#SORRY SPARK ANON

[canon-gabriel-quotes]

ok now speaking of dreams, i just had one where i took Gabriel shopping and he was wearing that one dress like in the New Blood 10th anniversary art. he really liked nail polish and i just stood there as he tried on all 1628499302 samples available

This is just my (possibly weird? Or is it common idk) head canon that he doesn’t have nails so I’m just imagining that he’s drenched in paint

Help

[jgnico]

please nico i beg you to explain the sukuna 4 eyes being a copy of six eyes theory 🙏 it sounds really interesting

I was going to make a joke about you triggering my trap card, but yes, I would love to explain the Eyes Theory.

First, I wanna lay down some groundwork before I get into why I believe that Sukuna having four eyes functions as a nerfed version of the Six Eyes technique.

Thanks to statements from Todo and Mechamaru during the Goodwill event, we know that normal sorcerers can see cursed energy and follow its flow/behavior. With Todo, he's able to see the flow of Yuuji's cursed energy and how it lags behind, which leads to him teaching Yuuji the basics of cursed energy manipulation. Later in this same arc Mechamaru is able to see one of Panda's cores by looking at where his cursed energy is concentrated within his body.

So we know that sorcerers can see the cursed energy of other sorcerers and curses even without Six Eyes, but to drive this point home...

We get a panel of Sukuna looking at the cursed energy of the people within the city around him in the very first chapter. This lets us know that not only can he see cursed energy, but that he can see the limited cursed energy within non-sorcerers.

Where Six Eyes possibly differs in this aspect of its use is the precision with which it sees cursed energy. In the top panel here we're able to see Gojo's view of Toji's movement thanks to The Worm he's carrying, which isn't only brighter/clearer, but the traces between Toji's movements can be seen despite Toji's speed making him basically invisible to the naked eye.

It's thanks to this view of cursed energy that Gojo is able to do things like discern a person's technique or see if someone is a sorcerer to begin with. [ch. 69, 70] But, I'd like to point out that Sukuna has done something similar, for both of the previously listed feats. Not only is he able to figure out Megumi's technique during their fight, similar to how Gojo figures out the curse users technique in his respective fight, but we've repeatedly been told by The Angel that Sukuna only needs to see someone do something once in order to replicate it himself.

This isn't only how he was able to turn himself into a cursed object, despite other ancient sorcerers being unable to do so, but also how he's able to understand how Gojo was "healing" his cursed technique and do it himself afterwards. Likewise, this is also the foundation of why he wanted to use Mahoraga against Gojo after seeing how the shiikigami operated in Shibuya: to get a blueprint of how to get past Limitless. Despite multiple guesses from multiple characters about how Mahoraga adaption works (namely of which was Gojo), Sukuna is the only character that's seen it adapt multiple times, and therefore, knew that its adaptation process differed with each use.

So if we know that Sukuna can see and interpret Cursed Energy at a level on par with Gojo --save for some clarity through how the Six Eyes takes in information vs the eyes of other Sorcerers -- what about the other benefit that Gojo gets from his eyes: high amounts of Cursed Energy Efficiency?

Well, we get the answer to that from the person -- outside of Gojo and Sukuna or even Kenjaku -- that would know the most about Cursed Energy Manipulation. Keep in mind that Kashimo, regardless of his death, was someone who kept his place among the strongest by only using his CE reserves. By right of his skillset, he's no slouch when it comes to the topic, and per his assessment, Sukuna's efficiency would be better than Gojo's if he didn't have the Six Eyes to replenish his CE in the way that it does.

This is the only real substantial difference between the two, that Gojo's Six Eyes gives him more cursed energy, which allows him to burn ridiculous amounts of it, even without perfect efficiency. To balance it out and keep them somewhat equal, Sukuna has a tighter hold on his efficiency rate and a lot more cursed energy to compensate for what he uses up.

But why do I think that Sukuna having extra eyes is his own version of Six Eyes specifically, rather than a visual buff alone?

Well, we told explicitly that Sukuna's extra limbs and organs make his body perfect for sorcery. None of these modifications to his body are purely aesthetic. Extra hands for signing, an extra mouth for chanting --both of which greatly increase the potency of your attacks-- an extra heart and lungs to make sure it all keeps running smoothly.

The only feature that isn't mentioned is his extra pair of eyes, which is odd given the fact that they're arguably his most noticeable and present feature. Even outside of his true form, his eyes are manifested on his vessel while his extra mouth and arms aren't. Even when he's not in control of his vessel --as with Yuuji's case-- his eyes still remain on his face, only closed.

If all of his extra limbs and organs have a purpose that makes his body perfect for sorcery, then why would his eyes be different? And what better eyes to immulate than the ones that are highly valued within the jujutsu world for the advantages they give in terms of sorcery and have also been around in some way for as long as Sukuna has?

While I won't argue that they're better or even the same, I will say that they are at least (arguably) equal in two of the three main benefits that the Six Eyes grant their users; perception and interpretation of cursed energy.

That's the theory, at least.

[angelsdean]

the thing is, jack literally is not a toddler. like i am all for baby jack AUs and headcanons but in canon he is not a baby in an adult body. the narrative does not treat him as a toddler. they settle this debate in jack's second (2nd) episode when jack is mimicking dean (bc he imprinted on him like a baby duck) and he goes to drink a beer and they let him because he's not actually a baby despite being new to the world. it's the same as when amara is born and grows up fast. she is not still a baby when, a very short time later, she is in her fully adult form. jack is a young adult, who yes is a bit naive and learning abt the world, but it's more on par with like angels being new to the world and learning abt humanity, (like cas.)

jack is also an incredibly powerful being! he is literally thee most powerful being on earth, more powerful than any archangel, and only second in power to chuck-amara. and chuck fears him. especially when jack goes soulless. everything that happens in Moriah is because chuck is angling for them to do away with his jack-problem. he's moving the pieces on the board, fueling tfw's (yes all of them) already uneasy feelings about soulless jack and telling them thee Only way to stop jack is to kill him. chuck also establishes that he's a writer and writers lie early on in the episode. then he tells them there's no way to save jack, only kill him. that chuck's hands are tied and restoring souls is beyond his abilities (he literally created souls !! he's GOD !!). he's literally lying to them thee whole time. and it all gets revealed when sam realizes chuck IS scared of jack and that he knows where jack and dean are and that everything is going according to plan and that he's enjoying it. and then dean does something chuck doesn't expect, he doesn't go through with what chuck wants him to do! he disrupts the narrative ! he chooses free will!!! he will not kill his kid. he won't do it. he throws the gun away because he can't do it. jack, very much like dean during the michael arc, is prepared to die if it's for the greater good.

like i said before, jack mimics dean. jack loves dean. jack learned so much from dean's example. (also, an aside but. dean and jack do so much bonding off screen. just from the references to their movie watching alone-- they've watched the lost boys 36 times--it's clear they've spent a lot of time together). anyways, jack learns a lot from dean and he and dean both feel similarly re: sacrifice. jack thinks the same about sacrificing dean during the michael arc, he tells cas it doesn't matter if they can't save dean if it means ridding the world from the danger of michael. similarly, soulless jack IS a threat to the world because he is thee most powerful being in the world after god and right now he is behaving unpredictably. they are right to be afraid of him (and yes they love him, but all of tfw currently fears him.) still, despite dean and jack sharing these similar views, neither of them could follow through with killing the other when it comes down to it.

anyway, all some people want to remember abt 14x20 / jack's soulless arc is dean pointing a gun at jack / putting him in the box but literally dean cannot and does not kill jack and actively goes against god's manipulation. additionally, jack is not a baby who just made a mistake and everyone is overreacting. of course he didn't mean to kill mary, but they are not irrational for being afraid of jack, who is an extremely powerful supernatural being who currently is behaving erratically and where loss of control results in fatal consequences for others. like they are Right to want to take precautions and find a solution to protect the world from jack who at the moment is very much like a bomb that could go off on a whim. also this IS a supernatural fantasy show, like that context matters. they are not putting their literal baby in a box for, like spilling orange juice. they are trying to deal with a supernatural threat on the "dealing with supernatural threats" show. cas even suggests putting jack in the cage / binding jack. they are all afraid of him and looking for a solution until they can figure out a way to save him. and the only reason anyone starts talking about killing jack is when chuck is the one to suggest it as Thee Only Option (because again, it's what chuck wants to happen)

[dickwingary]

If you ever do feel like gathering a take on Xavier in the comics, I would recommend reading them. The character assassination is kind of infamous but even without those stories, there's a lot to debate. I wouldn't necessarily take every fan read at face value, and I would be especially weary of ableism and fixation on the wheelchair. I think he overall sucks but in an interesting way, at least in the good ones, and not all the time. For what it's worth I went knowing the worst rep and I came out thinking that he wasn't so bad in comparison, so it may have backfired a bit. This anon is just another fan though so if you ever get curiouser, I'd say the best resource is the comics.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share anon!

Like you’re suggesting, I’m keeping myself open until I have first hand knowledge to form my own opinions.

Coming from DC I actually loved the way Charles’ disability (seemingly) doesn’t impact the story in a “awwww poor little guy let’s erase that so he can actually be a hero!” way. COUGH COUGH BABS COUGH. Oracle honey I’m so sorry. the difference between having one’s disability be neutral VS whatever the fuck Tom Taylor does with Babs: ASTRONOMICAL.

But anyways side tangent aside that’s very reassuring to hear!

[thenwethrowitonthefire]

hello. hope you doing well (and if by any chance you don't take a ball🟡 :)

what is been in my mind recently was "the girl crying in her latte" but not the song, the title. does crying in latte have underneath meaning in english? (I couldn't find anything so I'm guessing not) so what could it mean? the best I came with was the sense of sadness that could be felt on daily life. or perhaps overwhelming days that can't be soothe by a simple act even. what do you think? I would like to know

Hey! I am doing well but can I have a ball anyway? 🌞 Yellow is my favourite colour for the album as well! How did you know! (It was initially released in different colours which is hella cool and collectible.) I will be using that phrase, "take a ball". I like it a lot :)

"Crying in your latte" to my knowledge isn't a phrasing that already existed (@ native English speakers: please correct me if something similar did already exist). It's such a strong phrase though, I really like it. I really needed time to try and word the concept of it properly though because it contains so much in one phrase. It's simple, but it says A LOT. So bear with me, this will get long.

"Crying in your latte" is a metaphor for a couple of things but what it speaks to the most, to me anyway, is what life is like under late stage capitalism. (They may or may not agree with that exact wording, so please note those are my words.) To be crying in one's latte you'd need 1) things to be crying about, 2) to be living in a place where you can order a latte, 3) have the means to afford the latte. So to me, that means the girl crying in her latte is a girl with the privileges of the Western world, but who is at the same time thoroughly depressed about the state of things. This is a girl who should have it good, right? She clearly has certain privileges and has the means to buy a latte after all. So why the tears? It could be a whole range of things, from shallow "meaningless" things like social media drama about celebrities to a breakup to hating her job that she is trapped in to climate change to the excessively poor state of the world.

I do have to bring the song into this though, because who knows what came first: it being the album title or a song. The song has seemingly simple lyrics, which to me speaks of the shallowness of social media, how people are pretending to one another online, and there being a lack of real connection with each other. (Something something loneliness "epidemic".) The observer in the song to me doesn't seem very judgemental about why the girl might be crying but simply observes that every time one girl crying in her latte leaves her spot, another one will take her place. Acknowledging what's clearly a widespread feeling of depression, grief and sadness permeating life at the moment; there are too many things to be crying about. ("So many people are crying in their latte".) The girl is crying in her latte might initially read as a boomer-like judgement on this girl, phrased in a way that might make someone laugh, but most of all it seems to be an acknowledgement of there being something deeply wrong with the way the world is right now.

The songs on the album really drive this home (I won't mention all of them but I will mention *almost* all of them): we've got a song about a Hollywood star giving up her career to win a war and to keep other women safe who were escaping reality through fantasy, a song about a baby who wishes they hadn't been born, a song about people kept apart by their opposing work schedules, a song about someone who no one knew had been deeply unhappy because she kept up appearances and now can't take it any longer, a song about external pressure on who one should be, a song about dictatorship, a song about escaping the blandness of daily life, and a song literally called "It Doesn't Have To Be That Way" near the close of the album. Plus a Japanese bonus track called "This Is Not The World I Signed Up For". (All of these messages wrapped up in songs that are often energetic, beautiful and humorous. They know how to acknowledge hard truths in ways that leave you grinning and hopeful. To me this album is a wish for a better world.) I know, you simply asked about the phrase and not the song/album, but the phrase does contain all of that.

One more thing that I also feel in the meaning of the phrase is also made visible on the album cover, where we can see them reading a newspaper. There's this distance and disconnect between the person crying in their latte and some of the things they might be crying over. There's a constant stream of news coming from the world. But she's sitting in a cafe, with her latte. Not all of it is happening to her directly, she's seemingly safe - but she's also affected by it. (Maybe she bought that latte in an attempt to make it all a bit more bearable.) The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte contains these contradictions of privilege and powerlessness, connectedness and disconnect. It's someone who seemingly should not have something to cry about. And yet...

[bananasfosterparent]

People not get that barely fleshed out characters are less liked? Do we really need to discuss why some like evil vampire companion who you have full three story arc together and most players find him beautiful, but don’t like the evil antagonist you hardly get know but one companion definitely hates him and most players don’t find him good-looking?

I really will never understand the "Gortash is RIGHT THERE! Forget AA!" takes. Like, YES go ahead and mention him as a potential roleplay element for people's characters. But he isn't a "replacement" for Ascended Astarion and I don't enjoy AA because he's got trauma and just because he's a villain. I don't get why people would see them as interchangeable characters. They aren't the same person in any capacity.

But more importantly, as you were getting at.. you can spend 3 entire acts getting to know Astarion, interacting with him, traveling with him, hearing his thoughts on various subjects, and learning about his background.

If you play a regular Tav (like I always do), you learn some surface stuff about Gortash as a villain and that's about it. You learn much more about him as Durge, but regardless, you can't actually romance him the way you do Astarion... so how in the world does that measure up?

If I, as the player, literally abandoned Ascended Astarion and poured all my blorbo love onto Gortash in his stead, my game would be SO BORING.

[batfossil-fr]

fun fact. I have gotten anon hate for posting my dragons here before. not once. but multiple times. I think about them a lot and have a little giggle each time

[demonstars]

I love when u answer anons without actually answering their ask directly. Very mysterious

I love vagueing

[catboyidia]

Okay but I feel like Genesis would be such an inspiration for other omegas bc hes the first (and only??) Omega to make it to first class

Also, if you have any note thoughts about omega genesis or genesis in general I'd love to hear them

yeah, i can definitely get behind that too! i think it’d be really sweet if he got to be that kind of inspiration for people!

as for other little omega genesis headcanons:

- i definitely feel like he’s the type to get super clingy around the time of his heats, but as soon as his heats are over he will deny that he ever acted that way…

- i feel like despite omega stereotyping of being oh so uwu helpless, he’s the one that generally takes charge, and he keeps up with his alpha counterparts, sometimes even needing to save and lead them! he’s a strong independent omega for the most part!

- even in romantic situations he will rarely let himself be outwardly submissive, even if his omega instincts will sometimes desperately try to make itself known, but there are always subtle signs; a certain amount of clinginess, stealing his partners clothes and using them to nest but doing it slowly over time so it’s hard to notice, just doing all the normal omega stuff but in the subtlest way possible and denying it if anyone asks!

[owl-with-a-pen]

I’m gonna start by saying forgive me if I’ve already sent this ask. I feel like I might have but I have a bit of a memory problem so I’m really not sure. If I have ignore this.

That said, if you’re still taking requests I would absolutely love it if you did a scene that would fit into the episode featuring the courage totem where Brainy says he can’t wake Nia but we don’t get to see the process of him trying and realizing this. I saw in the tags of an old post you were considering writing about it so if you’re still interested that would be really cool.

This may be the latest prompt yet, but I just reached this episode on my re-watch and remembered this ask specifically. So again, anon, if you're still out there, I hope you enjoy!

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

The moment Brainy touched down at the Tower, he headed straight for the training room floor. The elevator moved unbearably slow, uncaring of his plight even while he tapped ineffectually at the button controlling his descent.

All the while, his mind continued to work over the last hour’s events.

Alex and J’onn had been affected by something during that altercation – clearly – and yet Brainy was struggling to pinpoint a cause. Indeed, he seemed to be having a hard time thinking of anything. He was still unnerved by the punches he hadn’t been able to evade during the fight. Punches thrown by human adversaries, civilian adversaries, and for some reason he hadn’t seen them coming. Differential calculus had failed him in the moment, leaving him with a dangerous blind spot that had nearly cost him the safety of the citizens he had been meant to protect.

Perhaps he had been unable to predict their moves because they themselves had been dictated by an otherworldly force. Or perhaps this was Vita’s doing, somehow. The Kryptonian witch had been meddling inside his projectors not hours ago, although any trace of her had been expunged completely the moment she’d fled back to her crystal.

Which meant that there was nothing wrong with him internally; no matter how many diagnostics he ran didn’t change the facts.

No. He was missing something, he had to be. And he still couldn’t shake the feeling that things were about to get worse.

And, if that was the case, then Nia needed to be informed. She’d stayed local to the Tower to try and use her dreams to search for Nyxly, and while Brainy hoped she’s made more progress than the rest of them, he couldn’t deny that his main priority was an entirely selfish one.

Simply, he wished to see her again.

Things always felt clearer when he had the chance to talk them out with Nia Nal, and he desperately sought that clarity now. But Nia’s job was by far the most important if they were to gain any insight for the fight to come, and he could not allow his own feelings get in the way of that.

When the elevator doors finally shuddered open and Brainy stepped foot into the training arena made makeshift den, the sense of wrongness twisting his stomach didn’t lift as anticipated. In fact, it only seemed to intensify.

Nia was sat on the other side of the room, mostly upright on one of J’onn’s scavenged antique armchairs.

Brainy’s lips twitched fondly at the sight.

Over the last few weeks, Nia had been spending more time in the dream realm than she ever had before, so much that she’d become impressively adept at appearing otherwise conscious during her meditations.

Only her soft snores betrayed her now.

Brainy folded his arms, ducking his head with another suppressed smile. As much as it pained him to disturb her dreams, their current circumstances had made it something of a necessity.

“Nia,” he said softly, not yet at her side. Oftentimes, that was all it took to reach through to her. The sound of his voice always found her eventually. No matter how far into the dream realm she may have travelled, that had always been a certainty.

Today, however, something was different.

When Nia didn’t stir after the predicted one minute and fifteen second window Brainy normally left for her, a nervousness began to creep its way into his throat. He swallowed it down quickly, crossing the room towards her.

Even his proximity didn’t appear to dispel her dreams. When he was close enough, Brainy crouched down in front of her, tentatively taking his girlfriend’s arm, attempting to reach her. “Nia Nal?”

Nothing. Nia remained perfectly still, her lips half parted.

Brainy frowned, eyes skirting across her expression, intent on finding anything that might account for this abnormality in her sleep cycle. Nia’s brow was furrowed slightly, as though she was concentrating on something very far away. Her fingers were tense, curled inward, impressing strained lines into the leather armrests.

Most worrisome. The dream realm wasn’t meant to cause such an adverse physical reaction. Nia would often wake from a dream disoriented, the physical embodiment of her astral self coinciding with that of the waking world, but that occurred after the dream had dispelled, not before.

Brainy forced his breathing to still, taking his girlfriend’s shoulders, squeezing her with gentle reassurance. He let his eyes flutter shut, focusing instead on his internal enhancements. He had long ago put buffers in place to match up against Nia’s own energy frequencies, though as her abilities had grown, he’d found himself implementing more to prepare for any variations in which her powers might manifest.

He thought he’d known what to expect, but when his attempt at connecting with her was met with a powerful snap of dream energy that lanced down both his wrists, Brainy jerked his hands away with a hiss, shaking them out.

“Sprock,” he muttered, winding a protective hand around his ring finger where her energy continued to smart. He stared at Nia’s unresponsive posture, wide-eyed, a panic flaring inside of him so fiercely that it took every ounce of his self-control not to grab for her and shake her with all his might. Anything that might wake her.

But it would do not good. Nia was protecting herself from the outside world, her energy posing a physical threat against anything that sought to disturb her focus. A soft blue highlighted her cheeks, her gloves glowing a brilliant but dangerous shade. She'd travelled deeper into the dream realm than he'd ever witnessed, somewhere that even Brainy couldn’t reach through to her.

What had brought on such prowess, Brainy wasn’t sure. Had she found new certainty in her mother’s teachings, or perhaps she was responding to a vengeful trigger set in motion by Nyxly?

Either way, Brainy should have known, should have predicted this. By being attentive to her feelings, by being present at all. He was failing her, and he was failing himself by being unable to focus on probable cause, to outline anything at all with absolute certainty. Not with Alex, not with J’onn, not with this…

It seemed he needed… help.

Brainy nearly recoiled at the notion. He hated that feeling, the vulnerability that came with such uncertainty, but he couldn’t deny it any longer. Something was wrong, and if he was going to figure it out, he needed to alert the rest of the Super Friends to Nia’s current predicament.

He balled his hands together nervously before dipping forward, cupping the side of Nia’s face so that her energy bleached his palm. He sighed, pressing his lips firmly to her forehead, taking comfort in the warmth of her skin, the sweet scent of her shampoo.

“I will return,” Brainy promised her, his voice barely a crackle in her ear.

Nia remained unresponsive throughout, though from the tightness of her expression, Brainy knew her battle raged on elsewhere. He only hoped that wherever she was, she might have heard him. Enough to know that he was not leaving her. That he would be back. He would always be back.

He didn’t allow himself to linger a moment longer, otherwise he would never have had the strength to pull himself away. Instead, he headed back towards the elevator, twisting his ring close to his chest, still hot with errant dream energy, and made his ascent known.

[emberglowfox]

How bad would you say the Spiderverse sequel is for overstimulation? I'm pretty sensitive to getting overstimulated (especially in cinemas because crowds), so I'm hesitant to go watch it. The first movie was real bad, even after I waited long enough that they were running it without 3D effects, and I'm worried the sequel is the same. Much harder to enjoy the movie if the flashing immediately gives you a pounding headache. :(

Unfortunately it is A Lot. moreso than the first i’d day— they really lean into some of the more flashy effects and while it looks really cool it’s definitely really intense to watch. if you’re prone to overstimulation sadly i would suggest probably not seeing it in theaters. I’ve seen some people I follow w similar issues talk abt waiting until it’s on streaming/otherwise to watch it in a safer environment like in a bright room on a small screen, that might help

[kimtaegis]

What do you mean by "I keep prioritising the less important things"? 😕

e.g. running a blog is significantly less important to my future than writing my stupid thesis right now and doing my jobs 🥲 yet here I am constantly delaying or skipping work to make gifs on time, it’s not good. I just can’t seem to regulate this sense of obligation? I don’t know if it’s the right word for what I mean I’m sorry

[sunskate]

Movies? My kingdom for a waltz or a tango or a finnstep again. Dance should be dance, not easier pairs.

(Christina and Anthony should do Titanic. Or Pride and Prejudice, but that’s probably a bit too subtle and quiet and I love them doing subtle and quiet but in a pre-Olympic season they need to pack a punch)

ooh i’m dying for a waltz season dance should have dancing😭

CPom playing Kate and Leo to Celine belting near far wherever you are - you can see the SlLi with him as the prow of the ship and her with her arms outstretched and the king of the world voiceover😅 P&P😭

someone said Lopareva/Brissaud should do Blade Runner. what would be others?

it’s such a broad theme, if they don’t have a limiting pattern element it’s just a costume party and nothing has to address what separates the teams who can really skate from those who aren’t at that level or forces anyone to work on their weaknesses, since they can just pick steps they can do

can there be an element in the scoring that addresses the difficulty of the step sequences they’re attempting, like in gymnastics or diving?

[thenwethrowitonthefire]

it doesn't have to be that way.

okay

I need you to know that I've been thinking about this ask non-stop for the last 3 days. This song came for us all and took us under its wing. I live here. It's a gem of a song. (This reply will get very long.)

My first time hearing it was live, as it was for a bunch of us as the album release was at the beginning of the tour. To set the scene, I was obviously really excited for any new songs I'd be hearing that night, and then Russell introduced the song like this:

"This is another brand new song for any of you who feel like maybe you're not on the right course. [He pauses briefly.] It's a song that's called 'It Doesn't Have To Be That Way'."

I was already nearly in tears, and then it started:

They always said that you cannot change your mind, Do it once and you're defined, do it twice and you're divine

...

It doesn't have to be that way, okay?

Every line of the entire song hit me like a brick while also being the most comforting thing I've ever heard. It was beautiful. And coming from the guys who for over a decade have been my personal champions of "things not having to be that way", the guys who are my people, who have by their very existence been telling us all this exact message for all these years. And here it was, in words, aimed at all of us.

They always said that you need to have a plan, Doesn't matter, any plan, any plan they'll understand, It doesn't have to be that way, okay?

... They've not been known to go for songs that bring people to tears, and I'm not known to be the kind of person to listen to songs and cry. And yet here we were.

While I can write an essay on every verse, a part that's especially meaningful to me, as a queer person, as an aspec person, is this:

They always said that it must reflect your life, And incorporate your strife, maybe mentioning your wife, It doesn't have to be that way, okay?

These *are* lines that seem to reflect their life (the entire song seems to, just as it does ours), and they're all things I've always loved so much about them, things that have paved the way for all of us. But I'm going to especially highlight the "maybe mentioning your wife" line. Here we have two (likely) heterosexual men, but they don't bring their love lives to the public eye - very consciously, and by choice. What they do with their lives is all about their music. Their lives are highly meaningful, to them and to so many people, and you don't need amatonormativity or the nuclear family to have a beautifully meaningful life. They show that every day, in all they do. Their work has always attracted many queer people of all sorts for obvious reasons, and it's been so easy to find aspec people among the fans which is a real treat. While they likely both have partners, the beauty is that we don't really know. We don't know that part of their lives and we don't need to know to know them, if they're not telling us it doesn't concern us. There's a lot of people who don't understand this though, people who feel like they don't know who Sparks are as people because these people feel like in order to know who a person is, they need to know their relationship status and whether they have a family. (In reality these people are looking at the wrong things, they're trying to classify and understand life in the only way they know, and therefore they seem to be unable to see what's there.) The added beauty of all this is that it doesn't just gives Sparks some privacy, but also it creates a safe space for all of us who aren't looking to live that way, who aren't looking to build our lives around a romantic partner, for whom the ideal life isn't one where you build a family, or for whom that do wish to live that way but where it isn't the thing that defines you. You don't have to mention a partner or make your life about that. It doesn't have to be that way, okay?

And then there's those parts of the song that go,

I may be wrong, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it,

No chart-bound song, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it,

No sing along, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it

I'll pay for it

Which can be read and felt in a number of ways which all mean so much to me ... There's their own lives in it, where they've always done things their way, where people may tell them to not do things that way, and where it might not work out - I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it. Theres our lives, where we equally all make our decisions, try to just live our own ways to the best of our abilities and where we make mistakes - I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it.

And then, thirdly, to me, there's the feeling to it where they've got our backs. No chart-bound song, no sing along, that can be about an album not becoming the success it was hoped to be, but if you just look at No sing along, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it, to me there's also an aspect of not wishing it upon another - instead carrying it for you, don't sing along. (This feeling feels further supported by the ending of the song, how 'bout a drink, I'll pay for it, it's been too long, I'll pay for it, which to me reads as paying for that drink for your friend so no one has to go through it alone nor without support.)

I'll look uncool, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it

I'll look the fool, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it

I'll look too schooled, I'll pay for it, I'll pay for it

I'll pay for it

The price of authenticity, the price of following your heart and your beliefs. And we all felt that.

As you can tell, this is one really really special song. It had so many of us in tears. We all spoke about it for weeks, I'm still talking about it. It's kind of like Sparks' life concepts we all already understood, that drew us here in the first place, got beautifully distilled into a song. (So much of this recent album has that quality, and it was felt all throughout the entire tour too.)

Every night Russell gave the song a slightly different introduction that hit people right in their heart. There's a quality to it performed live that makes it hit even harder than on the album. I recorded it at every show I've seen. Here's two of them:

... it especially hits hard when you're near the front, looking at these guys with your big eyes, locking eyes for a second and you know they know. (I also did a quick shot of Ron's Jordans here, seeing him wear them was always a dream of mine and here I was, stood right in front of him seeing him wear Jordans.)

[jacky-rubou]

Four fics that I have dreams about.

stan and Ford both being protective of Dipper and mabel and mabel and Dipper join stan and Ford on the boat for a few days Dipper and mabel get in a pinch and stan and Ford protect them and they get hurt in the process mabel and Dipper blame themselves and say they never should have came on the boat and stan and Ford comfort them and reassure them and try and convince them otherwise!!

Ford and mabel bonding with protective Ford and it too Ford and mabel decide to go on a camping trip for some bonding and Ford protect mabel from some stuff and there's lots of fluff in it and some hurt/comfort to.

Ford beats himself upFor not being there when Dipper and mabel were born and get to be there for them and be their great uncle and Ford feels the need to make up for a bunch of years missed out with Dipper and mabel and they tell him its okay he doesn't have to do this. stan and Ford are back home in Gravirty falls from their sailing adventure Dipper and mabel are back in Gravirty falls for the summer and mabel has a really bad nightmare and she needs the comfort and reassure of both of her Grunkles to make her feel better.!!!

please I hope you don't think any of these are dumb!!😟😟😭😭

aww they're cute. not sure what else to say though haha.

[ingo-ingoing-ingone]

Would it be alright to ask you advice on curating my fandom experience? Regarding avoiding b///kshippers and the like, unfortunately. I don't know who else to ask, unless you or your followers know of someone? I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

I guess so, yeah! Would be easier if you're off anon, admittedly, or on discord or the like. I'm not sure what specific info I can give tbh?

I can give some general advice though

Block people if you don't like them, and mute/block terms you don't like. Use filters liberally.

This is the internet, things that should not exist unfortunately do, and we cannot change what others do. It's not worth your time and energy or mental health to try and change other's minds on this, i promise.

Personally, I prefer to block and mute individual people instead of filter tags or block terms. I'd rather catch and block the source, so I can keep certain people from interacting with my blogs or fics. Some people would simply rather not see anything at all, so block and filter anything associated with it. It's genuinely up to each person.

But remember this IS and will always be the internet. The unfortunate truth is that you WILL see stuff you don't want to, sometimes in the least likely of places. Sometimes people won't tag. Sometimes it'll ruin your day. But if you wanna engage with fandoms and media online, you have to know this, and you have to be able to decide when the risk is not worth it.

It sucks, it really sucks that this is how it is, but it is :(

But yeah! Know what works for you! Block people! Block tags! That's genuinely the best thing to do, and at the end of the day almost all you CAN do. At least it's a powerful tool.

Good luck anon! If you need more specific advice you can ask, though it's no guarantee i'll have an answer

(Oh, another thing I suggest is, if it's a fandom like submas that has big presences in other languages, if you cannot speak those languages find the tag for the ship or whatever it is you don't like IN THAT LANGUAGE and block it

In english, if I see ship art I don't want to see, I can easily read the tag and block the artist. In japanese, I cannot read the tags, so blocking the tags helps me not see it because as we all know, sometimes it's hard to recognize what's a ship art piece and what isn't!

It's not foolproof, but it definitely helps me avoid artists I cannot read the tags of, and find artists that don't create stuff like that! because I personally love finding cool art from all over the world, despite not being able to read it.)