#I’d rather be in Stan’s position tbh

[noodles-and-tea]

Question for your au! Obviously this takes place before Fidds sees what’s in the portal, and before Ford starts to become paranoid, as he looks younger than 28, so what’s the reason Ford calls his Stanley over? Or maybe their Ma called Stan to go check on Ford?

So it’s actually set after their whole debacle - the timeline stays the same as the og up until the moment Stan goes through the portal (he ends up going in instead of Ford this time (although there would be some other minor differences since the portal doesn’t actually work right and send Stan back in time))

Since this happens after Ford’s falling out with Bill, when baby Stan pops out of the portal he calls the one person he can trust, especially with a kid - Fiddleford.

That means that Fidds and Ford have to figure out: a) Dealing with their own falling out, b) Working on the portal that they both agree is dangerous and a bad idea, c) staying alert now that Bill is an active enemy, and d) LOOKIN AFTER A KID

[radgalniya]

eternal sunshine review

you already knowwww. another album review.

random thoughts:

so the thing is i didn’t have high hopes for this, bc i hated sweetener and people were saying this was like a part 2. and shitting on positions, my favorite ari album, to compare this one. so i’m like i’m gonna hate this. but i am actually so excited bc i like it. i finally have new music to be obsessed w rather than relistening to the same songs over and over.

also just bc i like the album, don’t mean i’m like a homewrecker stan. she gotta chill.

she should’ve kept the red themed cover like i get the message of the new one but it just doesn’t hit the same.

anyways bc i’m a psycopath, i listened out of order bc that’s the only way i can properly listen idk y.

also i love that there’s no musical features

anyways to the review:

intro(end of the world):

it’s a cute lil intro. my everything vibes. 6/10. probably won’t relisten to this one much. but i love how she’s being so honest on this album bc i’m a nosey ass bitch. love when ppl air out their business. more more!

bye:

modern disco viiibes. upbeat. very dancey. but also lyrically it’s very idk not melancholy but like kind of sadish i like that. 7/10. the song is really not my personal taste but it’s really good still.

don’t wanna break up again:

naur he turned up the tv when he heard her crying throw that man in the trash!!! i like this one. i like the melody and lyrics and the chorus is my favorite part of the song. i wish the production was a little more melodic. it only does it for me during the chorus tbh. but i like this song. 8/10 “but i just can’t refuse” in the chorus sounds like the “im finding ways to stay concentrated on what i gotta do” in die for you by the weeknd.

saturn returns interlude:

idk man some woman talking what do you want me to say. isn’t it weird that this is the only track with capital letters tho?

eternal sunshine:

i really hate trap beats tbh. but ik it’s like ari’s signature now. but ick. it’s a bop tho for sure. but not really my taste. i only really like it bc the lyrics. i just love ppl telling their business y’all i’m not kidding. 7/10

supernatural:

AHHHHHH BITCHCHHHH YESSSS THIS IS WTF i’m TALKIN ABOUT THIS IS POP BITCH YESSS 100000/10 i love the modern 80s pop vibe and the chorus is so perfect w/ the beat. it just rides man i love this song. i’d love this album JUST for this song.

true story:

so 90s love it. very aaliyah beat. i love a good 90s r&b moment so ofc this is an automatic like even if the chorus isn’t that catchy. idk ig i just feel like pop should have catchy melodies and/or an infectious beat. y’know? also she ate w/ the belting at the end. 8/10

the boy is mine:

YASSSSSSS. again we know i love a 90s vibe. the slowdown right before the chorus is insaane. and the choral style harmonies on the “is” of the boy is mine scratches something in my brain as well as the “gotta be a reason why” robotic voice thing. this is so catchy. this is totally a fantasize vibe. so good. 10/10

yes and?:

i dont have it in me to keep defending this song from u vultures. AND i wish she put the mariah carey version on the album too 8/10 and no i will not be explaining myself further y’all are gonna make me cry.

we can’t be friends (wait for your love):

feel i’m getting an 80s vibe again. i like it. i’m loving the upbeat music, sadish vibe lyrics thing going on in this album. i like the vibe of this song a lot. i do wish something in here was more catchy. but i like it. it’s so soft and wistful almost. that’s probably why i’ll relisten. conjure up some interesting maladaptive daydreams w/ this one. 7/10 edit: i watched the video now i like it more. 8/10 lol

i wish i hated you:

it’s very vulnerable. again i’m nosey so i like that. but the song is eh for me. i don’t think this is a song i’d listen to for the music but more for the vibe. 6/10

imperfect for you:

i looooove it. a little weird melodically but i love it. just scratches something in my brain it’s so good. so catchy. 10/10

ordinary things:

it’s good. not one of my favorites but the more i listen, the more i like it. i love the way she pronounces ordinary in here lol. 7/10

okay that’s all really

p.s. i feel like why try from my everything would fit in here idk. this album feels like a perfect combination of all of her others, it’s so weird how that works out. i love it tho. pleasantly surprised!!

[sehnsuchts-trunken]

The Kings of Middle Earth - Thranduil | Thorin | Bard

pairing: Thorin x reader, Bard x reader, Thranduil x reader | gender neutral! btw lol

wordcount: i was too lazy to check

triggerwarnings: there's two sentences with gen z exaggeration indicating suicide, and i just want to say that this is not meant to in any way downplay suicide and suicidal thoughts. please don't take it seriously. if you have to fight those thoughts yourself, remember that there's telephone numbers and websites where you can ask for help

here are three gifs because christmas. 

no im lying its because google wouldnt give me one of all three of them in one so i had to do them separately. 

stan my kings or come die at their hands,, because you will, i dont make the rules- i’d say “or come die at my hands” but thats very unrealistic tbh, i wouldnt be half as good at fighting as them and also they can look out for themselves very well. mostly. partly. what im tryna say is fuck you if you dont like them 

Being ambassador was fine. Usually. Fine when there weren’t three grown men, kings at that, gushing and fighting over you like teenage boys. And the fact that your family had mixed to the point where you had all their kin’s blood flowing through your veins - which had really got you this position in the first place, seeming like a good idea at the time and a very questionable one now - made it a ton worse. You had been fairly sure that you could play some kind of helpful role in the negotiations after this war, but all you had got yourself into was a mess that rather ensued another one instead of solving the first. In a way you were naively proud of it, flustered and bemused and all giddy because of it, but far more than that were you annoyed. They got on your nerves all the time and made your job so, so much more complicated than it had to be and than it initially had sounded like. 

Today had been especially exhausting to say the least. Normally you ignored their behaviour, dismissed all they said that had nothing to do with negotiations, and quickly slipped out of the room before anyone could stop you. You didn’t quite know either why you were so disinclined to spend more time than necessary with them - certainly every other person in your place would enjoy it far more. But today of all days you were in no mood for another of those meetings, for negotiation and talk of war and their tiring attempts at snatching your attention away from the parchment you always had draped over your lap. You’d woken up in a bad mood already, then spilled your breakfast on your newly put on clothing and had to change it. Your horse seemed to be in the same kind of gloomy state you were in, because the second you’d slipped into the saddle it had thrown you right off again. Luckily it wasn’t a rainy day at least, so you’d only fallen onto grass and dirt and not mud to stain your shirt again. 

You lived in a little house in Dale at the moment, one of those that was safe enough to sleep in without being crushed by a breaking ceiling. That really would’ve fit your mood though. Thorin had offered you chambers in the mountain, Bard and Thranduil had offered you one of their tents, but you’d declined both and declared that you’d gladly stay on your own down there in a house far enough away from all three of them that you didn’t have to see none of them even when you rode up to the mountain when there was a meeting to attend to. Because they did usually happen in the mountain. Only rarely did Thorin come to Dale, and then only when the two other kings had complained so badly about their rides that he had no other choice but to offer a meeting in their tent. Because he was certainly not about to offer chambers to them. And they would not have accepted anyway, neither of them, for very different reasons. 

“Are you even listening?” 

The pen you’d been holding slipped, drew a dark, black line down the parchment and fell to the ground with a thud. You cursed as you bent down and reached for it before surveying the damage it had done - this was one piece of parchment you would surely not be using further. 

“I was, in fact, not”, you muttered, crumpling it in your hand and throwing it to the corner of the room - where you would absolutely have to go pick it up again once you were done, but couldn’t bother thinking about now. You’d been gloomily, silently sitting in your chair, staring at the parchment and your pen and not listening to anything the three of them had said. It was a wonder they spoke without your assistance anyway. Now you looked up to behold the mostly bemused face of Thranduil and the somehow a mix between worried and amused expressions of the other two. You straightened your back, ran one hand through your hair and tilted your head to the side a bit. 

You might have been in the presence of three kings, but you certainly were not going to act like someone had shoved a stick up your ass, especially not after three months, three months!, of these ridiculous negotiations that could have been settled after one. And, despite the utter respect both Thorin and Thranduil were used to being shown, none of them had once commented on your less royally-fit behaviour. You were you, and the kings were also just men, with emotions and thoughts the same way you had them, so there really was no need to play the cowering animal. Yes, they had done great things, yes, they had a ton of influence, yes, they could probably have you executed or thrown into a cell in a matter of minutes, but they were not god-like beings that you should fear. Really, who could actually be afraid of these three absolute, jealous idiots? 

So you leaned back in your chair and stretched your legs out on the stone floor. “I seem to have missed the entirety of the conversation, though I do have to admit I’m shocked there was one at all.” 

Thranduil, who was in the chair opposite you which he’d claimed his ever since the first meeting, smiled, and it was a soft smile that you couldn’t help but return. If any of them were to be feared, it was him - but not by you, not when that lovely smile was so often directed at you, not when there lay something beautiful in his gaze that you could always spot when he was looking at you. 

But it was Thorin who replied, and you tore your eyes away from the elf and towards the dwarf, who sat, of course, at the head of the table, lounging in his chair that was just slightly bigger and slightly more decorated than the others were. He was as proud as Thranduil was, but this was his home after all, and so he had all the potential to show it. Not that you minded - it was never his behaviour that was affected by it, not around you at least, it was pride for his people, pride for his kin, just the same way you knew Thranduil had it, too. It was strange how much the two had in common, though it led more to argument and difference than similarity. 

“What is it that is on your mind so much you cannot pay attention to the one talk that happens without you?” 

He was grinning a bit, though he tried his best to hide it. You did not - you laughed out loud without restraint, actually laughed for the first time today. As much as you cursed the lot of them, you loved them too, for they could cheer you up in a matter of seconds and have come close enough for you to throw away all reason more than once. You knew that if you were not here for work, you would not have denied them your blush and giggle and become as lovesick as you sometimes felt you wanted to be and had never been. 

“Horrible morning, I have to be honest with you. But - The moment one sits down to think, one becomes all nose, or all forehead, or something horrid”, you quoted with the ghost of a smile on your face. “Thinking makes age a quick thing and beauty lingers only in youth. I don’t like losing all sense of reality, so I do dearly apologise.” You chuckled quietly as Thorin raised his eyebrows, looking only a little bewildered. 

“Because we never get back our youth. The pulse of joy that beats in us at twenty, becomes sluggish. Our limbs fail, our senses rot. We degenerate into hideous puppets, haunted by the memory of the passions of which we were too much afraid, and the exquisite temptations that we had not the courage to yield to.” You laughed, almost snorting as you beheld the face of utter confusion and perplexity of the dwarven king. “It is in the brain, and the brain only, that the great sins of the world take place.”

You turned your head back only to see that Thranduil had raised his eyebrows all the same, and Bard was smiling faintly, eyes fixed so piercingly just on you that for one second you had to blink. It was no predatory gaze, no stare that could have made you uncomfortable, yet he seemed as though he could read you like an open book, and you had to admit you’d thought more than once that he knew you well without actually knowing you well. It was strange in itself that you were in this situation, kings so alike and different all the same, and while they took the same interest in you for whatever reason that you could not tell, they looked at you and spoke with you so uniquely that sometimes you wondered how they all held the same title. 

“It’s a wonderful little book, one of my beloved favourites, but hauntingly real in a way that left me breathless upon first reading and still does whenever I open it, though now I can recite half of it”, you explained, rolling the remaining parchment in your lap to make it a scroll and putting it onto the table together with the pen, not believing that you had been here for hours and written down two sentences collectively, which now were gone as well, for you had crumpled them and thrown them away. You were well aware that you were not here to speak about books you enjoyed, and had someone told you half a year ago that you would care so little that it were three kings you would open up to so easily, you would have laughed at them. 

“I don’t remember ever having read anything like it.” 

You tilted your head to the side and looked at Thranduil, knowing well that the small smirk on his face was a mirror of your own, but only bothering to consider it for the sake of Thorin’s scowl you could see even out of the corner of your eye. It had become normal at this point, even though you still checked twice when it were not the elf nor the dwarf, but the human king, who was usually, though more expressive than Thranduil, less likely to show jealousy, jealousy of all things!, like that. 

“I would have been shocked”, you admitted. “It’s human literature - the kind that no one reads anymore, I would have been surprised even if Bard had recognised it. But he does not strike me as the type who owns too many books anyway. Or do you?” You turned your head to look at Bard once again, ignoring wholly the way the elf tensed. You liked the three of them, but you simply could not bring yourself to be less annoyed by the constant competition about you. You, of all people. What reason was there for you to be fought over? By kings, dear god! No matter how much you did not want to consider their titles, there was life to be lived, people to be tended to, courts and lords and ladies to be satisfied - indeed, as much as you did not want to worry about it, as much as you did not want to see them in that way, they were kings, after all, and you were no ruler, not even born royal, and certainly not suited for a crown, even if it was one won in battle the way Bard had. 

Your expression fell once more today, and you slumped back into the chair, barely noting the shake of his head and the answer he readied himself to give turning into silence as he frowned. Of course it was today that you managed to also pull yourself down further. Hadn’t they just managed to cheer you up? And hadn’t you recited about how horrendously thoughts could poison the own mind a literal second ago? 

“What is it?”, Bard asked. You couldn’t bear the sheer worry that was laced with the simple question, about to crush your very skull. What had you got yourself into this time? Three kings, three charming kings, each so wonderful and wondrous in their own way, and somehow you were stuck in the middle of it all and toying not only with them but yourself, knowing fully well that there was no future for any of it, no matter a decision or none. You couldn’t rule a kingdom even if their interest were to be serious, and certainly you could not rule three. You pushed yourself out of your chair, ignoring completely the pairs of eyes that bore into yours. 

“Excuse me”, you said through gritted teeth, dragging your gaze to the ground and, just to busy yourself, pulling the cloth you used as a hair tie from your wrist and prodding your mane with it, trying to make it into some kind of presentable bun while taking three steps collectively before you were stopped. 

“I- We will not.” Thorin blocked your path with an arm to your waist, and you looked at him despite yourself, instinct taking over. All of this was shit. All of it was hell, and you had run right into the arms of trouble once again, just as you had always done, your whole life. For once you were happy, and after all it was just an illusion anyway, just a moment, something with only present and neither past nor future. It was definitely the wrong decision to lift your gaze though, because the second you saw the expression on the dwarf’s face, you were inclined to either throw yourself into his arms or off a balcony. Never before had anyone looked at you with as much care, as much tenderness and worry as these three kings did, and you could not keep it, not a single one of them. Though at this point you were not sure if you could and if you even wanted to decide if you had to, which you would not, because this thing was nothing but the blink of an eye for them, nothing serious, even if it was real. 

“You will tell us what is wrong”, Thranduil demanded, though... it was as much order as it was plea. A king speaking and a lover asking. Perhaps the throwing off a balcony idea was one you could actually make use of. It took all your willpower, all your concentration and determination, but you turned around slowly, did not whisk and jump over. the table and neither did you cry. You would not. This was work for you, negotiations for them... they were kings, you would not behave like a two year old in front of them, though you felt like one. And you knew just as well that you would crawl before them and beg if it came down to it, the stars knew for what. 

Thranduil's lips were a thin line, his stare as icy as it was soft, and you could not even bring yourself to wish you had never come to this war, because... as stupid as it was, you were more, far more than happy that for once there was someone who cared, that there was someone you did not mind being just yourself around, who teased and joked and still accepted all that you were. It was not your and not their fault that they were kings. 

“I’ve had a bad morning”, you repeated again, and indeed it was true- just not the whole truth now. Though the elf’s gaze softened, and Thorin to your left grabbed for your hand and gave it a light squeeze in reassurance - which was so unbelievably unusual in itself that you had to look down at your intertwined hands and brush your thumb over his skin in amazement. Thranduil did scoff this time, but the way your face lit up made up for it. He watched, not without the hint of a smile, your eyes widen and some of the life returning to your cheeks. Some of the heat, too. You hid it well normally, but never good enough, always just so much that they all still noticed it, and now that you made no point at all trying to conceal it, he found himself enamoured by it, wishing that it was him and not the dwarf who caused it, but content regardless, and promising himself that he would have you blush far more often in the future. 

“But it is more than that.” You turned around once again to look at Bard, brushing a strand of hair out of your eyes that had fallen from your bun. You nodded, perhaps more gravely than before, which had Thorin strengthening his grip on your hand. Like a desperate man, you thought, and it brought a bit of a smile back to your face, if only for a second. Who cared that these men were king? Who cared that they had a crown and a title? Who cared? For in this moment, you decided that you did not. And it was a burden that fell from your shoulders, one that you had only subconsciously acknowledged, one that you’d ignored the way you’d ignored all that was too far from the topic of war and negotiation. They were here, they were right here right now with you, and there lay fondness and genuine interest in all their gazes, and everyone could go to hell if you could not savour that. If this were to end in heartbreak, then so it be, and as long as it did not, you would enjoy the present that this one was. Enjoy the interest of not one, but three kings, in such a person as you, of no name and no influence, with no promises and no obligations.

“Perhaps”, you said, and the corners of your lips tugged up. How ridiculous everything was, and how little you were to care for it. “Or perhaps not anymore.” 

[iamanartichoke]

I am just not feeling fandom these days, and it sucks.

I have gotten bored with just the surface-level series stuff and would love to engage more thoroughly and delve into some analysis, bc I definitely have Thoughts, but it's like, and the point would be what? Most of the toxic positivity side of the fandom are people I'd rather not engage with (or they've already blocked me for lord knows what) for a number of reasons, but I don't want my criticisms spiraling down into sheer negativity either. Plus, the volume of shitty takes written by people who genuinely think they're putting out some top-tier analysis is like - okay, clearly I am not viewing this story the way that most other people are viewing it, so fuck me I guess lmao.

And tbh, a lot of the toxic behavior that's gone on since the series dropped makes me genuinely uncomfortable. I'd rather not, like, post my criticisms on how Loki's trauma was handled, or how I feel like his arc and growth left much to be desired - only to have some pretentious fandom twat use my meta to armchair diagnose me as being traumatized or mentally incapacitated in some way and it's effecting how I interpret the material. Or, like, expressing genuine emotion in a post, only to have it screenshotted and mocked on someone's toxic stan blog.

So I'm like, well, okay, then I'll just keep my thoughts to myself and reblog another gifset I guess, except gifsets give me feels, and feels give me thoughts I'd like to talk about, and then I'm like, well, but, this isn't really the place for genuine discussion anymore, and around and around we go.

[prince-of-elsinore]

A few personal thoughts on the Samdean shipper survey results (which overall I very much enjoyed reading):

1. Season 2 supremacy :))))

2. I'm just a little surprised at how many more fans favor Sam than Dean, but there are a few things it has me considering: 1) this is only a snapshot of Wincest fandom at this point in time and I seriously doubt this was the case in the early days. Obviously once D*stiel became so big it drained a lot of Dean fans off into that ship. This is very specifically people involved in fandom in the post-finale era, and I wonder if Dean's death may have been a further drain on Dean-fan engagement. And 2) sample bias, maybe? The survey did get a lot of results, but considering it was made by a Sam stan and circulated heavily among other such blogs, I wondered whether that would skew results. Of course it's impossible to say. And 3) not sure if this is, again, sort of an accident of timing (with many Dean stans disliking the finale) but it seems to me like Wincest tumblr itself is surprisingly Sam-leaning and I'm curious whether that really reflects the wider Wincest fandom (I don't say Bibro b/c to me, you have to love both to be a Bibro) or whether they've naturally migrated towards each other on this particular platform and are therefore over-represented here. I have no idea what twitter or discord fandom is like. Finally 4) I'm REALLY curious to know how different it would look if Sam and Dean equally had been an option. I'm guessing that most people only favor one brother very slightly (me!) and might rather choose that, or do genuinely love both the same. I would guess that Sam and Dean together would receive nearly as many votes as either separately--but maybe not! Maybe stan mentality has permeated fandom too much :\

3. It would be really interesting to see how favorite character lines up with top/bottom preference. I think I'm an outlier in that I prefer my fave (Dean) as a top 😳(not a stickler about it though)

4. Now for just a little salt lol: guess my fandom annoyance answer got subsumed into sam v. dean drama, which I'm surprised didn't get more answers tbh. Never saw dean negativity named as an annoyance but saw dean negativity itself in the answers...🙄 The man is far from perfect but wow am I ever tired of seeing the word "abuse" thrown around (I mean I expected to see it, and it was just a couple answers but I still had to read 'em lol. Sometimes I wish I'd never dipped my toe into this fandom so I would still be blissfully ignorant of this take). Also if I had done that survey more recently I think I would have had more to say, I've sort of just recently put my finger on some fandom trends I don't like. I don't wanna go into detail but... suffice to say I think a lot of things some (especially younger?) Sam stans are very into, I am not into. Love Sam a lot, but often just don't vibe with the sort of headcanons or takes his stans push, and it's why I unfollowed some stan blogs a while back. Feel much happier now in my Bibro/Wincest/Platonic Weird Brothers corner 😌(All love to you if you favor Sam, no skin off my back. It's not the fact of favoring Sam that I dislike, it's more to do with other tastes that somehow seem associated and circulated heavily among certain blogs, but aren't common to all Sam fans. Safe to say if you're in my notes regularly this doesn't apply to you)

5. Okay finally to end on some positivity, I'm happy to get such a long fic rec list and felt inspired to share a few of my fave Wincest authors, along with stellar fics of theirs. Just the first ones that come to mind:

Dyed_Red--Squint into the Sunset | Glare into the Gloaming lovetincture--Collision Course Morgan--Midwinter Montana sonofabiscuit77--A Life Most Ordinary (all their AUs are great) thecapn--Baba O'Riley and Eleanor Rigby walk into a bar (their AUs are also great) killabeez--Carry Me Over the Sky (one of my first fandom faves!) 

[purrincess-chat]

Lol, so the breakup happening this episode is kind of embarrassing for me. A friend of mine on the inside told me months ago that the rival ships were breaking up this season, but they didn’t say when. I sincerely thought we’d have to suffer through most of this season, and even though there were teasings of a breakup in the trailers, I honestly thought it was a red-herring. I feel like I got caught with my pants down with this whole breakup party, but ya know, we can still do our best. 

That being said, I thought I’d give my two cents on the situation at large that has erupted from this episode. I’ve pulled way back from this fandom, so most of what I’ve seen has been from friends relaying what’s going on or the couple times I’ve peeked in the tag today. And I mean, if you’re a blue stan, I’m not gonna tell you not to be mad because even I thought they’d have more episodes as a couple. In fact, I was specifically dreading it. Me and a couple other blue stan skeptic friends have been talking all week like, “Nah, they’re not really gonna breakup. It’d be funny, but nahhh, they’re not gonna breakup” So imagine my surprise when I woke up at 6am and open my notifications to find messages from my friends being like YOOOOOO. 

I know I said previously that I wasn’t going to watch s4 until the very end, but what I really meant was, “I’m not watching s4 until the blue ship sinks.” Mostly because I thought it would be mid-season at least. Now that it sunk in episode 1, I don’t really know what to do now. I was kind of looking forward to just working on my fic backlog. Which, like, I’ll still do that, but wow. Here we are. Episode 1. 

I know the purpose of this breakup bash is to drink the blue stan tears, and I am still going to do that, but damn. The writers really did that. Do I think it’s hilarious? Naturally. Am I surprised? Honestly, not as much as I thought I’d be? I mean, the writing of this show is absolute dogshit. I know I haven’t said that in a while because I just started ignoring all of the flaws in canon and taking the tiny nuggets I enjoyed like a raccoon, but it really is awful. Am I still gonna watch until the very end? You bet your sweet ass I’m gonna see my children get together and thrive. It’s what I’ve been waiting for since s1. But deep down in my heart of hearts, I will always believe that the writing of this show could have been astronomically better. I know it’s not all the writer’s fault. I know some of it is executive meddling. But even that only accounts for so much. 

I find it rather interesting that a lot more people have been ‘oh boohoo poor blue boy’ when like? The fucking protagonist had no choice? She has so much on her plate, she doesn’t have the energy to devote to a relationship right now. That was the point of the episode. And the people on the opposite end of the spectrum going, “buhh, she can’t have anything nice” are also missing a huge point too. Neither side really has her best interest at heart, you’re all just salty shippers who are mad your ship didn’t sail like you wanted. And tbh? I’m glad it didn’t, and not just because I’m not a fan of the blue ship. 

She has a lot on her plate right now. In earlier seasons her stans were practically begging for her to become the Guardian, and guess what? That job comes with responsibility. Her identity is even more crucial now because if she gets discovered, so does the box! Canon finally gave her something not tied to a boy, and now her so called stans are mad that canon isn’t tying her to a boy?? That she is getting something for herself? 

“Buhh, but she doesn’t have anyone to lean on now-”

Bitch, she can buy some Kleenex! She wouldn’t have been able to lean on him, and yall know it. That was the whole point of this episode. Her identity and double life are something she would have to keep from him at all costs! And as we can see, she wasn’t able to manage her double life AND a relationship. She would have been a shit girlfriend, and it wouldn’t have been her fault. What’s more important? The fate of the world? Or her getting to bang a dude? You guys just want her to have a yes man who does anything she says, and she doesn’t need it. That’s not empowering. It’s selfish. 

I, for one, am happy that they decided not to stick her in a relationship right now. She needs time to herself. Time to figure out her new position. Time to figure out who she is without being attached to a boy. If I see one more of her “stans” crying about how she has to suffer, I’m going to scream. She doesn’t need a boy. Honestly, them not sticking her with the blue one is the first female empowering thing this show has done in a long ass time. Because she doesn’t need a boy to save her and wipe her tears and give her booboo kisses. At the end of the day, you people upset by that aren’t her stans anymore. You’re stans of the ship. If it was really about her happiness, you’d accept that the relationship wasn’t it right now and be happy that maybe now she can focus on herself. A whole season of her running around with the kwamis and figuring out who she is and what she wants now with her new responsibilities? Um, yes, please?? Because idk if you’ve realized, but she said she can’t have a boyfriend at the end. That includes the one you all hate too. 

Ugh, this fandom is so exhausting. Every day I’m reminded of why I stay out of it now. Why I just post my shit here and mind my business. After tonight’s party, I will do my damndest not to ever mention the blue ship or the blue one on this blog again. I’m going to forget it exists. Tonight is my blue salt swan song, I guess you could say. Tomorrow, I’m not even going to know who he is. So enjoy my memes. 

[convoy914]

Final Ironwood Post of the Volume Cause I Still Have a Brand to Maintain I Guess:

So, IS Ironwood dead? I could see it going either way really. Regardless, the last we see of him in this Volume is defeated on the floor of the Vault as Atlas falls. And that’s kind perfect. In many ways, Ironwood WAS Atlas. The nationalism, the sweeping issues under the rug, the belief that only HE knows best at the end of the day. And so, seeing Atlas Incarnate as he saw himself lay defeated as the Kingdom falls, not even worth considering by the Wicked Witch...yeah, that works, doesn’t it?

Thats not to say that he was ENTIRELY monstrous...at first. He DID have positive qualities as well, which don’t excuse his more unfortunate tendencies of course, but they WERE there. But with the Fall of Beacon began a decline, where his more positive qualities began chipping away, leaving behind the genocidal dictator we all love to hate. The point is, this didn’t happen overnight, and it didn’t JUST happen because of the Fall of Beacon. These tendencies were ALWAYS there, just...tempered a bit. Until, over time, they weren’t. Let’s not make excuses for him, okay? Explanations are not excuses and he was NEVER the perfect paragon he thought he was. Not truly evil either, but he got there in the end

I find his line in the finale: “AND NO ONE IS GRATEFUL” to be rather telling. Now, I DO believe that at first his desire to protect people WAS genuine...but there was always that aspect of ego, wasn’t there? Not that he’d admit it to anyone (even himself) until Volume 8 of course, but you can see the signs even before. Hero is basically “look at how great I am, you should appreciate me” the song. Again, I think he WAS genuine and the ego was just part of it...but it slowly became the ONLY part, if that makes any sense. As I said at the beginning of the Volume, this was kind of inevitable. Left unchecked and unquestioned, THIS is who Ironwood is.

In addition, look at what happened when he woke up in that cell: the opportunity to take a step back, look at what he’s doing, and just stop. And he threw it all away. Just went back to his already ruined plan. “I know what’s best for Atlas”. Perhaps earlier he would have taken the chance, but by that point he was incapable of it, completely unwilling to change, I think. That’s a constant for him, isn’t it: refusing to change, refusing to admit wrongdoing, refusing culpability. Is it really a surprise where he ended up in the end?

Ironwood’s arc WASN’T a straightforward ”hero to villain“ thing, it was “morally questionable person loses all restraint and deliberately sheds any positive qualities“ and that’s why it worked. He WASN’T just an Evil General AT FIRST, but the seeds were there and he slowly, perhaps inevitably, devolved into that

Ultimately, James Ironwood is one of the best villains developed for RWBY. And whether he’s dead now or not, I think I’m satisfied either way. It’s fully deserved and despite how much he (or some of his stans tbh) would like to shift the blame, he really has no one to blame but himself. He wasn’t always an outright dictator but he wasn’t a truly good person either, not where it truly mattered. He was NEVER the Hero of this story (idunno I hope this made sense. I suppose it’s a testament to the character that I can’t quite sum it up as easily as I’d like to. But also I’m just awkward)

[bellamygateoldblog]

i will never be over the way this show has continuously tried to frame bellamy and clarke as heroes and good people, or the way the fandom has almost completely embraced and supported that narrative

the amount of times i’ve read “[clarke] saved everyone’s ungrateful asses” makes me seriously consider turning evil. like aren’t y’all bored? don’t you have a different sentence you would like to say for a change?

i want to talk about this but i probably don’t remember a lot of the details of this show so if im forgetting something or get something wrong i apologise, but i never have any desire to rewatch past s2.

clarke isn't even the hero of her own side, she took power of them using the military force of the grounders, someone else’s people, she’s forced them into alliances without their knowledge that weren’t in their best interest (while she literally had no idea what they were even going through because she’d abandoned them after upsetting their entire political structure, and this leader she’s bowing to is responsible for the slaughter of their children, has broken an alliance previously with them, has hung the threat of genocide over their heads, and who isn’t even wanted in power by her own people- dragging skaikru into that conflict, too), she’s sacrificed them and what’s best for them in order to cater to/concentrate on the grounders newest demands or pursue her own personal mission, she’s lied to and patronised them, she’s abandoned them and surrendered them to die while they were under her protection and responsibility, and in Book 2 (and these aren’t her people but in canon she’s their leader anyway apparently despite trying to blow them all up a few days before...) she’s abandoned them again, and is speaking for them without consent or any connection to what’s happening with them again,.........her inner circle/her ‘friends’ have to be extremely careful to remain important to her or on her team or they’ll be sacrificed, harmed or become acceptable losses to whatever her newest goal is too (but hey at least she says she cares about them) all while acting very ‘woe is me’ about the whole crushing weight of responsibility she shouldn’t have.

but she’s the hero, she’s beloved, she’s special, she has relationships that were never built, she and only she saved everyone again and has all the lines telling us so no matter how dishonest those statements are.

like this is where i personally see what you said in your ask most: when it concerns clarke.

bellamy on the other hand...i don’t place him at all on the same level as clarke when it comes to this. clarke has privilege that bellamy just never had as a character. and i think that does probably play into why i like him.

him being a hero to the delinquents/the 48 is completely believable to me. he was the original leader, he got them through a tough time, he chose to put himself on the line for them, and he’s the one who stayed. i also think it’s reasonable that fandom might romanticise him this way because he is one who has been shown to value the one life as well as the many of his people, a guy doing his best and making big mistakes along the way, a mixed complex bag of good and bad, i find him very likable and i love the toxic/pained/vulnerable ones lol but more than anything i find him to be one of the more interesting/entertaining characters on the show (Book 1).

we also see him torment himself with his own mistakes instead of just having other people do it for him/remind him like we see happen with clarke- and we all know fandom loves equating that with a “redemption arc” and as much as i personally dislike seeing pity parties i do like self-awareness and responsibility in characters that goes beyond a 3-second-long puppy dog look or straight dismissal of someone else’s pain, and for the most part bellamy’s expressions of this don’t come across as demanding sympathy from others but from genuine self-loathing and an honesty to himself, internalising the effects of his actions/childhood.

i know i personally prefer The Flawed Protector over The Tortured Saviour nobody asked for (same white male hypocritical moral hero in a woman’s body).

i don’t believe in assigning “hero” to any of them though like that’s the whole entire point of the show lol “there are no good guys.” and i also think a major chunk of fandom/shippers have warped bellamy’s character so much that it isn’t even him anymore, so this man they’re celebrating as a hero/good person isn’t even bellamy sometimes.

all of the genuinely “good” and kind people are dead.

i don't think i'd say bellamy was ever framed as a hero. like he was just never important enough to be, he’s just not put into those positions (despite being the male lead), clarke is. as the protagonist ig. bellamy...he’s the protector/knight of the heroes, but not the actual hero himself (applies to octavia too i think, where she acts and he reacts).

like take mount weather, clarke becomes empowered by her “wanheda” status, bellamy’s (and monty’s) part in that is lost...clarke is “bearing it so they don’t have to” (rme) which simultaneously strips the other boys from claiming the ‘victory’ of saving the 48 while still leaving them with the guilt, like it suits how i see clarke perfectly that she’s the only one to refer to the genocide (and shutting down the CoL, i realised) as “i” while monty and bellamy say “we” and it was clarke’s actions that got them to that point in the first place, but this is one of those times she’s clearly The Protagonist. if that makes sense lol.

bellamy is on the opposite side to clarke in s3 and s7 and he needs to be moved to her side in order to be on the ‘right’ one. now i don’t agree with that one bit mind you (when it comes to s3, idc about s7 lol) and i didnt see it that way but imo that’s how the show wrote it, to the point he was either demonized endlessly by fandom or woobified in a way that denied him his own agency. during s5 i don’t i think anyone was framed in a good light. i can see this applying in s6, though- where he was his absolute worst self yet, betraying his own development, failing at every point to “do better” despite claiming it, but still was given that reasurring line that they did better and saved people and was in that “heroic” position i guess? but is that because he was back to being clarke’s “good little knight” tho? (but do we claim s6??? do we really??? do we claim it ladies???)

s6 was 100% dedicated to making clarke look good/like a 'good' or sympathetic person. the bodysnatching plot (and the s6 sheidheda plot because if it was supposed to be about bellamy and address his s5 actions he would’ve been present to experience/observe those consiquences himself but he wasn’t lmaoooo. instead it was to tell the audience ‘actually clarke was right last season and here’s another reason to feel bad for her and how those ungrateful bitches were treating her’) has no other purpose for existing. clarke's character has consistently been elevated at the expense of everyone else's. but im not sure the writing did a very good job convincing me she was a good person if it was trying to do that LMAO like my interpretation of her is so fitted to canon, and no amount of throwaway lines telling me how good she is did anything to change what i saw yk? and in s6, combined with being patronised by the writers, i found her to be at some of her most obnoxious.

i don’t agree with placing bellamy and clarke in the same boat tbh. like they just come from completely different places and come across differently, especially in the way they interact with other characters.

in my experience this fandom (on tumblr) is extremely skewed in favour of clarke, like ive never seen a fandom so obsessed with their protagonist. there’s A LOT of clarke stans who stan her for being one of those “deserves better :(” characters, selfless and heroic, and support that view that she’s the superior character, entitled to other character’s devotion, love and validation yet doesn’t have to reciprocate any of it. the CL/BC ship war was just a bunch of people fighting over clarke, who deserves her more, which character is more toxic to her, which other character would 100% be her bff supportive of that relationship, treating her as a passive whose actions don’t take affect. im not sure how much i blame the writing for that because if so many of us are capable of recieving her character in this way then...why aren’t so many other people? how is there such a massive disconnect between the ways we see her?

and imo a lot of the bellamy love in this fandom comes from shipping him with clarke too rather than being because of who he actually is.

[haneybun123]

Cuddling w/ Stray Kids (OT8)

masterlist

A/N: hi, this is my first post! Please be nice. Also, with how little we know about what Woojin did, I don’t feel comfortable writing for him. The boys don’t seem comfortable with him, and I’d rather respect that.

Bang Chan

- lbr, cuddling will be rare. mans works hard but he would much rather be cuddling with you. 

- so when cuddling happens, sweet boi will be over the moon!!

- he’ll be smiling and giggling the whole damn time. In general, very talkative.

- he’s a leader by nature, so I feel like he’d rather be holding you/big spoon. He loves protecting you. Not super warm either, lucky you.

- favourite position: you lying on top of him. Playing with your hair, hand on the small of your back, peppering lil forehead kisses here and there.

- 10/10 cuddle buddy.

LEE KNOW / Lee Minho

- I feel like he loves after practice cuddles (helps with the cramps) ((that might just be an excuse for more cuddles but let him live he’s a Scorpio and dancing is hard work)

- even if he’s sweaty and warm sorry Minho stans

- I feel like he might swap between wanting to be held/holding you.

- lying on your chest is probably the favourite. Listening to your heartbeat is very calming for him, especially after a stressful day.

- BIG rambler all around. Will 100% rant about Felix/Han antics.

- when he’s holding you, however,  he liked to spoon traditionally: arms around your waist, face leaning against your hair, drawing lil shapes on your hips.

Changbin / Seo Changbin

- see this gif?He’s gonna care for you like he cares for baby Jeongin. hugs and kisses all round.

- even if you’re older, mans got a soft spot in his heart for you and the maknae whoops. He loves to care for people.

- seeing you snuggled into his lap gets his heart racing. Watching your lil content smile, feeling so relaxed in his arm. He feels so lucky in those moments. It’ll cause him to be a bit quiet but he’s a happy boi (he’s also tired bless)

- he often sleeps like that when he gets back from some late night 3RACHA studio sessions.

- I know a lot of people may see him as a lil spoon but I can’t see it (plus who wouldn’t wanna be wrapped up in these mans guns goddamn)

Hyunjin / Hwang Hyunjin

- mans is l a n k y 

- basically, you’re gonna be wrapped up in his damn limbs like he’s a human blanket. Super warm but like who wouldn’t let themselves boil to death for this man.

- basically: head in his chest, leg over your leg, arms holding you super close.

- BUT sometimes he’s down for you to hold him too (if you’re short you can just be his backpack bless)

- everyone needs a little comfort sometimes you know? And I can see Hyunjin needing that on occasion. 

- He’ll fall asleep cause he feels so comfortable tbh

HAN / Han Jisung

- absolute little spoon energy

- mans just wants all the cuddles from his favourite person

- give him all the hugs and kisses you’ve got my dude

- 100% the type to bury his head in your neck, arms around your waist while you hold him close

- another one that talks a whole bunch

- sometimes he cuddles you but it’s rare when he’s jealous. He’s mostly a lil spoon

Felix / Lee Felix

- HE’S SO LITTLE LOOK AT HIM!!! he either wants to protect you or be held. 

- if he’s gonna hold you, he’s gotta be in one of those “I need to show you how much I love you” modes

- I’d say probably 80% little spoon 20% big spoon

- overall, whatever positions get you two as close as possible

- I see him as being very chatty tho. Wants to hear all about you (he’s a lil clingy but it’s cute). Weirdly cold I reckon??

Seungmin / Kim Seungmin

- goddammit this boi. He’s gonna try his best to be cool and suave but he cracks so easily when you snuggle into him

- will big spoon to try and hide it but you feel him grip you closer when you get all soft on him

-please don’t embarrass him he’s trying. He’s gonna be warm cause he’s blushing the whole time, talks a lot cause he’s getting a lil nervous and trine hide it

- kind of into couch cuddles? y’all will watch a movie and he’ll pull you close so you can lean on his shoulder. Can’t have it any other way cause you’ll see him blush

-poor baby

I.N / In Jeongbin

- so shy

- he’s gonna hold you cause he feels like he should but if you hold him he’s gonna melt

- very into the traditional spooning cuddle but after a while he’s gonna lean onto your side, arms around your waist

- good luck getting him off after that. he might refuse to hold you cause he misses it too much a babey

-  so sweet. not much of a talker cause he’s shy but he’ll open up eventually. Give him some time for it.

[gra-sonas]

I know I’m being stupid but it really annoys me how much some Alex stans care about F*rrest while constantly talking sh*t about Michael. They go on and on about how great F*rrest is and how he and Alex deserve to be happy together, and Michael should be miserable when he sees them. Like I get they’re mad at him for choosing Maria, and they can ship whatever they want, I don't care but I wish they would stop putting Michael down to make F*rrest look superior. (1/2)

It's not like Michael was a jerk for funsies. He is traumatized, he was a victim of a hate crime ffs and he was hurt by Alex hiding him, walking away from him for 10 years and rejecting him again in S1. We know why Alex did all of that but Michael doesn't. I just can’t understand all this love for a character who has like 5 minutes of screen time with no backstory except being a Long, and the hate towards a main character we know, who has been through so much pain since he was a child. (2/2)

Hi nonnie!

I get why you’re upset. While Michael’s definitely been an ass to Alex this season more than once, it wasn’t just for the sake of being an ass, he had A Lot™ going on, and thanks to the writers, no time (or help) to deal with any of it in an adequate fashion. That doesn’t make his behavior okay, but he’s far from being irredeemable imo. He’s got a lot of growth to do still, but I believe ultimately Michael is a good person, and I’m sure he will be a great partner for Alex one day.

Am I mad at him? A little, yeah. Do I hate him? No, not one bit. I love him, and I want him to become better, bc rn, he’s hurting and he still hasn’t unpacked even a fraction of the trauma life’s heaped on him.

But that’s me (and you, obviously!), and while it makes me sad to see rather negative comments about Michael, I can understand why some fans are kinda fed up with him (at least for now).

Ngl, last year, after the S1 finale, I was mad at Maria. Her betrayal (that’s what it was imo) hurt, and I just couldn’t understand why she’d go behind Alex’s back like that. And there were quite a few people who felt similarly. And there were posts about it, there was “spite fic”, there were all kinds of things going on in fandom, and I’d lie if I didn’t admit that reading those posts and fics felt good at the time. It helped me deal with my own disappointment, it felt cathartic.

Sadly, over the course of the last unbearably long hiatus, some of that dislike turned into outright hatred and racism towards Maria, and I don’t think the character has recovered from that yet. :(

Michael’s an overall well established and well liked character tho (ALSO, HE’S A DUDE) and I don’t think the current level of Michael dislike will ever even remotely reach the levels of dislike people had (and in some cases still have) for Maria, nor will it do much (if any) damage to him in the long run. In fact, I think that most fans are willing to forgive him, or already have forgiven him.

Anyway, as for putting one character down in order to lift another up - it sucks (way more when done irl tho), sure, but like I’ve pointed out above, a little spite goes a Long (ha!) way and it can feel very cathartic.

I think many of us this season had at least one, if not several moments, where we would’ve LOVED to see Michael be put in his place, for someone to tell him he’s an ass and ask him what makes him think hurting Alex like that is okay. We didn’t really get that, neither did Alex get a chance to move on until the last moment.

On a very abstract level, it’s a somewhat similar situation to the one we had last year. The show’s left us hanging, it didn’t address Michael’s asshole behavior on screen in most cases, and all that pent up disappointment’s lead to some (comparatively mild) Michael backlash.

As for Forrest: he's still pretty much a blank sheet. We know very little about him as a person, but we’ve seen him make Alex smile and look genuinely happy in a season that didn’t give Alex many happy moments to begin with.

It’s easy to project a lot of good things, positive character traits and whatnot onto him, because so far canon hasn’t told us otherwise, and he comes with zero emotional or traumatic baggage. The only canon blip on the radar so far is his Deep Sky ring, but since the show hasn’t addressed it in S2, there’s no real reason for fans to take it into account either.

And apart from the kiss at the end of S2, canon hasn’t told us anything about what their relationship will be like in S3, which means right now, the sky’s the limit and every possible future for Forlex can be freely explored in fics and fanworks without paying much attention to canon. That’s a pretty cool premise for Forlex shippers.

Malex shippers on the other hand are dealing with a triangle situation during a hiatus for the second season in a row. And if fans take the S2 finale as their jumping-off point for fanworks, there’s two options to deal with it: either more than the 2x13 Forlex kiss never happens, or Forlex happens and in order for Malex to get together, a Forlex break up is inevitable. And that sucks tbh, bc I think most of us at least like Forrest and don’t necessarily want to see him hurt.

But it's the situation we’re dealing with, and I just hope that since many Forlex shippers also seem to be Malex shippers, the rift between both groups isn’t or won’t grow as large/deep as the one between Malex and M/M shippers, and maybe the urge to be a little spiteful will mellow down over the course of the hiatus.

Hopefully we can all agree on being kind to each other and just let everyone like what they like (PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD), and as long as anti-character stuff or character negativity is tagged properly, I don’t see why we shouldn’t be able to make it through another long hiatus without igniting fandom war 2.0.

I’m sure, Alex Manes would approve! ❤️

[bigskydreaming]

Why do You dislike Scott Snyder? I mean I have my reasons.. like a lot of the Court of Owls stuff, his convoluted plots, making Dick a punching bag for the broody bats, horrible at writing the family as a family he literally wrote Death of the Family I mean....*kill bill sirens* ... Also the ''son of a Damian'' line from Black Mirror etc. But I'm curious if you have more reasons since I'm pretty new and I'm told that he likes Dick and wanted to write Dick focused books and I don't.. buy it.

LOL yeah, all of that for sure, and I mean.....tbh, I don’t pay enough attention to his interviews and stuff to even be aware that he’s said that about liking Dick and wanting to write Dick-centric books, but I’m with you on that....not necessarily meaning anything.

God knows I’ve lost track of how many fic writers in this fandom swear up and down they love Dick Grayson and yet I avoid their stories with extreme energy, lmao, because I’ve read enough of their takes on DG that I’m like hmmm, yeah, we are not the same, lol. I mean, there’s a certain couple fic writers who just are like....DETERMINED to mention Danny Chase every single time I make a post about why I’m annoyed by the focus on Dick’s allegedly infamous temper. And its always the exact same song on repeat, they’re like “OH-HO, so apparently you don’t remember the time Dick choked Danny, a literal CHILD, just because Danny had the nerve to tell him Jason died, cuz like, I do, and it was AWFUL and Danny could have died TOO y’know, that’s how mad Dick was.” 

And then I just kinda stare at these words that apparently mean things, and enter a fugue state where an unknown amount of time passes and by the end of it I feel 80 million epochs older, and its like....no, I absolutely do remember that time when Dick grabbed Danny by the shirt and yelled in his face because he just found out his brother died and Danny said “what’s the big deal, its not like it doesn’t happen all the time” and this was absolutely not an awesome and fun scene for anyone, no matter how understandable Dick’s upset was at the time. BUT, I also happen to remember, since y’know, it was in that literal exact same issue, how then Dick went to see Bruce, and due to BRUCE’S upset about Jason’s death, Bruce literally punched his remaining son to the ground, screams about how it was all Dick’s fault, and kicks him out of the house Dick grew up in and tells him to leave his keys with Alfred. 

And its like......the very same people who LOVE to throw around references to Danny Chase in order to puff up the claims about Dick Grayson being volatile and extreme and having a Dangerous Temper like, flat out REFUSE to ever even ACKNOWLEDGE that scene with Dick and Bruce, from the literal exact same issue, because they at the same time claim that THIS was bad writing and OOC and Bruce would never.....but apparently, the writing from ten pages before it was just fine and completely accurate and Dick absolutely would not only ever, he would always, and thus Dick’s Legendary Dangerous Temper is canon and its why Dick can’t have nice things or people being nice to him in these writers’ stories, its too Dangerous, he might get mad I guess.

And each time this comes up on this site, I’m always like....hey, science side of tumblr, is it possible that insisting on vilifying Dick for his reaction to someone in the wake of Jason’s death whilst simultaneously refusing to acknowledge the scene of Bruce’s reaction to Dick is canon or in-character despite existing in the exact same issue and written by the exact same writer.....like....could this be one of those double standards I’m always going on about? And isn’t it in fact reasonable to question just how much or how little someone actually means it when they say they love a character but want that character flogged in the middle of the town square for a Bad Reaction to something that also prompted a Bad Reaction from another character but this character, they’ll like, throw themselves in front of a moving train if it keeps someone from daring to even suggest that THEIR reaction was canon and in-character and might potentially say something damning about their temper or behavior with friends or family?

*heaves endless sigh of endlessness*

Sorry, that example was right there on the tip of my brain today because like....I literally just saw another post around this oft-deceased and resurrected and killed to death again dead horse like, five minutes ago and then came to dip into my ask box for the first time today and it was like.....destiny. Assuming destiny has some free time to kill and nothing better to do, which, I mean, hey, everyone’s allowed a hobby is all I’m saying.

LOL sooooooooooo, ANYWHO, its just like.....ugh, I’m so over being expected to take at face value any writers, whether professional or fan, saying “oh but I love this character or that character, and due to that being my preface to everything else I say or do in regards to this character, you have zero basis for claiming that you do not like or trust my depiction of this character because ummm, read much? I literally JUST said, I love them though? Wow. Insert scoffs of incredulity here, I don’t even know how to talk to someone who thinks I don’t like a character I claimed I like just because literally everything else I say or do about them paints an opposing picture to the contrary.”

LMAO. Sorry. Had to get that off my chest. But yeah, like, I think EVERY canon Batfam writer has made a similar claim in recent years about pretty much every Batfam character, and at a certain point it starts to be like....okay, if all of you are telling the truth here, shouldn’t we see more canon evidence of like....these characters that you’re writing, like....actually even LIKING each other? At what point are we allowed to question the legitimacy of you saying oh I totes love this character, that’s why I write their family as abusing them, that’s just love, baby, that’s what it looks like.

Personally, I’d like to see more of us at least using qualifiers? I mean, I do say I don’t hate Tim, or Bruce, or any of these characters, but I get how people could be dubious about that and be all, umm, you rant about them a lot, because like...yeah. Fair. That’s a valid critique. SO its a lot more accurate for me to be like, I love 90s Tim and I just have become increasingly less enchanted with the character over the past twenty years since then, enough so that my knee-jerk reactionism to people bashing Dick’s character BECAUSE of what Dick did or didn’t do to Tim in their eyes, is like.....disinclined to view the situation or his character these days through 90s-Tim rose-colored glasses. 

Similarly, I truly don’t hate Bruce, at least not when he’s not being written as physically and emotionally abusive and/or just plain neglectful, BUT I absolutely despise the abuse apologism rampant in most fandoms, but particularly in this one, where people will make like Cirque-de-Soilei contortionists in order to prove that Bruce beating this kid or that kid isn’t actually abuse, its cuz they made him do it....rather than people just being like, no, that’s abuse right there on the page and I don’t stand for it or stan that Batman, so I have zero desire to defend that scene or his actions there from his perspective, and am totally fine with taking a seat when someone speaks up about how much they hate what Bruce did to his kid there in that scene and how it affects their read of the characters as a whole.

Its like....that too, is a thing you can do, instead of just.....trying to explain why Bruce isn’t abusive see, because what happened there wasn’t actually abuse, since it couldn’t have been, because Bruce isn’t abusive, see, he would Never.

And yet so rarely do people actually do that, and we have people literally championing themselves as members of the Good Dad Bruce Protection Squad when the frank reality is there CAN BE NO GUARANTEE of him ever and always being a Good Dad, when like....his characterization, ultimately, is dependent on how he’s written by canon writers who ARE NOT US. Which makes that desire to see him as just a good dad and nothing but a good dad always, like....not quite as understandable as it otherwise might be, and instead just kinda....willful, an admission that a lot of fans in this fandom will just flat out ignore all evidence to the contrary of this stated claim about what Bruce inherently IS, when inherently all he is happens to be a character who manifests whatever those in creative control of him choose to manifest via him. Like.....there are ways to go about that kinda thing, its just....that isn’t it. Something like “Proud member of the Keep Bruce Wayne a Good Dad Squad’ or something along those lines? I’d have ZERO issue with, because that’s ACTIONABLE, not WILLFUL. It posits not that Bruce simply IS this way and there’s no ifs, ands or buts about it, but rather that just because he isn’t this way in some instances, that doesn’t mean we have to agree with it or condone that interpretation of him, y’know?

But people are like....unwilling to make that distinction or hold that nuance a lot of the times, so my dislike of Bruce as he’s written in certain ways or by certain writers like....grows and evolves and mutates into Godzilla rampaging through downtown New York, until its understandable that people reading my blog intermittently and who don’t follow everything I say on the subject are like.....”Bold of you to claim you like lizards in this one post when I have here nine other posts where you’re just like, FEAR the murderous monster-lizard destroying New York for it is Dangerous and Fearsome. Cuz one of these things is not like the others, bud.”  

*Shrugs* Anyway, all of that’s just my allergy to Staying on Topic, so make of it what you will, hopefully you get what I mean though even if you don’t have like, the requisite Kalen-Garbled-Nonsense Secret Decoder Ring. Back to Snyder though....yeah, he can claim he likes Dick all he wants, because y’know what, Tynion says the same thing and its been well established by moi that my fondest wish for Tynion is that he be kept far, far away from Dick’s character whenever possible. And I’m pretty sure Tom King claims he loves all these characters and we’re all like HAHAHHAHA and we know Lobdell insists he loves Jason Todd and its like wow how curious then that hardly any other Jason Todd stans love you.

The ironic thing about my random bouts of ugh Snyder in a lot of posts however, is that......tbh, its not even his depiction of Dick that makes me dislike him as much as I do? LMAO. I mean, I’m not a fan of it personally, for a lot of the reasons you mentioned, but I don’t like a lot most canon writers’ depiction of Dick these days and haven’t for years. The thing I really dislike Snyder for, personally, is his depiction of Damian.

Its just.....its very Not Good, a lot of the time. Oh, there are moments here and there, but you could claim that for any writer, really, but for the most part, like.....ooof, I haven’t read Snyder’s work on Damian recently enough to really cite specific moments off the top of my head, because I’ve been avoiding anywhere he’s writing Damian for awhile now BECAUSE of it, but....a LOT of the ‘demon brat’ shit in regards to Damian comes from Snyder’s work, and like, I’m always kinda like “hey is making Demon anything the go-to nickname for a kid of Arab descent who is already compared to a terrorist enough as it is like....really the best we can do” to begin with, and Snyder absolutely 100% does not help with that.

To be fair, its not remotely like its all just on him, the stuff that has had a lot of us complaining for years about the blood son crap and the insistence on acting like there’s this stark divide between Bruce and Damian and the rest of the Bat siblings, I mean, see: Tom King again, its just. Ugh, okay, Im gonna have to get back to this in the near future with actually sourced gripes about why I think Snyder’s Damian in particular is absolute crap and could he just not, though. Because it really is my chief complaint with him, like I was never gonna be a fan of his in general just because he’s someone who's like DARK MULTIVERSE BATMAN FUCK YEAH and I’m someone who’s like DARK MULTIVERSE BATMAN UGH FUCK WHY.....lol....BUT like I mention in other posts.....its not like he’s incapable of doing decent stuff or that he’s never written anything I like, because ironically, he IS the biggest canon backer of Duke Thomas and pretty much single-handedly responsible for Duke retaining as much of a presence as he has in recent years instead of just appearing and blipping out of existence like a one-hit wonder, and that can’t be overlooked or considered inconsequential.

That just also kinda makes it all the more annoying that his Damian is so very.....objectionable to me, but yeah. Anyway, that’s the curious case of my very mixed feelings on Scott Snyder, with a side dish of generalized “lol oh, so you do in fact love this character? Well magically all my criticisms of your take on them have now disappeared!”

[aegon]

The thing is, I'm open to talking about show!Daenerys being a white savior bc it's good to be aware of the media we consume and tbh the show (read: D&D) didn't handle a few scenes very well compared to the books. But when show!Sansa stans use that to complain about Daenerys and then turn around to say at least Sansa isn't a white savior...I'm always like "omg ur so right!! she can't be a white savior if there are no POC in her story to begin with!!" Ik that isn't Sansa's fault but still.

While I do agree that white saviourism is something we need to talk about more, the problem does not lie with Dany’s portrayal on the show, but with a clear misunderstanding of her decisions (show and books) and the way the slaves, slavers and Dothraki were written on the show. The arguments I’ve seen by antis focus on her being white and helping a bunch of brown slaves (oh no, the horror!!! she should have left them in chains like a good little girl!!! fucking idiots) when the reality is far more complex.

I especially take issue with white antis who have no real understanding of what white saviourism means seemingly warping the definition to suit their hatred of Dany. Just....no.

To me, white saviourism is never about true justice, it’s about exercising one’s privilege and controlling the narrative in their favour. It’s not just hurr durr white girl forces her culture on brown people hurr durr.

The selective narrative for personal gain is what’s most important. White saviours look down on the supposed ‘barbarism’ of a foreign culture and exploit it in their favour, while still coming across as the better person. It’s presenting morality as something a white person must teach a non-white person, because the latter inherently lacks it as a characteristic.

Antis’ arguments are that Dany exploits the slaves and Dothraki for her own army, and she believes she’s better than everyone around her which is why she forces her own beliefs on them.

Ignoring the fact that in the books, the slaves and Dothraki don’t all look Arab and hence the whole ‘white girl saves brown man’ schtick becomes obsolete, the truth in both the show and the books is that Dany doesn’t need to free anyone to help herself. She’s not exercising anything for personal gain, because Dany breaking the slave trade has brought her a thousand more problems than she needed.

Dany was literally handed the Unsullied army and could have walked away with 8000 new men under her control and sailed straight for Westeros. So this narrative that she exploited them really doesn’t hold up when she’d have been in a far better and stronger position had she not helped the slaves to begin with.

Also it’s not a “selective narrative” when her destroying the slave trade was OBJECTIVELY the RIGHT thing to do. In whatever light you see it as, the slave trade needed to be abolished. And violently. Antis can miss me with the whole “blah blah she could have been nice about it blah blah.” Read a history book. Systematic changes are inherently bloody and violent, such is human nature.

Secondly, D&D are at fault for these diverse cultures seemingly having no personality other than working for Dany. The books portray them with a myriad of characters of different moralities. They didn’t need Dany to show them what morality means, there were good eggs there already.

Compare that with the Wildlings who were given so much screen time to show how ‘good’ they were. The Wildlings were given names and feel-good characters like Tormund, the Dothraki were not. But god forbid the antis give her something as ridiculous as bad writing.

But despite all of this, the simple matter of fact is that Dany’s only crime was ending the slave trade. That’s her big “white saviour” nonsense moment, and it’s a tired argument because there are a thousand other examples in media (12 Years A Slave etc) that can be used in discussion. Dany can’t be, so I’d rather she isn’t brought up, either on the show or in the books, because it’s just too muddled to really help conversation in any way.

Also why they even bring Sansa into something that has nothing to do with her amazes me. Sansa has literally nothing to do with POC, they’re non-existant in her narrative. That’s like saying, “Sansa is so great because she never hunted baby elephants and enslaved giant badgermoles to terrorise kids with cancer :’) :’) my queen is such a good person ❤️ :’) :’).” lol ok susan.

What did happen was Sansa took one look at a non-white army coming to save her life and decided to hate them all, so take from that what you will.

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

TBH I really don't like the Kenny stans who get enraged with you if you shot Kenny. I was very fearful of Kenny in season 2 and felt like my Clem was constantly walking on eggshells around him. It shouldn't be put on an 11 year old to fix a grown ass man. I sympathies with Kenny and I understand he went through of the two hardest things in the world but it doesn't give him a free pass to be violent and isolate Clem. Clem went through so much shit as a KID and was able to get herself together.

2/2 for the "I don't like when Kenny stans get enraged anon" I have nothing against people who like him, they obviously see something in his character I don't. I just don't like when you tell someone you shot Kenny and they act like you just committed the greatest sin in the world. Kenny is way to complicated of a character to say for a hundred percent certain that he deserves to live or die.

---

Yeah, I could do without that, too. It’s kind of like how if you criticize Clem on anything she’s done, there’ll always be those who will come for your throat for speaking ill of her. The same thing applies to Kenny which really sucks. I think the differing opinions on him and his character arc are interesting, but I’d like to discuss them without people being dipshits to each other, y’know?

And really, I’m in the same boat as you. I get Kenny and I know that he would never intentionally hurt Clementine, but that’s the thing, he unintentionally hurts her several times and when I’m playing as her, I don’t want to be near him when he’s upset because it always feels like he’s going to lash out and I hate that. 

Thinking that you can take her away from a group that clearly cares about her because you don’t get along with them [or rather, they aren’t putting up with your bullshit so you want to leave and she doesn’t have a choice according to you] isn’t okay. 

He’s an interesting character to study and all, and I can understand why he’s some people’s favorite character, but he’s just not for me. I’m not against talking about him in both positive and negative light, obviously, but you know what I mean. 

[elixirsoflife]

my current pdx101 picks (ep.8)

another elimination has occurred and while most of my picks are through (thank god for that), a couple of them are out or have dropped in rank 🙃🙃

anyways without further ado, here are the ones i am keeping an eye on. fixed picks are non-negotiable with any combination of the strong contenders. i haven't thought about the logistics of positions (e.g. main dancer); these are just the people i'm drawn to.

fixed picks

1. cho seongyoun, rank 17: all-rounder of the year. hand on my heart, i believe him to be the strongest contender there. does this man have a single weakness or flaw? the answer is no. this episode showed so much of his personality which i'm so glad about bc it's amazing. who knew mnet could do some things right?

2. choi suhwan, rank 29: i legit spent a good chunk of last week agonising over suhwan's potential departure, especially after he was robbed in the position evaluations. at this point, i don't think he'll debut, but i hope he wows enough people in the concept evaluations to get signed by a company ♡

3. kim yohan, rank 3: he's a PD pick, but i can't help but love him anyway. he lightens up every room he's in and is just so charismatic. would not mind him in a rapping position

4. song yuvin, rank 12: made to be main vocalist, like his voice is sooo stable. has great chemistry with other trainees and he makes me laugh in nearly every scene he's in.

5. lee jinhyuk, rank 2: my reaction today when i saw how high he's climbed confirmed it for me that he's one of my fixed picks. that angel edit did him solid and i am loving it. tbh i would prefer him as a lead rapper rather than a main, but as long as he gets to shine, i'm cool with it

strong contenders

6. nam dohyun, rank 7: what a funky little rapper. the genius edit is a bit overdone, but it's true: his rapping ability is amazing for his training period. just imagine what he'd be like once he fully blooms?

7. han seongwoo, rank 9: everyone loves seungwoo and that includes me. was honestly so surprised to find out that he's a rapper, like what?? with those vocals?? wow another all-rounder here to claim everything

8. kim hyunbin, rank 25: my passionate baby. i feel like the only thing he lacks (and literally the only thing) are solid relations with other members in my line up, but i'm not 100% sure of that. if anyone knows more about that, please let me know!

9. lee hangyul, rank 15: i had him as someone i was interested in last week, but he is now a strong contender. i know bc i realised i lowkey rooted for him once i knew who he was and i just love his personality, he seems so nice and humble. i saw the relay cam of his and something about the way he interacted with others sold me. also (and i swear this doesn't affect him being on my list), the boy's visuals are no joke.

12. choi byungchan, rank 16: i love his personality, i think he'd be a riot on variety. i think his vocals deserve a lot more praise than they get too. out of the plan a boys, he's less likely to make it, but i'd love it if he did.

people i'm keeping an eye on

11. kim sihoon, rank 24: i moved him here from 'strong contender' after a bit of deliberation. i still am very much interested in how he fares on the show, but when i compare my interest in him to others, there is a noticeable difference. i think he is someone i'd be interested in regardless of whether he makes the final line up or not. (i've heard rumours of how fans think he might end up in ab6ix as a late member if he doesn't debut in pdx101).

12. kim wooseok, rank 1: again, i've accepted him as part of the final line up and have no problems with it, but i don't particularly stan him. although! i will say we did get a better insight into his personality in this episode and in the karaoke battle. he seems really... snarky in a good way? a little tongue-in-cheek? i really need to check him out in up10tion

13. son dongpyo, rank 11: i feel rlly sympathetic to him for being the only center to fall out of the top 10 and don't think he deserves it. not going to name names, but he is definitely more talented than a lot of the younger trainees in the current top 10 and has the cutesy image they like so i'm not sure why he's not there. now that he's toned down on the forced aegyo a bit, i can appreciate him more.

14. kim kookheon, rank 22: i can't believe i forgot to add him! i'm absolutely obsessed with the believer performance and he is someone who i keep getting drawn to in that. also he just seems like a stand-up guy.

- won hyuk

- lee midam

ep 5 | ep 6 | ep 7

[sensational-fools-9]

SF9 Hi-Touch & Concert experience

As some of you know (?), I was at the Berlin concert last Sunday with a friend and I thought I might want to write about my experience!! I’ll put it under the cut for everyone who wants to read it, because it got a liiiiittle too long after all lol.

First off, the concert itself was LIT. They did a huge deal of my favourite songs, including one they didn’t do in the US, so hearing that was a pleasant surprise!! 

Their live vocals are no joke and their performance and stage presence are overwhelming. That was the third kpop concert I’ve been to, and as expected, every group so far had a very unique feeling about them. With SF9 what I noticed and appreciate very much is their honesty on stage. Like, I could feel just how happy they were to meet us and to perform for us, and how genuine they seemed - during the show as well as afterwards. And dear lord they are so handsome, Inseong was the first member I saw and I was just blown away by his sheer beauty, I tried filming the first song and f*cked up right when he walked in and I saw his face dkaslfjas. All of them just have amazing stage presence - they’re fierce when the song calls for it, they radiate emotion for their calmer songs, and all of them are just so charismatic. And they also learned a lot of phrases in German to talk to us and that was honestly so touching that they put in so much effort for their Fantasy.

Speaking of Fantasy - the other fans there were pretty chill too, I didn’t see a single one who wasn’t a multistan, and the Jaeyoon stan freaking out about the special fansign event two rows behind me in the vip line was a whole experience wow (bless u girl, there’s far too little people who bias our busan man)

But now for the actual Hi-Touch! All members did it with one hand, Dawon and Hwiyoung with the left one, the others with the right one also all their hands are so soft it’s unbelievable. The order (this time I could actually remember it lol) was as follows:

Inseong - Jaeyoon - Youngbin - Dawon - Hwiyoung - Rowoon - Chani - Taeyang - Zuho

Inseong: A while before the concert I was thinking about how I wished Inseong and/or Jaeyoon would be the first people for the hi-touch, cause I felt like they would be really good at calming the nervous fans (ergo: M E) down, and I wasn’t disappointed. He’s so beautiful with the pink hair (not that he isn’t without ksajfdlka) and he really took a hold of everyone’s hands as far as I could tell. He was so friendly and straightforward, that I felt at ease immediately. I’m usually a socially anxious person but with him being first - as well as the fact that all members just give me a feeling that I can trust them - I went through the hi-touch rather calmly. He also said something in English, I think it was a greeting but at this point I really can’t remember anymore.

Jaeyoon: WOW. He is a sunshine. A literal sunshine. He smiled so brightly I think I automatically just smiled back at him. I don’t know how to describe it well in words, but his happy aura just blew away all remaining nervousness I still felt sakjdflsa. He’s really amazing, such a warm and welcoming person. You can feel the fire inside of him and that he would make such a good hype man LOL. Also if u don’t wanna poke his dimples after having seen them in rl what r u even doing

Youngbin: OOF THE LEADER. This is getting tricky because the hi-touch went by so fast and with some members my memory isn’t as good as with others, but I remember getting a very... leader-like feeling from him (duh). His charisma is overwhelming really. He seems like a person you’d automatically respect, but also someone you can put your trust into. (Also fun fact: he and Taeyang walked past us just before we could enter the venue and wow he is so powerful truly, and also kinda smol but that might just be me cause I’m far too used to being surrounded by tall people lol) Oh and not to forget his BEAUTIFUL eyesmile!!!

Dawon: Now Dawon caught me a little off-guard, because he was using his left instead of his right hand. So I only touched his hand very lightly only a few days later I realized that was the perfect position to try intertwining fingers akjfldkas. My friend says she was confused because he was dressed like staff and I was just like???? Really???? Yeah, I don’t remember him so well, but I got the feeling he was really tired that day and not in top shape :/ He still did so well though!!

Hwiyoung: OH MY GOD. So my first reaction to Hwiyoung was thinking how he looked so much more handsome in reality than on pictures???? Like if I had to pick a member who seems the most different in rl and in pics or videos, I’d say it’s him. I just remember looking at his eyes and then his whole face and thinking how it seemed kinda more... even? Like we know he’s handsome in pics and stuff but in real life? UGH. He did the hi-touch with his left hand as well, so with him too I only touched his hand very lightly.

Rowoon: OH LORD KIM SEOKWOO. He is TALL, but didn’t seem as tall as I expected him to. I think he leaned down a little (my friend’s comment on that: f*ck off, I know I’m smOL kasjfklasj). I also remember thinking to myself that I should finally start saying “thank you” to them as I had originally planned, but then he said “danke” and I was like... what? HE SAID DANKE. IN GERMAN. IN REALLY GOOD GERMAN. I still hear that in my head kasdjflkas. So naturally I was too shooketh to continue my train of thought so I just,,, did the hi touch and moved on without saying anything whOPS. This is entirely his fault. Also my friend says he had SUPER SOFT hands and we both agree he didn’t seem as gigantic as he is!

Chani: Really I can’t remember much about him except he was sMOL and his hands too were SMOL and I finally managed to say my first “thank you” of the evening to him ksljfak. Friend says he wore his usual Chani-face and now that she mentioned it I remember it too skaldfjsak

Taeyang: With him too I managed to thank him, and I was genuinely surprised how BIG his hand was like???? WHOA there, maybe it was just in comparison to Chani’s but still. Also someone on twitter said he was sitting down for the hi-touch but I??? honestly??? don’t remember???? Anyway we all know how beautiful he is but LET ME TELL YOU if you ever see him in real life???? He is really one of the most beautiful people I have ever seen, and so so graceful as he walked past us outside the venue.

Zuho: He was just,,, exactly like you’d expect him to be. As I mentioned, the whole group appears so honest, but with him especially I noticed how he fooled around on stage as usual, but also how he treated us fans exactly like you see him do in vlives etc. I will spare you all the details here or this part would get far too long (me? biased af? naaahhhh....). This is super funny though because my friend usually just goes through these kinds of situations calmly at least on the outside, but she told me when she saw him and he smiled at her she just blacked out and froze up just before touching his hand because she didn’t expect him to be THAT adorable aksljfas. As for me, I was surprisingly fine with him. He didn’t say anything if I remember correctly (my friends says he said “thank you” very silently tho??? not sure...), but it’s like instead he conveyed with his body language that he was happy to meet us but you could also clearly feel the respect he has for us. It’s difficult to describe. His hand was soft as well, but I had the feeling it felt a teeny tiny bit rougher than the others’. I was gonna say something different to him but then didn’t have the courage after all and just said “thank you” - which I still regret a little bit tbh. 

Still, I feel like Zuho was the perfect person to send us off in the end, just like Inseong and Jaeyoon were perfect for getting started. Overall my hi-touch experience was a really good one, unfortunately the staff wouldn’t let us spend more than two or three seconds per member *coughcough* maybe mmt should value quality over quantity when it comes to selling vip tickets with hi touch next time *coughcough*, so my friend unfortunately got pushed forward a few times - I was lucky with that though and could pass through without getting shoved around by the staff (also shout out to that one staff guy hyping everyone up just at the start of the hi touch line lol, he was great).

10/10 would do again, and I can’t say it enough just how safe and secure and appreciated these nine guys make you feel as their fans - even more so when you meet them for real!

Another little thing that I’m sure happened at the other concerts as well in the respective languages: all their German pronunciation was sooo so good, and Tyang even introduced himself as “der Sonnenschein der Gruppe” = “the sunshine of the group” and WOW their German just sounded so good. I also remember Jaeyoon repeatedly fucking up “euch” from “Ich liebe euch” = “I love you”, and the other members correcting him akljfa. Inseong did most of the English talking and kept throwing in German phrases, it was great, in general they talked a lot of English to us so the translator at the venue didn’t have to do much, and in the end Zuho yelled “Auf Wiedersehen” and I sincerely hope someone recorded that :’D

And that was my (and my friend’s) concert experience! If anyone has anything to add, feel free to share your stories^^

[topconfessions]

TOP’s Instagram is obviously being influenced by Mark Grotjahn. Since his discharge, their pages have been very similar. And I don’t think that’s a good thing. Before he enlisted, his IG was interesting and had a certain charm. But now it’s just lame and tacky.

I agree with you. I have a lot to say about this too!

This is my full Opinion on his ista (and I encourage others to send in their opinions on his insta or projects too) :

I unfollowed because he mass posted and at any second there could be a post that was just too startling or bizarre for me. Fans will argue this and that, but I feel in my own personal opinion - hardcore stanning someone does something to you mentally and keeps you in this bubble like a cloud of denial and one way view. Once you ween yourself off the idol and get out of that person then come back it’s not the same. So when I see his insta its wild to me although I generally know his intention.

No offense to him - but I could follow actual industry artists and insiders for all that, if he was a regular person to D list American artist people would think he’s off or mental. Anyways, I want to nip this in the bud before an anon comes at me with it - I know a lot of my answers to asks seem negative or not supportive, they are, but I have to use realism and non bias when I answer. Until TOP shows some color in his life and connects with us on a personal level, I’ll still answer the same way. I don’t believe he realizes that his instagram is part of the reason why he went through all these hardships.

I believe what I heard once about someone being in his ear (supposedly it was GD but idk if I believe that*) on making insta and posting all this stuff. TOP has to learn to think for himself and project an identity of his own - not taking up habits and patterns of people he’s closest too. If fans want to say they learn about art through him then cool, but I feel like on the low nobody but the ones who are naturally inclined to care about it (through art education, hobbies, jobs, natural interest etc) actually go further with researching the art he posts tbh. I can’t say I’ve learned anything from his insta cause I’m a high fashion lover and I find many similar artists as well art through that. I’ve found sites that sell the clothes 2NE1, blackpink and many other idols wear in MV’s and daily on my own. I love HyunA and although her insta is so so to me, I’d rather tune into her random lives late at night cause she’s genuinely connecting. There is nothing there anymore to me in my opinion that connects me to him. I’d be following just cause it’s TOP. I wish he posted more photos of his face even if it was crazy faces or something. I feel I’d rather follow beyonce at this point and I’m barely into her anymore, cause I don’t get that elitest feel from her although she flexes a lot. I get a decent idea from her, top it’s just too stuff allover the place.

  I think for that and that alone I personally don’t see his insta worth following because it’s not 100% authentic from him. His insta seems to have an opposite effect. Like you said, his insta use to be interesting and have charm, so by default you’d think with the scandal and being back now he’d have a more calm insta. Revert back to how it use to be. But he’s posting and having all sorts of things on it wildly as if a scandal never happened pre military. I love him but it shows where his mind is at.

The fans seem to believe his erratic posting and photos are for an upcoming album. I’m in no position to say it’s not but for me, I personally think it’s just him being him, and fans have to stop projecting what they want onto him and running with it. If TOP cared that much about an album he would have been did it and been serious. If the album comes out then good, if not then it’s time to wake up. That’s my only real issue with his insta these days, the fans keep spinning it in their own interpretation, and TOP does not realize the world is speaking for him instead of him speaking for himself. It gives me park bom vibes.  And at this point he’s generally just an Idol

----- Why am I saying this? cause an anon some weeks ago sent me a stupid ask saying I sound like a stalker. As if I would post that when it’s false as I barely pay attention to top or BB anymore unless I have to research something or collect images for any confessions that come here. probably a casual follower who has a skewed view and just venting negativity without facing me off anon. Anyways, It’s evident from how I respond that my heart isn’t 100% wrapped up in TOP like it use to be. Still care about him but I keep it 100% and I pay attention when it matters. I’m very on the fence with kpop cause no offense sweetie, but kpop fans are oblivious and easily manipulated it’s a collective of the most obscure people forming together as fans over the genre. Nothing wrong with that but the logic is always off and they’re naive. What I mean is (this isn’t a generalization cause many kpop fans are different)   Kpop fans only want play pretend and run off fabricated positivisty and the fandom itself. Basically they don’t want to do their homework and use common sense. Kpop is not a fairytale land or a safe haven from American Industry.

Every entertainment industry especially korean now is corrupt and has it’s fucked up dealings. They find it hard to believe their idols can be messed up or not perfect. They also don’t want to believe anything unless it’s reported by journalists or the news, when in fact the news and journalists report false things or half of the stiry. Anyways what I’m going on about is - just like how a lot of these anons are telling me things I didn’t even know, it’s not some weirdo tendency or someone being creepy to know industry dirt. Industry dirt is out there if you’re clever enough to find it. The real stalkers tbh no offense again are the fans themselves, the hardcore ones aka the fansite mods and sasaengs. That requires dedication that goes beyond general interest.