#I'm okay with this being criticized.

[shitpostroundhouse]

[hivemindscape]

the buddy-buddy act ends now

[ignaciwhore]

the music video of enemy by imagine dragons is more compelling and does more for characters and world building than the whole of season 2

[liltaireissocute]

full under the cut (don't open at work lol)

[that-was-anticlimactic]

just saw an article criticizing the httyd books for having a ten year old protagonist... said the movies fixed it by... by making hiccup older... and then criticized the fact that toothless was small... and that the movies fixed it by making toothless bigger so hiccup could ride him... as iF THE WINDWALKER ISN'T RIGHT THERE!!! it is very well established in book one that these are hunting dragons not riding dragons. there is a DIFFERENCE. anyway the DISRESPECT saying the movies "fixed the books" shut up

[essektheylyss]

Does no one else find it odd that magic that had been inhibited by the Malleus Key keeps being slowly and quietly returned with seemingly no changes to the key itself? Is the Solstice still stuck or is it simply progressing very slowly? Is anyone working on this in Exandria? Can we get some answers about this?

[yashley]

imogen & fearne in c3e81

[transfagore]

About the "love loses" discourse

One thing that enlightened me about this subject was realizing that people who don't think twice before declaring love a revolutionary feeling probably don't understand how to reject love it can be liberating. Not only for the aspec community, but also for neurodivergent people and anyone else who has been dehumanized for not feeling love properly or not feeling love at all. Believe me, rejecting society's idea of love is as liberating as changing the world through love. Considering love as this inherently potent and revolutionary force is not good for anyone. But it's terrible specifically for people who have been hurt in the name of love.

Okay, love is special to you. All good. Take it and transform the world your way. Just don't impose it on everyone. Because not everyone has this wonderful relationship with love. Not in a society that dictates how we should feel and punishes us if we don't follow the golden rules. Not in a world where people use a theoretically positive feeling to hurt other people.

Respect loveless people. Listen to us. You cannot change the world by neglecting and throwing away the parts of humanity that you don't like or aren't like you. Our criticism of love is not the demerit of your love.

(And before someone say "BUT LOVE WINS HAVE THIS HISTORICAL VALUE–" meu anjo i know I study my own community, thank you very much. I know about all this, that's not the problem. We are not denying this historical value or importance. "Love loses" is a response to having love imposed on us, especially in times of pride. Where even companies make it seem like being queer is all about “love wins”. When, it is not true at all.

And to those who are suggesting "platonic love wins" or any alternative, please go read the definition of loveless again ☠️)

[tategaminu]

I'm gonna be blunt, the amount of people pissed at the ten babies joke or being super against rayllum marrying and having kids is really concerning

[icouldhyperfixatehim]

happy to have an offgun sunday show back on the docket but i can already tell this series is going to put a bee in my bonnet every week about late stage capitalism foisting its cancer upon all workplace cultures and turning things like internships from learning and exploratory opportunities to build skills and discover interests in a field, to an expectation of free/low paid but inexplicably pre-skilled labour. do you think ye olde blacksmith's apprentice showed up to the first day of the apprenticeship and the blacksmith is like "what do you mean you don't know how to shoe a horse?? that's so basic" no. the expectation of apprenticeship is that a newborn emptyheaded youngin with a vague notion that metal is cool shows up, and is taught how to blacksmith. the expectation is not that the young savant of metalwork turns up with a list of horses already shoed, including One Very Special One in the Royal Stable, and god would you please please please allow me to debase myself for you, o blacksmith? my resumé is just like the journeyman's!! this workplace culture is a modern invention!! they used to teach you things at work!!

[breathing audibly] i just think entry level should mean entry level, and that as much effort goes into gathering experience that makes people competitively hire-able, ability, opportunity, and luck also play a role. it is lucky to know your passion early enough to be able to groom yourself to competitiveness in a sharky field of work, but a person should be able to turn up for entry level positions/interning with an unabashed "i know nothing" as long as it's followed with an "and i'm ready to learn" and it is in neoliberalism's favour to allow work environments to cut their costs by eschewing the responsibility to teach. to train the trainee.

[fandom-hoard]

The Joker calling himself Jason's "mommy" is so unhinged, and makes so much sense in a Joker-logic way that I love it.

"There's that kid who I killed- and who's biological mother I also killed."

"So basically I made him the man he is today."

"Awww, and how sweet. He even took my maiden name. Red Hood- it's a family name now."

[smartzelda]

Sorry guys I gotta speak my truth on this one

I'm not kidding when I say that I think that blaming shit media literacy from fans on shipping/shippers avoids the actual root of the problem to throw people you can easily throw under the bus (simply because it's not unpopular to consider people who post about ships or ship characters in media as having lesser or derivative tastes by default)

And here's why.

I think when you blame people who are "shippers" or "consume media through shipping lenses", the true root of it all is a mindset problem.

In actually, putting on shipping lenses can be helpful when trying to analyze a piece of media. When analyzing media you're supposed to approach it through a number of mindsets and put on different lenses (both to deepen your personal understanding of the media, and to pick it apart and see what you can find there (whether intentional or not on the author's part)), and different ships can be some of those lenses

When it comes to ships between main characters (for those who are genuinely willing to see what the narrative is showing with their relationship and what it's doing), there are times when analyzing it from a shipping lens may be helpful. As someone from KH fandom, I have seen people come to deeper understandings and pick canon apart in the process of analyzing a relationship that is genuinely integral to the story (platonic or not). I've also seen people get into rarepairs of characters who barely interact or who just suffer little screen time, and I've seen them come to better understandings of those side characters and how they potentially fit into the world of the media simply because people are now focusing on these characters and how they fit into the narrative.

Frankly, I resent the idea that the only way to truly objectively analyze a piece of media is by turning off the part of your brain that gets excited over relationships and individual characters. Don't get me wrong, that is a way to approach a piece of media and a valid one at that, but the truth is that we cannot be free of bias.

For instance, I was watching House MD with my parents circa last year. At some point I started heavily tuning into what was going on with House and Wilson's relationship. My parents, on the other hand, were largely watching casually. They're not thinking of character relationships or getting heavily invested in most characters, they're watching because they like watching. One of them in particular did try to analyze things that were happening in the show as they happened. However, when it came to the scene late in the series where House threw out Dominika's letter approving her American citizenship, my parents could understand that he was doing that because he didn't want her to leave, but not much beyond that. I ended up explaining to them that House's fake marriage for Dominika was an explicit parallel to when Wilson was living with House in the early seasons. Both situations started with House being none too happy about it but ultimately letting them stay, spending a considerable amount of effort getting them to leave/getting this situation to be finally over so he didn't have to deal with it anymore, and then by the time a piece of news comes through that would mean the person in question actually leaves, House hides this news as long as he can. Because he doesn't actually want them to leave and has grown attached. And by doing this he became a self fulfilling prophecy. By reacting to the truth of Wilson and Dominika leaving him the way he does, he seals his fate and they ultimately leave anyways. Maybe I ship Hilson, but becoming open to how their relationship was handled allowed me to transition to doing character studies and recognizing patterns/parallels that I wouldn't have noticed if I didn't particularly care about the characters or their relationship.

Likewise, I've seen mutuals complain about how people who don't like or don't care about certain characters often overlook these characters (what they're actually like and their place in the narrative), while the mutuals in question (by default) are able to come to deeper understanding of what the writers/story is trying to do because they care about this funky guy

You can't eradicate bias when you're engaging in media analysis, but you can consciously put on a range of lenses and observe the media through different povs with the goal of understanding the media better or bolstering your reading of it. And those lenses/povs can include focusing on specific relationships or the perpective of certain characters

And this is why I say it's actually a mindset problem. Shippers and people who have this one blorbo they like a lot aren't inherently terrible "fandom brained individuals" who are the root of media analysis problems. The problem only arises when people's readings/analysis of a piece of media are inherently restrictive/narrow and self centered. Your problem is with people who view a piece of media through a ship they like but don't keep an open mind about it, and whose "media analysis"/views on canon cannot be split from fanon and their comfortability levels. These are the people whose "media analysis" starts and ends with justifying their fanon as canon, whose views on media revolve around sorting characters and relationships into categories they personally enjoy rather than trying to understand what's going on.

Here's another example.

Here we have a fictional ship we'll call uhhhh...Blanebin. this fictional ship I made up on the spot for characters that don't exist named Blane and Corbin

Person A is super into Blanebin. They're part of the main cast of characters and canonically childhood best friends, so person A (as much as they enjoy fanart and fic) is also enjoying analyzing how narratively important to each other they are. Recently, Corbin started dating another character in canon, but Person A is enjoying watching how Blane is reacting to this. "Is this potentially a tell that Blane is jealous or is having complicated feelings about this? What if he was, how would that contextualize his behavior this season? Here's what I think based on how Blane dealt with explicit jealousy last season in a different situation". It's not impossible that person A is still missing further understanding due to their obsession with Blanebin, but at the end of the day this obsession has allowed them to start picking through the characters both in and outside this relationship. It has allowed them to see potential subtext and theorize on what might happen next with these characters' relationship. Not to mention that with addition of Corbin dating someone else, instead of trying to erase this fact or state that Corbin canonically isn't into that person, Person A is trying to factor in how Corbin's current dating life affects his relationship with Blane (irregardless on personal views on the nature of Corbin's relationship with the person he's dating).

Person B is also super into Blanebin. They really enjoy fanart and fic of the characters, love obsessing over their moments together, and just feel like there's really something between the characters. To person B, every moment between them is just further proof that the writers are ship teasing them. But Corbin getting together with someone else this season? Oh that pissed person B off. They cannot believe that even though Corbin and Blane are CLEARLY gay for each other the writers had Corbin get with someone else this season. Perhaps, they think, it was even a decision specifically made to spite fans. How evil of the writers to tease a perfectly good ship and then have them not get together first? They must have been just doing those teases to get views from Blanebin shippers those scoundrels. To Person B, since Corbin started dating someone when he obviously has some chemistry with Blane (even though the series is far from over) means that Blanebin can never get together now and Corbin x person he's dating is ruining Blanebin by existing. In fact, they think, this is terrible writing for Corbin to be dating someone else because they don't like that relationship and don't see the point. Obviously if the writers were good then Corbin would have started dating Blane instead because this was supposed to be the Blanebin show.

Person C despises Blanebin. Don't get them wrong, they've always enjoyed the character's childhood friendship, but they actually have always thought Blane would have been better off with Victoria. They have a lot of moments too! But they're tired of seeing people ship Blanebin. Corbin just got together with someone else, so obviously that's not gonna work out. Plus Corbin and Blane totally has always given person C bro vibes. In fact, person C thinks, sure Corbin and Blane have a close friendship, but people shouldn't be shipping them. Person C likes Blanetoria and Blanetoria can't be canon if Corbin is in the way of it. So Person C likes to read Blanebin as siblings anyways. Sure they're canonically friends, but obviously their friendship turned into brotherhood. This means that nothing can be in the way of Blanetoria and Corbin can keep dating the person he's already canonically dating. Actually, now Blanebin just straight up makes Person C uncomfortable. Don't the pesky shippers understand that Blanebin are sibling coded because they're childhood best friends and that they're important to each other because they're brothers? It's obvious to anyone with eyes.

Sure, ships are involved here, but is the root of this problem shipping? Character A isn't as knowledgeable of other characters in the plot due to this lens they're using, but at the end of the day they're dedicated to analysis. Their love of the characters is pushing them beyond what they like or dislike to try to understand what might be happening through their lens. Not perfect, but they are slowly broadening their horizons. But Person B and C's problems here are their restrictiveness. What is or should be canon to them is tantamount to what they personally like or find comfortable. Is person C actually analyzing the this fake show when they decide to "read" Blanebin as basically canonically siblings (and this all of their moments are totally a bro thing) just because they don't like Blanebin and the idea of them getting together over Blanetoria makes them uncomfortable? Is person B actually analyzing this fake show when their "analysis" of Blanebin goes only as far as asserting it's being ship teased and deciding anything short of canonizing Blanebin is a targeted attack or "bad writing" because it's not what they wanted personally to happen?

This is what I'm talking about. This is the mindset. Shipping isn't the problem. The problem is when people marry fanon and canon to the point where they have a vested interest in superimposing their fanon over canon as "a reading" and trying to make "collective decisions" on what is canon (or what canon is trying to say) based on what does or doesn't make them uncomfortable. The problem is people being restrictive and centering their own likes and dislikes in the conversation, so they can only interact with canon "analysis" wise by deciding what is canon or should be canon "as obviously agreed on by everyone". You can't simply claim you like media analysis. To be able to analyze media and bolster your views on any given canon, you must be open to looking at it through multiple povs, to studying characters without trying to pretend things you don't like don't exist or do like do exist. There is a balance that must be kept between trying to keep objectivity and putting on specific focus/bias based upon the lenses you're putting on. You have to be willing to try to figure out what a media is doing or saying, not saying you're trying to figure out what it's saying while in actuality trying to define the narrative around what people believe it's saying in ways that suit you.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk.

[beanghostprincess]

i know i did not just lose a mutual over lawlu bc they said it was problematic. as if luffy, a 19 y/o, didn't have enough critical thinking to do whatever the fuck he wants.

[deoidesign]

I need to know if I'm delusional and projecting onto random characters or if Adam and/or Steve are neurodivergent

You can project whatever you want on them, and I don't know that it's "canon" so to speak but I write them with neurodivergent intent in mind just based on my own life experiences!

so I'm projecting on them too, but it's up for debate whether that's coming across in the text.

Adam is autistic and Steve has ADHD. To Me.

[simpforsolas]

i actually think that bioware has lost the right to write solas. i'm taking him and he is now mine. sorry.

[star--anon]

hello

Gally models tiny figures out of soap for a while

Thomas notices and buys him wood blocks and carving tools

Minho passive-aggressively buys him a vacuum because he leaves sawdust everywhere

Gally starts making little figures for Thomas and Minho. He puts them on their beds and doesn't mention anything.

Thomas paints them.

Minho doesn't touch his. Putting them on his bed was too public. Too loud. If he takes them, he'll be admitting he likes them.

Thomas steals Minho's figurines and paints them too.

Gally randomly decides that Minho's bedroom wall deserves a shelf.

Nobody mentions it. Except for Thomas, who complains about Gally's loud hammering sounds.

Thomas puts the (painted) figurines he stole from Minho on the new shelf.

Gally leaves newly sculpted figures on the shelf too.

Minho says nothing. Nobody mentions it at all.

Gally walks in on Minho taking the figurines off the shelf and polishing them. Gally quickly walks back out. Before he's seen.

Gally never seems to run out of wood blocks. Sometimes Minho wanders down into the garage, where Gally does all his carving. Suspiciously, anytime Minho walks into the garage, Gally always wakes up to more wood blocks. Gally doesn't mention it. Neither does Minho.

Thomas interrupts Gally while he's carving to check the quality and sharpness of his current tools and see if he needs any new ones.

Thomas buys higher quality tools for Gally's birthday. Wraps it in bright blue paper. He plans to have Gally unwrap it at dinner but ultimately decides to quietly leave it in the garage.

Gally hates how much Thomas understands him. Hates how Thomas knows what he likes and doesn't. But he hates hating Thomas, so he decides to just appreciate the gesture instead.

Minho, on the other hand, with his quiet wood block-buying, can be hated to the utmost degree. So Gally quietly seethes at the way Minho understands him, and he quietly seethes at the way Minho accommodates his needs.

Minho quietly hates the way Gally understands him, too.

They hate each other. They hate that they hate each other. They hate that they love each other.

Most of all, that they hate that they understand each other. Or maybe they hate that they both know the other's deepest desire is to be understood.

Minho quietly holds Gally's hand on walks. Gally quietly blows hot air onto Minho's hands during the winter. Thomas holds both their hands with a bright grin, and he buys them heating pads when it's cold.

Nobody mentions anything. Except Thomas, who complains about the other two not wearing mittens.