#I wanted to make this post to summarise my feelings on ship stuff

[aurorangen]

"I was a lost guy on a lost ship, but there she was every time I looked up. Renee, the sunshine of my life."

Transcript & Bonus:

...And what if this pain comes back again?

...

[Eventually, I stopped thinking about Nancy. There was no communication on her part and it felt like a one sided effort, where I was the only one who believed we would meet again. Time drifted us apart and I ended up lost in the vast sea of my thoughts. Did all the moments that we spent together mean anything to her?]

[Nancy must have moved on and decided to end everything by ghosting me. I was only her first love and nothing more, so naturally, my heart sank. All this time, I was salvaging a relationship that had ceased to exist. But time helped to steer me in the right direction and to move on from her too]

[I focused on finding myself again, through university and my friends. And there was Renee. Renee…I didn't know when it started, I couldn't help it…but I was falling for her. At first, we spent more time together as friends. I made no moves, except that time when I called her cute. The words just flowed out of my mouth]

[I was a lost guy on a lost ship, but there she was every time I looked up. Renee, the sunshine of my life. How I want to see her every morning. The way she brightens my day. My ray of hope during hard times. A beautiful soul inside and out. I wanted to tell her my feelings soon, but I was afraid of rejection…and heartbreak]

[When debate day came, I was fully prepared for it. And when they announced that I had won, all I could think about was telling Renee. Amid all the chatter and congratulations, I excused myself to go and find her]

[As soon as I saw Renee, I picked her up and spun her around. Then out of nowhere] Renee: Vince, I think I'm falling in love with you. [My words escaped from her mouth and I just wanted to kiss her]

...

Nancy: [quietly to herself after recognising Vincent from afar, tone changing from optimism to despair] Vincent??? Ohh…so you've found someone new [sighs] I'm happy for you. [blinks away her tears] I guess that's why you've been avoiding my messages. I was waiting for you all this time…

...

I admit this post was hard to create. I just didn't know how to approach it. I'm not the biggest fan of how my reblogged Vincent posts were executed, like there should be stuff in between to build it up. I ditched the idea of making them separate posts in the backstory (they are small unnecessary events). So I ended up working my way around that and summarised things here. Then I was able to write my text and I became inspired by all this lost at-sea terminology! Now the Nancy reveal at the end, I'm throwing a 360 at you! Turns out she has been waiting all along and thought VINCENT hadn't been replying to her because HE moved on (see this? Same as what Vincent thought). Miscommunication. Or something must have happened to one of their phones, right? All I'm saying is this situation sounds way too familiar (spoiler).

[scarameownya]

i honestly hope i can improve my own selfship beyond the point of "oh they fight a lot and they're always fighting", like yea i do like to exaggerate it and meme it out but when it comes to their actual characters, chemistry and dynamics, i dont really want that to be all there is cause i dont want them to be one dimensional

if i have to summarise them, it'd be "trauma bonding" and "finding the will to show they care without thinking it's weak", their "fights" are snarky bicker at best and one-off, throwaway insult at worst, they don't have big verbal fights, they don't throw hands, they don't make a big scene-- they just have banters that slowly grew into affection, false snark as time goes on.

the same can be said for niko, he's not as childish and emotionally driven as i usually portrayed, he's just a reclusive, emotionally overwhelmed person who accidentally raises his voice cause sometimes it's too much for him, he doesnt know much affection so the feeling of love is strange to him and his default reaction is pushing people away cause he doesn't know how to respond to it. he's playful too, and often time prefers to avoid conflict and have a normal conversation and just listen to people talk

what's the point of this post ? well, idk tbh qjdhsjd since ik that most of my stuffs are rather weird, i kinda just want yall to know my insert and my self ship isn't "just that" and that there's a reason why i'm so hyperfixated and develop them so much-- it's my comfort, my escapism so i do want others to know why it brings comfort to me on a deeper level

[chaotic-orphan]

Stream of Consciousness

Mo Dhia… I actually have to do an introduction because the rambling went on too long and even reading over it myself I’m like meh, too long, not enough brain power

So now it’s all SPARK NOTES:

I am stopping Whumpuary to work on the many Series that are still WIPs — haven’t finished a single series yet😅 (Idk about febuwhump, maybe I’ll do some prompts but omg— calendars are so hard to keep to…)

I am making a schedule for writing: SATURDAYS and WEDNESDAYS are my penciled in Tumblr days

This means that a fic will be updated at least once a week (the other day may be drabbles, but mostly planning and writing for Saturday, so maybe just Saturdays— Idk, TBD)

CURRENT SERIES BEING WORKED ON IN DRAFTS ARE— Vendetta, Heroic Betrayal (next part), and Defiant Leader x Confident Villain

lmk which other ones you REALLY want, after those three is Semantics, but after that idk so—

I am currently reading Romina Garber’s Castle of the Cursed and holy fuck, I am in loveeeee!!! So fun and entertaining, love the MC

YOU DO NOT NEED TO READ UNDER THE CUT BECAUSE I SUMMARISED EVERYTHING ABOVE, YOU ARE WELCOME!!!! I WAS JUST TOO LAZY TO DELETE, OKAY BESTIES HAVE A GOOD DAY—

Okay I have stopped doing Whumpuary because I actually realy need to work on my ACTUAL series🫡🫡🫡 not make potential new ones god damn it (even though that ship has sailed… literally😏 yk who you are nonny)

I have decided that WEDNESDAY’s and SATURDAY’s I will upload new parts to fics — or that may be too what do you call it—- uhhh, ambitious!!! So maybe just stick to one or the other for fic updates, and then do drabbles/asks for the other day — anyways, I think that’s the vibe— Saturday’s and Wednesday’s are penciled into my schedule for tumblr writing days so hopefully I actually dust off the cobwebs of some of my fics and baby little OC’s and cause them untold emotional and physical abuse😇😇😇

I have one part left to edit of HB and then I can start re-writing my other series for the other acc, and thennnn J feel that will also bring back flow in my writing because I’m like “ah yes, I remember this important plot point” now after re-doing HB and oh my fucking god🙈 the way it starts all coming back

Soooo yes… more ramblings, and plans, and discipline in writing and hopefully uploads — maybe even Wednesday’s will be planning days for Saturday’s—

I wish there was like a twitter place on tumblr where you could like actually update things without making a post and be like “NEW SCHEDULE” and — anyways—

Actually, now I’m like this is too ambitious, I should probably add another day, but I need a day for each of the novels, then a poetry day and then I need a rest day of just reading— cause O Mo Dhia, I have a lot of catch up reading to do… maybe I need two rest days? No… maybe I need another just overall planning day…

Hmmmmm…. Yes, okay, see this is why writing stuff out is beneficial!!! Stream of consciousness, let’s goooo—

Hope you’re all well, byeeee

[felix-01000101]

Introduction post (DNI LIST AT VERY END)

Heya, you can call me Felix or Rye. I am a minor who reblogs stuff I think is neat, stands up for trans rights, and occasionally vents about my parents.

Pronouns page:

Feel free to send anything into my asks as long as it's not

Donations - I prefer to reblog posts instead

Hateful comments - your post will just be deleted and you will be blocked

Interests

Coding, AI (including ethics) and technology

Most fandoms (especially FNAF, The Wild Robot, BG3, Heartstopper, TSP and TCOAAL)

Music (anything really)

Identity

Here are some LGBallTs that represent the labels I most frequently use

Gender (+polyam):

Flags (left to right): abrogender, butch (badge), ambiamorous (symbol), nonbinary (hat), androgyne (bowtie), genderfloren, xenogender (badge), cat ears (I'm a cathoarder)

Sexuality (+ misc labels)

Flags left-to-right (excluding hat and cat ears because they mean the same as the previous one): gaybian, termcollector (badge), abrosexual, transmasc (bow), aroaceflux, bi vincian (badge)

Some other labels I use that aren't on here:

Quoiromantic

Queer

Lesboy

Salmacian

Kingender

Views

As you can probably guess, I am pro-contradictory labels, pro-MOGAI, and what most people would consider a "radinclus", though I hate the word. I am also against terms such as "TMA/TME" and a hater of transmisandry

I am generally anti-discourse

I am neutral on most topics, unless they pertain to the human rights/lives of others. (I.e I am anti-genocide, anti-war and against antisemitism)

I do not believe zionism is inherently bad (judging from the words of Jews themselves). However, I do not support zionists who are anti-Palestine.

I am a neushipper. Whilst I have nothing against proshippers, darkships make me uncomfortable. I believe in SALS, have complex views on whether fiction affects reality, and do not support drawing NSFW of minors (yes, even fictional ones. Do it in your own corner but PLEASE keep it away from me and other minors). Above all, I ask that people tag their stuff with relevant trigger warnings, respect DNIS, and don't post darkships onto shorts-style platforms (since it's wayyy too easy for minors to find them there)

I am supportive of those with paraphillias, as long as you are recovering (ESPECIALLY if you are one of the big 3)

I do not support radical feminism, and strongly believe in equality FOR EVERYONE

Other blogs

@ryebread-07 - OC posts (not very active)

@neuship-zone - Shipping and multifandom posts

DNI list is under the dashed line.

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

DNI List

MAPs of any kind

Anti-recovery/pro-contact harmful paras

Racists

Antisemites

Bigots (including exclusionists of all kinds, but not including those who are anti-radqueer or anti-transID - see 'thin ice')

Radfems

Anti-therians and anti-otherkin

NSFW/kink blogs (I'm a minor)

(Pro-)self harm blogs (too triggering)

Suibait/toxic/pro-harassment/etc. (Basically, if you're the kinda person to bully people online or insult them very harshly, DNI. My mental health is poor enough)

Thin ice:

TMA/TME users (can like and send asks but not reblog)

Darkshippers (can like and reblog but don't DM/send asks unless requested)

Radqueers (can interact normally but I block freely)

TransID (can interact normally but I block freely)

Syscourse blogs (I don't really want to be involved)

Alright post over, enjoy these userboxes!

[fuck-you-i-am-spiderman]

Spidey *Descendants* Ships:

I've answered the questions about ships I like through a tier system ages ago but I feel like listing them again. This is probably going to be a long post, since as I said I ship a lot. If anything isn't on here it's because I don't care or don't think about them enough.

Category: Babies™/I would die for them/none will compare to how strongly I love them aka my favourite ships

Rotten ot4 (Mal/Carlos/Evie/Jay) - I write a lot of ot4, it's where my mind naturally goes for them because I love all of the dynamics within that too much. Marlos are my fave dynamic within that tho.

Malvie + Jaylos - I can ship these outside of the ot4. I like them a lot and either way I ship these, these two will always be romantic for me. The other dynamics I only ship within an ot4 scenario, or platonically.

Category: the good shit/iconic King and Queen shit/ships I really like but I'm not as passionate about

Huma + Sea 3 - these are two very good ships and again it can be romantic or platonic for me, both are good.

Sea 3 + Ben - I really like all of their interactions and I can very much get into the idea of them as an ot4

Ben + Harry - I think it's the "coochie coo" thing that did it for me, I think they have a lot of potential and if not explicitly romantic then Harry at the very least flirts with Ben on a daily basis

Category: soft™/these are nice to think about/filed under cuties but I don't think about them as much

Benlos (Ben/Carlos) - every now and again I get random thoughts about them, because they're cute 🥺 and I like them dancing together in D1. (I also think of them as a brotp and very occasionally as an ot5)

Jannie (Jane/Lonnie) - the potential!!!! I feel like they'd be super cute and I can see them going on double dates with Jaylos a lot. I am a sucker for tall and smol pairings where you think the one who's small is quiet but they're actually super badass and the tall badass one but is super soft for her gf. Yes!!!!!!

Luma (Lonnie/Uma) - I think I'm the only one that actually ships this but I just feel like they'd be really good together. The potential is there! I feel like they'd always be sparring together and I feel like they're a good match. I can really see it and I feel like Uma would have a lot fo respect for Lonnie and vise versa.)

Gil/Jay - they're cute. I am very low-key about them, because I'm so into rotten ot4 and Jaylos I'm never fully in with these two. But I still appreciate the cuteness and I feel like they'd be really good bros.

Category: hmmm/the potential/I don't think about them a lot but they're okay or exes only

Balvie - cuteeeee. Like they'd be super cute and they'd be able to balance one another out quite well. This is really only how I can get into Ben/Mal as a romantic ship, idk for me I just need Evie in there. They're like brawn, brain and beauty all mixed into one ot3, there's not a lot of content for them but I'm definitely into the idea.

Umal (Mal/uma) - I only like them as exes. I don't care for anything where they're written as enemies, I'm tired of that. Umal as besties that occasionally flirt with one another to get a rise out of the other, or as exes. None of this enemies crap, I'm not here for it.

Jarry (Jay/Harry) - again, only ever as exes. I don't think they'd ever get together in any other capacity. I like their dynamic and their banter, so I can see them as a brotp who bicker like they're a married couple, but nothing mroe than that. So both Uma and Mal, and Harry and Jay have a banter type friendship (at least in my mind)

Ot5 (Rotten ot4 + Ben) - only in specific circumstances, but I do think the potential is there and I like them. I am reading a really good ot5 fic that has such good potential and for someone who is very low-key about them it's one of my favourite fics within this fandom. So not always but definitely not against them either!

Category: brotps I could get behind ✌️/platonic only

Jay + Ben - bonding over tourney, Jay teasing Ben about how he has a crush on every VK he meets.

Mal + Jay + Ben - banter Central, Mal and Jay teasing Ben, Ben fully encouraging both Jay and Mal in tourney and art. I feel like Ben would be super supportive and it would definitely throw Mal and Jay off a lot

Evie + Harry - Harry as Evie's model because he loves to talk about fashion and he's open to any fashion ideas she has. A very soft and playful friendship is what I imagine.

Carlos + Harry + Mal - the chaotic three. I feel like they're pranking constantly, they're the Kings and Queen of comebacks because they've always got a one-liner up their sleeves. They're always bantering and bickering, but I feel like they're a very underrated friendship and they have a lot of potential

Uma + Carlos (and probably Evie) - study buddies. They're the squad that are constantly rolling their eyes at the others and judging people together. Smart and resourceful and they're the squad that captures everyone's attention because they have A+ looks

Mal + Harry - nicknames galore. Bantering non-stop, but also a side of softness because they can just vibe when the other is upset. Silly shenanigans and teasing one another relentlessly. The type of friends to send an "ugly" photo of the other in the group chat.

Rotten four + Sea 3 - like just give me this squad and explore the different dynamics between them. I don't want any fighting, I just want them as a super squad kicking ass and working through their traumas together. That's all.

Category: NO/get the hell away from me/not in this lifetime Satan 🚫

D*vie (D***/Evie) - never. I have a very fond hc where Evie infact buries D*** in her castle garden and that's the nicest thing I can think of when it comes to them. I didn't like him from the start and if anything the more I see him the more I despise him.

Anything with Chad - sorry, I just don't like him. He's good for blaming, like if I'm writing something where someone says something to the Vks it's usually him as the antagonist type. There's no ship I care for his presence in. I think I saw one gifset months back with Chad and Ben having a cute/dorky interaction but otherwise I could not care less about him.

Honestly, anything with Audrey in too is generally a no-go for me. I just don't care. I don't like Audrey at all, I can sympathise with some things but not enough to make me want to ship her with anyone. That's all I'm going to say.

[alottamoney]

Lisa anon again.Thank you for sharing your thoughts.Your last para was amazing.It's true so far they have only tried to undermine Taekook bond in people's eyes.Following this thought it's safe to assume they will try to leave taekook to fend for themselves if things go wrong.I just remembered a very interesting thing.JK got into a scandal in 2019 with a tattooist girl.It dragged on for quite some time.If bh wanted to squash it they could have.But they released a statement that went like what the members do in their own time is their personal matter.Bh has nothing to do with it.It's interesting.

Again pessimistic view incoming.Supporting lgbt and truly reaching the level of not feeling icky when seeing two men over each other are two different stages of acceptance.People in that company have achieved the first but still working on the later one.If not, then I really cannot find any reason as to why other ships are allowed skinship so much while Taekook couldn't stand beside each other ,holding hand and just be smiling.I think the knowledge that taekook is intimate in their private life rings an "icky" bell in the staffs,managers head and they start imagining things before quickly making sure they don't touch each other.We understand Korea is a deeply homophobic country but if they are never going to come out then what's the point of these little monitoring?Now they can be brave but still they are told to take off hands.Every time they touch each other,they look behind the camera.They are not coming out to put your job at risk so in my opinion the need for looking behind the camera should not exist.

Since I am anonymous I'm gonna share something I normally don't with other armys.It is very obvious that jikook dynamic created unrest in the whole group.It changed relationships.I am not in the jikook is real group.They have had a very good connection in a friendly way, in a professional way.When you work closely with someone you already share a close bond,it gets stronger.But in jikook's case it didn't."this fandom is ride or die for strangers" no truer words have been spoken than this.Let me move away from this topic.I don't want to do jikook analysis.But the change the members were going through when jikook was at the peak,when I watch the contents, it's very hard to ignore now that we have the bigger picture.You don't even have to look at Taekook or jikook.Just follow Yoongi's reactions to things.The whole thing can be summarised as professional insecurity spilled over into personal life and gradually became personal animosity. New armys who joined late saw that toxic environment and thought that was how they always were and it is their normal.

In JK's recent Vlive I heard a girl's voive at 44:35. Many are saying they didn't hear anything,some say it is staff,some say it is jk himself.But I heard what I heard.I think it's Lisa.Because the voice commented JK did a dance move wrong.Lisa is the dance queen.Case solved.😛 No,seriously speaking Bighit has been making deals with other groups recently.So a collab can happen.Also the whole situation looked like it was to create hype.A girl in Jk vlive and she doesn't know if she talks all hell will break loose?Staffs know not to talk during vlive.They use hands.Lisa posted a picture right after JK ended her Vlive.She likes the attention.Do you realize if a collab like a variety show happens,the liskook,vsoo rosekook will go mental?Covid postponed the concerts and everyone is frustrated.

Hope you have a good weekend.

Lisa anon💜

Shall I just address you as Lisa anon from now? lol

About Jungkook's vlive, I too think it's his voice. Right now, BTSxBlackpink member collab will go just as well as a BTS member announcing that he has a secret family. I think when you follow more than one group you tend to associate stuff. People were saying Tae and Lisa live together because they have the same chandelier. Taekook have been linked to dozens of female idols for similar reasons. I mean forget others, many people hear Jimin in the background of Euphoria and in some select vlives. Taekookers are guilty of this too but they get bullied for it.

I believe BigHit put out that- we don’t keep up with the personal lives of members- statement when asked about the Itaewon club thing the first time but yes, their reaction to the tattoo artist scandal was lackadaisical. I have a theory on why that was; it’s not juicy: They simply didn’t care about debunking a rumor that had no truth to it and just let it run its course. Not to harp on this but they felt the need to take up 8 minutes of the otherwise lighthearted ITS to tell us how Tae and Jungkook are no longer the same as when they were trainees (no one asked). They clearly have priorities. You are right they can squash rumors and they do, if you ignore Jungkook’s scandals BTS have maintained a pristine image till this point. There was no “tea” spilled even when they didn’t have the cultural and political importance they have now, which is impressive even by kpop standards. One can only imagine what goes on behind the scenes to ensure that.

One of the reasons Taekook stand out to me is definitely the way the company treats them. It could be that they're just overzealous in following orders as I don't think every staff member knows or cares about their private life. The staff following orders could also explain why some of the things they do seem bizarre and counterproductive. I also think Taekook maintain a bit of distance from each other in professional settings, so policing them is even more strange(or maybe Taekook are careless and we don’t see what the staff has to deal with🥴). Regardless of what the staff think or do, I think the chances of them getting exposed are very slim.

You brought up an interesting point, I don’t think many consider professional jealousy/insecurity because they’re wound up in OT7 or ship narratives (which is fine). I think Jikook have chemistry and they are a very watchable duo. I can see why BigHit promoted them. I don’t think vminkook is some love triangle but I do sense a change in dynamics, some tension. I’m curious about what you said about Yoongi though. How do you think the Jikook dynamics affected the group? Apart from the obvious Taekook vs Jikook, that is.

[shijiujun]

History3: Trapped FanMeeting Summary - I am an embarrassment to this fandom

Okay guys let me summarise what happened today for the fanmeet - I fucking, absolutely fucking died - Like I died both from excitement and quality content and more importantly, for BEING A FUCKING EMBARRASSMENT IN FRONT OF CHRIS BUT MORE ON THAT IN A SEPARATE FUCKING POST OH GOD 

General comments on the event: Chris and Jake’s friendship is okay I think, and I guess putting it in perspective, Andy and Kenny are way better at fanservice and knows what the fans want, while Jake firstly isn’t really the kind to really go overboard on the fanservice with Chris due to his personality I feel, although there was still quite a bit of fanservice between them both - But it was more genuine I feel because Jake or Chris would jump in with something clever and a bit flirty, it felt really natural actually - And also because Jake srsly looked confused half the time regarding what they were supposed to do for the games and segments - More on that below

But more importantly I think jake is legit busy with work, and he’s not really a person to do stuff on social media, it’s not in his personality but he tried today hahaha with a post after the event - jake says that whenever he logs on once in a while he always sees chris’ handsome photos and he looks so good, and chris replied that jake looks... down to earth in his photos hahahahaha

So a few highlights:

Freebies!! There are so many freebies from dedicated Taiwanese fans literally just giving out shit for free - banner prints, stickers, hair clips, photo cards etc. - We took a lot and we’re going through what we have right now, but would you guys want some of the freebies? Let me know!!! If the shipping cost makes sense I’m totes fine with sending you guys some of the loot

Saw Jake’s back going into the building in the morning in front of all the fans because I was too slow but I did see his back 

WeStar is literally in the heart of downtown and it was frickin packed - We started queuing at like 11am+? And there were only 2 lifts to get everyone up to the EIGHTH FLOOR and each lift could only hold like less than 15 people? And there were like 700 of us. Luckily my friend and I were in the front of the queue and managed to get upstairs with the second round of lifts (the staff were asking some of us to take the stairs because it was faster, and it wouldn’t be faster if I died on the stairs while getting upstairs)

In terms of organisation - It wasn’t half bad because we were lucky where we were, we were always in the right queue and right area, but there were literally zero directions or instructions on where to queue or how to go upstairs etc. etc.

Too bad we were seated in row 16 which was actually pretty far, and we were blocked by too many people in front of us and i’m literally like 157cm so wow I really was blocked really bad BUT we could still see the stage

There were like two tables in the hall that allowed us to leave gifts for the four of them - So in my other video you guys saw that I actually did deliver the message books! They’ll definitely get it I think, no chance of it dropping out or mistaken for anything else considering the covers

The event actually started more or less on time - And the hosts were great - There’s Xiao Yi and Chen Chen (they’re both hosts from showbiz, the variety show) and they were fucking good as hosts - Xiao Yi has hosted quite a number of their events, and if it wasn’t him the event would have gone a bit differently

They started singing the opening song for the show first together, coming on stage and like rotating turns to sing a line - They tried the boyband formation it was quite hilarious

They introduced themselves as always - And can I be the one to first say that Jake’s fugly shirt - Fashion was absolute shite at his event - At least Chris had like a suit on even tho i take issue with the print on the suit itself, but wow Jake really went for... wannabe gangster loan shark OR grandmother’s quilts put together - i dont know which is worse idk guys, is it just me or my eyes or is it really fugly - Andy and Kenny were perfect tho

So they began with some best couple scene recaps through the show:

Jack/ZZ - 1st grandma/instant noodles scene, and the ep 20 scene where Jack is trying to confess to ZZ while ZZ is angry

Tangfei - Jealous andy scene at the tea place, the touching hospital scene, and the lift scene from ep 1

They recapped these scenes one by one, alternating btw the couples and then the hosts asked what they thought about each scene when they were filming it and LOL jake and chris were like laughing and being embarrassed when certain scenes came on, and then for the 1st grandma/instant noodles scene, kenny said it was a really cold day that day when he filmed that scene and the noodles were actually ice cold and he had to keep eating it - andy like patted kenny on the back 

for the touching hospital scene - jake said that it was easy to act out because the emotions always came through the moment he looked at chris, and chris said he was really touched by that moment, by jake’s acting

the lift scene was quite tough to act out because of how long they took to get the logistics right

And while the angry ZZ and jack scene from ep 20 was being shown on the screen, ON STAGE kenny and andy were literally reciting their lines and re-enacting the scene

And then Xiao Yi asked the audience which scenes would we like the couples to act out - and everyone was just yelling for the lift scene re-enactment - but logistically that was hard to do and chris was like, “if there’s no lift we can’t do the scene!!!” 

Then Andy and Kenny offered to be the walls of the lift for them but Chris was like whoa then that’s a bit weird because when Jake is slammed against the wall in the lift, that part, Jake will turn around and crash into Andy hahaha so they decided to re-enact the jealous scene instead - with a few additional lines hahaha and then andy and kenny re-enacted the part where jack asks zhao zi if he wants him to stay or go

and then the next segment - there was a game where each couple is supposed to stand together on a piece of newspaper and play rock-paper-scissors, and whoever loses will get their piece of newspaper torn into half - in the end chris and jake won hahaha but both jake and kenny ended up being piggy-backed by chris and andy respectively hahahaha it was cute

then chris and jake went off stage to take a short break, and since andy and kenny lost, they were punished to do the titanic pose and lines which kenny had to do in half english and chinese

then jake came on stage to sing I’m Yours - he was super nervous so he false started a few times, but he was pretty good and he has a very nice smooth tone - and i think a lot of people didn’t know the song in the audience LOL and then as he left the stage after his performance he left a bouquet of flowers for chris who was coming up next

chris came up after to play the piano and sing some chinese song i’ve heard before but don’t know the name of - and then after he finished he was very touched by the bouquet and then some member in the audience shouted to ask for the bouquet and chris protectively hugged it, but decided to give her one stalk anyway, and when he was giving it out, jake literally came out and then chris was explaining to him like why he was giving away his gift, and jake said, “yeah that’s okay, he knows my heart” AWWWW

then they all came back on stage for a segment of talking where Xiao Yi revealed their childhood photos - jake/kenny/andy were very talkative and chatty when they were younger and andy was isolated in the middle of the classroom, while kenny was directly placed outside of the classroom because he was so noisy, and omg jake was a little chubbier when he was younger and he didn’t like to study HAHAHA

chris was a shy boy and still is apparently!!! and he got a lot of love letters when he was younger and he couldn’t believe that jake/kenny/andy didn’t get any, and then when jake’s childhood photo came out he jokingly said, “now i can finally understand why (you didn’t get any letters”

then we had andy and kenny singing and dancing to marry you totally out of beat, poor guys they tried, and kenny totally missed an entire line, but they were so sweet - they ran off the stage and threw sweets at the audience, and andy said he was thankful to kenny for practicing the dance repeatedly with him because he’s not good at dancing and then they hugged awww it’s cute

fan games: LOL okay so interesting thing was that all the fans said they didn’t want to play the games with the cast but instead wanted to watch the cast play the games so in the end they randomly chose four of the audience to go on stage to watch the cast play the game LOL - so the ones picked were two men and two women #genderequality

1st game: chris/jake and jack/kenny had to feed each other a sushi piece i think, or a pastry i’ve no idea but one of them was filled with chilli, so the challenge was for the audience to guess which of the four of them ate the chilli one, and jake said he can’t stand spicy food and if he had it he’d totally show it on his face - in the end it was kenny who ate it and literally no one could tell

then the second part there was a huge confusion because the hosts weren’t very clear on who was supposed to play the game in the next part - anyway, so they had a how-well-they-know-the-cast quiz with the fans - and here we know that chris likes blue, winter because that’s his birthday period and then he and jake had a moment where they were like ‘oh your birthday is in december too?!!!!’ LOL, kenny likes to eat bbq meat

then the next part, they had the fans on stage and jake + andy drink a sweet drink and also a bitter drink, everyone had to figure out who is the one with the bitter drink and lol jake was so sweet he didn’t want the fans to be punished with the bitter tea, and chris said that he’ll help him to finish the drink if it’s really bitter, and jake was like, “because you’re here, i’m not scared”

afterwards, ezu came out to sing a ballad version of the opening song that made people around me cry hahaha

and also kenny announced a third fanmeeting stop in taiwan after chengdu, on 18 august in taichung

and then there was the hi-five touch and photo thingy - and you guys already know that i fucked it up i am still wanting to cry - i know he doesn’t remember but god I WANT TO BE THE ONE WHO DOESN’T REMEMBER

but i touched their hands hahaha

anyway at the end, jake said that no matter where he is, where we see him in the future, he’ll always be the same jake, and i think this is beautiful

they had the afternoon tea party after the event and from photos i see that it was like a mini-fanmeeting where fans could sit closer to them and really like be able to talk to them, and jake/chris and andy/kenny were very friendly and accommodating from what i see

when we went back to the building at about 6.20pm there was still this long queue outside the entrance, and i went for dinner so i didn’t actually stay to wait for them to come out, but a lot of fans did - jake was surprised so many people were waiting for them outside and he left first - andy/chris/kenny left together in a van and chris was holding a huge bouquet of flowers

if you go on twitter/weibo you can see that jake talked to a lot of fans, said hi to the ones who called out his name, and someone asked if he was tired and he said he was still okay

chris was bowing repeatedly the entire time he was walking through the crowd to the van <3

[captainsiegrid]

@suspiciouspopsicle, thanks so much for tagging! <3 I can feel the love and it makes me very happy!

Name: Pata

Fandoms: So deep into MDZS, especially The Untamed (including RPF) and the novel;

I love Tales of Zestiria and learned all bout Vesperia from Soozy;

I’m still HUGE on Final Fantasy XV (If you’re going to KupoCon in London, I’ll be around too!).

D.Gray-Man is my all time favourite. Got some stories still unfinished.

I also write Klance! :P

Not active in Haikyuu Magi, Attack on Titan or Naruto anymore. 

Where You Post: AO3 and then share here. I also have a FF.Net account with all my shameful Naruto stuff from when I was 15.

Complete: I have posted 28 fanfictions in total, from Naruto, to D.Gray-Man, Attack on Titan, Haikyuu, Voltron, Tales of Zestiria and even tried my hand at Vesperia once. I can’t believe I haven’t written any Final Fantasy XV, that game ended me like getting hit by a ship (which, Promptis kinda is a ship that ended me), but I could not resist reading Soozy’s MDZS’s fanfictiona and then the book, so I suppose that took over. Writing a The Untamed RPF right now.

Incomplete: Oh, lord....21 in total (I’m terrible at finishing projects!) for D.Gray-Man, Magi, Haikyuu, Final Fantasy XV, Voltron Mo Dao Zu Shi and The Untamed. 

Coming (hopefully) Soon:

1. Could you do it? (The Untamed RPF with a shameless self insert born from a conversation about Brexit with some friends) 

2. If I survive the inexorable shame of “Could you do it?” then there’s a couple of untitled one shots for Mo Dao Zu Shi and possibly a fusion between MDSZ and QCL.

3. There is a VERY long D.Gray-Man one I have been working on and off for a couple of years called Bakemono. The name was given temporarily, but It will probably stay as I have been calling it that for literal years.

4. I have been gathering ideas and thoughts into a (hopeful multichapter) for Final Fantasy XV starting right after Noctis goes into the Crystal, through Comrades (still need to finish that), including my character for that extension, and fixing the unhappy ending of the game with a healthy dose of Promptis.

Do You Accept Prompts?

Hell yes! Dude, even if I’m not too interested in the idea, I will write you a few paragraphs! <3 Even ABO, which I generally dislike very much.

Upcoming Story You Are Most Excited to Write:

Deffinitely “Could you do it?”. I’m a filthy daydreamer with a vivid imagination and this isn’t gonna leave me until is out there, killing me with shame.

Favorite Story You Wrote:

I am very proud of the 7 oneshots I wrote for SorMikWeek2016, Al Fin del Mundo, TOV’s No Title,  Sugawara's Girlfriend and my  most polemic one: Ties of a Heart.

Most Popular One-Shot:

SorMikWeek2016′s Day 3: Fire! Long live SorMik!

Most Popular Multi-Chapter Story:

My immensely polemic Ties of a Heart. (Honestly thought it’d be completely rejected, but it turns out peeps’ words and actual actions are way too different).

Story You Were Nervous to Post:

Ties of a Heart. And Now I’m even more nervous about Could you do it?

How You Choose Your Titles:

Try to summarise the story with as little words as possible. I suck at it.

Do You Outline?

Yup! I write all the ideas I wanna include and then start writing the story above that so that if I scroll all the way to the end, I’ll now what I wanna do with that story. Doesn’t always work. Ties of a Heart was so not supposed to be like that, AT ALL!

I���ll tag: Anyone who wants to do this! + @idiosynoracular (never asked if you write...) and @thisgirlhastales

[entesi]

This has been pending for a while but I'm finally in the script developing stage! This webcomic is going to be my biggest project yet, and I hope to have many people see and read it ;u; It has themes for LGBTQIAP+ characters as well as neurodivergent ones, but there's also a really long plot I have planned for the story. Lots of action, secrets, cool aliens, stuff like that lmao. I've posted a number of XEi stuff already so please feel free to check out my gallery (or the comic's social media links) for more. Please reblog to get the word out!!

What is the XEi Webcomic?

The comic is named after its central plot, an alien government by the name of XEi. (Pronounced ex-ee-ay) They’ve colonised so much of the universe they’ve seen basically everything! Aliens, humans, dragons, merpeople, goblins... the list goes on!

What importance does this have to the story, you may ask? Well, the plot revolves around three brave souls that work for the aforementioned government; Axel Drous, a human boy with extraordinary powers; Tüun, a bug-like alien from a world called Scvorpo; and Vaa-Spark, the coolest cyborg in the galaxy! All three of them have very interesting stories to them and why they all came together, so keep your eyes peeled for the webcomic!

Axel, Tüun and Vaa-Spark travel the galaxy with their AI powered ship to see what planets, dimensions and creatures they can discover. All three, despite having the same goal, are doing this for various reasons; Axel wishes to find out what creatures bestowed him his alien abilities, Tüun wishes to clear his criminal name from the XEi Database, and Vaa-Spark wishes to regain her memories from when she was a human. whic

CHAPTER ONE

Chapter One summarises how Jamison Drous comes to work for the XEi. A simple human boy living in Australia, Jamie is pulled out of his school by his mother due to a recent worldwide accomplishment; aliens had been proven to exist and first contact with them was successful. As the mother of an alien fanatic, Mrs Drous knew her son would want to become part of the discoveries and planned on enrolling him in a local scientist study. On their way however, something happens to poor Jamie; turning him into something never seen before on Earth.

Now in control of the DNA of wide array of alien abilities, Jamie is discovered by the XEi through their soldier Aramus, who builds the human boy a special suit to help control his abilities. In return, Jamie promises to help the alien government, and takes on the alias ‘Axel’ to sound, quite bluntly, ‘like a badass.’ (In his words!) Stay tuned for the upcoming pages to see everything that goes on in his story!

Pages will be posted at Tapas.io: tapas.io/series/XEi

And updates regularly to the Discord Server: discord.gg/zRUdPnN

Stay tuned for the Patreon and Amino!

There is a Tumblr blog, which you're free to look at, (@/xei-webcomic) however it currently is a bit inactve until I finish setting everything up. It'll have tons of character info when done though!

You do not have my permission to edit, redistribute or make profit off of any of my art pieces on my blogs. If you wish to do one of these things, it must not be commission work and must be discussed with me beforehand. All work is owned by me. Thank you!

[eokingdomdom]

Behold, Besstrashny Plamyah.

(Or just Plamyah for short)

This is my little brainchild at the minute, and is pretty much the reason I made this bloody account and why I all of a sudden feel like I can write a novel. Maybe it’s mental illness, maybe it’s Maybelline.

Anyway, to summarise, this is a planet that’s had its core hollowed out. A geological weapon was built inside this hole. Essentially a gun. The grey structures coming out the top and bottom are the two poles of a huge global magnet. Two moon-sized ships, called the Aiming Ships, fly with these poles. They guide the planet with their own magnetic and gravitational fields. Aiming the gun.

Here’s a cross-section for visualisation and because I wanted to make a crusty joke:

And now, to set the scene:

With a technological paramount harbouring this kind of ferocity, and with the energy to back it, Plamyah is safely said to be one of the most feared planets in the cosmos. 

The lifeforms that dwell on it are no less striking. Despite having an environment holding a similarity to Earth, the creatures themselves are at least somewhat bizarre. There are two dominant species, and both don limbs that are blended into the eyelashes, streaming from behind the eye like a cat tail.

These species are called Strutters and Scanderes, which are bipedal and quadrupedal respectively. Their technological advancements have led them to become some of the wealthiest creatures in the universe, and their strange anarchist society has truly turned them into the most fearless.

The Plamyans are known to venture out to other worlds, offering assistance to those worthy and spilling the guts of those pointless. 

It’s hard to tell how they would interact with the human race...

Anyway!

Whatever stuff I post here about this world and its interactions will be under the tag “besstrashny plamyah”, for whoever’s interested!

Other shit pertaining to this can be found on my AO3 and Twitter profiles. Links below:

Written fiction and story drafts are on my AO3

SFW writing/domestic stuff can be found on my eoKingdomDom twitter

Art (including NSFW art) can be found on my Shayeshli twitter 

My slightly better art can be found on my Shayeshli DeviantArt

(Yeah, I know, I made a DA, I’m actually trash)

[thebrochtuarachs]

If they want me (a fan) to talk about it, I’ll talk about it.

Outlander S4 PR has been doing so well until this (IMHO).

My take on some Q&A from Cait’s Parade article. 

It’s 3AM where I am and there will be grammatical errors on this but I had to let it out. 

Really lengthy, snark, rant ahead. You’ve been warned. ✌🏻😊 Feel free to pass if not your cup of tea. I mean, I probably wrote a bunch of woozy anyway. But this is my space and yeah, haha! 

1. What’s with the title?

Yeah, Sam’s name just had to be inserted somewhere here to make it clickable, sure. I don’t know if the motivation for “total opposite” was to show “how different Sam and Cait are” or “how Sam and Cait will never be” - but all I know is...opposites attract. If it meant to hurt shippers, well, were just getting started here. 

But seriously - If I get a chance to chat with Caitriona Balfe about season 4 scoop, I’d prefer that instead of talking about fans and using the name of her supposed platonic co-star to speculate some clickbait on the article. If the latter was the goal, they probably succeeded a bit cause here am I writing this loooong post. 

2. A great mystery - Who is Maestro? 

First of all, Caitriona is NOT newly engaged - ITS ALMOST BEEN A YEAR. Second, I am yet again confused as to the nationality and job of the great maestro. I asked this once in my blog and an anon came through with a thorough explanation of Maestro’s “history” but I guess I’ll just go back to “NEVER being sure who he really is” again. 

3. Oh, I grew up watching car races and now I’m in a racing movie!

I get the PR - Cait grew up watching car racing and now she’s in a car racing movie, what a way to come round full circle. 

But I’ve read a couple of articles from Cait about her life in Ireland before and never have I seen before that she’s mentioned that watching car races was part of their family tradition holidays up until now. (or is there? I may be wrong. I’m not sure, could be. Some other people can share it, if there is) But nonetheless, true or not, it works well with the PR. 

Also, Cait, I know a guy (Sam) who goes and watches F1 races from the paddocks. Why don’t you guys drop by sometime and you know, watch together? *wink wink* It’ll be good for research and stuff. Not to mention going out with one of your best mate, am I right? ✌🏻

4. I spend the weekends by myself - as shown in the way this statement is filled with singular pronouns

She drags herself alone to go out for some food, She reads alone, she walks alone, she prepares her own food and putters around the house. (I am my own, independent person regardless of my “soon-to-be hitched” status)

Okay, the way I see this - she really doesn’t want to be defined who she’s in a relationship with or who she’s engaged with. Look how independent the statement above is. I get it - she wants to be known more as “an actress” and not as an “engaged and extremely in love with my fiancé actress”. 

Basically it kinda says “sometimes forget I’m engaged at all except when Sam and I are being too touchy-feely with each other.” 

But seriously, Cait, not screaming/vibing engaged here! Meaning saying his actual name and weaving your relationship in the public face, inviting him to pose with you in red carpets and events despite his “shy” stature, etc. Erm, maybe just don’t be engaged at all and don’t get married yet - I didn’t say break it up or anything, just straighten the confusing narrative first? 

5. I am not exactly like Claire but Sam, my co-star only, will be the first one to disagree.

Why do I feel like “and the other people who know me very well” line got added after a pause cause Sam got mentioned and she cannot mention only Sam because fans will suspect. Hahaha! (And suspect we well cause isn’t that the purpose of this article?)

Also, but why not “Tony, my fiance, will be first to disagree because he knows me so well” rather than her “were super platonic only” co-star? 

Oh, cause of the narrative. 

Which narrative again? I am getting confused now. 

Oh, the one where Sam Heughan is just her friend who loves her and knows her so well. 

Great. 

6. SINCE SAM GOT MENTIONED THE QUESTION BEFORE ITS ONLY NATURAL WE TALK ABOUT HIM...

OMG, my English grammar mind is like screaching those dangling modifiers. “Sam Heughan, who plays your soul mate...” HAHAHAHAHA! That’s the first thing that I noticed. Second, the question would be much clearer if phrased “Are you good friends with Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie Fraser, your character’s soul mate?” - SEE  sentence construction HERE, we would be talking about the show and its characters and not see anything else. But then, this is just me.

Also, why ask Cait if she’s good friends with Sam? Of course she is! (and I truly believe this regardless of whatever situation they chose). Other wise, if she says “no”, just imagine the PR nightmare it would entail. The repercussions, the bad PR from tabloids how the two leads “don’t get along”, the possibility of not getting renewed after season 6, a lot of bad will follow if she said the wrong answer. Hahahaha! Either this or the writer (don't know his history with OL) is super new to the fandom who don’t have an idea just how close Sam and Cait are.

Oh goody, we get the Hyde Park walk mentioned again! I always love this memory of theirs.

Comment on Paragraph 1: Why do I feel like Cait got caught off guard rehashing this story. The answer, if verbatim, is so jumpy and incoherent. Like I could summarise the story in shorter sentences. Eitherway, I’ve always loved that they spent the time together at the beginning and realised just how much of a relationship they were going to have. Also, the line” Who knows what this is going to be?” which they asked even before they started filming - so loaded the possibilities of the meaning of this simple question. 

Comment on Paragraph 2: Shouldn’t it be maestro’s job to be her biggest supporter, the first person she calls to have talking to about stress? Also, love the “vice versa”. Sometimes, I can’t imagine Sam being the stressed one between the two of them but I just love their dynamic. OH AND THEY HAVE SIMILAR PERSONALITY TRAITS (where is the complete opposite part?! (*see next question*, here we go)

7. HOW TO DESCRIBE BEING IN A RELATIONSHIP 101

Here it is....how opposite Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are that it’s impossible to think of them ever being in a relationship. 

Cait is bullish and Sam calms her down before she gets too frustrated. 

Sam is a little passive and Cait gives him a nudge and a strength to stand up for something. 

OH WAIT

Erm, what you guys just described about each other is “being in a good, healthy relationship” - thanks, bye. Again...opposites attract. The statements just show that they’re both not as strong as one seem and really feed off strength from each other’s lives and company. Like, you know, being together or something to that effect. 

Also, if you guys, Sam and Cait, are dropping the fake narrative soon, you know - Cait can nudge Sam to stand up for them and publicise their “real”  relationship and then when the reality of their “real score” being revealed gets too frustrated, Sam just can calm Cait down. It’s honestly, a win-win, guys. 

8. ONTO THE “BEST FANS EVER”

This question was actually fine until the follow up...

9. WAS ASKING THIS QUESTION FREAKING NECESSARY?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but IF PR WANTS TO STAY AWAY FROM FANS TALKING ABOUT SAMCAIT, then they have to stop allowing these kind of questions. They could’ve asked the author to not include this question in the publishing because what is the freaking point. If the writer have done his research, he already knows the answer to this (heck we know from various and numeous sources). And if he knew the climate of the fandom, this should not have been asked published - yet again.  I’m sure Sam and Cait hate answering these questions because, lets admit it, it takes away some of the magic. But here it is and there again is their punchline and I’ve seen this same answer as before. 

But Cait had to add something new: “But I think things are pretty clear now that I'm engaged to someone else. Everyone gets it now” HMMMMMMMMM...So was the purpose of the engagement to put off the stench and speculation that Sam and you aren’t together? That the main purpose was for all shippers to stop shipping you and Sam cause you’re engaged some someone else whose name you’ve yet to mention yourself in public or social media and your fans have no total idea who he is and what he does for a living? 

Oh and uhh, Cait - NOT EVERYONE GETS IT NOW. If anything, were all the more confused. Also, regardless of what you guys do, you can never ever avoid the shipping (real or show) cause that’s just fanning is. Oh, and you’re not the first and only ship with OTP that have spouses. Seriously, you’re not the first nor the only experiencing this and the other fandoms have actually embraced this instead of trying so hard to shut it down. 

9. REHASHING SEMI-FAMOUS FANDOM HISTORY

Seriously. 

If the author had done his/her research, these are semi-famous stories already from before and he could’ve asked about book 4 or season 4 or anything RECENT that would make sense why this article was even written in the first place. 

I just think it’s a missed opportunity to ask something else, something new. Meh. 

10. Cait’s Faves

Maybe it should be Cait’s current fave things.

TSWDM as her favorite movie? I mean no offence to TSWDM but considering how deep her book choices are, I thought she’d choose a “deep, serious” movie as her favorite but choosing her “platonic” co-stars recent comedy flick as her choice (maybe in support of them having each other’s backs, you know) she chose that one - or maybe she really, really loved the movie too. 

Race Car Documentaries - lets push the PR for her upcoming movie, yes!! 

The Fiery Cross - EARLY PROMO FOR NEXT SEASON!!

Yeah, so I wouldn’t assume this is Cait’s “all-time” faves... 

-

SO, WHY DID I DO THIS?!

BECAUSE I THOUGHT I’D FIND A POINT ABOUT THIS ARTCLE AND NOT SOME OBVIOUS HIDDEN AGENDA BEHIND IT?

WHAT EXACTLY WAS THE POINT OF THIS ARTICLE? WHY DID IT NOT TALK ABOUT OUTLANDER OR SEASON 4 AT ALL INSTEAD OF FANS AND NARRATIVES?

WHAT IS THIS PUBLICITY ALL ABOUT?

TO REITERATE THE “THEY’RE NOT TOGETHER” NARRATIVE CAUSE THE “SHE’S ENGAGED TO ANOTHER GUY” WASN’T ENOUGH OR DIDN’T WORK? TO PROVE JUST HOW WEIRD SOME CORNER OF THE FANDOM IS (as per the writing of this lengthy, rant post)

SERIOUSLY. I AM FLARING.

BECAUSE ALL THESE IS IRRELEVANT TO THE PROMOTION OF OUTLANDER SEASON 4 AND IT IRKS ME THAT THEY HAD OR TRYING TO PUT SHIPPER FANS IN, YET AGAIN, A BAD LIGHT, WHEN WE’RE TRYING TO STAY IN OUR LANE FOR MOST OF THE YEAR AND MAKING SENSE OF WHAT’S GOING ON. 

IS THIS WHAT THEY WANTED? FANS TALKING AROUND HOW IRRELEVANT THESE THINGS ARE? OR SPECULATE HOW WEIRD OR AMBIGUOUS EACH ANSWER IS?! 

Oh, Lordy. 

COME ON, PR.

SELL YOUR SHOW. 

NOT THE “NOT IN A RELATIONSHIP”. 

NOT THE “BEST FANS EVER”.

NOT THE “DELUSIONAL” FANS WHO NOW FINALLY “GETS IT”. (cause, as per this article, we still don’t)

SELL YOUR SHOW AND WHAT IT’S ABOUT - JAMIE AND CLAIRE FRASER.

BECAUSE ALL I WANT IS OUTLANDER SEASON 4 COVERAGE. 

TALK ABOUT CLAIRE AND JAMIE. TALK ABOUT BREE. TALK ABOUT THE BOOK. TALK ABOUT THE RIDGE. TALK ABOUT THEIR CHARACTER’S AND BOOK’S LIFE. 

SUCH A WASTE OF SPACE AND TIME AND ALL FOR WHAT?

TO IRK SHIPPY FANS TO MORE EYE-ROLLING MOMENTS?

TO GET RID OF THE 20 SHIPPERS REMAINING?

CAUSE GUESS WHAT OUTLANDER/STARZ PR?

THE (RESPECTFUL) SHIPPING WILL NEVER STOP EVEN IF CAIT AND SAM ARE MARRIED - EITHER TO EACH OTHER OR OTHER PEOPLE.

THAT’S JUST HOW IT IS AND HOW ITS GOING TO BE CAUSE THAT IS FANDOM AND THAT IS SHIPPING.

SO, JUST FOCUS ON SELLING THE SHOW AND WHAT ITS REALLY ALL ABOUT.

JAMIE AND CLAIRE FRASER.

NOTHING MORE. NOTHING LESS. 

Thanks. 

*end of caps lock writing*

It’s 4AM and I’m going to sleep. 

-

Updating this the following day after reading some comments and theories as to why this ever seen the light of day: 

1. Could this be a follow up “aggressive shipper” article by EW?! A ploy put into place by Sony/Starz to, yet again, attack the “shipping” community? 

IT COULD VERY WELL BE. WHY ELSE PUT UP THIS NONSENSE OF AN ARTICLE THAT DOESN’T PROMOTE THE SHOW ONE BIT. 

Like to control shippers yet again after the love fest the past two weeks at cons? To control shippers after releasing S4 promo photos of Jamie and Claire?

I mean if they put this same effort in shutting “shippers” down to promoting their show, they might increase their ratings and subscribers!! UGH. 

2. Could Caitriona be that Caitriona did NOT actually say some of the things said? 

Possibly. I mean, now that I think about it, some statements were contradictory to what she’s said before and the language seems a little too forward that she usually is (e.g. “But I think it’s pretty clear now. I’m engaged now so everyone gets it”). Yeah, maybe it doesn’t feel like Cait saying this - cause I think she knows it’s NEVER clear but - yeah, could be. Could be that the this article was written deliberately to counter the “aggressive shipping” happening since the cons and using Cait’s “engagement” was their weapon of choice this time. 

[hcpefulmarshmallow]

Forgive me, but I need to get this out there. 

 Just what is tumblr trying to be? I can only guess with all these changes - both the big ones like the infamous purge, and the little ones they’re kinda sliding by us - that their goal is to clean up their reputation as a hellhole of snowflake sjws and ‘libtards’, and come through with a more polished, prestigious appearance. But the way they’re going about it, or the fact that they are at all, is bizarre to me, and I’ll explain why. 

 Anyone who has been on tumblr for more than ten minutes - and, you’d think, the staff - knows that this is only a very small portion of tumblr. My evidence for this: look at the trending topics on any given day. They’re usually a show, movie, person, character, event, holiday, race/gender/sexuality, relevant social topic, aesthetic, or something random and shitpost-y. That’s the foundation upon which tumblr.clusterfuck stands. Yes, there are dozens of communities on here that drag the site down, and it’s not just the ones that the rest of the internet at large is aware of. We have a nazi problem, a bot problem, a cyberbully problem, people who intentionally set out to trigger people with mental illness, people who don’t tag spoilers, pedos. Lots of problem users, and most of them aren’t here to gif their anime boyfriends. 

 Here’s the thing: no one knows tumblr is a cesspool better than the users of tumblr. We are all painfully aware of the rotten apples among us. We know that the site is run by aliens all sharing a single barbie computer. We might be one of the more self-aware communities out there. Yet people rarely jump ship, and why? Why is this userbase so loyal, despite knowing we live on a garbage website? I’ll tell you why:

 One, the setup. The reblogs, the tags, the likes, the ask and submit boxes, the ability to make posts of almost any kind, to change the appearances of our blogs - this is something no other site offers in this way. Our entire experience is customisable. Just about any community you could hope to join is at your fingertips, and you can contribute in any way you’re able. Are you a writer? Great, write. Do you make music? Great, audioposts. Giffer? Gif away, my friend. Photographer? Artist? Meta writer? Express your thing the way you want - all different ways, if you want. 

 And two, up until recently, tumblr was a hub of self expression. The freedom to post almost anything within reason encouraged a very creative, active community. So what if a large section of that community used said creativity to post art of their faves making out? Most of tumblr’s users seem to understand one thing the staff does not: there are some wackos out there, ourselves included, and allowing freedom of expression means people will freely express themselves. You just need to learn to deal with their weird fetishes and headcanons and viewpoints and media and furry porn. Why? Because that’s what human beings are like. By all means, ban the people who post the actually harmful stuff. But if you can’t handle having a website where some people are going to post things that make other people go “...what?”, then you shouldn’t have a website. 

 My point is, tumblr is targeting their own pillars, and it’s strange to me. They’ve strawmanned their issues so ridiculously - “please ban the child porn!” “okay no more porn!” “please ban the racist rants!” “okay no more than 100 lines per post!” - in an effort to cull the crap, but all they’re doing is throwing the users who keep this website afloat by graciously and repeatedly forgiving it’s errors and fuckups under the goddamn bus, and it’s weird. I can’t help but feel like their ultimate goal is to purge anything that might raise an eyebrow with the masses at large, until they have a website where the most controversial thing anyone talks about is the correct pronunciation of tomato.

 Yeah, I’m not really sure if I’ve explained my mindset on the matter properly, so I’ll attempt to summarise. Tumblr needs to remember what it is, and stop trying to be what it’s not. Every platform has assholes that give it a bad name. But the answer isn’t to rebrand by slowly alienating the userbase that has been so loyal this whole time. At it’s height, tumblr was known for being a place where people could express themselves any way they wanted, and given that power, we the people giffed superwholock and everyone was happy. Then it tried to be something it isn’t, and in the end, all the staff are going to accomplish is running their website into the ground because they’ve put off their existing userbase, and by being a bag of dicks about it, discouraged anyone else from wanting to sign up. Eventually, no one’s going to want a tumblr blog because no one wants their own self expression to get mongulated by a hundred thousand terms and conditions. 

[justmysicklypride]

P-P-P-Play that shit: ptv analysis - Part 2

 Hi what’s up everyone and welcome to this week’s pew news. This is a continuation of my last post where I pretty much summed up Pierce The Veil’s career from the beginning to present and gave an overview of their rise and downfall. You can check it out here, but if you already know about everything or have read it already then feel free to ignore it. In any case, I was originally gonna make these two posts as one but ran out of room bc who the hell would read that much text in a blog post (me) so here you go - part two of this fucking conspiracy theory because I didn’t even get to share any of my thoughts in the last one. (I also forgot to put headers with each new topic smh apologies to the English language)

Edit: it’s been fucking eons since I wrote the last one/started writing this one like legit I even changed my user. The reason why this has been put off for so long will be explained later but yh smh

Gigantic obligatory disclaimer: Everything that I will discuss whether it be in this post or my last, or any future posts that relate to this subject IS NOT going to touch on the subject of the “sexual relations with a minor” incident in itself. I will not go into detail about my own views on this specific matter as there is literally no way to win because whatever I say could be taken out of context by literally anyone. That being said, I do not condone pedophilia, I do not condone sexual harassment or rape, and I do not undermine the importance of consent. I respect the laws of different states, as I know they vary with time and place, and I understand that everyone has their own opinions and I do not wish to impose my own onto others.

In regards to this, however, I do have to acknowledge that I, first and foremost, do not think that Mike Fuentes is innocent, and I strongly believe that how the band handled this situation was just plain terrible, but I do also have to acknowledge the fact that this situation is to stay between the accuser and the victim, as well as their respective legal teams and that I should not go nosedive headfirst into anything like this when it does not directly affect or require my judgement as a necessity, lest I face any legalities or blacklash as a result. Furthermore, everything that I will be talking about are conspiracies only and I do not in any way assume or imply that any of this is true.

In other words, I don’t mean to offend anyone but if you end up getting offended then that’s on you, not me. Let’s begin.

Introduction 

The points that I am trying to highlight in this essay post is, in simple words, that Pierce The Veil’s... well, everything, comes off as kind of a conspiracy, almost, to me. I have had these thoughts for a long-ish time, and so this post is basically me finally making a post that covers all things that I have been thinking of in the past. Unlike my previous post, this one is a lot less fact-based and a lot more opinionated, so if you’re not into that, then that’s fair. Otherwise, I will be discussing the following things (in this order): the topic of kellic, Misadventures, and the accusation + response.

When Life Gives You Lemons, You Ship Them Together And Call It Lemonade

I refer to my last post and assume that everyone understands how “kellic” came to be and what it means. To summarise to the bare minimum best of my abilities, it’s the ship name of Vic Fuentes and Kellin Quinn, aka what people call it when someone wants or is keen on the idea of these two frontmen having an affair with each other in a (typically) fictional setting. It happens all the time, especially in this day and age where you can easily just find someone with the same obsession as you with a click of a button. That’s why King For A Day, and inadvertently Collide With The Sky, became such a huge success. It appealed to the right demographic of teenagers and tweens who were ecstatic at the prospect of shipping, and went on to achieve even more impressive feats following that. How you ask? Well, by going on a tour around the world of course. Together. Playing shows every night that ends with one of them literally carrying the other off the stage. Gotta give the people what they want, hey?

I have a strong belief that the key to success is through beating the system at its own game. In this case, the game is simple - get fans, get money. Unfortunately, as we all know, getting fame isn’t as easy as simply earning it through grit and determination. To achieve fame, one must find a way to do something at the right time in the right way so that people will notice. If one person does, and your fire doesn’t die out right away, then you’ve got yourself a forest fire. Then later on, all you gotta do is keep this forrest fire going, but assuming that there isn’t someone standing on the other side with the whole fire department’s resources in tow, then the only thing stopping this fire is itself, because with all things in life, fire dies out, and fame stops accumulating after a while if nothing is done about it. Humans need entertainment. If something starts to fail to pique their interests, then they move on. That’s why YouTubers are required to change up their content every now and again in order to try and relight that spark they once had, and even then there’s a good chance that they won’t. 

I was originally going to write another blog essay about this whole YouTube analogy thing but quickly realised that for one, I don’t have time bc I’m getting my ass fucked by university on a daily basis; and that for another, there’s most likely a billion other videos or essays about this topic as is, so I’ll just link one or two of them here. I haven’t watched them all yet or I don’t remember much of them, but all they do is pretty much summarise up stuff like how YouTubers become successful and their downfalls and all that, and even though they kinda focus on a specific person or group of people, I feel like it could be generalised.

Even without the YouTube metaphor, we know shipping works. It is evident in multiple works across various media that giving the fans what they want is often what gives these people their continued success, such as Dan Howell and Phil Lester, who have all but stopped trying to create their own individual branding (save for their separate merch stores that are probably there just to get more people to buy their overpriced clothing), and who at this point have become such an overused example that I actually hesitated writing that. Why do you think movies and shows and cartoons mostly have a romantic subplot? Romance is an essential trope in literature and easily one of the most popular genre out there for various reasons. According to a Bustle article written in 2016, romance often gives the readers a sense of hope or gives them a way to live out their fantasies in the easiest way possible, and while this may not apply to everyone, (personally I’m not a romance fan much at all but I can appreciate good literature), it’s hard to deny the phrase “sex sells”.

Given that, you’d think that any company with half a brain would learn to exploit it, but for some reason this wasn’t the case in Pierce The Veil’s management, and no matter how I look at it, I can’t really see the reason why. It’s not like the band members are uncomfortable with the ship - Jaime Preciado has been seen kissing Vic Fuentes on stage (not on the lips guys chill) (I had forgotten how fucking difficult it takes to find this one specific clip so here’s a couple different fuenciado pictures instead to make up for it smfh), and Vic Fuentes has mentioned kellic in a live stream once jokingly - and Kellin Quinn is notoriously known for being completely okay with it (so long as he doesn’t have to look at it), so just what is the reason?

This Ain’t A Hiatus, It’s A Goddamned Arms Race

I’d be lying if I didn’t miss all the memes that all stemmed from the Pierce The Veil boys not being able to release an album when they’d promised, before postponing said album yet again and disappearing off of the face of the earth digitally for another year or two, giving them a total of four years as their unofficial, unannounced hiatus. For this, I have several questions.

We all know Vic Fuentes loves taking his sweet ass time releasing music - he’s admitted to remaking his first album a second time before releasing it, as stated an interview a couple years back - but you can’t honestly tell me their management just let them get away with it. Sure, through this time they’ve been pushing out new merch to no end, but something tells me that this giant gap they’ve wedged between the new album and Collide With The Sky isn’t gonna be good publicity, despite all the memes that’ve sprouted from it. There’s been fans who stopped taking interest in this band because of it, as well as fans who have just gotten fed up with having to wait so long. They scrapped a whole completed album in the process of creating Misadventures too, and while it’s not uncommon for bands to throw away near-completed ideas at whim, it’s also not unlikely for there to be some external factors or reasoning behind why they did it. Could it be that the album they threw away stayed too close to their roots and management or some other person told the band to start again, so that they can create something more appealing to this day and age? Or could it be something else that is hard to see at face-value?

You’ll Never Get Ahold Of Me Now

Finally, I’m gonna address the overdue elephant in the room. If you want to read the full thing, here it is because I’m tired of having to reiterate what happened. Mike Fuentes received a sexual allegation by some girl(s) and the band released a shitty statement that has since gotten deleted - that’s the general gist of it. 

Like I said, it’s been literal months (or weeks idk my perception of time is severely fucked) since I actually started making this post so literally no one cares anymore, but regardless of what past me has promised or written down, I’m not going to be discussing the allegation in itself, but rather what and/or how the band and their subsequent management has handled it, in that they handled it so bad that I honestly can’t believe they did it like that. 

Edit: I wasn’t gonna bother finding another copy of the statement bc no one’s gonna give a shit but then I’d be doing some baseless shit and I honestly can’t stand people who half ass these things, despite my growing urge to do the same thing, so here’s the statement. 

For starters, who the hell waits one whole month before releasing a statement? From what I can remember, their excuse was allegedly that pretty much management forbade them to talk or make a statement about it earlier for... reasons? (Just realised I don’t actually have the source for this so idk take it with a grain of salt I guess because I was sure I had read this somewhere but I can’t back it up.) 

That’s not even the worst part, either. The statement itself gave zero closure to literally everything. Yes, they acknowledged the allegation, but that’s just about as far as they went. The whole point of a statement is to clear things up, whether the accuser was right or wrong, and what steps will be taken from there, whether an apology is to be issued or not. No shit you know about the incident, who in the fandom wouldn’t? Instead pointing out the straight up obvious, what they should’ve done was 1) not waited an entire fucking month before talking about it, most likely hoping the whole thing to blow over by then and 2) actually talked about the incident in their statement instead of tiptoeing around the subject like some sort of time bomb ready to go off. There is no right or wrong answer, because literally all they had to do was tell the truth - as in write down a statement from Mike (not the whole fucking band mind you) about his take on the whole thing or get him to say what had happened from his point of view. Then resolve it privately with your legal team and whatnot if they really feel the need. Hell, all he needed to do was apologise. Whether something like that classifies as assault or rape or whatever is up to you but the fact of the matter is that she’s underaged at that point in time. Even if she was fully aware of the risks and whatnot and gave legitimate consent, under the eyes of the law and pretty much 80% of the people reacting to this incident, it will be deemed illegal and inappropriate behaviour. All these people had to do was literally just be open and honest about it regardless of whatever the hell happened, because this is all happening on a public platform where everyone can see/read it to their hearts’ content. Viewers can’t judge or make a decision to support or not support you if you don’t tell them your side of the story, so for the love of god, why the hell didn’t they?

The statement was filled with bullshit about how they love the fans and all that shit, and honestly my thoughts can be accurately summed up in this video right here. So much backlash could have potentially been avoided had they just told it as it is, because now all we have is a vague ass response that gives no closure and tell us nothing as to whether Mike actually did it or not, because in the statement he manage to spout some bullshit about how he’s “never intentionally manipulated or abused anyone in [his] life” and that he’s just a ball of empathy which at first glance could suggest he at least thinks he’s innocent, but then they go on to say how Mike’s taking a temporary leave from the band for, you guessed it, absolutely no reason. At least, no reason that they’ve given us (what else is new) (I’m becoming more petty as the night drags on it’s literally 1am). Honestly, .@piercetheveil, please tell me why the honest to god fuck did you have him leave just after suggesting that he might be innocent? I know the world isn’t black and white but when you’re making a stance and defending yourself or admitting to something, it really is - black and white that is. Either you’re innocent or believe that you’re innocent and stand your ground by not leaving the band, or you admit that you are guilty, in which case your leaving of the band would actually feel justified, because now it’s like you’re gonna come back as well, so what does that even mean? Mike isn’t gone indefinitely, he hasn’t pleaded guilty or innocent, and now the band is telling us they love us? Fuck out of here with that bullshit.

Yes, I support the band’s decision to pull out of the All Time Low tour and to not have Mike out there in case fans feel threatened or unsafe or whatnot, but if you’re pleading innocent, then honestly the whole band should’ve just said “hey we’re gonna go on hiatus for a while until our legal team’s finished with taking care of everything”, and not just said hey guys we’re gonna kick him out because he may or may not have done something that we’re not gonna tell you because we’re shady fuckers like that. I know they are on hiatus right now, but at the “start”, they only said that Mike would be withdrawing temporarily or whatever so it’s kind of like, okay? Sure? It’s a right mess I assure you. Honestly, throughout this whole incident, it was this statement part that made me really fed up with this band. My interest in them had died down significantly from since I hit fifteen all those three years ago, and right now when I dug up an old iPod shuffle to bring with me to university to save my phone battery throughout the day, I can honestly say that I won’t be adding any Pierce The Veil songs onto it anytime soon unless I get peer pressured to. Personally, I feel like that’s kind of the mentality of a lot of had-been Pierce The Veil fans, too.

That’s Great And All But What’s Your Point?

Pierce The Veil’s management sucks ass.

There’s no easy, lawsuit-prone way for me to say it but, and this is just a conspiracy theory I swear to god if I get the fucking ASIS kicking down my door in the middle of the night you better read the fucking disclaimer, there’s obviously some shady shit going on in there no matter what way you slice it. Either they’re sabotaging Pierce The Veil’s success or whether it’s all some big confusion or misunderstanding, or if they’re just plain dumb, we can all agree that this whole thing - the kellic fan service, album making, allegations and subsequent statements - should’ve and could’ve been handled a hell of a lot more gracefully and professionally. Believe it or not, waiting until things blow over is frankly just childish and solves literally nothing, so either they can pull their act together quickly with this next “special secret” album to redeem what little quality/dignity they have left, or they can just fade away into irrelevancy and become a band that no one cares about anymore. 

History repeats itself. This band is quickly becoming just another Leafyishere, and as ominous as that sounds, it’s honestly not unlikely at this point. I am intrigued as to where they go from here, because if they manage to breakthrough again, then I would be very surprised given their current situation. I want to know how they choose to handle this - whether it’ll be the same or not, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Thank you so much if you read through this honestly like I am beyond happy that this is fucking over because I have a bunch of non-band related post essays I’ve been meaning to post but this one’s been nagging at the back of my mind for the past few months or however long it’s been. I’ve clocked in at around past 3k words for this one, and none of this is edited because I’m honestly so done with this you don’t understand. Like I said before, this took ages because I was gonna make another post talking about other shit that relates to this before realising that there’s way too many people that’ve addressed the whole YouTube thing so me doing it would literally be pointless, and even though no one really reads this shit, as big of a nerd as I am, I do enjoy writing bullshit because maybe then I’ll stop ranting to my friends and family about topics they don’t care about.

Regardless, that’s it for this two parter thing, and until next time or whatever.

Catch’ya x

[thedancingwalrus-blog]

I am attempting this meme thing. I hope I’ve got it right.

Rules are:

·         Post the rules

·         Answer the questions given to you by the tagger

·         Write 11 questions of your own

·         And tag 11 people

 1. if you were Not A Mammal, what (other) animal would you be?

Could I be the kea-bird? I very much like the kea bird. You see I have a lot of admiration for any animal that has figured out a way to snowboard, have snow ball fights and also kill things several dozen times its size so it can eat their kidneys. :)

New Zealand is insane and I love it.

2. what AU would you kill to see someone write about your OTP?

Hmmmmm well first I need to decide what my OTP is.

I write a lot of different ships. Like I checked my AO3 tags just now and the biggest number I have for one ship is 3 fics. The vast majority of those fics are AUs so there’s a certain amount that if I want a pairing and AU I write it myself because I don’t expect other people to be interested in what I am.

I’m honestly struggling to think of one pairing to put down let alone an AU for them.

I would be like Golem and want them ALL. MINE! MY PRECIOUS!

*ahem*

I love Lena Luthor/Supergirl to a ridiculous degree but don’t have any particular AU urges with them.

I think I’d really love to see an AU where Alex Danvers and M’gann Morzz were a couple, a long, emotionally intense slow burn, dealing with M’gann’s PTSD and Alex’s desire for a family and everything happening on Mars.

Having just watched the latest Star Wars and the Doctor Who Christmas Special I’d also really love to see the AU where the Doctor and Bill show up right at the end of The Last Jedi and Bill’s incredible whirlwind romance with Rose.  

3. do you like crossover fics/stories? (e.g., blending marvel and dc?) why or why not?

Considering how many of them I write I don’t actually read a lot of them.

I like writing them because doing them well requires that extra level of thought: how do the worlds overlap? How do the characters interact? Is there anything from either world that doesn’t fit and can it be reconciled?

As much as it’s slow going I’m loving writing the Batman/Iron man crossover with my partner. For me fiction should be talking about something, no matter how light the story and no matter whether it’s publishable or not. I really like the way we’ve used Bruce and Tony to talk about different approaches to social problems, a sort of ground-up personal approach versus a top-down at a remove approach. I don’t think we could have done so well outside of a crossover.

But that extra complexity is probably why I don’t read a lot of them. With my health problems over the past year-and-change I’ve found it difficult to dedicate time and focus to reading other people’s fiction. And given the choice between reading and writing I’ll always go for writing.

4. what’s the last piece of fiction you read that you would recommend?

Heh, yeah I’m not sure what the last book I finished and enjoyed was. My difficulty focusing over the year has meant a lot of books were started and put down again, no matter how good they were.

I also read a lot of non-fiction rather than fiction.

Generally though here are some I managed through mental health problems and probably give an idea of how eclectic my reading is-

The Lord Peter Wimsey Series by Dorothy L Sayers.

·         These were written in the 1920s and there are some issues with racist language as a result. But by Gods they’re brilliant. Startlingly original mysteries that don’t always turn out to be murders, excellent, varied female characters, a mentally ill protagonist, a wealth of disabled characters, memorable descriptions. They’re worth a read.

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie

·         Best sci fi book I’ve read in a very very long time. Excellent plot. Wonderful lightness of touch when it comes to world building. And an intensely personal, emotional focus. It’s essentially the story of a loyal soldier plotting to kill the head of their nation, not out of any moral compulsion or difference of opinion but because she killed someone the soldier loved. Powerful stuff.

5. your thoughts about poetry? Do you write it?

Poetry is excellent but I never write it myself.

I find it’s a wonderful way to summarise intense emotion. I memorise a lot of it (for which we broadly blame Saudi) and quote it fairly often. My favourites are Sassoon, Sappho and Rumi. I dip into Byron occasionally and I have a compass engraved with The Road Less Travelled By.

I’m also a big fan of the Sagas but obviously they lose a lot of the meter in translation. I’m thinking of trying to learn Lokasenna in the original because I think it would be satisfying to growl at people. I’ve got a copy of Beowulf in Old English that I go back to every so often to look at the language. One day I shall have the courage to read it aloud as it was supposed to be.

6. what’s one period of history (from any place) you find interesting and want to either learn more about or teach others about?

I have to choose ONE?!

I mean it’s sort of obvious but also I think the only reason this is counted as ‘one’ thing by a lot of people is bloody Western bias not taking the entire African continent seriously.

West African pre-colonial history.

For godssakes if you’re making the slightest pretence at understanding the New World you should know the basics. It feeds into so much Caribbean, Brazilian and US history. It shaped wars in Brazil and Cuba and Haiti.

It's also a wonderful contrast to Western philosophical schools. There are completely different concepts about deities, kingship, gender and souls.

And honestly? I just think it's really interesting and really under appreciated. I really love learning more about it and I wish more people learnt about it.

 7. salty or sweet?

Sweet. No sweeter. Sweeter than that. Look just pass me the fucking sugar already I’ll handle this.

Wait- This is about food right? This isn’t that weird American thing of assigning flavours to emotions and behaviours?

Are you trying to confuse me so you can take the coffee? I see through your cunning ruse and the caffeine is mine. Yes.

8. feelings about gift-giving? Enjoy it? Find it burdensome? Think it’s too commercial? Ritualized? Etc?

Well…of course it’s ritualised but that doesn’t make it wrong. Rituals are a large part of what holds us together.

I like gift giving. It appeals to the old fashioned part of me and I think it’s a good way of reinforcing social ties and showing appreciate of others. Sure it can be difficult, but I enjoy the exchange.

At least when it is actually focused on the person getting the gift rather than just some generic expensive thing for the sake of it.

9. vampires: yay or nay?

-the Queen of air and darkness

begins to shrill and cry,

Oh young man oh my slayer,

Tomorrow you shall die.

Oh Queen of air and darkness

I think it’s true you say,

And I shall die tomorrow

But you will die today.

10. what’s one trope you love and can’t get enough of, no matter the medium in which it arises (tv, film, fic, etc)?

Hmmm difficult.

I really like seeing characters who are genuinely very different, with different backgrounds and beliefs coming together to do the right thing. That's part of why I liked the Justice League, seeing very different people working together and becoming friends.

I also like complex villains. I have a serious weak spot for them. My favourite characters are often villains, Lex Luthor, the Joker, Catwoman- But I sort of have mixed emotions about that. Because it comes from....poorly written heroes essentially. I often focus on complex villains when the heroes are bland and uninteresting. I think a lot of the time that comes from people assuming that the audience will empathise with the hero and that they need to take more effort over the villain.

So when I write I try to make a concerted effort to make the heroes interesting and flawed and complex. Because otherwise why aren't we reading a story about the villain?

 11. are you a morning shower person or a night shower person? or the elusive bubble baths person?

I am an ‘ARGH NO WATER!!!! WHY IS IT SO COLD?! WHY IS IT FALLING FROM THE CELING?! THIS IS UNNATURAL AND WRONG!!! THE PAIN!!! THE INDIGINITY!!!!!’ person.

 1) John Boyega or Idris Elba?

2) Murder Mysteries, good family fun, awful and disturbing, dull- Thoughts?

3) Favourite mythology and why?

4) Is there a type of story you wish you could write but don’t want to attempt?

5) Never-fail feel good book?

6) Last film that made you cry?

7) Do you get carsick?

8) What’s the best plant in the world? Have you grown one?

9) Dosas. Breakfast food or lunch food?

10) If you were dividing things up into seasons from scratch what would they be based on and what would you call them?

11) What and where is the best time of year?

 @akindoodle, @phynali @thehungryvortigaunt @warclad (sorry mate I couldn’t remember what your personal blog was called) @bysamanthakeel, 

[81scorp]

Constructive criticism: 7 MCU films (and a bonus)

(Originally posted on Deviantart Apr 10 2017)

Comicbookmovies. More specifically: Superhero comicbookmovies. They have been made before with varying degrees of success. The whole superhero comicbookmovie wave didn`t really take off until Bryan Singer`s X-Men. More Marvel-based superheromovies were made, but like earlier attempts they were not as good as superhero comicbookmovies could be. So Marvel decided to make their own movies, after all... Who knows Marvel better than Marvel? Not only were their own movies big hits but they also had something the previous Marvel movies didn`t have: a shared movie universe. It seems like Marvel couldn`t do anything wrong. But even people who know what they`re doing can stumble sometimes and the MCU is not an exeption.Let us, in my very subjective and nitpicky editorial, see what I would have changed.

SPOILERS for Avengers, Iron man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron (and  minor SPOILERS for Thor the dark world and Captain America: Civil war) Iron man 2

Nick Fury`s introduction People who didn`t stay after the credits and don`t know the comics wouldn`t know who Nick Fury is and would probably be confused by the fact that he and Tony seem to have met each other earlier. How about: In the beginning, before we are introduced to Ivan Vanko we see the after credit scene from the first movie as an introduction and quick reminder. Whiplash or Crimson Dynamo? The bad guy here is an amalgamation of Whiplash and Crimson Dynamo. But we never hear his codename. It feels like they didn`t put that much thought into Him. his civilian name in the movie is Ivan Vanko. In the comics, that is the alter ego of Crimson Dynamo, so I would have picked that to be his codename. How about: In one scene where Tony and Ivan talks to each other Ivan could (somewhat poetically) describe himself as a "crimson dynamo". Just let the name name pop up in a conversation somewhere.He can keep the whips though. And yes: the movie has more problems than these two. It`s just a big filler before Thor and Avengers. But I don`t want to change too much if it risks removing characters or other stuff that are necessary to introduce before the Avengers. Thor

The dutch angles The primary use of the Dutch angle is to cause a sense of unease or disorientation for the viewer. To give them the feeling that something is not quite right. In this movie it was used at times where it was unnecessary. I didn`t notice it much the first time I watched it, but the second time it was more noticable. To summarise: A little less dutch angles would have been better. Save them for special scenes. Preferably the ones with the villain. (The night when Thor first arrives on earth could also work since it would symbolize that earth is a new, strange place for him.) The explanation of the OdinsleepIn the scene where Odin collapses after Loki yells at him it may seem to the uninitiated that Loki gave Odin a heart attack. It could have been foreshadowed earlier. How about: Before Thor flips the table Odin has a moment of weakness. Frigga is worried and asks if it is the Odinsleep. Odin confirms her suspicion and says that considering what has just happened he`s afraid of what will happen if he lets the sleep wash over him. Frigga: Don`t hold it back, the last time you did that you almost died. Let it come. The kingdom will be safe long enough for that.

Odin: I wish I could believe you.

Frigga: Thor can handle it, he`s mature.Cut to: Thor showing his maturity by flipping the table. Hawkeye`s screentime Mostly just my personal opinon, but since he will be part of the Avengers he could have been given more things to do. For example: That agent that described the warriors three as "Xena, Jackie Chan and Robin Hood" could have been Hawkeye.And when the Warriors three fight the destroyer he could try to help from the sideline by shooting an explosive arrow at it. (Which of course doesn`t even leave a scratch.) Hawkeye: Well... that was helpful.

Thor`s fight with the Destroyer Could have been a little longer (30 seconds or so) to give the feeling that Thor has to struggle a little. Avengers

The Chitauri army`s Phantom Menace-like defeat So... nuking the ship knocks out their life support system? But in one scene one of them took their mask off to scream at the Avengers. So... appearently they don`t need it to survive in earth`s atmosphere. How about: When the portal is closed many Chitauri soldiers see it and they know what it means: no more backup. They wont have superiority in numbers anymore. Two of them look at each other. They nod as if they know what they have to do. They activate some kind of device on their wrists which sends a signal to all the other soldiers. All the other soldiers activate a suicide function in their suits. The two soldiers that I mentioned earlier do the same. (A kind of "better to die than to be caught alive" strategy.) "But what about those flying dragon thingies?" you may ask. First I thought about the soldiers having some kind of remote-control-killing-device for them. But they can be taken care of in a short montage by Thor, The Hulk and the military. Iron man 3

The Mandarin Not gonna lie, I did not like the twist where it turns out that Ben Kinglsey was just an actor and not the real Mandarin. However, it IS a clever idea to have someone pose as the bad guy and draw attention away from the real threat. So I learned to be OK with this. What I DO have a problem with however is that the guy that is "supposed" to be the Mandarin is SO different from the comicbook version that you wonder why they even bothered to call him that. How about: We lose the part about him being a nerdy guy who got his feelings hurt by Tony. He could have been there at the new year`s eve party, enjoying himself, just being a successful billionaire like Tony. He could have been played by a dark-haired, asian-ish looking actor and his nationality should be a mystery so people in China don`t get offended. His name could be John Donemo (a combination of "John Doe" and "Nemo", hinting that it`s not his real name, since the Mandarin`s real name was never revealed in the comics). And in the end he should not be killed but instead be sent to an ambiguous death in an explosion where no body is found. And yes, I know, Marvel saw the error of their ways and made "Hail to the King" where we find out that there is another Mandarin who is the real one. I doubt that we will ever see him in future movies, but still, it`s nice to know that Killian wasn`t the "real" Mandarin. Thor the dark world

Killing Frigga As I mentioned earlier in my CC of Man of Steel and Batman v Superman, one thing I`m not a big fan of is when they kill characters that have played an important part and/or has been in the comicbook a long time. How about: Just put her in a coma? I know, it`s still technically a women in refrigerator thing. On the other hand, they are probably gonna use her death to get Loki to Hela`s realm in the sequel. But still, it`s gonna be one of those revolving door deaths that cheapens life, with the coma idea they can still get her back without doing that. Selvig in the nude It`s not as much Selvig in the nude that I have a problem with as it is the lucidity of his mental state in that scene. He seems unaware of the world around him. And his insanity is played for laughs in this scene but is more serious in later scenes, and the later scenes are better.How about: Selvig runs around in a bathrobe, his underwear and is barefoot. Instead of looking like he has no idea of who or where he is, he could look stressed. As if he has realized that a big threat is coming and he doesn`t have much time to stop it. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Killing Strucker They  could have used him a little more, gotten a little more mileage out of his character before they offed him. How about: not killing Strucker. Don`t mention him again after he`s been arrested. But how do I feel about the killing of Pietro you may wonder? His death meant something and worked for the story, so in his case I see no reason to come up with my own idea. Thor`s pool of exposition Why did Thor need Dr Selvig`s help? Where was this vision pool? was it on earth or Asgard? Was there a reason for this way of exposition besides getting a shirtless scene for Chris Hemsworth to get the attention of the ladies? How about: Thor travels to Asgard to get help from the three norns: Urd (an old woman), Verdandi (a woman roughly in her thirties) and skuld (a teenage girl). (I don`t know if they were of different ages (like the way that I`m describing them here) in the comics, but I think it would make sense since they represent past, present and future in the norse mythology.) Thor asks them to show him the future, they refuse. He asks again, says it`s important, they give in but give him a warning. Skuld places her Hand on his forehead and gives him the vision. Falcon`s screentime This is just me but I think they could`ve given Falcon more to do. Yes, I know, he`s a minor, supporting character. But still. Rhoades got to have fun with the other Avengers fighting the robots in Stark`s tower while Sam Wilson was out scouting for new recruits. How about: In the third act, when SHIELD and War Machine arrives to take care of Ultron`s soldiers, Falcon also arrives to help. Avengers!...It`s not THAT they cut Cap off but rather HOW they cut him off. You clearly see that he`s about to yell "assemble". How about:

A: Let cap shout "Avengers! Assemble!"

B: Let him just shout "Avengers!" but cut him off a little earlier so we don`t see that he`s about to shout the other word. I know, it`s a minor thing, but still. Captain America: Civil War

Falcon`s lethal weapons This actually doesn`t bother me that much. In this universe it has been established that Falcon used to work in the military so it would make sense for him to use lethal weapons. But since I criticized Batman v Superman for Batman`s killing and held him to a higher standard I figured I should treat both superheroes equally and not give Marvel special treament. So... how about: Instead of bullets: tranquilizer darts and instead of bombs: gas-grenades. Killing Crossbones Just my opinion but couldn`t they have waited and used him in at least one more movie before they killed him? How about: Instead of lifting all of him up with her TK powers, Wanda just rips off his vest. But other than that, things still happen the way they did: She has to act fast, tries to get it out of harms way, it explodes near a building, human casualties, guilt. Correlation and causation

Vision: I`m saying there may be a causality. Corrolation: mutual connection between two (or more) things. Causation: act of making something occur. Corrolation does not imply causation. The Vision is trying to say the rise of villains is because of the heroes. In some cases there may be a hint of truth in this. An example the incredible Hulk (The Leader getting his superintellect was caused (accidentally though) by Banner`s DNA.) But in most cases the bad guys would have existed even without the help of the heroes. One would think that a supercomputer would know the difference between the two and know which one it is in this situation. How about: Vision could...

A: say: I`m saying there are signs of correlation.

Or 

B: Just not say this line. To be fair though, I would never have thought about this myself if I hadn`t seen a video where someone who analyzed it pointed it out. Even if I have a few things to say about these movies I still like them. (Yes, even Iron man 3 and most of Thor the Dark world.) But this last one however... It`s not a movie but it is marvel and it is quite bad.

One more day

When I was little and read the issue where Spidey tied the knot with MJ I was A OK with it. Thought that it was interesting and wanted to see where they would take it. Joe Quesada did not like it and he didn`t have to either. But if he wanted to break them apart couldn`t he have done it in a smarter, more mature way? Personally I`m not against the idea of Pete and MJ getting a divorce but Quesada didn`t like that either because it "aged the character". There`s a post One More Day issue where the Chameleon is imitating Pete and goes through his stuff for some research and finds out that Pete has a teaching job. Doesn`t having a teaching job age the character? How would I have done it? When Spidey goes to Dr Strange and is given the chance to meet the brightest minds in the Marvel universe he could get help from Dr Doom. Doom is good at both magic AND science so he shouldn`t have too much of a problem contacting Aunt May`s spirit. But in return he asks Spidey for a quid pro quo. A few days (or weeks) later Doom could steal something (or do some other illegal thing) in N.Y. Spidey arrives to stop him but Doom reminds him of their quid pro quo and Spidey remembers his promise and lets Doom go. Reporters see this, everyone in N.Y. thinks Spidey is working with Doom and Jonah Jameson is loving every minute of it. Pete and MJ go their separate ways until this whole thing blows over. Classic Spider-Man plot.

But basically: Spidey`s "deal with the devil" could be with Dr Doom, and his and MJ`s marriage shouldn`t be erased from reality. And those are my thoughts, feel free to disagree.

[almaasi]

I definitly noticed that I don't receive all the subscription emails lately on ao3 (since a bit before they announced their big problem with spam), so I've taken to stalking the works I love, but I'm terrified I missed some. I didn't subscribe to your profile on ao3 since I see your works here when you announce them, so I can't tell you if the problem occured or not, sorry. Anyway don't be discouraged, you're talented and you should absolutely keep writing (as long as you enjoy it of course)

i promise there is no pastime i enjoy on earth more than writing fics, editing them with my friends, then posting them. and i do not want to stop.

i am in no way ungrateful for the support i still currently get. between all of my (now 73) stories, i get between 30 and 50 kudos per day. but the new stuff currently gets 3 to 7 new kudos a day if i’m lucky. so it’s not like nobody’s reading my stories, just comparatively few people are reading the new ones.

but the (very, very rapid) decline in readership for my new fics is very much a source of anti-joy for me.

i love every. single. part of the process, even the hard parts of writing. but the moment i post a fic i worked my butt off to make, and nobody cares, it crushes my soul into tiny little pieces

and it takes me days/weeks to recover emotionally and remind myself that responses are not the sole reason why i write. but it does start to feel a little pointless when me and my betas are the only ones reading the new stuff.

today is the first time i considered maybe it’s because ao3 is not sending out emails. that would explain a lot. perhaps the new tumblr algorithm has something to do with it too. but until now i thought it was any of these reasons:

people don’t ship destiel any more / don’t watch the show

my fics are too long (33k?? i thought that was average)

nobody wants AUs any more

not fluffy enough

too fluffy

badly summarised? (i.e. not clickbait)

people are saving the stories for a "bad day” and they’re off having good days (i’d be okay with that)

my cast is too diverse (this hurt my heart the most)

i’m posting on fridays/saturdays (because wednesdays/thursdays also had this problem. idk what day is best)

i’ve developed as a writer but my audience has not developed the same way (the novel-like stories with diverse characters, plot, and depth have always performed the worst among my readers)

i haven’t written smut for a while

i rarely post in chapters

frankly it could be any of these things, but if it’s just a case of AO3 NOT DOING ITS JOB then ...phew

now i gotta find a better way of sending notifications out >:|

(fic links: all the new stuff at the top)