppression to get her what she wants which is gwen out of the picture. she gladly allows the king to come to his own conclusion about the nature of their relationship which includes the oppression that other people are under including herself. she doesn’t fight for magic instead she uses it to fuel her hatred of someone and achieve her own goals.

now why does fandom think that morgana is the fighter of the oppressed magic people? we’ll simply because we want to view things as black and white. we don’t agree with the narrative that morgana is evil and that arthur and merlin are the good people so we have to make morgana the saint and arthur and merlin to be evil. they both can’t have nuance cause that’s ridiculous. but also morgana is the big bad in the show. after season 3 we don’t get much of people wanting to kill arthur without morgana’s intentions. even sometimes regular people without magic go to her (queen annis) or are coerced into her plans (daegal). the magic community also is either aligned with her or they switch sides or they ignore her. she is the powerhouse in the end about the magical community despite not doing much of anything. i know the audience gets frustrated with arthur for not making magic legal but was the magic community ever annoyed at morgana for waiting years to actually declare a full on war with camelot? did they lose hope in her that she had their best interests at heart? we simply don’t know.

so because morgana is put in the limelight of having magic and fighting back against camelot the fandom just thinks of her as this oppressed fighting goddess who could do no wrong. but she actually could be fascinating if y’all see her for who she is: someone who wants power and fore sakes the magic community because she wants power. merlin fore sakes magic because of his love meanwhile morgana fore sakes magic because of her power and hatred.

[bisexualpercyjacksons]

no wait wait wait hear me out about how the four beads is a truly devious and smart addition

so starting off with four beads from the dryad establishes a few things:

1. getting out of the underworld wasn’t something they really thought about yet (too many steps ahead, I also have ADHD I get it)

2. poseidon HAS thought of that problem and has made the beads in preparation to protect them

3. poseiden thought about rescuing sally when planning how to get everyone back safely, not just percy and his friends

2 & 3 plant the seeds (a long with the dryad’s words and hermes’ comments) that poseiden really does care about percy (and sally!). yes I know I know, bare minimum to care about your kid etc. but considering this is a show and we don’t get percy’s internal monologue it kinda makes sense to have a little more details that make poseiden seem better to the audience

[read more break to not clog up the tag. I promise I get into the angst shortly]

all these little bits that imply poseiden really does want to be there for him but can’t, that he’s been watching from afar because he didn’t want zeus to find out he broke the pact and take his anger out on his son and former love (yes, love! this is the man/god that wanted sally to be his queen with him in his underwater kingdom!!!). I actually really like the idea of those posts about how he has been helping out in little ways over the years because. let’s be real for a second. NO WAY does sally afford that apartment AND have the ability to send percy to specialized boarding schools with the salary of a CANDY SHOP EMPLOYEE. I get it I get it, the gods are deadbeats, but I’ll admit I kind of like the idea that he’s been doing what he feasibly could without getting caught by making extra money appear in sally’s bank account or sm

making him seem (and possibly be) more sympathetic is another reason that fuels percy to change the system rather than join luke to tear it all down. he knows the system is bad but he sees hope and truly believes it can be changed for the better. that is something that can be saved, not destroyed

4. this is kinda irrelevant but I like that it is the dryad that agrees to give percy the pearls after poseiden says for him and his friends to go back to camp because she wants him to have a chance to change things. gives her a little bit more agency. (also y’all she’s SO pretty in gay but moving in)

so. four beads.

if we want to keep the dilemma and character growth that comes with there only being three beads and someone having to make a sacrifice, something needs to happen: one of the beads breaks or someone loses it

is it percy? who has realized they need four beads for EVERYONE to come back and is horrified that they now only have three, meaning either he himself or one of the most important people to him has to be left behind in actual hell in order for the world to be saved? think about the dread and self-loathing that would come from that

or is it annabeth or grover? where the horrifying realization is the same but now there is a gut reaction from percy to be upset with the person who loses/breaks it. he loves his friends and can’t stay mad at them but now they are in this impossible dilemma to choose who stays behind and it’s killing all of them. the impossibly guilt of the person who breaks/loses it knowing that it’s their fault someone doesn’t get to go home, someone has to stay behind in the underworld

and when does this happen? early on, and we spend the episode watching them all try to figure out the dreadful problem of who gets left behind. looking at each other thinking, I can’t leave them behind, I can’t. they’re my family. but we can’t leave percy’s mom behind either.

or does it happen right before they have the chance to go, and they all think everyone is going to make it and sally is in percy’s grasp only for everything to fall apart and now everyone is looking at each other thinking, who is going to have to be left behind? who has to be the sacrifice?

anyways, I think there is something truly devious about them KNOWING there NEEDS to be four beads and HAVING THEM only to have something happen and the option of everyone going home safe being ripped from their grasps

[ticklishraspberries]

Shameless (Draco/Luna)

Summary: Luna is never embarrassed, which means Draco has to be the one blushing. Neither of them really mind. (Based on a prompt by @itslittlegiggle that I’ve been hoarding in my inbox for god knows how long! Hope y’all enjoy it!)

It had been quite a surprise for Draco Malfoy to realize that he was pining after Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw girl in the year below him, and probably the most teased girl in Hogwarts since Moaning Myrtle had been alive. He felt himself drawn to her individualism, her quirkiness, and how she acted like none of the bullies made the slightest dent in her armor. Not only did she hold her head up with pride when people made jokes about her clothes, her jewelry, her beliefs, or her relationship, but she refused to change a thing about herself to make it stop

Of course, he would come to learn that the bullying did get under her skin, when he found her wandering the halls, searching for her shoes that had been stolen once again. As a Prefect, he should have given her detention. But he was going soft for her, it seemed, as he instead took it upon himself to help her look, and after they found the pair of pink shoes hanging from a suit of armor’s hand, she had given him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you.

And, well, it had sort of spiraled from there, until eventually, the halls of Hogwarts were filled with whispered gossip about how Draco Malfoy and Luna Lovegood were apparently going out. Most people said that Draco could do better - he scoffed at that, as if those people knew what he wanted. Others questioned if Luna had snuck him a love potion or put him under some sort of spell. He may or may not have hexed a fourth year for implying it. And despite all the rumors, Luna had no issue coming up to him in the halls and wrapping her arms around his neck, ignoring the eyes on them.

If there was one thing about Luna that still managed to surprise him, it was her shamelessness. It was as if embarrassment was simply not an emotion she was capable of. She lacked a filter, and would often say strange and taboo things. The thing that had really proven this was when Blaise had teasingly asked if they were headed off to shag, and Luna had replied: “No, but we will probably be kissing. We haven’t actually had sex yet.” and Draco had gone bright red and pulled her away while his friends laughed. She hadn’t meant to embarrass him, she just simply saw nothing wrong with announcing that.

He had spent so much of his life caring what other people thought of him, it was refreshing to be someone who couldn’t give a damn. While he tried to sit up straight and look put-together, Luna had no problem sitting cross-legged and slouched over, as comfort was her priority. And when he felt something was too silly, too un-Draco-like to do, she would gently push him out of his comfort zone and urge him to have fun.

He realized that he was actually a quite good artist when he allowed himself to doodle, and that he loved cuddling more than he ever thought he would. Perhaps Luna’s favorite discovery so far was the fact that Draco Malfoy was apparently incredibly ticklish, and it flustered him to no end.

“I don’t see why you get so shy,” she mused, her fingers trailing lightly over his neck. “Everyone is ticklish. You just happen to be more sensitive than most people.”

Shrugging his shoulders up, Draco tried to hold back his giggling to no avail. “It’s childish!” he replied, and he could feel the blush rising in his face.

Luna giggled too, and ran her fingers down his spine before moving outward to tickle his sides. “It’s not something you grow out of. And besides, I find it quite cute.”

Draco squirmed, laughing in a way that only Luna seemed to draw out of him, whether it be with this playful torment or her amusing antics. “I am not cute!” he said, trying to sound intimidating and failing miserably.

“Agree to disagree,” she replied, smiling fondly. “Besides, do you think I should be embarrassed for being ticklish?”

He shook his head, not trusting his mouth to form words as she toyed with his lower ribs.

“So then why should you be? I think you’re just being too hard on yourself. You’re allowed to have fun, and I know that you’re having fun, because you never push me away.”

Merlin, this girl was going to be the death of him. His blush had spread down his neck and up to the tips of his ears, and he buried his face in her shoulder as he laughed, hands grasping at her robes. “Please stop talking,” he said, not meaning it at all.

She laughed, a light and airy sound that still pulled on his heartstrings. “You don’t mean that. You love it when I talk. Even when I’m flustering you.”

When her hands went under his arms, his laughter reached a new octave, and he felt her giggling along with him. She was right, that it was normal to be ticklish, and she was also right that he didn’t mind when she tickled him. Maybe it was silly to be embarrassed about it, but he didn’t care. She had enough shamelessness for the both of them, after all.

When her fingers stilled, she snuggled into him and kissed one of his flushed cheeks with more tenderness than he felt he deserved.

Luna was full of surprises, and Draco loved to experience each one, even if it left him blushing like mad. 

[docholligay]

Transit

“Oh, I mean, last time,” I say with a chuckle of hubris, spitting in the eye of God, “we’d come up around the Strawberry Fest*, and the train was so packed in--you know, it was, everyone was leaving at the same time, so we had to stand--” 

“I think we lost each other.” Bel adds.

“Yeah, I was telling Jill, ‘fuck it, we’ll find them in Ely, it’s not very big.’” I have a broad smile, a fool, an idiot, and I shake my head at my mom, “But it’s not like that, the winter fair.” 

And you what? I was telling the truth. It was not the same as the Strawberry Fair, and the issues we encountered were not the same as the ones from Strawberry Fair, but my grand silliness was in assuming there would be no problem at all. 

Come with me, on a tale of not exactly woe, but perhaps a very exciting 20 minutes in some other nation’s history as we attempted to get back to Ely. 

Background information:

It is COLD. This is coming from me, Lord High Chancellor of “y’all don’t know from cold, I am so very manly tee hee” it was fucking cold, alright? In the realm of 30F/-1C, which, back home, is chilly I’ll say, but not such a huge deal as to attract notice. But. This country is wet**. This country is so fucking wet. This country is a kitchen sponge continually being misted with ice cold water. Stepping outside is the equivalent of being smacked in the face with a damp wool sweater. It takes my hair, my fine, short hair, an hour to dry. And so, we are walking through clouds on the verge of freezing. 

Taking into account the above, and also the fact that I am both proud and an idiot, my feet are completely numb. I’m not saying much, but I’m having trouble keeping my feet under me. Doc, what does this have to do with being proud and an idiot? I chose the cute shoes that day, friends, with naught but a wool sock and a thin leather sole between me and the ground. It was, how do you say, unwise. 

If we miss this train (Read: cluster of trains) we will be trapped in Cambridge for the better part of an hour or so. 

To be perfectly arrogant, in addition to being proud and an idiot, I can bear up under quite a bit, and simply set feeling anything to the side in pursuit of an experience. I forget that other people are not necessarily built that way, and my mother is very tired and a bit dead on her feet. 

In conclusion, we have to get this train back to Ely. 

Dani (cleverly (?--we report you decide)) spots a train going to Birmingham by way of Ely, which’ll take off sooner than the one we were originally planning on taking. Excellent! Brilliant, as they say, even. It also gave me an idea of what a Cross Country train, which I will later be taking to Birmingham, looks like. It seems fine, which is broadly how I would describe most of the trains in the UK that are not EMR, where hope goes to die. We sit, chatting. It’s lovely. We laugh about not wanting to go to Birmingham. What a delightful time. 

And then, that angel’s trumpet of coming destruction: The vioce of a calm British man on a trainline. “This train will be delayed as the driver is stuck in Cambridge traffic.” What can I do but start laughing? As I understand it, the Mill Road Winter Fair is one of two great calamities that befall Cambridge a year, and it dovetails with interview week***. Apparently, this is not largely known to people who presumably should know better, and so here we are, sitting on a train to Birmingham, discussing our options about switching to another, better, perhaps faster train. 

I look at Dani and Bel with the same sort of look, I imagine, that people give me when we’re in the woods and I ask if they want to go along the ridge or if they’d rather drop down into the valley. I understand the words they are saying, but I do not understand the implicatons of them. We’re going to stay on, declares Dani, with a sense of assuredness that comes when you have a train in the hand versus two in the bush, and we all agree that this seems as good an idea as any. 

For a few minutes, at least. 

And then, the voice of the announcing angel comes again, and tells us that anyone going to Ely should really consider getting off the train, as they aren’t sure when the driver will be there and the train the next platform over is terminating at Ely. Oh, by the by, that train leaves in three minutes. 

A wave of humanity rises as if in a Japanese woodcut, all moving in a herd toward the platform across the station. Now, for my American and Canadian readers, at the very least, let me explain how a smaller train station in the UK looks. They aren’t big, particularly, but because of how trains work, to get to another platform, you have to go over or under, generally over, with a set of stairs****. An entire crowd of people is running to the stairs, running up and over the platform in a desperate bid to not be stranded in Cambridge. As we run up the stairs, a voice assures and disappoints, that the train to Ely will be delayed, and, in my extreme foolishness and naive trust of the “National” Rail “””System”””, I think, “Lovely! They’re holding the train for us!” 

OH DOC DOC. 

We make it to the other platform, and the train, my friends, my companions, is not even there. Leaving in three minutes, my god. So now we watch. The train to Birmingham is helpfully being delayed minute by minute, as the second it turns 16:13, the train will be leaving at 16:13, until, of course, it is 16:14, and then the train will be leaving at that time. Our train to Ely, however, exists in that mysterious liminal space of merely ~delayed~, which keeps things fresh and exciting. 

Which will take off first? We eye the Birmingham train across the distance, nearly daring it to leave before thhe train to Ely even arrives, looking at each other on the platform, eyes dashing about like frightened animals. From where will relief come? Is there any escape from Cambridge? 

There are many opportunities to place bets here, as suddenly, a third horse enters the race! 

A train to Norwich, via Ely, pulls into the station next tot he train to Birmingham. Apparently Ely is a good place to go through, if not rest at. We turn to each other. I have not the knowledge to divine the future, and turn thus to my oracles of public transportation, they who dwell in the Fens and hear the whispers of the eels, who follow the rivers of iron on boats run by the capricious gods of Great Northern and CrossCountry. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to have any clue what to do either. The delight of the British train system is that it is happy to supplly you with the ability to make many wrong choices. We debate. We watch. 

We crawl BACK across the stairs and platform, and get on the train to Norwich. 

As we sit, the train to Birmingham pulls away. 

*This is the wrong name for it, but it’s also what I said, so, [sic]

**I keep saying this, and Dani keeps saying, “Is it? I think it’s been a bit dry.” and I am mere moments from popping her in the face, wherein water will gush from her like a sodden foam ball. 

***This is, apparently, the one week where they do every single interview for The Smart Youths to see if they’re getting into Cambridge. What a low stress environment. Fantastic idea. 

****I was absolutely unaware of this when I previously went to the UK, and sent an email to Dani trying to ask about how difficult it was to change trains, but my question about what the fuck a train station even looks like was so basic that it took two or three emails before she even understood what I was asking. So I am here for you, my fellow Americans.

[marengogo]

if said content was from someone whose account name was related to thinking my best friend and i were romantically involved, i'd check out the account before reposting (even if the content i was planning on reposting didn't have anything to do with said shipping thoughts)

i don't blame th, but i do wish he checked the account 😞

TW: mention of triggering words/actions such as “rape” but not the actual action.

Hi Anon,I hope you can forgive me for using your post to address a topic I've been meaning to discuss. The following has absolutely nothing like for real 💜🙏🏾 against you, but it kinda sets the perfect scenario, so imma take advantage it. BUT imma offer you a jikook hug in exchange, hope you can accept this for your very honest and not blaming frustration 🥹🫰🏾💜

So the topic is: SHIPPING.

Remember that chapter 2 blog which I promised, but NEVER delivered? 🤡🤡🤡 Yeah, so,shipping was going to be one of the many subsections of that blog, which to be honest with you, is sitting unfinished in my draft, and most likely will stay like that … BUT, luckily for me not sure for y’all 😬😬 today serves itself as a perfect day to actually give it an applicable context. Through today's familiar mayhem, I read a post which I think will give the perfect context to the topic of shipping. It is a post from @akookminsupporter, the following one:

I actually happen to agree with this 100%, because I do agree that we don’t want the people we stan to directly, or indirectly, endorse problematic situations, particularly those that are recognised as such universally. For example:

GENOCIDE a UNIVERSALLY KNOWN ISSUE and NOT DEBATABLE PROBLEM

RAPE a UNIVERSALLY KNOWN ISSUE and NOT DEBATABLE PROBLEM 

RACIAL SLURS a UNIVERSALLY KNOWN ISSUE and NOT DEBATABLE PROBLEM 

You get my point.

Now when it comes to shipping, it is WITHOUT A DOUBT one of the greatest plights within our fandom in particular, but in reality it is an issue in kpop and other music genres as a whole. Yet, the reality is that shipping is indeed a traditional tool REALLY HATE CALLING IT THAT BUT … that is almost always used as a means to a common and popular end. So the questions are: 

Do fans within the kpop fandom consider it an issue? Yes and No. 

Do people outside the kpop fandom consider it an issue? … Do they even know about it, or about it being a serious issue, within its perimeter?

Do the idols consider it an issue? … Yes? and No?

In its entirety, as all the questions don’t actually have a universally unanimous answer, SHIPPING in general, as of 17 January 2024, can’t be considered a universally known and agreeable issue. BUT, in the case of kpop, the situation is much worse. To begin with, we are unable to definitively agree on whether, or not, shipping is actually an issue to begin with, or not; be it the idol or the shipper. Nobody, in their right mind, is out there making jokes about, for example, genocide. If they are, they will righteously face big ass consequences by almost ANYONE who stumbles upon said comment/s. Shipping, on the other hand, the only people who would care, are the people within said field/environment. But, as I am a very integral part of this fandom, I know that, for us, it has become quite a nerve wracking issue, so let’s go a bit deeper.

Let’s go with the generally known concept within kpop that a debuting band is very likely to engage in fanservice and, consequently, form ships. The idols know, the fans know. Then, let’s give it 4 years? More or less many bands decided that “you know what? I don’t need to do this anymore” and as a consequence, some have tried to address this subject, and some just pretend to not know anymore. No matter the choice, the fact still remains that their related shippers were created, toxic or not, and 9 out of 10 cases; they ain’t going nowhere.

In the case of BTS, it is actually very funny because the only person who has allegedly tried to address this, is the one person who is constantly under fire for “feeding his shippers”. What is even funnier, to me at least, is that none of his 6 members actually came out to back him up, the day he challenged his viewers regarding shipping, at least not that I recall, if you know of any members that was actually supporting Tae, please let me know. So, if none of my bandmates seem to find it an imminent problem because let’s be honest, they had to deal with far bigger shit, apparently, and the company seems to not find it a panic-worth problem, apparently, then, if I were Tae, I’d be initially hella frustrated, but eventually I’d be like: FUCK IT. Which is the mentality I honestly think they all end up applying, in the kpop world.

So, what EXACTLY IS considered shipping? 

Repeatedly mentioning the name of a shipped/rival member? Posting pictures with a shipped/rival member? Touching a shipped/rival member? Spending time with shipped/rival member? Standing next to a shipped/rival member? Etc. Just so you know, If any, or all, of these qualify with shipping, then maknae line is UNIVERSALLY within our fandom FUCKED, and yes, only them, because, let’s be real, not many care about the shipping involving the hyung line, even though they do engage in the same type of behaviour … except for Yoongi, he is kinda in the middle, like some sort of collateral damage. 

So then what should we do? Should we completely ban shipping? Should shipping be banned maybe 4 years after the debut of all groups? Or should shipping have regulations, some kind of universal judge that presides and guides shipping behaviour? Should shipping fanfictions be abolished? Should unit names be restricted to the sole use of members? Should members cut out time in their life to make sure that they are aware of shipping and their consequences? Soooooo many questions, and probably tooooooo many answers, but the one fact still remains that MOST LIKELY these are all issues for those consuming the provided “shipping content” but not for those providing said “shipping content”, because for example:

And here I will be applying the parent/guardian/teacher/authority figure test, as in , for the next set of examples would any of the aforementioned figures be alarmed? Following are my test results  on whose problem it is, between the fandom and its idol.

A JM fan-dedicated birthday party, being crashed by rival shippers: Shippers problems. JM’s mail being stolen: Park Jimin problem, because tbh it could have been anyone, not necessarily a shipper.

JK having to look at a poster saying that he is in love with Tae at the airport: Shippers problems. JK having an actual stalker: Jeon Jungkook problem, because tbh it could have been anyone, not necessarily a shipper.

Tae posting a picture with an shipped/rival member: Shippers problems. Tae finding a girl in his private lift with a marriage certificate: Kim Taehuing problem, because tbh it could have been anyone, not necessarily a shipper.

And don’t get me wrong: name dragging, defaming, lying,character bashing, graphic obscenity, etc, they are all very painful issues to witness, and endure, but it always mainly occurs within the kpop environment. When articles write about perhaps a lazy member, when other fandoms drag our favs to pieces, in the end, when the global announcements are made, none of those descriptive, obscene qualities follow. Grammy nominated BTS, is just Grammy nominated BTS, not paving crew Grammy nominated BTS, or “worst fandom” fuck y’all possessing Grammy nominated BTS. ‘Namean?

Furthermore, the truth probably is that, at the level of BTS, the artist DOESN’T HAVE TO SEE ANY OF THAT BULLSHIT, which is why it ultimately ends up being an “US” issue. Even when toxic shippers reach higher entities, like the company, government offices etc, the second these entities see that it is about a ship, after I am hoping due diligence, they are dismissed, pronto. And so, reiterating, we are left with the bulk of it all 🤡🤡🤡.

So if, taking today as an example, Tae sees a post ABOUT HIMSELF not even his ship, just himself, by one of his shippers, we can assume that he has a pretty good idea about what might be on their page, which to be very honest, I won’t blame him for not wanting to check, but obviously, given all that we’ve been discussing, the idol themself is probably made to not have to think about it at all, as it is considered accepted, not acceptable, behaviour.  ALSO they would leave any related, and/or possible issues, to a designated team, which will assess if there is or not a real threat. Because historically, thus far at least, if there were any life-threatening hazards the company seems to take it VERY SERIOUSLY and any other threat is also dealt with accordingly. 

But what if, for example, by not checking the shipper’s page, Tae had allowed a human trafficking account to prolifer?! … let’s not 🧢:

TODAY, nobody was angry because of the fact that him not checking the page meant that he could have missed a potential infringement of human rights.

AND If they were a  human trafficking page, why is IG allowing them a platform and not quickly doing something about it?

In addition to the fact that, it is a real thing that, CURRENTLY, the accounts that are most likely to post about Tae aren't OT7s nor his biased fans (they may not be that fast or have the numbers) not even tae solos (for lack of numbers or different immediate priorities, such as streaming) but, you guessed it, taekook shippers. Hence, his algorithm will reflect accordingly. 

I mean, are we to tell JM to stop affectionately hug his members? Do we dare telling jk to stop liking shipping tiktoks or mention members' names? ….

All that just to say that @ejassy, in reality and effectively, by reposting said story, Tae wasn't actually endorsing shipping, because shipping in SK, differently from smoking or doing drugs, is generally not frowned upon. It is not an action or message that needs any kind of endorings, because within the kpop world, those who use it as a tool do not consider it a problem, hence, it is very openly accepted as a part of the culture they willingly, or not, help create. 

“But so-and-so gets dragged viciously, and disgustingly, everyday” I know. They probably know as well, but I’ve already discussed their responsible personnel. As for us, we know what to do, report report report! . I mean, I’m sure that they have a PR team that tells them about the good trends or good SM news, achievements, etc. “So what? .. we fans are stuck with toxic shippers and our favs not acknowledging or doing anything about it?” … 🤡🤡🤡

I don’t know.

We mostly all know about shipping culture’s systematic past, we know about its problematic present. In all honesty, it feels a bit like a lost battle but recently Kpop fans were able to make it known that, for example, for good reasons, they are against Starbucks. And it very effectively got to their idols, because said fans were united and in agreement. But within the shipping world, they all hate the other shipper and at the same time they kinda don't want to stop their own shipping, because they are really not against it, in fact, perhaps, they’d like some boundaries set, but who is to decide said boundaries? OR should shipping be considered a universal issue? … I think shipping has actually become an issue, particularly when regarding the queer community, BUT, what do I know, right? So, what's the solution ....

Y’all tell me.

Always respectfully yours,

Marengo.

PS - Once again, thank you Anon, now I'm off to bed 😴😴😴