#Or maybe there could be a few critical instances where he has them off. To signify that he’s being open (or wants to be open) with somebody

[castielmacleod]

Crowley with black gloves that he literally never takes off as part of his usual costume would have done so much for me personally

[nekropsii]

“Bad Representation” is actually a topic I’m really passionate about and interested in, I could talk about it for ages. The way people handle “Bad Representation” as a concept is genuinely fascinating, too, so this is both an analytical fascination and an anthropological one.

For clarity, I thoroughly do believe there is such thing as “Bad Representation”, especially when it comes to expressions of pure bigotry from the person doing the representing… But I personally think everyone’s bar for what counts as “Bad Representation” is set a little bit too strictly, has no real account for capitalistic and/or historical restrictions - For Example: Language and common understanding of queer identity being far different in the 1950’s than it is now, and Studio Meddling - and also, interestingly, tends to take no account for the opinion of those getting “represented”, or the idea of individual satisfaction.

There’s been many, many times where a character is objectively pretty bad representation by modern standards, but discussion surrounding it takes no account for the concept of Resonance. Sometimes a character is not “Good Representation” as an objective concept, but they are relatable, likable, and quite fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few instances of people talking down to the mentally ill or disabled for enjoying a Slasher in part because of their disorder/disability, or queer people for enjoying Hays Code villains. Sometimes a character isn’t written kindly, or isn’t written well, but they really resonate with you… And that counts for something.

One of my favorite characters - one who has helped me come to terms with my cPTSD and OSDD - is a representation of PTSD + DID that is objectively not very good. He’s basically a Vietnam War veteran, who gets an Alter in the middle of the war that is basically a self defensive Murder Mode. It’s literally the PTSD from The War and Evil Alter cliche, but there’s just some aspects that really hit for me, like the fact that he’s considered the nicest, kindest person in the cast, and the alter is portrayed clearly as being in constant self defense mode, thinking he’s still in the middle of the war, and also being quite silly. There’s several details I view as being done pretty well, a whole arc about him grappling with his mental health in a way I find quite fascinating and visceral, and I enjoy him quite a lot! But many would agree that he’s “Bad Representation” because of the War PTSD and Evil Alter tropes. Even I agree that those things kinda suck, but that’s not stopping the fact that this character has meant a lot to me, and that I really would not be the same level of okay with myself if I hadn’t discovered this character.

I’ve caught flack for this. I’ve seen many other people latch onto a character who is not executed very well because they find them personally relatable, or are using them to figure some things out about themselves, and also catch flack for it because the character is not “Good Representation” for a group as a whole. No account for Resonance, no account for Individual Experience. It’s a fascinating lack of a sense of nuance.

I think people have forgotten - or perhaps do not realize - that criticizing a base concept, or base execution of a concept, is different from criticizing individual experience. It’s like the difference between criticizing the makeup industry vs. criticizing someone’s personal choice to wear makeup. It is good to point out when something is written or executed poorly, but you do not know the reason why that one individual disabled person enjoys a poorly written character who shares their disability. I would even say that they probably know more than you do that it’s written badly, because they have lived that character’s disability and you likely have not. I think you should maybe step off if a blind person really likes Terezi or something. You do not need to patronize them by telling them that she isn’t “Good Representation” because her quirk isn’t screenreader friendly, and that her blindness has a magical workaround. I think they already know that these are facts about her that are true. They like her for a reason, and that reason is Resonance.

[sunlightsilence]

MY THOUGHTS ON SIDE ORDER

If you see this, you don't have #side order or #side order spoilers blocked. .

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So. Side order's gameplay is fantastic to me, I've completed it with all 12 palettes now. I love splatoon and I love roguelikes so this was sort of a match made in heaven for me.

Creating the OP builds, the final boss, the general colours and music and vibe of the game is amazing! Everything to do with Pearl and Marina are *amazing* and they're so hella gay it's adorable :D And I love that they're not even hiding the queer representation now. Marina having a sprawled out Pearl as her desktop background is so cute, even seeing an elevator scene where they gush about eachother, and another one where Marina worries that Acht is hitting on Pearl.

And... cannon They/Them Acht! I remember all the people on Reddit being like "it's just the marketing team mistranslating their pronouns in a tweet!" NOPE, it's in game too!

Hell yeah :D Smollusk is adorable and I love him, and maybe we finally have a splatoon villain tumblr won't turn into a tumblr sexyman since he's a literal infant xD

And Pearl Drone is so hecking cute, I love her so much!! If you spin around in the lobby she spins too, and if you stay still she falls asleep :D

I did my first run with Brella cause it's my fav and it has my beloved inkstorm kit from S2! It took me three tries before I beat the tower for the first time, but then every run afterwards with different weapons I've always cleared it (I was got bounced off the tower for that first death and the second I was caught offguard by how fast the reefslider spam is)! Brella was definitely my favourite run, but I also really enjoyed the roller and brush runs. My roughest run was with the Splatling. I had dreaded doing charger after that, but charger turned into my fastest run!

I could see myself unwinding in this mode hundreds more times. I am saying this all to demonstrate that I really love this DLC, it might be my favourite of all the single player modes so far, either that or S2 hero mode. So my following criticisms are out of love for it because it's close to perfect. So the big one is... "the dlc is too short!" I hear that a lot on both tumblr and reddit and someone inevitably chimes in with "You don't play a lot of roguelikes, do you?" I mean... do YOU? I've done over 100 runs in Wizard of Legend, and thousands of hours on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon and Etrian Mystery Dungeon. Yes it's made to be run multiple times, but when a run is only 20-30 minutes it's still only about 6 hours of content if you do all the palettes. And these could be fixed with the assets they already have! Like imagine an Endless mode where the difficulty (enemy speed and hp values and number of spawns) kept ramping up higher and higher each floor, with the leader board being kept track of on the app. Or a daily tower run to save a random cephalopod from being grayscaled - the daily inkling/octoling's palette giving you a random weapon/sub/special for that day that followed the rules of 8's Octoshot (more hacks = less chip slots). Or like a super hard difficulty mode - imagine a mode where every floor had a danger modifier, and maybe a Parallel Cannon spawns into the stage to try to hunt you down (maybe it's even invincible so you have to run away from it while doing the stage objective?) I know the Octoshot is kind of the "hard mode" (it's still not too bad though since it's basically just like starting from the beginning without hacks), but it's not fun being limited to just the one weapon type. Especially for it for people who find the regular shooters boring. I don't feel like this is an unreasonable request either, Wizard of Legend - a roguelike made by *two* people - for instance has a few options for post game challenge runs (a randomized mode, a mode where the enemies start from the highest difficulty from floor 1, an extra long run that touches on all the bosses, a BOSS RUSH mode, Curses - basically one thing gets massively buffed while a second thing gets massively debuffed). The Mystery Dungeon games tend to have unlockable MASSIVE dungeons that start you off from having nothing. (like imagine a 99 floor floor tower where you started with no hacks, and a basic shooter with no sub/special and you had to earn new weapons/subs/specials/hacks as you go). Could do the Curse style idea with extra special Marina hacks. "Hey 8, I just figured out a hack that turns everyone's Max HP to 1 - both yours and your opponents!" "This hack will make you much faster but the floors will always be dark!" Or those Bonus challenges, imagine if there was an option to do conditional runs with them. Like "Beat the Tower without using your special, unlock a specific splat tag banner" Again, I am only criticizing because I love it. It's just also the easiest and shortest of all the single player campaigns we've gotten I feel, and if they were going to lean into the roguelike genre, I wish they looked into how other roguelikes reuse assets to lengthen the gameplay and provide extra challenges to keep players interested for a long time.

AND I AM STILL MAD YOU CAN'T PLAY AS A SQUID AND THEY REMOVED THE PLAYABLE SQUIDBEATZ (half joking. Not really upset, but I do find it odd now that there's more campaigns you can play as an octoling than an inking on the switch now despite inklings being the mascots...... rotm/oe/so vs just s2hero/rotm. And I don't see why we can't just have minigames back, they remove more minigames each entry and paying to listen to music now is frustrating...) Haha... But yes, overall, I loved it. It's a 9/10 from me. Adding squidbeatz and some post game longevity / challenge modes would have made it a 10/10. I can't wait to play more, I can't wait to visit Inkopolis Square again next splatfest :')

Now, onto random observations!

The lobby has jump ramps on the back corner pillars. I don't know why!

You can turn Color Lock on in the main game and it *does* affect Side Order. It gives you permanently Blue+yellow or Blue+green ink, even in the hub area.

So with this boss, it uses the hairstyle from your S2 hero mode data to get their appearance... But I swear mine is using the feminine voice here and when being splat, despite that hairstyle being locked to masculine inkling voices in Splatoon 2? I do use it with the feminine voice in Splatoon 3. Or maybe the voices are just mixed into one here, I can't quite tell? Well it made enby me happy to see. I do kinda wish we got a challenging superboss fight with 4, these felt a bit weak.. but it seems to imply they aren't specifically 4 but Order made them based on their data... So...where is the real 4?!!! Did she never show up to work? Speaking of that boss....

Around the room are these white pipe like structures...

That will be instantly recognizable to anyone who dabbles in japanese model kits - they're sprue trees, like the kind used in Gunpla.

The robotic boss has robot model kit building pieces in the background :D

I still don't quite get the intro scene where everything goes digital on the train.... So it's implying either A) your character got Grayscaled.... But your character is fine when you go back to town... you don't even see any characters standing around suffering it's effects, they could have had some npcs spacing out or acting weird ala Persona 3... or B) you're getting pulled into the memverse too, but there's no sign of your S3 character *at all*... (though this would have been a good way to let us play as an inkling too nintendo >:l *angry woomy noises*)

Honestly I felt kinda like Acht's inclusion was sort of superfluous at first... mostly their role felt like "Pearl & Marina: *does something gay* Acht: wow these two sure are hella gay right 8? i feel like we're third wheels". I kept waiting for some kind of...reveal? Their memories are pretty much fully restored instantly rather than rolled out gradually like I was expecting...I was thinking maybe they'd, like, link them to Paul, or follow up on the recognizing Pearl somehow or being linked to the engineers that created Order or...SOMETHING, but it never came. Other than maybe dropping a hint about the person who instructed them and Marina when they were in school? Their role was really just "I'll hold the elevator and jump in for a song"... But maybe that's okay, eight and Acht are trauma victims and this was meant to be a place to heal them. Maybe it's okay that we take it slow getting to know them.

Okay that's all that's brainworming away at me for now, I'm sure I'll think of more later. Again, I really love it, definitely a 9/10 for me. I hope yall enjoyed it too :)

[markantonys]

There's a lot of things in Rand's story that play into male power fantasies and the show has already veered away from that majorly so I wonder what else they might change to stay with that trend. Like even him conquering half the world would fall into that category (though that one might be unavoidable since it feeds into people's fear of him. They could frame it differently while still keeping the fear though).

this is interesting to think about! i think in the book version, a lot of rand's story is things that sound like male power fantasies on the surface, but whether or not it truly feels that way as you're reading along all depends on the specific reader. for example, it's no secret that a chunk of (male) readers (on reddit) very much read a lot of rand's story as a male power fantasy, seen in things like the way they idolize lan's extreme stoicism, consider rand & the asha'man making the aes sedai kneel at dumai's wells an epic moment, and think that elayne and avi are great for rand to have on tap for sex because they're hot but min is his only "real" girlfriend and it's ~weird~ that he claims to love all of them equally.

but when *i* was reading, i had different interpretations of these things. i read lan's extreme stoicism as a bad example for rand rather than a good one, so it didn't feel like a male power fantasy to me. i read dumai's wells as a grim moment showing rand and the world at large taking a turning point into darkness, so it didn't feel like a male power fantasy to me. i read avirandlayne as an equitable and queer polyamorous relationship rather than as a rand-centric harem, so it didn't feel like a male power fantasy to me (min's attitude did make it feel like a rand-centric harem to me lmao but if we exclude her i never got those vibes at all for avirandlayne).

some of this is down to, of course i as a queer woman will instinctively interpret some things very differently than a straight man would, so maybe there are instances where RJ did kinda get lost in the male power fantasy and they simply went over my head or were interpreted differently by me because that's not something i look for or hope to find in stories. some of it, though, is that RJ included instances of toxic masculinity/male power fantasies because he wanted to criticize them, but readers who are pro-male-power-fantasy only see the instance itself and miss the narrative's critique of it. and there's also some "he's a little confused but he's got the spirit" instances where RJ wanted to critique something but didn't quite pull it off because his own unconscious biases & cultural norms were affecting the way he wrote.

(then there are things like RJ telling us that the shadow will try to target people they know rand cares about and at the same time having min be My Lady Ta'veren being flaunted about on rand's arm all over the continent and facing absolutely 0 consequences from being publicly known as someone he loves, where i'm like "yeah this is 100% RJ getting carried away by a male power fantasy and muddling his own story because of it" lmao)

anyway, back to the show! rand & lanfear is a good example to look at because on the surface it very much SOUNDS like a male power fantasy (young doofus has a stunningly sexy older woman all over him), but it doesn't FEEL that way at all when you're watching it play out in context in the show (i mean, maybe a few rabid rand-haters might claim it does feel like a male power fantasy, but everybody with critical thinking skills can recognize this is a fucked up situation for rand). so, that makes me feel pretty confident that the show will be able to portray things like rand conquering half the world in a way where it feels like a tragedy rather than a triumph. a critique of male fantasy hero tropes rather than a glorification of them, same as the books so often did even if some readers miss it (and tbh this can apply just as much to the ~woke~ crew as to the redditors, where they declare that everything about rand's story is a shitty male power fantasy and completely miss how the story is showing that having a ton of power & attention actually makes his life suck; even things like the common "ugh women are constantly throwing themselves all over rand" complaint - with the exception of his 3 love interests, the abundance of women trying to hit on him makes rand extremely uncomfortable and isn't something he enjoys or benefits from! and the ~woke~ crew does not have the critical thinking skills to read this situation beyond the surface level of "all women want to fuck the male protagonist".)

now, as for what the show has actually *changed* so far on this front, the only big thing i can think of is that the EOTW & TGH finales are group efforts rather than Rand Shows. but this was done to make the first two books feel like as much of an ensemble story as the rest of the series does, and also to give rand realistic power-scaling and ability progression so that they don't have to keep resetting him again at the beginning of the next season. i don't think the show's intentions were "let's change this so it feels like less of a male power fantasy", but rather simply "let's change this so it feels more realistic" - but male power fantasies do naturally get removed when changing the story to feel more realistic, since they tend to be unrealistic. so something like rand conquering half the world, by the time he's doing that, he's gotten enough training in channeling/weapons/politics that it feels realistic for him to be able to do that, so i doubt the show would shy away from portraying it.

(then there's stuff like rand's All Women Must Be Protected But Who Cares If Men Die attitudes where the show IS getting rid of that specifically to get rid of the books' gender essentialism & toxic masculinity, etc. so there definitely are places where they make changes specifically because they want to get rid of book attitudes that the showrunners (and i) don't jive with, and that may have been a *factor* in the s1 & 2 finale changes, but in those instances it was other things that were the main reasons for the changes.)

[crrahsa-yamah]

I'm playing Dawntrail at last. I unapologetically love Wuk Lamat and I've heard that she gets hate for being, as one article put it, our "new mandatory best bud." I thought that was a super unfair thing to say, because every RPG forces you into an adventure with your new mandatory best buds. That's kinda how it works. If I weren't so fond of G'raha I would certainly be sick of him. What's the real issue?

Why would anyone not love Wuk Lamat? She's a big goofy one-orange-braincelled cat. What's there not to like?

A few hours into Dawntrail proper, I suspect the resentment isn't actually coming from people having a problem with Wuk Lamat herself, but with having not been given character motivation to support her ambitions, at a moment when everyone is waiting to see if emotional investment in the story can continue after a mandatory de-escalation of stakes. The story is far too self-conscious about its lack; it isn't the time to call attention to our needing a motive right when we haven't got one. Although my WoL truthfully answered she does not like getting involved in politics, G'raha somehow managed to insist that we secretly wanted to do it deep down. It could've gone over better with, for instance, "I know you love adventure and you'll get bored here at home," instead of copypasta about how you will definitely do what you want, which turns out to be the thing they haven't given us a reason to want.

I wonder if people are feeling that motive-shaped hole that the story keeps weirdly calling attention to, and sort of subconsciously blaming Wuk Lamat for taking us on this cheap vacation adventure and not giving us enough reason to care. It's not her fault that she came along right after Endwalker; there is nothing wrong with her as a character; the problem is the way the narrative is not delivering us a motive. And worse yet, the story is actively dwelling on how we don't have much motive to help, like the writers are kinda stuck and want to delegate their most important job to the player to solve. Again, this isn't something to blame Wuk Lamat for, but it just doesn't help that she's so far from being the only, or necessarily the best, person to solve this relatively non-urgent problem, and yet we're stuck with her plan. No wonder people are taking it out on her-- she's supposed to be the motivating figure at the center of this story, but the narrative is failing her by navel-gazing about whether we really should bother. That may change, I know. Maybe we'll suddenly find a reason. But by now some people might already resent her. I don't because I feel like it's not about her, it's about the void at the center of G'raha's question. About why her problems should be ours.

We've passed the point of backing out and we're about to set off on the part of the expac where we split up and have two smaller parties for character development. And still, something extremely critical has not been established yet: Why shouldn't we back Koana? The story hasn't established a sufficient sense of why Wuk Lamat has to, or even should, win. Like yeah, Tural needs childless cat ladies. But it could also have a catboy? Who sounds like he at least tried to learn how to run a country, when it sounds like his sister has mainly gone around biting things and getting disciplined. Since the two of them get along well together, why shouldn't we convince Wuk Lamat to throw her support behind Koana, and prove that two heads are as good as... two heads?

[luminouslotuses]

watched the video and. i have thoughts

the most glaring issue i noticed right off the bat was how he went through various controversies from the past first. clearly he’s doing this to make sure everyone knows what his intentions are, which– sure, would’ve been good after each issue had happened 1-2 years ago, but it’s just that this is completely irrelevant to the allegations. that’s what everyone is here for and wants his actual response to, which he knows, but he pulls this shit anyway; and he still acts self-righteous while going through them.

i’m not a liar– here’s some instances of me lying about things i’ve done in the past. this was a very good and detailed video, but he’s highly critical of me. i do not support nsfw art of minors, that’s disgusting (but it’s fine to make sexual jokes about minors in my own minecraft server!). i can’t post any photos without people saying i’m gross or weird!

the “examples” of fan & friend relationships that are shown in a following segment also bothered me. why would you bring these people, who– despite you being on good terms with in the past have clearly distanced themselves from you recently– into this dumpster fire of a situation?? again, dream with this recurring theme of constantly bringing up people he used to be friends with as either an attempt to garner sympathy or to make himself look better.

when he gets to the allegations, i feel like he’s taking a roundabout way to actually address them. at one part he says how it’s difficult to prove what actually happened without there being evidence, then gives an example saying “prove to me you didn’t sext [insert anybody here]”. thirty minutes into the video and he’s still managing to somehow sidetrack from the matter at hand, even if just for a moment.

then there’s the segment where he’s talking with his mom about him barely leaving his house between 2021 and his face reveal, which lasts for a minute and half. you’re not missing anything if it’s simply summarized as such: he rarely left his house. maybe, for the sake of clarity, he could provide a few examples and move on, but nope. he had to stretch it out for as long as he possibly could; and not to mention how despite the video being “SERIOUS” and “NOT A JOKE” he’s chuckling and laughing with his mother, which feels like such tonal whiplash compared to the heavy topics that are (and should be) being discussed.

i. don’t even want to get into the cantu situation too much or it’ll give me a headache but i do have a couple things to say. overall both dream and cantu aren’t good people and while it’s shown more clearly by cantu in this specific instance, it’s obvious by now that dream’s not a good person either. the other thing is that the editing in the video is very poppy and unserious, which– god, AGAIN, this video is supposed to be about serious topics! being discussed in a serious manner! and this is literally the opposite of that.

all in all it’s good to finally hear what he has to say that’s not in a rushed, emotionally-driven or standoffish tweet. and, yes, no original evidence was concrete. yes, dream might not be a groomer. but it’s fucking pathetic it took him this long to make a clear response. he’s not trustworthy, he should definitely not have the platform that he has, and his reputation is irreversibly damaged from this. there’s no going back now.

[just-orbiting-you]

I’m so so glad you’re being honest and transparent about AYS and jikook’s dynamics change. I felt really weird after I finished watching the show and when i came to X and tumblr most jikookers were focusing on the skinship moments but no body is talking about how off everything felt between them. I think you summed it up pretty nicely so I won’t repeat what was said but watching how jk acted when jm was sick made my heart sink. I felt so so bad for jm i was praying that there’s someone from staff at least taking care of him. There was zero worry or compassion from jk which shocked me a lot. I think this is where I realized that they’re definitely not together and I’m ok with that. Kinda relieved tbh, i feel like i finally have a clear answer. Now regarding tae being in the next episode, i saw the clip and JK was being his usual passive aggressive self lol, that’s just how he is with tae and now with jimin too apparently. I have to admit, now that I’m seeing jkk in a whole different light I’m not worried about how different jk is gonna treat vmin, none of them is in a relationship so I don’t care if he’s nicer to v. I just hope jimin had a great time and enjoyed himself (tae and jk too) i hope they all had a good time. I only wish jimin wouldn’t receive hate after the episode no matter how it turns out.

hey anon, im responding but with intention that im hoping you’ll see the response :). i don’t really want other anons in my inbox criticizing your words. from someone who thought like you, i hope we can enjoy the show and engage with it critically instead of just writing it off as a "be careful what you wish for."

while i think this point could get us backed into a corner a little bit, i've had a few anons, including this one write about how they could be omitting the truth for the sake of the show, to fit a narrative. if we turn to speculation instead of looking at what they show us head on, it can be hard to fully believe. what we do know is they had to see each other to plan the show, they saw each other at yoongi's concert, at hobi's enlistment (and maybe drinking that night before who knows). i think face era was a hindrance to their friendship, but as the year went on things got better. i think about that tiny clip from jimin's production diary livestream and jimin was so excited to see jungkook, jungkook was all smiles like nothing changed.

i think, even the people we love most, we don't see often or even don't try to make an effort to see based in individual circumstances. and we don't know their circumstances outside of bts and solo schedules. with bts going on group hiatus, things were already going to change. relationships change naturally and i think giving jikook that grace is okay. i don't think their relationship has turned into one of vitriol or negativity. they still very much care about each other and i think if this was how the year started off, the distance from each other probably propelled them into deciding to enlist (distance makes the heart grow fonder and such). also i think you can see them start to fall into their ways as the trip carries on. i felt a dramatic shift in tone after their boat ride and once jungkook cooks for them, it feels like we are at the jikook we know. so i hope this show was able to help them reconnect.

I felt so so bad for jm i was praying that there’s someone from staff at least taking care of him. There was zero worry or compassion from jk which shocked me a lot.

this anon and a few other posts in the jikook tag were talking about this and i think i have changed my opinion on this. jungkook has known jimin for years, he probably knows when jimin needs in stressful situations and that might just be a little space and some jokes to get him laughing. jungkook didn't bother him when he rested, he let him be. i think jungkook did what a friend would do in this instance, and try to go about their day making the most of it while conscious of jimin's state. possibly the camera involved maybe could have escalated the level of jokes around jimin's misfortune. but from what was on camera, jimin started feeling better after the boat and they ended the trip on a good note.

i don't even want to speak on the tae stuff, because that will open a big can of worms. i appreciate you coming forward as well to talk about it as well. definitely rewatch the show too i think a second watch could change how you're viewing it.

[dodgebolts]

What exactly would you say were the problems with mcc as opposed to this event? Like how could noxcrew fix mcc?

First off, the events are just completely different in structure—MCC is a team-based game with a rotating slate of minigames that's for the most part a monthly event, whereas Squidcraft is a free-for-all that takes place once a year and has a new slate of events from year to year. I don't think Noxcrew can do much in that regard to 'fix things' other than introduce more games? However, I'm fully aware of how much time and effort that takes to do, and since because they're not actually paid anything to run the event I have no expectations for them to do so. So on the Noxcrew side of things? Not much LOL

My criticisms are levied more towards the community—I've been a Dream in MCC enjoyer for a long time, and there's always been quite a bit of animosity and hostility towards him. At the beginning (say MCC6-MCC13) I think that there was at least some basis for it, he was much more loose-lipped and brash with his criticisms and I'll be the first to admit that he was a little annoying sometimes. But that came with unwarranted things like people literally inventing tiers just to keep him away from the community's golden boy S-tiers, and it often just felt like he was othered from the community because he brought a competitiveness people weren't ready to face despite. yk. it being a competitive tournament.

Also, during mcc's return, 2021 dttwt had a lot of ppl who were nasty and annoying and incited mcc drama just to fight about it (I'd been on the receiving end of it a few times trust me LOL). So those two things combined soured the general mcc community towards Dream and everything only snowballed from there. For instance, MCC14 was a DISASTER for the green guardians and right after, people on the reddit didn't even stop to go "hey, maybe he had an off event, he's just some guy after all" and instead went Okay Well he underperformed he should be demoted a tier immediately, and it was incredibly frustrating as someone who knew that his performance was a one-off. Thankfully he went on to back-to-back win the next two events but demotion never left the realm of discussion—not to mention that mcc days just became a cesspool on twitter, people across the board talking shit about how the dteam made mcc too sweaty or how the hermits were being boring and should get better at pvp etc and it was just. not fun to be part of the community.

That all spilled over into Dream needing to be incredibly careful with his words, setting boundaries about not harassing Scott/Noxcrew, softening every criticism with praise so that dttwt wouldn't get up in arms about a non-issue all while ALSO having to retain his reputation with the redditors so that he wouldn't be tossed to the side the second he underperformed. That is to say, it felt stressful to be a fan, and in some mcc's he ended stream bowing under the pressure, apologizing for underperforming or not winning when it wasn't something that I think most of his viewers cared about, and it just made some mcc days feel like a downer because he couldn't just let himself have fun, he had to be the diplomat towards everyone.

This event, on the other hand, just felt a lot more welcoming. Partially, I think that's because of the fact that it's a FFA instead of a team tournament, but it's also just that it didn't feel like anyone was coming into the day with malicious intent nor odds stacked against him, and there were very few expectations of him other than "woah that's Dream the best minecrafter in the world he seems like a cool dude" where ppl acknowledged he was just some guy who's good at the game. He didn't need to be diplomatic per se, he could just be his corny, teasing self towards people like Spreen and Rubius and no one would have started a hate campaign towards him because they'd take it in jest, and he didn't have any statisticians to perform incredibly well for either. It was p obvious he wasn't nearly as wired as he normally is during mcc and it made it so much more fun that he could perform without the pressure we normally see him under. He was just hanging with his friends, being a goofball towards strangers, and having fun fucking around! Which, with the multifaceted pressure during MCC, just isn't possible.

disclaimer this is completely from the perspective of someone who has primarily watched Dream (and his close friends) for mcc since 2020 so these criticisms center around him !! so it's not really a general thing

[tnbc-thoughtsandheadcanons]

Mirror Moon Series Review

The Nightmare Before Christmas: Mirror Moon comic by TOKYOPOP has recently ended. I’ve read through all of my Issues to give this series a proper full review! As always, I’m tagging with #Mirror Moon Spoilers to anyone who’d like to avoid them. This post *WILL* be long, since I’m talking about the entire series, so read the review below!

I want to start off with my pre-ordering experience with this series. Mirror Moon was expected to release in its entirety by October 2021, but kept getting delayed and only officially finished in April 2022(August, if we’re counting the Graphic Novel’s print date). It was irritating to lose money over this series. I hope no one endured the Hell I did with preordering Mirror Moon. Crossing my fingers that TOKYOPOP improves from this experience because I was not happy with ordering the Issues. :/

With that aside, I’ve broken things into categories to make things easier..!

The Art / Style

Mirror Moon has a unique and colorful art style compared to other TNBC adaptations, similar to Story of the Movie in Comics! Which might by explained by most of the events taking place during a sunny day. I love the stylization of most characters / Residents in here - I love what they did with the Witches and Sally especially! It’s always nice to see TNBC characters getting experimented with.

This comic *does* go with some recent changes, like the Behemoth’s axe is missing and the Vampire Brothers have pupils, both of which aren’t consistent with their designs in the movie. Something I want to mention is that...with the new style, some of the characters / residents are hard to recognize. This isn’t a big deal since these are side characters, but...Who is this tree, for instance??? 🤔 Is it the Hanging Tree from the film? His cousin? I love the insight as to who else could be living in Town, but it leaves me feeling confused since they’re either not addressed or explained.

Another criticism I have is the trouble with some scaling in the comic. Particularly, the way Jack Skellington is drawn in here...he’s known to be extremely tall and thin, as a skeleton, but in Mirror Moon, he’s drawn rather short and bulky. Something about it seemed off to me and I couldn’t enjoy the way he was drawn in here. A few other proportion issues come with other characters, but it can be chalked up to the stylized choice. In my case, I loved most things about it, but found Jack in particular to look....odd?

Another small mention is how Sally is drawn normally for the first couple of issues, but then is colored with a blush for the rest of the series(after she meets her clone). My best assumption is that they either decided on a style change, or did this to differ her between the clone? Maybe, to show how flustered she was from the ordeal? It still was off-putting. 🤔

The Plot / Story

A *LOT* happens in Mirror Moon’s story, so I will try to be brief explaining it all:

The comic is about Jack Skellington inventing a mirror that duplicates both objects and people, inspired by a dream he had where all of the Holiday Doors opened at once. In order to work on the mirror, he puts Sally in charge of the Halloween planning, merely a few days before Halloween. Understandably, Sally is stressed with all the responsibility, and has a premonition where she breaks Jack’s Mirror. She gets the feeling something terrible will happen from his plan.

The rest of the comic is Halloween Town spiraling into chaos from the unpredictable and malicious copies, while Sally learns about the mirror and helps get rid of the clones using the Vampire Brother’s help. She ends up breaking the magical mirror so no more things can be duplicated. Her ending line to the comic is: “A rag doll’s work is never done!”

...The comic is fast-paced, so things happen quickly. I think it would’ve benefited from a longer series to properly explore the concept. I would’ve loved to learn more about the clones - maybe see them team up + revolt together? See more of the Townspeople’s reactions to their copies? I think there was a lot of potential to this story that I expected too much out of - I find the plot a little lazy in explanation(the fact that Jack was accidentally copying people because the mirror was pointed outside? Really?) I feel like there was more they could’ve done with these ideas.

The concept felt a little more sci-fi compared to Nightmare’s usual fantasy. Still. It was filled with a lot of drama that kept with the story, so I appreciate Mirror Moon not being **boring**. Far from it! But I wish they had executed more bold ideas, and had the opportunity to do so instead of a 5-Issue series. I feel like that limited them greatly with what they could’ve done.

As a TNBC Adaption

I saw Mirror Moon described as a “sequel continuation to the Nightmare Before Christmas”. However, after reading the story....I can both understand and argue against this. The first thing we’re shown is Jack Skellington having a dream about all the Holiday Doors opening at once. Which means he’s aware of them and the Christmas debacle *likely* happened. It would also explain why Sally has more confidence to take charge of the town and approach Jack about his announcement to begin with.

However, some other things would point to Mirror Moon being a prequel. For instance, Oogie Boogie has an appearance later in the story. Since he dies onscreen in the film, this means it would *have* to be a prequel for him to be alive. The fact that Jack & Sally don’t seem to share any romance in this would also support the Prequel theory(that they’re just friends in this time). Unless both of these happen to be goofs / forgotten details.

If we’re treating Mirror Moon as a sequel, then it brings interesting worldbuilding / theories into play. The Clones prove doppelgangers are possible in the TNBC universe, and they turn malicious the longer they exist. Do they have their own universe in the mirrors? Are reflections’ true purpose is to be evil? Are they really a copy, or their own people in some way? This brings interesting questions!

Mirror Moon doesn’t necessarily have a new villain character either(unless we’re counting the clones themselves!). Nor does it bring new characters to the franchise...I know they introduced Gourd in charge of the pumpkin patch, but..c’mon. He’s just Jack’s Scarecrow design from the movie/games. It seems like a lazy way to bring a ‘new’ character in, borrowing an already-canon design of the MAIN character.

Other Commentary

I happen to be a big Jack X Sally fan. In this case, I somewhat expected some romantic scenes between them, only to be left in the dust. I know their relationship wasn’t the main focus of Mirror Moon’s premise, but...it doesn’t seem to exist in here, either. Which is confusing if this is a Sequel. Their first conversation is mostly one-sided with Jack not even asking for Sally’s consent to have her take charge of all the Halloween planning, or telling her in advance that he made this decision. The two don’t talk again until the very end. But Jack doesn’t necessarily apologize - and the two don’t share anything romantic. Weird.

-- To add onto this, some Mirror Moon concept art was shared in the digital Graphic Novel release(Credits to @violetified​ for sharing them!). Interestingly, some of these actually feature both Jack & Sally together, with a couple showing their malicious reflections behind them! I wonder why these weren’t used, but I also wonder if they were initially meant to interact more in the comic? Least to say, I prefer these layouts more than the finished result...

Also....one main character doesn’t even make an appearance in the comic. Dr. Finklestein is nowhere to be seen. He isn’t shown when Sally has to leave the Tower - which makes me wonder if she either approached him at all, had to sneak out, or (since this is a Sequel) she’s granted more freedom? I would’ve loved to know because I can’t see the Doctor allowing Sally taking charge of Halloween Town if he knew about it. He’s kind of crucial to her situation with her home life. He would also probably recognize her clone since he created her and knows Sally the best - possibly helping out with the story’s plotline!

- He isn’t my favorite character, but I think the Doctor’s presence would’ve contributed greatly to the story! He’s a mad scientist, and Jack was basically running a science experiment with the clones and mirrors. Why didn’t he ask for his help? Or work together with him? He could’ve assisted Sally with a solution to get rid of the copies! I find myself lamenting the lack of his presence in here because I can see him fitting so well with Mirror Moon’s events. :(

Overall

Mirror Moon was a fun experience, and something new for the TNBC franchise! I hope the fandom talks more about it. It brought an exciting plotline and shed light on Sally, arguably an underrated TNBC character who rarely gets proper focus in most adaptions! I love to see her character properly explored and written like this, where she’s able to show off her strengths! <3

However, Mirror Moon has questionable details that leave me confused. I wonder if the creators intentionally forgot some things from the movie, or if these were honest mistakes. (Dr. Finklestein, Oogie Boogie’s Death, Jack being the Scarecrow, etc.) It is a short story, so it can’t explain/explore everything unfortunately, but I still am left...confused....however, I’m delighted I got to read something like this!

Comparing Mirror Moon to Zero’s Journey, I can say that it felt like *more* actually happened in this series, which is funny since this was shorter in comparison. I looked forward to each Issue and was excited waiting for them to release! Both have their strengths and weaknesses as Sequels, but Mirror Moon is more fast-paced with a lot going on. I’d recommend this comic if you want something a little bizarre and different, but Zero’s Journey if you want something more loyal / consistent to the original movie!

If anyone has any further thoughts/theories/etc. on Mirror Moon, feel free to bring them into my Inbox! I’d love to talk more about this series!

[aggravatetheaxe]

For the sinclair brothers, when they get into an argument with their significant other, who's usually the first to apologize? Do they take the initiative or do they wait for the other to apologize first?

Good question!

Bo

For Bo, this depends entirely on who (in his view) "started" the argument.

His view isn't always correct, because he can be kind of a dick (this is known) and his perception of those kinds of things is warped.

Definitely someone who will be like "well you attacked me/you were nagging me/you were criticizing me, so you started it!" when he was the one who made it into a Big Thing.

Skirting blame is a coping mechanism from growing up in a situation where Doing Something Wrong would get him screamed at or beat - but that doesn't make it less annoying for his S/O lmao.

When something is undeniably his fault, though, he'll fess up to it. It'll take a few days, maybe longer, but once he's come to terms that he was the dick in the situation, he'll own that.

BUT keep in mind his "apologies" are rarely verbal. For smaller things, he'll nut up (or act, to make his own life easier) and say, "Look, I'm sorry, I was a dick" but big stuff is just naturally harder to confess to. In those cases, he'll "apologize" in other ways. Physical touch is his biggest love language, so if you'll let him touch you ... but otherwise, acts of service and gifts.

Words of affirmation, too. Say you cleaned the kitchen top to bottom to get the fuck away from him and let off some steam. He'll compliment you on a job well done instead of apologizing for causing the problem - and hope that's enough. If it isn't, he may get a little miffed, but he'll try again in another way. Or start another fight. We'll see if he chose violence today.

If you did start the fight, he'll wait forever for your apology if he has to (although the distance makes him antsy), but he's not gonna let you forget it. He also accepts non-verbal apologies like the ones he gives. Verbal ones make him preen - he likes to say he was in the right and he told you so - so for your own sanity, they may not be the right choice.

He is much more sensitive than he or anyone else gives himself credit for, so be aware of that. For instance, if he puts time into apologizing and you don't accept it? He's gonna be pretty fucked up over it (which, as we know, often manifests itself in anger and more fighting).

Vincent

You will not believe how stubborn Miss Vincent Sinclair is.

Seriously, he already has to eat the majority of fights he has with Bo, so I don't even know if he has the capacity to do so for another person.

Unlike Bo, Vincent doesn't really pick fights - he's much more direct - so either you're starting the fight or you've done something to offend him and he's pissed.

Regardless of who starts it, once she's had enough of fighting, she will do that thing where she leaves the room. Just leaves. And then is like "you needed space to cool off." The only person she gets in heated arguments with is Bo (and she knows how to pick her battles) and on very rare occasions Lester (but she's usually mediating between Bo and Les in those cases). Everyone else gets the blunt cut off.

I could see an exception to this depending on the kind of person his S/O is. If he formed a codependent bond with them, it could morph into more heated arguments. But generally, Bo is about the only person he'll play that game with. They're closer than anyone could probably ever know.

The queen of the silent treatment, and she should be, shouldn't she? If anyone is going to give you the cold shoulder, it's Vincent.

This isn't to say he'll do this to a ridiculous degree. He's still practical, so if you're fighting and something needs to be done, he'll probably do it. But it's lost that warm touch. Passive-aggressive as all hell (probably learned at least partially from his mom). Washing dishes and putting groceries away angrily type beat.

He'll wait for you to reach out and try to patch things up, but if you wait too long, you run a very high risk of drifting. He's not forgiving, and he can get very cold, so don't give him too long to stew.

You can apologize verbally, but he actually wouldn't prefer that. It's just awkward to sit there and listen to someone apologize, and it also comes with a higher pressure expectation for him to accept the apology. He'd rather have it in writing or in a gesture.

Don't touch her. Bridge the gap first, then you can touch. Only Bo can touch right away, and even he might get hit.

Lester

Man. Lester's RSD and his temper don't make for easy arguing, and they make for even weirder, messier apologies.

Like Bo, to a degree, it matters who "started" the argument, or who hurt the other more. He'd much prefer if you fessed up when you're in the wrong, and once he cools off, he'll admit the same.

But unlike Bo, who can deal with distance and only be made cranky and uncomfortable with it, Lester cannot deal with distance. He has rejection sensitive and abandonment issues to the max, so if you two haven't made up before bedtime, he's not going to be doing too well. Suicidal ideation and everything.

Very much believes in the "never go to bed angry" mindset, and he'll make up with you in bed at bedtime (not like that, although-) if he has to to keep that rule.

In the interim, he is just miserable. Gloomy and broody and ill-tempered and just not nice to be around at all, regardless of who started the fight.

If you're upset or angry or gloomy in any way, be ready for him to mirror you. He's a goddamn emotional sponge. He doesn't mean to invalidate you, he just can't help but be miserable when you're miserable. It can make for some very unpleasant interactions, especially if he's mirroring your anger.

If you don't make up with him within a few hours or, like I said, by bedtime, he gets hyper emotional in the other direction. This man will cry, and that's a threat.

If he really fucked up - I mean really fucked up - and he knows it, he will get defensive at first. Bitterly defensive, and probably end up saying things and defending himself in ways he doesn't really mean. He just panics. Similar to Bo's defensive response, something left over from their childhood. Soon after, though, he'll stiffen that upper lip and apologize.

BUT if the apology isn't immediately accepted with enthusiasm, he kind of ... spirals. He'll apologize too much just to get things back to the way they were, then in turn feel rejected again, then apologize more. To the point where all you can think - and all he can think, too - is "Jesus Christ, what a mess." Again, he just panics.

The upside of all this, however, is that the likelihood of him accepting your apology is extremely high. The second you apologize (and he actually likes verbal apologies and words of affirmation in general) he will accept it, and things will probably go back to normal. He just hates fighting and doesn't wanna do it. He'd rather just accept an apology and forget.

God help you, though, if that apology isn't genuine.

[brimbrimbrimbrim]

AaAHDSGGSGAGS I saw the Batman in theaters a few days ago and KNEW i needed to check if you had any Thoughts about the riddler <3

Oh, boy. Do I have thoughts on the Riddler? Fuck… although, I feel anyone that knows my blog and knows the shit I write, KNOWS I have horrible fucking thoughts on this guy. I know there are a lot of Riddler headcanons out there and stuff, but I’ve actually been amassing my own while I’ve been writing. Here’s are just a few of my favorite things. <3

SFW Headcanons

Never felt comfortable with himself until the first time he donned the Riddler mask

Gradually lost most of his empathy for humanity once he entered adulthood, quickly finding out that it wasn’t just the system that was corrupt, but people in general

Fantasized about responding to verbal attacks and criticism with violence from a young age, maybe even acted on those impulses once or twice to great punishment, resulting in his repressed rage

Self soothed these violent tendencies by losing himself in brain teasers, puzzles, riddles, and mysteries

Became a social outcast early, and continued to distance himself from people as much as possible

Submits to the most basic of social norms, though ‘acting out’ with inappropriate comments, laughter, and even verbal threats gives him great pleasure

Antagonizing the wrong people has granted him many black eyes, busted lips, and - in one instance - a chipped tooth, but they were worth it to get under their skin

Stumbled onto the online scene through work, after having to calculate mined cryptocurrency and its monetary value on an illegal operation alongside a lucrative exotic pet dealership

Made his first blog that morning after his shift was over and chatted with like-minded strangers until his next work shift that evening, and by the time he was done, he’d developed an obsession with the internet

His internet usage is unrelated to stumbled across the Gotham Renewal Project but gave him an immediate platform to engage in his hatred and vitriol, much to others' matched disgust

Finds great comfort in engaging with likeminded individuals consumed by their own hatred of the corrupt system forced upon them

Gave up Sudoku puzzles to learn how to manufacture homebrew explosives

Started journaling after a coworker suggested it when he found himself slipping into a depression, it wasn’t that they cared, just that the numbers didn’t add up one too many times and they needed Edward’s head back in the game

Began keeping a leger of his every day, then every moment, then his fantasies and dreams, but especially his violent desires

Thrives in organized chaos, knows where everything is, and likes that no one else would if they tried to find something in his place, not that he has many house guests

NSFW Headcanons

Realized he could only delve into his deepest desires once he was someone other than Edward, hence even something as simple as masturbating to pornography, became possible with the mask

Covets domesticity due to growing up without a shred of it as a child, now it’s become a tangible thing that consumes his every interaction with the opposite sex

Has a small list of failed relationships that barely got past second base due to being emotionally and sexually repressed due to being ashamed of his more violent desires

Gets off to the idea of having complete and total sensory control over his sexual partner

Finds ruined innocence erotic enough that most of his private fantasies involve very sweet-looking women succumbing to their baser sexual desires

Particularly enjoys the idea of ruined mascara, tear-covered cheeks, snotty noses, and tousled hair

Wants to cover a woman’s face in his cum, just drown her in it until she can’t even open her eyes

On the other hand, a part of him longs to feel comfortable enough to be weak in front of someone, especially a sexual partner… especially in a submissive role

Hates that he’s as sexually inexperienced as he is at his age

Is comfortable with the idea of using toys in order to make up for his lack of skill

Easily finds himself overwhelmed

Used to have a problem with premature ejaculation but made it a point to train himself to stave off his orgasms for longer and longer periods of time with masturbation and extreme porn

Has indulged in nonconsensual porn several times, but finds it ‘lacking’ and mildly offputting

Wants to overpower his partner during sex, so much that they’ll do anything he wants

[greatwyrmgold]

Caught up on Ice Queendom (again), and...is it just me, or is Nega-Blake mostly winning her argument with Nega-Weiss? Nega-Blake keeps explaining all the reasons the faunus have to distrust/hate humanity in general and Weiss in specific, but all Weiss can say is "I didn't personally do any of that, don't take it out on me!"

I kinda wish Blake actually countered that point, though. There are lots of options, from "You're still benefiting from the continued exploitation of faunus!" to "What else are we supposed to do? Nobody else is going to fight for us!" to "Do you expect me to dig up the corpse of Big Nicholas to punish him for his crimes?"

But even without that...I love how Ice Queendom is focusing less on the White Fang's terrorism than on the genuine injustices that it's a reaction towards. You could argue that that's just because it's Weiss's story, but...no? Both sides of that conflict are equally part of Weiss's story. The only reason that the injustices faunus face are given more focus than their terrorism is that the narrative considers a few wrecked trains less important than the oppression of an entire ethnic group.

There are quite a few reasons I hope Toshimasa Suzuki, Kenjirou Okada, Tow Ubukata, and everyone on the Ice Queendom team that Wikipedia doesn't mention in the sidebar keep remaking RWBY under the guise of telling side stories. Their treatment of the White Fang is a big one! I could see it falling into the same traps Original RWBY did with regard to the White Fang, but things are looking promising so far!

(I also like the detail that faunus were forced to fight Grimm to defend the human upper class. I don't recall anything like that being mentioned in Original RWBY, but it's a neat idea.)

Other random thoughts:

The use of splitscreen shots is a neat aesthetic touch. It would be weird if just one episode or some scattered scenes were like that, but Ice Queendom uses them enough that it feels like a deliberate artistic choice.

Not sure how to feel about Grandpa Nick's presentation. On one hand, it makes sense that Weiss remembers him as a kindly old philanthropist. On the other hand, he built a company renowned for its exploitation of faunus workers, and that's not something that just springs out of nowhere. I don't feel like the Big Nicholas looming over the story gets enough focus to say anything as nuanced as "He was nice to his family but callous towards others"; it kinda comes off as suggesting that Jacques was a bad apple, and the SDC just needs the right Schnee plutocrat in charge. I feel like the best solution to this would have been to let Nicholas fade into the background. (For instance, cutting that dream-flashback-thing where Weiss talks with her grandpa, and replacing it with a conversation she has with some present-tense character. Maybe she could cover some of those points in that conversation she has with Ruby?)

Revealing that Ruby has some special anti-Grimm power in her eyes before it's absolutely plot-critical is a good idea! The implementation is weird, though. Ruby has her epiphany, her moment of triumph; then the Nightmare suddenly restrains her after being shot a bunch; then Ruby's eyes give her a different moment of triumph, one that feels a bit less earned.

The Silver Eyes also prove that the IQ team is, on some level, preparing to do an Ice Queendom sequel if it's greenlit. There is no reason for that double-reversal-of-fortune ex machina unless it's establishing the Silver Eyes as something Important and Magic.

Jaune defeating Weiss's internal image of her abusive father feels like it's symbolically significant, but damned if I could say what it means! He did it with the help of Silly!Pyrrha and the Silly!Weisses, the latter of which definitely represent the childlike parts of Weiss that she locks away under her icy facade, but I'm still not sure what the former means, symbolically.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

Okay, I don't get it: What does goblin rebellion has anything to do with Jewish? I've seen many people getting angry about it, but I don't know why.

I am far from being the best person to explain this. I am not Jewish, so if I get any part of this wrong, I humbly ask any Jewish readers who come across this post to let me know so I can make corrections.

But my understanding of it is this: The Potterverse Goblins are problematic because Goblins are problematic in general. In theory, they're not supposed to be. In theory, they're just another fantastical creature like fairies or dragons, right? Well, not exactly. The Goblin fulfils a number of stereotypes, and in all likelihood traces it's origin back to offensive caricatures of Jewish people. You can read a lot more about this here, and it's explained far better than I ever could - but the bottom line is that at least one version of Goblin mythology ("cornish knockers") specifically cites them as being the souls of Jews who are condemned for their sins....so um, yikes. While the Goblin race has probably been fleshed out enough beyond those origins that it could could theoretically be "reclaimed" at this point...that is, frankly, not our decision to make.

I'm also not saying that using Goblins in your story automatically means you're an Anti-Semite. (It would be a stretch, for instance, to assume Stan Lee was antisemitic just because he invented The Green Goblin.) Like I said earlier, it's very possible for authors to simply not know this bit of history. (Though if this teaches us anything, it's that a little bit of research can go a long way.) I was completely clueless about all this myself, until just a few years ago. I couldn't understand the problem either. While I personally doubt that Rowling knew, or did this on purpose...her interpretation of the Goblins is still troubling. Most people are finding it very difficult to give her the benefit of the doubt on this, because at least on paper, the Potterverse Goblins check off all the boxes. Everything from their design, with the long, hooked noses...to their miserly behavior, to the point where they are the bankers of the Potterverse...yeah, it's not a great look. If you put Goblin culture under a microscope, I tend to think it's actually supposed to be a metaphor for white imperialism, but all of the stereotypes involved are still there.

Which brings us to Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy. At this moment, I feel that it's important to reiterate that I am not Jewish, and this is going to stray a bit further into speculation on my part. Again, please set me straight if I'm off course. But the plot of this game, so I hear, is going to be centered around one of the famous "Goblin Rebellions" that Harry learned about in History of Magic. Again, at first glance, there's nothing wrong with that. But I can see why it's rubbing people the wrong way. With how often Jewish people have been victimized throughout history, (and holy fuck, have they been through the ringer) it's possible to draw a parallel between the Goblin Rebellion and real world history. The problem is that in real life, The Jews were, y'know, the victims during these incidents...and seeing as how the player is going to be controlling a human character, something tells me that The Goblins in this game will be depicted as the villains. Now, maybe they'll make this a three-dimensional conflict. Maybe they'll flesh out The Goblin characters. Maybe they'll be sympathetic, maybe we'll have the choice to side with them.

But that's a lot of "maybe's."

There's also the timing. People are already wary around Rowling after she revealed herself as a transphobe, which is the sort of damage you just can't fix or take back - not that she's in any way trying to. But I wonder if recent events have inspired a healthy degree of paranoia. Now that Rowling has chosen to openly side with bigots, nothing is off the table: Maybe Dumbledore's story is written to be homophobic. Maybe the House Elves are glorifying slavery. Not saying that I think either of these things are true, but these are classic criticisms of the original books, and now they have a precedent. In the wake of all this, creating a game where the plot centralizes the oft criticized Goblins certainly isn't helping. This game couldn't have come at a worse time for Rowling or the Harry Potter brand.

[ryansjane]

This was inspired by you talking to the Cherry Magic anon about top/bottom dynamics and you saying khaithird were verse kings. I totally agree. And it got me thinking.

Something I’ve been thinking about is how a lot of OffGun’s shows have somehow managed to mostly avoid a lot of homophobic bl tropes. To my memory none of their ships for example have used the dreaded “wife” terminology. PickRome we’re pretty tame overall, and I guess Pick was the more dominant one, it didn’t hedge into homophobic territory basing positions on gender stereotypes, like some shows do. I know tol gets criticized a lot for Khai’s behavior being toxic, but again I can’t think of any terribly egregious bl tropes that would stop me from recommending it to a friend (I don’t recommend a lot of bl because of some of the stuff that’s said and perpetuated in the shows). And Not Me also did not have any of that, quite the contrary. Yeah sure maybe by bl standards it’s clear Off’s characters are the dominant ones, but it’s all been handled in their shows pretty well. Idk just something to think about. I guess they’ve been lucky in a way because pickrome was kind of smaller roles, and in season 2 even if they became much bigger parts it was never a bl show so it didn’t do a lot of tropes were used to. And since they were big before technically before doing a bl show, I feel like they had enough clout to have more of a say in their projects. I know they wanted to do not me for instance even before tol. So I think (and I could be wrong!) they’ve had some say in the projects they take.

And honestly with how politically aware the two of them seem, and as supporters of the queer community, I could totally see them consciously picking projects that didn’t have any homophobia. More so Gun in the early days. He was doing queer projects before he was a bl actor. I think he’s very aware and has been.

you're absolutely right about offgun wanting to do not me before theory of love, they've been signed onto it since 2018, a year before tol! personally though I'm so grateful tol came before not me bc it was the perfect order for me, if it was the other way around it would've lessened the impact of theory of love which I never want bc that show is a gem! I also definitely agree that every show where offgun have played a ship have mostly strayed away from most toxic bl tropes. in puppy honey, we do have some classic early bl tropes with one of them being closeted, but even as not the biggest fan of pickrome it's very clear that pick's behavior is bc he's super repressed & closeted so I actually think that's a story worth telling. as for theory of love, as I said yesterday it is not a classic university bl at all, and it includes a bunch of romcom tropes bc that's literally its concept but it does stay away from homophobic tropes altogether. it does have a few forced kisses moments that are definitely not my faves but overall tol is just fucking amazing. and then not me, which of course doesn't contain any of it bc it is SUPERIOR!!! and also THANK GOODNESS offgun have never had to call each other husband & wife, I would have lost a bit of my soul lmao :') but I definitely think that offgun have chosen their roles very wisely & the fact that they're so politically aware is DEFINITELY a factor. couldn't agree more with you anon!

xxx

[wheelsup]

a friendly bet

category: fluff/humor, spencer x reader warnings: briefly jealous Spencer word count: 1.34k A/N: this blurb was requested by loml @rigatonireid! the prompts are: "you're absolutely dreadful" + "you're my favorite know-it-all"

Spencer Reid really does know it all. His intelligence might be the most attractive thing about him — tied with his face, his hair, his height, his kind eyes.... Maybe Spencer Reid is just overall attractive and you love everything about him, inside and out.

So yes, you’re completely biased on the topic of your boyfriend, but you are aware not everyone shares this fondness of his brain.

He can’t really help that he corrects people all the time — his impulse just takes the steering wheel and makes his mouth move before he can consider if it’s appropriate to comment. The rest of the team is familiar with the quirk, but even they still take offense from time to time.

And the strangers you meet on cases are even less receptive to it. Local law enforcement tends to think that the FBI only shows up to throw their weight around their city, and Reid’s little know-it-all interjections only increase the tension.

It makes it that much harder to get along with them, which isn’t always something your team can afford when the stakes are high. So, you decided to make him a friendly bet that he couldn’t go one whole day without correcting someone on an instance it wasn’t truly necessary.

“I thought you liked my rambling?” Spencer’s bottom lip curled into a pout that you quickly smoothed away with your thumbs.

“I do! I just… think it might make things easier if you hold back a little. Some of the guys here are getting their feelings hurt.” You laughed and stroked his cheek, coaxing a smile out of him. Your proposition wasn’t a criticism of him. It was of everyone else.

“There’s no way I correct people that much,” Spencer scoffed and rolled his eyes, playfully pushing your face away from him like you were being ridiculous.

“Then take the bet and we’ll find out.”

And sorry to say, there was a way.

Not an hour into the day, the vein on Spencer’s forehead was at danger of bursting through his skin. It only came out when he was angry or deep in focus, and you really couldn’t pick which of the two were causing it now. (It was a bit of both.)

This morning, you were trailing about thirty feet behind everyone when coming into the station and Spencer, being the good boyfriend he is, held the door open for you the extra ten seconds. The receptionist at the front desk subsequently chewed him out about ‘letting all of the cold air come into the office’.

That was Spencer’s first test of the day.

Surely, every person in the world knows that’s not how thermodynamics work. Not even close. And if she didn’t know that, that was definitely cause for concern. So really, this felt like a necessary time for Spencer to speak up. For her sake.

But he saw the way your eyebrow quirked up and he knew it was a challenge. It was too easy of a win for you. So he decided to bite his tongue and apologize for the inconvenience.

His second test rose from an argument between Morgan and Prentiss. The barista Hotch picked up drinks from messed up the team’s order and they discovered they were short one coffee. Both threw empty threats at the other and insisted they needed the drink more, but it had come to a stalemate.

“Emily, I worked late last night.”

“What happened to ladies first?” She slid the cup to herself, and Morgan snatched it right back.

“I’m not seeing any lady here!”

Before Emily tossed her chair at Morgan’s head, Hotch suggested they just flip a coin to make it totally fair.

Spencer’s brain was screaming inside: The odds of a coin toss are actually 51/49! Trials have shown that a coin favors landing on the side that was facing up when it was thrown, so really, whoever picks that side has a better chance!

It isn’t so much a correction as it is a fun fact. A harmless little fun fact, surely people would like to hear it! He should share it, they’ll love it.

But you remembered Spencer telling you about this once before, and your eyes are narrowing on him with a smug expression.

‘Come on. Tell them’ your face seems to say. He knows it’s bait, and he doesn’t bite. Thirty-seven minutes into the day. He can do it.

And to your surprise, he did last. For a while. (A while being an hour and twenty-four minutes.)

After the morning briefing, Spencer saw some young male deputy follow you into the conference room. Where you were working. Alone. Why the hell did he need to speak to you alone?

He’s tall with cover-boy good looks (much like Spencer himself), but the thing that Spencer hated most about him was the way he’d been looking at you all week. It’s a nicer word than Spencer would use — he’d say it was more like staring. Watching. Creeping.

Yeah, that’s the one. He’s a creep and Spencer’s very suspicious of him.

So, he did what anyone would do and hid behind a tall potted plant near the window to peek into the room through the blinds. (It’s very inconspicuous, they should use him to go undercover sometime.)

“Can I help you with something?” You gave a polite, tight-lipped smile.

“Yeah, I was just, uh—” he forced a laugh and rubbed his neck in some lame attempt to be charming that made Spencer roll his eyes. “I was wondering if you could fill me in on the investigation.”

He placed a couple of files onto the table next to you and rested a hand on the back of your chair.

You blinked uncomfortably between his sudden proximity and the flirtatious expression adorning his face. “Oh, uh, did you miss the briefing?”

He shook his head no. He was there, he was just making an excuse to come talk to you.

“Could you talk me through it again? I guess I’ve got the memory of a goldfish.” He flashed a smile and leaned his elbow on the table, effectively boxing you in with his whole body.

Before you could tell him to kindly fuck off, you got distracted by the sound of rustling leaves. Then four seconds later, Spencer burst in through the door.

“Actually!” he huffed, a little out of breath, “Goldfish have a long-term memory ranging from three to five months.” Once he catches it, he crosses his arms over his chest and straightens out his spine to make himself bigger. “So you should be able to figure it out on your own. Unless your brain is smaller than a goldfish’s, of course.”

You have to clamp a hand over your mouth to keep from laughing at the deputy’s beet-red face. Spencer scrambled to pick up the files and shoved them back into the deputy’s arms as he “gently” ushered him out the door.

“That was cute of you.” You left a soft kiss on that protruding forehead vein that was finally beginning to go away. “You lost, by the way.”

.

“There’s no way you’re making me do this.” Spencer stood in front of your bathroom mirror with the grimmest expression on his face.

“Sorry, cutie, but you lost,” you teased, preening his hair into place.

A few weeks ago you saw an old picture of Spencer with his hair slicked back, and it’s all you’ve been thinking about ever since. You thought it made him look model-level good and begged him to do it again, but he was of a different opinion. Now, he had no choice in the matter.

“I can’t go to work like this, I’ll look like a joke. There has to be something else!”

“This is the only thing I want.”

He sighed, shoulders sinking as his whole body deflated. “You’re absolutely dreadful.”

You planted a sloppy, exaggerated kiss on his furrowed brows and continued combing the gel into his hair. “And you are my favorite know-it-all.”

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visual aid (tumblr wouldn't let me insert it ugh)

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[duchesschameleon]

shake it off

summary: Javy Machado is no stranger to mistakes. He’s never let the bad days get him down. dagger squad (taylor’s version) pt. 7 pairing: Javy “Coyote” Machado & Jake “Hangman” Seresin (platonic) read this fic on ao3

Javy Machado is no stranger to mistakes, to bad days, to constructive criticism. He’s had his fair share of days where things just feel like they won’t go his way and the day won’t end.

But he never let’s those days get him down.

Javy’s always been able to shake them off, to start each day fresh and at his best. It’s something he’s been praised for his whole career and he takes pride in his ability to shake the bad days, bad flights off and just keep moving forward.

And then he goes into G-LOC. He almost burns in, falls way below the hard deck, and almost crashes into the ground.

It’s the one thing he can’t shake.

His landing is shakier than normal, giving him some more bruises that he doesn’t even notice. He can’t stop replaying the whole sequence over in his head. Flying the simulated path with Phoenix and Bob, the deadeye laser, his miss, Maverick on the course, and then the climb. What would be coffin corner in under a week. Where he couldn’t fight back the blood rushing away from his head and nearly burned in.

And then there was the bird strike.

It’s one of the worst days of his career, falling short of just one. Everything that could have gone wrong did, and Coyote can’t shake it. He’s been checked out by the medics, cleared to go home. But he can’t leave the hospital. He has to see Bob and Phoenix, check in on them. He wants to see Mav, to thank him, but no one’s seen him since he left Bob and Phoenix.

The last thing he wants to be is alone, so he stays as long as they let him. But then visiting hours are over and he’s being kicked out. So he returns to his base housing and tries to do what he always does: shake it off, let it go. Learn the lesson, move on, get back at it tomorrow. A new day.

The knock on his door pulls him out of his spiraling thoughts. Jake’s waiting on the other side of the door when he pulls it open. He shouldn’t be surprised. He and Jake have been stationed together a couple times and kept in touch in between then. Jake knows Javy’s good at shaking off the worst days and moments. Jake probably knows that Javy can’t shake today.

“Holding up there, Coyote?” Javy shrugs. “Want some company?” Javy nods and lets Jake into the room.

“Hangman… I just. I can’t shake this one.” Javy knows Jake won’t judge him. Won’t yell at him to just man up and get over it. Jake knows what one other instance is running through his head. When it had been Jake Javy needed to thank after getting checked by medics. When Jake was getting congratulated for racking his first air-to-air kill.

“You survived. You pulled up. You got through it and you’re here,” Jake says, voice strong and steady, pulling Javy back to the present. “Mav got you out of G-LOC and you did the rest. Maybe you can’t shake it right now, but tomorrow’s a new day, right?”

Javy nods and sits on his bed, runs his hand down his face. “Right. Tomorrow’s a new day. And we’ve only got a few more of those until the mission.”

“So do what you do, Coyote. Sleep it off.”

“And shake it off.”