#a lot of polls are like option 1 option 2 other and i'm like okay did you even try lol

[coquelicoq]

Hiya!!! Thanks for replying to my poll about DDDNE! You are not overthinking it and in fact are thinking about it the correct amount that I wanted everyone to consider it in an ideal world!!! I very much appreciate your contribution to Fandom Science and the thought you put into your nuanced explanation in the tags. I hope you have a great day!!!!

[re my tags on this dead dove poll]

wow thank you for responding!! i have a history of being confused by "dead dove: do not eat" (see also my explanation of where "dead dove" came from and these asks about using it as an intensifier) and also have a lot of thoughts about poll mechanics, so it was a perfect storm lol. it's so fascinating how terminology can mean such different things to different people, and this term in particular having different meanings to different people is kind of high-stakes because it's a trigger warning of sorts. i will be interested to see the results when the poll closes!

(followers who want to share their thoughts on dead dove do not eat: the original poll is accessible at the top link, and here's a follow-up poll)

i hope you have a great day as well!

[kimdokjas]

wait wait, what’s the change tumblr did to the reblog chains ? 🥲🥲🥲 I’m so lost

okay so basically, let's say you see a post on your dash

before the update, if you clicked on a url, you could do 3 things:

view that specific reblog on the blog you follow (A)

view the previous reblog on the blog A reblogged it from (B)

view the original post on op's blog (C)

however, staff recently implemented an update where clicking on a url no longer takes you to that specific post. now, clicking on a url just takes you to the blog itself.

this means that you now get 5 things:

view ONLY that specific reblog on the blog you follow (A) -> changed location near header. also, you will now ONLY see that post and nothing else

view ONLY the original post on op's blog (C) -> changed location near header. you will only see that post and nothing else. and ONLY if the op hasn't deleted it, otherwise it just shows an error

view the blog of the person you follow (D)

view the blog of the person D reblogged it from (F) -> option B no longer exists

view the blog of the op (E)

you might be thinking: "cool! i get more options so that's good, right?" well, no.

there are SEVERAL things wrong with this and it goes beyond the prev tags issue

1) first of all, it's counterintuitive that A and C changed locations to the area near the header, especially if your userbase was already used to the previous functions. it just seems like horrible UX design to me but let's put that aside for now.

2) as you can see, option B which allowed you to see the previous reblog of a post no longer exists.

now, if you click on the previous url, you will just be taken to their entire blog. you can no longer view the post itself.

someone asked staff about this, and they replied in this post that the change was INTENTIONAL and if you want to view the previous reblog you would have to "go through the notes view".

to borrow what someone else said:

basically, this update just killed the prev tags culture in one fell swoop.

(sure, you can still use it to reply directly to the person you're reblogging from, but it's now literally useless to use "prev tags" for everyone else involved. sure, you can choose to copy tags or peer review them, but again, if people will have to copy them then the less people are likely to use them, and not every prev lends itself to peer-reviewing imo)

now, listen. i know not everyone likes the prev tags culture, but it just seems like such a poorly-thought decision to kill a culture that like... half of your entire userbase uses (see this poll as a quick reference) and that's UNIQUE to your site and sets you apart from other social media.

but it's also not even just prev tags. let's say you want to remove an annoying addition on a post's reblog chain? you can no longer do that.

however, i feel like this is the most important point:

regardless of how you may feel about the prev tags culture, the pure UI aspect of it should remain

what i mean by this is: even if you don't like prev tags, simply 1) being able to access the reblog chain, and 2) clicking on a post and actually have it take you to their BLOG (and not just a page with that one single post) is literally essential navigation.

this update threatens to drive down user engagement (which is already critically low) by making it harder to navigate. which is actually another point:

3) even if you click on A and C now to view those specific posts, it's NOT the same as it used to be.

before, you could view the reblog directly on the blog. so you could just scroll down and see the other posts leading up to it. now, you will be taken to a page where you will ONLY see that post and nothing else.

but also, you can no longer easily navigate other people's blogs.

you know how sometimes you would see like 50 notifications of someone going through an entire tag on your blog? that's going to happen a lot less, i'm afraid.

let's suppose you want to go to op's blog because they're an artist and you want to see more of their art. so you click on C and see that the tag they use for posts with their art is "#my art"

cool! before, you could just click on that tag and immediately view ALL of their art as long as the posts have that tag.

but now, if you click on that tag, it will take you to the ENTIRE tumblr tag with literally all the posts that everyone in the history of time has tagged with that specific tag.

now, to do the same thing that just took 2 clicks before, you would have to: click on C to view the post -> look for the tag you want to navigate -> click E to view their whole blog -> scroll and look for a post that just so happens to have that tag (the search function is literally useless) and hope to god that there's a recent one or you'll have to scroll for ages or simply give up -> if you happen to find it, click on that tag to navigate their posts.

you see how this is counterproductive, right? you see how this can literally drive down engagement with content creators, right?

if you make people's blogs harder to navigate, you will literally drive down the number of likes and reblogs on their posts, which have already been steadily declining for years now.

4) options D and E to view the blogs and not the posts are literally useless because you could already access other people's blogs before. you just had to click on their url to view their blogs starting from that specific post AND you could choose to just refresh it to view their newest posts.

either way, the change just seems completely unnecessary. and again, it's not just about the prev tags culture but about basic UI.

so what can we do about it?

i normally don't advocate for flooding staff with messages but i do feel like this is one of the worst updates staff has ever done (and that's saying something) and something needs to change.

even if they don't retcon the entire update, that's fine, but staff could at least add the option to view the reblog chain as a different feature (maybe even opt-in) for example. there are better ways to go about this than just axing an entire existing feature.

also, this same issue that makes it harder to navigate blogs needs to change. i feel like content creators will be especially affected by this unless this changes because you can no longer easily navigate their tags, so it will inevitably drive down engagement.

so please, contact staff and let them know we want a change.

you can contact support here!

here's a template for a possible message you could send, but feel free to edit it. (under category you can choose "Feedback")

Hi, I would like to politely request a change to the recent update that affects the reblog chain of posts. Regardless of the "prev tags" culture itself, the UI aspect of being able to view the reblog chain of a post is essential for navigation on this website. Even adding it as a separate, opt-in feature would be a huge help. Additionally, clicking on a post and then on one of the tags now takes you to the entire tumblr tag instead of the tag on that blog, which makes it harder to navigate blogs. Both of these issues have the potential to drive down user engagement by actively making it harder to navigate Tumblr, but especially for content creators. I hope you can do something to address these issues as soon as possible. Thanks in advance and have a nice day.

also, if you can and/or want, reblogs are appreciated to help spread the word!

that's pretty much the gist of the issue from what i've seen, but if anyone else has anything to add or a different way we could contact staff to make ourselves heard, please feel free to let me know!

TLDR: it's not just about prev tags, this update affects basic functionality and content creators as well

Update Sept 07, 2024: this issue was "fixed" a few months back, although with some caveats / downgrades. You can check out this post for how to view the reblog chain, but all the other issues addressed in this post still remain.

[gentlebeardsbarngrill]

Daily OFMD - Outside US Renewal Tasks

Updated 01/31/2024

Hey all! I'll keep this updated every day so feel free to reference back here and I'll link to this inside the Recaps. If you have any recommendations to add for various countries please reach out to me!

==Things to remember==

Keep it positive! We are wooing them!

Only address one platform at a time!

Make it personal! Tell them why you want to be on that platform (inclusivity, diversity, other shows that are similar, etc)

“It’s okay to reuse some content with new tags but try to space the posts out a couple hours so they dont stack up on top of each other in hashtag very obviously.” -Jac

==Today's Hashtags==

#AdoptOurCrew

#SaveOFMD

#FinishOurStories

==Platforms to Reach Out to==

Netflix

AmazonPrime

AppleTV

If you reach out on the social medias, you can cater to individual mission statements per platform.

===UK Focuses ==

@lamentus1 has provided us with a lot of great information for UK folks, please check out the following:

The fact that there’s a huge audience for this show that hasn’t even been able to watch the 2nd season yet - to illustrate the fact that there’s a huge untapped market because more than third can’t watch it season 2 yet (we can use the Tumblr poll, and there’s that map as well, both good for illustrating the point).

Focusing on the UK talent in the show inc: Ewen Bremner, Joel Fry, Samson Kayo, Nathan Foad, Kristian Nairn & Con O’Neill. Minnie Driver too. They or shows they have been in may have their own fandoms we can tap into.

It's also apparently a good idea to mention you're British in your tweets if you're reaching out to @netflixuk Thanks! @libbyroseitm

Other helpful information:

Cheat Sheet Below provided by @aproperpirate on Twitter

If you wanna talk about the shows creativity, feel free to reference Ra Vincent's site, he was the Production Designer for OFMD. Great inspiration and pictures to use to show off to the networks.

It's also helpful for Amazon to show them the international reach

== Vote in the QUEERTIES ==

You can vote once a day!

Best TV Comedy

Best TV Performance

== Outside US Social Media For Each Platform ==

Instagram:

Netflix @netflix UK: @netflixuk CA: @netflixCA

PrimeVideo

@primevideo UK: @primevideouk CA: @primevideoca

Apple TV @appletv

Threads:

Netflix @netflix UK: @netflixuk

PrimeVideo

@primevideo UK: @primevideoUK CA: @primevideoCA

Twitter:

Netflix @netflix UK: @NetflixUK DE: @NetflixDE

PrimeVideo

@primevideo UK: @primevideouk CA: @PrimeVideoCA

Apple TV @AppleTV

Facebook:

Netflix @netflix

PrimeVideo @primevideo

Apple TV @appletv

==Daily Helpful Tasks:==

1. Push That Petition

2. Fill out Feedback forms:

Make sure to request Our Flag Means Death on all the platforms, and indicate why you like the show (if that's an option) and keep it positive. Source: @Lcmwriter100 on Twitter

Netflix

AppleTV - looking for an example letter? Check out @saltpepperbeard’s post

AmazonPrime

For Amazon Prime - Courtesy of @yougotofast over on twitter.

Existing Prime subscribers, you can access a Suggestions/Feedback form on the Prime Video app in the Settings > Help & Feedback section. The form is automatically tied to your Prime account, not sure if that makes any difference compared to anonymous feedback.

3. Platform/Article Engagement

HBOMax

A lot of countries don't have HBO max, but if you do and you can already watch Our Flag Means Death on them, please still go ahead and stream Our Flag Means Death, it keeps up engagement and numbers.

Search Our Flag Means Death on Netflix

If you have Netflix, after your search, stream the first title that comes up for a few minutes.

Article Engagement - Source: @candiedsilkmoth on twitter

@itsmfgames Has been kind enough to be keeping up a running list of Articles about the campaigns -- so if you have the time and want to go catch up on some articles, please checkout the guide below and visit this google doc for the list!

I'm probably gonna add a "running article list" somewhere, I'll update when I do.

Other Streaming Service or Purchase options:

Obviously don't feel like you have to purchase anything for the campaign, this is just in case you're looking for sources to watch. Amazon DE (Germany) Apple DE (Germany)

== RADIO! ==

While this suggestion is for NPR there are plenty of local radio stations across your own country, these are some tips. If you have good submission recommendations, please let me know i'll get them added!

Some awesome new suggestions from @AdoptACrew Check out the thread here. Link to the NPR suggestion site: Here

== Stats ==

Some Cool Stats you can use:

4. Daily Link Clicks to keep up engagement

Our Flag Means Death Wikipedia Page

Google Search for Our Flag Means Death

Google UK Search for Our Flag Means Death

Our Flag Means Death IMDB

Current @renewasacrew Daily Links:

Tumblr

Twitter

Instagram

==Media Resources (Pics, Gifs, Vids)==

Gifs, Pics, and Videos to use: show clips to use Src: @havethisonelife

Our lovely @kiwistede made some great custom gifs you can use to tweet and message the platforms with. Check out their tumblr here

UK Resources:

Thank you for these great pictures @LibbyRoseITM!

==Infographics==

Some folks like infographics instead of text so here's some stuff for you! Courtesy of @edandstede on Twitter

==Other ideas for engagement:==

[foundfamilyhq]

EDIT: Sorry for all these textposts tonight. This is a repost of the ealier post to remove mentions of one of the users in the transcript from the comments section. I appreciate everyone who commented on the previous version of the post and will be presenting a couple of different options on how to continue this blog either tomorrow or on Tuesday - Original post:

I've been made aware (in a transcript posted below the readmore) that the whole premise and language used on this blog is harmful and dehumanising to adoptees. This was genuine ignorance on my part, but I don't want to continue running this blog in a way that's harmful to a marginalised group

So because of that, I'm going to be ceasing running this blog as "the tumblr found family adoption agency" and in the coming weeks will remove this language from the blog as much as I can

Now, I do enjoy running this blog and would like to continue it in some form. I had considered simply removing references to adoption agencies, but while the original sentiment is still there, I don't think this small change would be good enough

So, my next idea was to change this blog to:

Finding the Tumblr Quest Party

The idea is that we're all on a quest and choosing members of our party. This way the blog would still function on a similar premise, but remove any references to adoption that would be harmful to real life adoptees. The question would simply be "Should this character join the tumblr quest party?" with the answer being yes or no and the results dialogue being something along the lines of "This character [did/didn't] join the quest party", to remove the upsetting ditching on the roadside aspect

Should I go ahead with this, all current characters on the list would carry over as they are, because I'm sure none of us fancy doing hundreds (possibly even into the thousands?) of polls again. Also, the current queue of characters would continue to run

I'd be happy to hear feedback on what you think of this possible change, especially from other adoptees from across the world (though ofc I wouldn't want you to doxx yourselves in the replies, so only say anything your comfortable with sharing)

Transcript:

user 1: hey op: are you an adoptee and did u talk to adoptees about this? because personally, as an adoptee, i think this is whole thing is really insensitive to us, and the experiences we go through. please stop this, it’s harmful. the private adoption industry should not be used as a joke for blorbos. it is an unregulated industry that costs lives

user 2: it's like insanely harmful and romanticism at every turn. I could write a whole entire ESSAY on how it's fucked up and basic romanticism that leads into silencing adoptees and their trauma.

user 2: honestly the excuse of "I know an adoptee that said it's okay! 1! " is first of most likely lying, second off just because one adoptee says it's okay, doesn't give you the right to Invalidate , romantize and glorify adoption and trauma.

Easily a "well x said I could say this slur even when I can't reclaim it!!" Like okay doesn't mean you should or you arnt gross

It's also, ignoring all of that, missing the point of found family in thee first place.

user 1: yeah like found family is removing all those labels why is this even a thing. makes no sense. and exactly!! it absolutely is romanticism & op says that they got permission they’re def lying imo 😭😭

user 1: honestly i will take bets they won’t even reply to us, block us, or ask why we aren’t being nicer or are making ‘hurtful assumptions’. but if they cared about adoptees this blog wouldn’t exist. if they know an adoptee and asked that adoptee probably doesn’t trust them enough to be honest. op also definitely doesn’t know the history of adoption agencies either cuz yikes…

user 2: Exactly, if the adoptee community is telling you it's gross (which there Isnt a lot of us due to being forced to be silent about trauma and to be grateful etc) then you should probably realize it's gross. This isn't animal jam pillow room where 8yrs wanting to roleplay family stuff, you are obviously smart enough to realize that it's gross, dehumanizing and romanitzing trauma. can write a whole college thesis on how gross it is.

user 2: people don't care about adoptees bc it apparently doesn't exist or only does for "the people who are adopted from China" or some shit that's their concept of adoption besides pets. It's like adoption itself is a fictional trope.

user 2: "Gotta block them, the minority spoke up and now I'm scarred of the conquences of my actions"

user 1: no literally they treat us like fictional concepts. and even tho this person is from the UK so adoption isn’t for profit like it is in the US, they probably do look at it like we are pets. like “ditch on the side of the road” truly disgusting language

user 2: God exactly.

user 1: it’s so dehumanizing, it really goes to show that people do not care about us. like the ppl reblogging going “this is such a fun idea!” FOR WHO?! some of us actually have lived experience. they MAY have sympathy for the one child rule adoptees but that’s probably bc of racism. it’s truly sickening how we r imaginary to them

user 2: EXACTLY no thoughts

foundfamilyhq: Thank you both for taking the time to bring these concerns to me and I can only apologise for the harm that this blog has caused you both and other adoptees who may have seen it and not been brave enough to speak up. While I can assure you that this blog didn't come from intentional malice, it clearly has come from ignorance and I don't wish that to carry on. (Cont.)

foundfamilyhq: I shall suspend activity on this blog and attempt to remove the uninformed, harmful and dehumanising language from it within the coming weeks. I shall make a post including your messages for transparency's sake. Once again, I am sorry for the harm you have received and appreciate you making me aware of matters I have been ignorant on

[fiddler-sticks]

Okay, what should I wear for 5 hours at church on Easter while playing violin in the balcony poll time. Fits under the cut

Outfit 1

White shirt, long pink skirt (that I rarely wear for literally no reason, I love it), and shawl I crocheted last year. The skirt is kind of tight around my waist, and the outfit doesn't look too very fancy, but I think it's still solid

Outfit 2

Blue skirt I wear a lot, pink shirt that I got to match it but rarely wear with it, and black shawl. I'm wearing the shawl to the Good Friday services so it might be a little weird to wear it for Easter, too, but I'll be up in the balcony for practically the entire time, so does it really matter?

Outfit 3

This is my mom's favorite out of all of them. Navy blue and pink dress with a pink cardigan. The dress is a little bit tight and the cardigan is a little too small, but other than that it's the prettiest out of all the options. Idk how I feel about it though, as I'll be out of sight for both services

Outfit 4

This one's a backup in case I'm not feeling a skirt. Beige/brown plaid pants, pink shirt, colorful shawl. I might also wear it with black pants if I'm not feeling the plaid. Actually, black might look better, so I might wear black instead. My mom hates the plaid pants so she said ew no, but I like them, and no one's gonna see me anyway 😉

Anyway, scroll up and vote plz, I'm so indecisive 😅

Also, if you have any outfit suggestions based on the pictures, please tell me, even though I don't need any more options lol

[itsbeenliketenyearsitsprettywild]

*deep breath* Okay. In that case, buckle the fuck up.

For all I know, there might be canon lore or word from the creator that entirely debunks this idea. If so, please feel free to tell me directly! I love discussion with other fans, and don't take it personally if a theory i back turns out to be incorrect!

(and honestly somewhere along the way I realized I DO NOT have the spell slots necessary to put my full thesis down, so sadly you're only getting the cliffnotes and some shitty visuals I made instead.) But before I get into it, I'd like to put a warning for those tempted to keep reading: This is the sort of pretentious plot twist spoiler that (depending on your tastes) might make the experience of MILGRAM a lot less fun for you just by knowing/considering it. As such, please use discretion before clicking on the read more. But! I don't think it'll spoil anything to state the basic premise.

The truth is deceptively simple: MILGRAM is a work of fiction set up so that us, the audience, get to influence the characters present in the narrative, thus directly influencing everything that happens, via the cast/crew reacting to our decisions according.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if you some of you think I'm joking or wondering how that in any way counts as a theory.

Part 1: A Cosmic Horror Story(ish) by Any Other Name

In which case, lemme shift the spotlight from the audience's perspective of Milgram to the character's experience of it:

While they don't realize it, the characters of MILGRAM are intentionally constructed beings, within an intentionally constructed universe. Which isn't to say that they, as characters, don't have thoughts and feelings. Their lives and experiences and crimes are just as real as everything else around them. But! Seeing as all of that is fictional, that's... debatable, at best.

They were all created (for the purpose of entertainment) by a force/entity that is basically all-powerful within their universe, but is almost entirely passive in nature. Or to put it another way: It's the cast/crew of MILGRAM that makes this whole narrative exist, but they're always gonna stay in the background of the story. The focus is always on the characters and how they deal with all this.

Past the force that created them, there is one other group of entities that exists outside the character's universe. It's these beings who actively engage with them, through means that go beyond the physical. ie; that us, the audience!! We vote, engage in theorycrafting, and talk about the characters to the point where oh shit they might be going a little insane from hearing us, actually.

Part 2: Other Helpful (and Very Shitty) Visual Aids, Without Context

Part 3: "Wait, so that means we shouldn't have been vot-" Lemme stop you there

With all this in mind, the conclusion most people would immediately come to would be "So this really was just the creators redoing the Milgram experiments, and our only ethical option is to not vote at all!"

Which, no.

Though we might largely have the most direct say in how things go down, the creators can still weigh in if we refuse to play by their rules.

For example, where you here when Haruka's 2nd Trial vote went down? Because, while I wasn't, I have seen the comments people posted during and after that time period.

That is to say, people were trying really hard to get him to a 50/50 tie stall, thus breaking the system - it was only right near the end that the poll hard shifted towards guilty.

Something similar (but a lot more shitposty) happened with Mikoto's first trial vote, too; apparently, the unspoken consensus was that everyone wanted Mikoto to be exactly 69% guilty (lol, never change folks). But, guess what? Right at the end - small shift towards innocent. Tragically ending The Meme Dream for everyone involved.

For all that we, the audience, are mostly in control of where things end up, the creators are more than willing to step in if we stop playing by their rules or don't take things seriously enough and shift votes one way or another depending.

Which means that all not voting does is put it in the creator's hands to decide - and, in that case, they could end up making the choice that you don't like.

So, for all it can feel icky for us voters to be C'thulu to the characters, depending on your outlook, trying to influence them can still be pretty important.

[bellybiologist]

Brainstorming

Okay so! I'm a little feeling Not Well for several reasons. Will be going to the clinic on Monday to see if im having more GI tract issues or if its a Weird Muscle Thing.

So, with things as they are, subscription income and it's content is Not Looking Good. I've looked at other places, and unfortunately, most are going the same route as Patreon. There is subscribestar.adult, but the problem with that site is that it has fewer payment options. Basically, Paypal is out and you'd need a bank card or something (might be other options, but i haven't fully checked). I know this inaccessibility is for a fact gonna slash any income and prevent a lot of people from moving.

Ultimately, any losses will have to be picked up by commissions, which is problematic because I am not a fast artist, with my health Doing Things combined with my ADHD-induced executive dysfunction. I'd have to change prices based on which option i end up using (which is what i was already doing, but will have to adjust due to these considerations)

So some current options I've considered are: ===== 1. Move- Simply set up shop at subscribestar and just take the subscription hit. Continue business as normal and pad losses with commissions, which, of course will have to go up in price. Support on other sites (patreon/ko-fi) can still be collected, but I really wouldn't have an easy way to get content to them as i wouldnt be able to post on them, which will be a problem.

2. Make "subscriber content" free- Continue using patreon, ko-fi, subcribestar, etc as differing venues for Unspecified Artist Support and not actually posting things there, using them purely for announcements. No content will be posted at all on those sites to avoid breaking their draconian rules. For my own sanity, I just make any content available for everyone. In addition to all content... events and polls would be open to everyone too and I'd use google doc polls to just collect interactions.

3. Go Full on commissions- Use sites for Unspecified Artist Support like above, but stop doing what I usually do for patreon and just fully try to meet my quotas via commissions. No patreon work will def mean commissions will get done sooner, though that'd mostly be offset by the fact I need to take more of them.

=====

I'm also considering offering physical media- such as offering prints of some such of specific pieces. I'd have to see significant interest in it tho and if the work to get that stuff out is something i can actually do.

I will still be brainstorming more things over the course of the week, as there are certainly more ways to go about things, and I'll be making a survey to collect feedback, so if you have anything that can help in these trying times, advice, suggestions, even simple comments about how things are and would like to see... feel free to let me know! I need something to work with to help narrow down which options are viable and what people would like so I can yknow. Pay Rent. Because in the end, I'm very much going to require my audience to keep me afloat no matter which path I go!

[glacierruler]

Sides and Neurodivergency results!

This, this is gonna be a long post!

Taglist: @cutebisexualmess @oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat @nebulous-astronaut @pandagobrr @awitchbravestheverge

First I'm gonna look at all the general responses, and then screenshot some of the replies/extra info that was given in these!

Everyone who responded was really nice, so I'm definitely down to do these again, just maybe not for a little bit! Gonna do a read more, and put everything below that!

First, the overarching responses to the questions!

Every person who responded to it said Yes, they think it's okay to write the sides as neurodivergent. One person went on to say:

Which is a fair assumption of what I'm trying to ask, considering the phrasing of the question. However, I do want to clear up, that I asked this question to know your opinions on it, not to ascribe morality to it. I get that the wording is kind of confusing, but I'm unsure of how else to word it.

Next question is this one. I'm asking if they make the sides neurodivergent, which neurodivergencies does the individual give them? There was an other option for any that I didn't list.

As you can see there is a long list, a good chunk of the answers were put in by the people who responded by filling out the other answer box. Here's the ones that were cut off:

To the first one, yeah, that's completely fair. I'm also hesitant to delve into neurodivergencies if I don't feel like I've done enough research or have personal experience with it(and even with personal experience I get scared to do it still).

To the second one, thank you so much for this long list! I didn't know a good chunk of these existed, and this will be so helpful in any future polls about this subject that I do! /gen

The next two questions were optional, and I'll be sharing my favorite answers. The first one:

Why do you/don't you make the sides neurodivergent? And why that/those specific neurodivergency(ies) if you do?

I'll be putting the Image ID here, because some of these screenshots are too small for me to put it in the alt text.

Image ID: 5 screenshots of 5 different replies to the answer above. Screenshot 1 says: I make the Sides neurodivergent because it's mostly me projecting as a neurodivergent person. This includes me leaving things implied as I slowly figure myself out.

Screenshot 2 says: I don't usually focus on that part of the story, it might be implied, but not explicitly said. despite being a neurodivergent myself. Idk I guess I'm just more interested in fun fantasy world than real world problems that kinda stress me out. But I would totally read a fic that focuses on any sort of neurodivergencies!

Screenshot 3 says: I like to because i tend to project my own neurodivergencies onto them, and i use my fic writing as a way to cope with my own internal issues sometimes. Expressing them with problems similar or reminiscent of my own, even if not explicitly so, allows me to figure out and work through my own issues. I have diagnosed ADHD and self diagnosed ASD and C-PTSD, so i find myself able to write about my own experiences through them.

Screenshot 4 says: When I write them this way, it's for the same reason I write them with a handful of physical disabilities. I want to explore the sides struggling with things I struggle with in my life. Because it's cathartic for me and also it falls under the "write what you know" adage. I also find it comforting or cathartic to read about the sides struggling with these or similar things. I think it's important for people without any neurodivergencies to do a lot of research before writing fanfic (or original fiction) with neurodivergent characters. I would do the same for a neurodivergency that I didn't personally have. But people everywhere *are* neurodivergent, there's no good reason *not* to explore these topics in fanfic.

Screenshot 5 says: If it's all the sides with the same diagnosis, that's another thing entirely. Part of it being that it's applying a diagnosis onto a, albeit fictional, version of a real person. I understand that the *Character* Thomas is different from *Real* Thomas, but it still feels weird and icky to do so to me. I won't judge anyone who does so, because that's a me thing rather than a problem thing, but it's just not for me to diagnose someone via fanfiction.

End Image ID

All of these are fair, personal reasons as to why they make the sides neurodivergent or they don't make the sides neurodivergent. (I did not ask if they did or didn't, which was an error on my part imho).

I will say, that in fandom and fanfiction, giving characters neurodivergencies is not the same thing as armchair diagnosing a real person with a neurodivergency, but I totally get how it can feel similar to that. I think for most people, the reason they give the sides neurodivergencies is to feel more connected to these characters that they know and love, or even to explore the characters more.

As for not exploring neurodivergencies in fanfic, there might not be a good reason for it, but there are definitely valid reasons for it. Honestly, even though I hc Remus and Patton as being bipolar(like me), I'm always hesitant to write about it. Mainly because of my own internal anxiety of what if I get this wrong, what if this isn't true for everyone, what if etc... So I completely understand people being hesitant to write the sides as neurodivergent even when they have said neurodivergencies. It's not necessarily a fear that will go away with time, it just becomes easier to overcome some days(at least for me). And to anyone who is unsure about something when attempting to start writing neurodivergencies in fanfic, research and ask questions. There will be those who are willing to answer.

I asked if there were any comments or questions for me, and I'll share these two answers!

Image ID: 2 screenshots, the first one reads: I would love another form like this but specifically for what neurodivergencies people give each side, I’d love to see the data on that

The second one reads: you can do anything you want with characters, they aren’t real, and it isn’t unethical to portray them how you want! in the same way people draw the sides to look physically different from irl thomas, people are going to headcanon their internal lives differently too

End Image ID.

To the first person! That's such a great idea, and I'd love to do it when I have the time/energy for it, maybe sometime this summer?

To everyone who took the time to respond, thank you so much! Your answers have been very insightful, and it was really enjoyable doing this! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

[evilwickedme]

What's your favorite costume version for all the batkids?

Oooh okay!! I'll go through a bunch but there are batkids I just don't have strong opinions on in this subject (namely Damian and Duke I'm so sorry)

1. So for Dick obviously the finger stripes are top quality but listen. Listen.

I know it's over the top. I know it's ridiculous. I know he's showing a ridiculous amount of boob and that can't be safe. But tell me that it's not PEAK Dick Grayson. Overdramatic, over the top, sexy and impractical. Is it a good outfit for fighting crime in? Not even a little. Is it my favorite of every single one of his outfits?? Abso fucking lutely.

2. Jason's outfits post robin are all variations on the same theme, and while I like the hoodie look just fine, ultimately I'm here to be as horny as possible about Jason Todd and the leather jacket look is PEAK so

I m e a n

I think we can all agree that this is just. I want to sit on his lap. And just. Wiggle around a little till I'm comfortable. Don't talk to me

3. Tim has gone through a lot of costume variations - there was actually a poll a few weeks ago to decide which was the best one and at the time I voted for option 3:

And I think I voted for it mostly because of what it symbolizes, because if I'm going to be honest, the one I find the most visually compelling is his current suit:

I just think it's so elegant! Should he narratively still be Robin right now? Absolutely not. Do I think that this design is ridiculously aesthetically pleasing? Yes yes I do.

4. Cass is a character who hasn't had many costume designs, but they've all been really distinct from one another. My personal favorite is the Batgirl outfit:

It's just so scary!!! Like it really defines her in so many ways, both as a person and as a vigilante, but the stitch on the mask is just so fucking horrifying and I LOVE it

5. Final one for now (again so sorry Damian and Duke you have good costumes I just don't have strong opinions about them 😭) Steph!!! Like Cass, not many costumes, but they all feel like her, which I love. The Batgirl outfit and modern Spoiler costume are both phenomenal, like genuinely I don't think she has a flop. However I really like the OG:

She's just a shadow!! She has no face!!! She chooses to dress in bright purple eggplant and yet she's still seamlessly blending into the shadows and it's SO GOOD. The only other character who does this is literally batman. I'm just. Ugh I'm in awe of this design it's so good

Thank you for asking this was so much fun to compile!!!!! And now I have all these photos saved in my phone to just bring out like "these are my blorbos" and show to strangers like grandmothers do with their grandkids

(I already had the thigh photo saved I'm not going to even pretend otherwise)

[davidmariottecomics]

Stuff That Sucks, Part 2 (Not Everything is Terrible)

Hello! 

This is going to be a long one covering a lot, so y'know, feel free to take breaks, stretch your legs, get some water. Take care of yourself. Because I took one week off and man, there is toooooooo much to talk about! One of my first blogs on my site, way back when was called "Stuff That Sucks, Part 1" in which I went over a bunch of stuff in the world that was bad. This time, I'm kinda revisiting that idea, but am also trying to put some silly or nice or just life-updatey things inbetween the bad stuff to have some balance, as much for myself as for anyone else! 

Palestine

Since I've last posted about Palestine, a ceasefire agreement has been floated. Early reports were expecting it to be resolved this weekend, but we'll see. It's hard to be optimistic (generally, given the state of the world) after 120 days of violence and an agreement that's still seeking pause more than permanence (and, in that, seems more for the benefit of the aggressor). But maybe something good can come of it. 

I also believe that it is because of the actions of brave people all around the world that we're starting to see more pressure and movement to resolution. Obviously, there are plenty of people and places who got it right in the first place, like South Africa bringing Israel to the International Court of Justice on genocide charges (still in review, but the ICJ did impose their rulings to not continue to kill people or commit war crimes and Israel... has ignored that). But there have also been so many protests, actions like last week's Global General Strike, and continued efforts in hitting them where it hurts (the pockets) with concentrated BDS plans. Even if it's happening slowly, minds are changing. The latest AP poll shows 1 in 2 adults in the US thinks Israel has gone too far, which I'm sure is bolstered by the repeated statistics that over 27,000 people have been killed, over 66,000 wounded, 85% of the population has been displaced, 25% is facing starvation, aid continues to be blocked, and hospitals and journalists continue to be targeted. 

But, even if things seem to be developing, don't slow down on the pressure and the help.You can still contact your representatives: Call. Fax.Email. Contact the White House. Join actions from organizations like Jewish Voice for Peace, American Muslims for Palestine, and the Democratic Socialists of America, or whatever local organization is making efforts near you. If spending money brings you any comfort and you feel a need to put something into good practice, the Cartoonist Cooperative's page still lists a ton of resources for E-Sim cards.

The other thing that feels obvious to say, but I won't not say it anyway, is even if the coming week does bring a ceasefire and some sort of agreement or resolution, the work's still not done. There will be so much rebuilding to do and aid needed in Palestine. There must be measures taken to not allow this to happen again. Even if Palestinians are given full free unfettered access without the threat of violence to Gaza and the West Bank, they're still living under colonization. There're so many other places that are getting wrapped into this in various ways (like the US getting into it with Yemen and Syria). And, of course, there are still so many other places under similar circumstances, like Ukraine and Sudan. The work will change, but it won't cease. 

(SIDE NOTE: You'll notice that one of the organic boycotts noted by BDS is Wix. I know a lot of people, particularly young people who are in school/freshly out of school use that for their portfolio sites. Might be worth looking into other options)

Barbie and Godzilla Okay, I'm going to try to alternate serious things with less serious ones. Because I didn't post last week, I am late entering the Oscar conversation, but my two cents is that Barbie did just fine (though... really, nominating Ryan Gosling for Ken???) with what they got. If there was one significant snub this year, it's that Godzilla Minus One only got a single nomination, when it rightfully should've been a contender in all major categories. Like, it was certainly the best picture I saw last year. 

KOSA and the Invest in Children Act

I've talked about KOSA a few times here. It's the "Kids Online Safety Act" and it's notable for being bullshit. So, tell your reps to vote no. The reason KOSA sucks--as if the CEO of X being in favor of it wasn't enough--is it doesn't actually addresses the problem it claims to, but is a tool of censorship overreach. As has always been the case, preventing access to information doesn't stop people from seeking it, it stops them from getting accurate information and limits who is in the conversation. So, while KOSA seeks to "hold companies responsible for eating disorder and suicide content" or whatever to protect the kids, as co-sponsor of the bill Senator Marsha Blackburn has LITERALLY SAID, (quoted here from the Melissa Mira Grant article linked above) “Protecting minor children from the transgender [sic] in this culture and that influence,” is one of the most important issues conservatives can take a stand on now, Blackburn said, in an interview with the Family Policy Alliance, a group pushing anti-LGBTQ rights laws. “And I would add to that, watching what’s happening on social media. I’ve got the Kids Online Safety Act.” This bill, she claimed, “would put a duty of care and responsibility on the social media platforms, and this is where children are being indoctrinated.… They’re getting onto YouTube to watch a video, and all of a sudden this comes to them.” 

Other advocates against KOSA have pointed out that not only is it seeking to further marginalize queer folks, but it'd also be bad for sex workers (who we'll get back to in a second), and potentially abortion information, as well as actual resources for people who are seeking help with disordered eating or suicidal thoughts. The only "good" that comes from this bill is, well, if you're an evil person in a governmental position looking to suppress information, you can do that if it passes. And if you want points for "protecting the kids", the name says you get them to people who don't know what's actually happening. 

BUT, with all that said, instead of just saying to reject KOSA, we now have legistation we can point to as what we want instead: the Invest in Children Act! Unlike KOSA, or it's shitty predicessor, EARNIT (which I've also previously rallied against), the ICA actually seems interested in fixing the problems that do actually exist in the gaps between internet companies that already widely report issues of child sexual abuse online and a lack of action from NCMEC and the DOJ. But, y'know, the name isn't as snappy and this bill would actually protect children (something that given their response to what's happening in Palestine and the US, most of our representatives don't actually care about) and would do good for the world, so unfortunately my expectations are low. 

(SIDE NOTE: Because this literally just happened while I was writing--I was listening to music on YouTube [not that they're great either because, I guess just everything is terrible now, but nominally better than Spotify???] and the video for Collective Soul's The World I Know was next in my queue and it paused. Y'know why? Because the website's already set up to tell me if a video may have references to suicide or self-harm! A thing that is already in place and doesn't need KOSA to happen!!!) 

Original Comic Art

Be on the lookout for a couple original pieces by J.G. Jones that were stolen from him at OAX. Poor guy had these commissions stolen from his table during the show and I'm sure everyone in the situation (barring the thief) would like to see this beautiful Poison Ivy and Fairchild go to their proper homes. And, semi-relatedly, there have been a lot of creators this week announcing they're parting ways with their current art dealer and if you'd like a commission or to buy their art, you should contact them directly. I don't have a full list, but if you were in the original art market right now, might be worth double-checking where you can make your purchases from. 

The War on Porn and Trans People

As if KOSA wasn't enough, it's been a bad few weeks for y'know, most people. In Oklahoma, a bill was introduced that sought to criminalize porn on an incredibly wide definition, brought forth by the sort of far-right Christian who despite being a preacher, has literally 0 understanding of what the Bible actually says because to him, religion is not about practice or belief in a shared understanding of how the universe was formed and how we got to this point, it's a tool of control.

There's a report that the owner of OnlyFans pleged $11 million to a pro-Israel group in the last few months. He has denied that claim. Regardless, as these things so often do, it has dragged performers on the site into the conversation despite A. OnlyFans not (yet) being a BDS target and B. with everything else going on, there are only so many places to move to left. At time of posting, PornHub is blocked in... 6 states. There are a lot of walls being thrown up to try to limit our access to adult material and further deplatform and marginalize sex workers, which was already a massive problem and it sucks. 

Meanwhile, this week, Florida's trying to revoke trans people's driver's licenses and Ohio's banning trans kids from sports or gender-affirming care in their quest to ban trans people from existence entirely. And these are part and parcel of the pattern of trying to further criminalize, censor, and legislate women's bodies, trans bodies, sex workers, and anyone who isn't a cis straight white man. In the US, the New York Times, and in the UK, the Guardian are both doing the Tim Robinson hot dog "we're all trying to find the guy that did this" thing despite how much anti-trans bullshit they've spread. 

As there are more bills introduced that forbid (or have to shield against consequences for) interstate travel of trans people and people seeking abortions, we're really reaching a breaking point and coupled with the dissatisfaction of both promient Presidential candidates for their records of *checks notes* inaction or hostile action toward the majority of the American people... let's just say I'm not looking forward to how this year shakes out for the most part. 

Wedding Plans One exciting thing, though, is Becca and I soft-announced our wedding plans. We'd still like to try to organize something in San Diego for our friends and family presumably around SDCC time, but tha'ts up in the air because that's expensive and coming up much quicker than I think either of us would like with no plans firmed up. But our plan for the wedding itself has largely shifted to doing it internationally. 

We were always thinking of a honeymoon in Japan and now have kinda figured that if we're going to do that, instead of trying to do a ceremony in the US and then also pay for a trip, it's cheaper and maybe more special for us to roll it into a single plan. Becca's been looking a bit at Sanrio PuroLand, the Hello Kitty amusement park, because they have reasonable packages and you can bring in an outside coordinator (and we'd love to find someone who has experience with queer weddings in Japan, if anyone might have any recommendations). I'm not quite as sold, but that is generally what we're looking at. 

As things maybe solidify around SDCC or otherwise we get our picture all figured out for Japan, I'll share more news. 

Virgilio Mendez Virgilio Mendez is a 19 year old migrant who has been held for a crime he obviously didn't commit. He's been charged with aggrivated homicide for a cop who confronted him for the crime of being brown and not speaking English. Mendez was literally just on the phone, repeatedly communicated that he does not speak English (and recently the court found the case couldn't move forward because, as a product of that, he has no understanding of the American justice system), the cop harassed him, ultimately called back-up, the cops proceeded to batter and tase him, and then the original offending officer had a heart attack and died, as the coroner has reported, of natural and pre-existing causes, and all of that has been pinned on this poor kid's back. It's just depressing and despicable. 

Baldur's Gate

Okay, so... at one point I thought this was going to be shorter (haha, I don't know why I thought that) and I was going to talk about how I've been playing a lot of Baldur's Gate 3 and my thoughts on it. But I've run out of room for this time, and soooo... next week. I'm going to talk about BG3, Persona 5, Honkai Star Rail, and the ways that things that might activate similar sensations can leave you with very different impressions in the long term. But that'll be next week, so see ya then! 

New Releases (2/7/24) Godzilla Valentine's Day Special (Editor - IDW)

Announcements: Happy Black History Month! This week, I want to spotlight Clarence Matthew Baker! He is notable for being one of the first successful Black men in American comics and one of the first successful gay men! That's a lovely little profile of him and his work, including some classic Phantom Lady and It Rhymes With Lust! The man had gorgeous art and influenced comics so much, not in the least because his art was one of the primary examples of the "seduction" of Seduction of the Innocent, the famous anti-comics book that turned comics into a witch hunt for pornographers because the more things change, the more they stay the same. 

Check out my Patreon where you can access this blog as well as a ton of cool other stuff! Some recent highlights include the holiday catalog I made at the end of last year is now available to all backers (though $10+ backers got it almost 45 days early) and I've previewed some materials for something I'm working on and hoping to launch in the next month or two. Patreon will also be where I start posting some of my new original comics work later in the year, so keep an eye out for that too! 

You can also check out my webstore, my Kofi (I still need to throw up my updated Anti-AI Zine), and Becca's site (also pending a new update)! 

What I enjoyed this week: Nancy (Comic), Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Links (Video Game), Baldur's Gate III (Video Game), Blank Check (Podcast), Dungeons & Daddies (Podcast), The Traitors Season 2 (TV show), The Sopranos (TV show), Almost Famous (Movie), Heartburn (Movie), the mango pineapple chicken from the local Indian food place, getting new comics and making friends with an employee we don't know at the comic store (If you ever read this, hi, Clay @ Nuclear Comics North Park!), having had a good first couple of weeks at the new job! 

Pic of the Week: Feels like it has been a while since I did this, but here's a cute picture of Tiansheng for what it's worth, but Hourly Comics Day was this week and Becca put together some strips. First one's linked and you can find the rest on their Bsky page! 

[mdzsartreblogs]

Okay so this post applies to this sideblog, tgcfartreblogs and svsssartreblogs, but especially here since this is the most heavily tagged.

With the influx of artists from Twitter, I'm getting absolutely swamped trying to keep up on new art posts, and I'm way behind in queueing new stuff even though I'm now regularly queueing literally twice as much every day as I was before the Muskening. It's getting really overwhelming especially because it isn't letting up (probably because Twitter keeps imploding even more) and @/miridiums had a suggestion on my main blog (@/unforth) that I think could help, but I want to put it to yall instead of deciding on my own. I think I've got two options.

1. Continue as I have been, accepting that I'm falling behind but doing what I can and that's okay - no changes in tagging etc.

2. I could (temporarily or long term) reduce the level of tag detail on the three MXTX blogs to match that of my other five blogs - which would mean I'm basically only tagging artist, character(s), ship(s), and trigger warnings. This would definitely enable me to go MUCH faster, and I might be able to catch up, but if I end up with a thousand+ posts with minimal tags the odds are low that I'll ever be able to find the time to go back and add the tags to the posts where I had to skip.

Which would you prefer? Slower but steady and no change in tagging, or reduced tagging and faster?

Votes appreciated! (Moments like this I wish Tumblr had poll options).

Eta: just for reference its currently taking me 2 hours+ a day to keep up across the 8 blogs, and that's more than I can spend a lot of days hence why I'm failing to keep up.

[authorautumnbanks]

How To Tame A Sorcerer: Side Stories (13)

Main Story

Side Stories

Buyo Jr. licks his paw, glaring at the other members of this entourage. He blinks owlishly at them. The black wolf sits on its hunches with its tongue hanging to the left of its mouth.

How uncouth.

"This is an intervention," Buyo meows, "Megumi-kun has picked up a stray."

"The only stray here is you." The black wolf snorts. "This is where we shikigami reside, not demons."

"Silence." Buyo slaps his paw down on the shadow, slightly annoyed that no sound follows. That's the problem with hanging out in Megumi's shadow. It's dark. A tad gloomy thanks to present company and he has to shout to get his point across. "I am talking about the cat human like shikigami that Kagome-sama created."

Nue flaps its wings. "What can this shikigami do? Surely it is not better than us?"

Buyo Jr's fur rises. He shakes the aggression out. "It created a barrier. But that is not the worst part."

"That doesn't sound too bad," a rabbit squeaks.

"Sounds useful," another rabbit says.

"How strong is the barrier?" Another rabbit questions, its bright red eyes watching Buyo's every move.

"It's awful!" Buyo bemoans. "It can turn into a cat with wings."

"…" The silence is deafening. They have no sympathy for his plight. This is the thanks he gets for sharing some of his demonic energy with them?

"Just overthrow it and be done with it," Mahoraga says, taking a seat next to Buyo, much to Buyo's displeasure. "Don't get why you serve him, anyway. He didn't even have to fight you."

"Some of us enjoy catnip." Buyo Jr. scoffs. "Why are you here? No one invited you."

"So, I can't hang out?"

"You knocked Megumi-kun into a wall and nearly killed him."

"He did do that," a rabbit says.

"It was pretty messed up," another one says.

"Couldn't have been me," the third one agrees. "He isn't even tamed."

Mahoraga clenches his teeth. "It is the ritual. He knew better to summon me for such a weak enemy." Mahoraga rounds on Buyo. "And where the hell were you? Hiding."

"You take that back!" He meows, baring his teeth. "I was following orders. He summoned you before I could react." He points a paw at Mahoraga. "Trust if I had been out, you would have been delt with in no time."

"Oh boy," the wolf says.

"You guys are traitors." Buyo fluffs up his tail and stands. Haters, the lot of them. "This is about that–that new shikigami!"

"I say we let them in."

"Maybe it could share some of its powers, too?"

"That would be cool."

"Cats eat bunnies!" Buyo hisses, eyes turning to slits.

The rabbits stare at him and then look at one another before busting into a fit of laughter. They fall back and kick their paws up. "He–he's jealous!"

"I am not!"

"No more catnip for Buyo."

Buyo curls his lip. Traitors. "Screw you guys." He sticks his tails up.

He. Will Not. Be. Replaced.

***

A/N: You guys requested a side story of the shikigami, so I wrote this up real quick. Okay, so there's a bit of a divide with A Thousand Days, so I'm gonna do a poll. You can answer the poll on my tumblr or you can answer in the reviews which option you would like. 1. A Thousand Days becomes a harem. Or 2. A Thousand Days stays at Gojo and Kagome And we get a yandere Gojo and Geto fic. Nanami will be in the fic but he won't be a yandere, but he will be getting cucked lmao.

Thanks for reading! Hope you had a wonderful Monday. And I'm drafting the next chapter for Wish I Could.

[bobbyfiend]

I don't know how to solve the following problem. The issue is: you're a member of a marginalized social group (e.g. POC, LGBTQ+, political minority, woman, etc.) And you're trying to gain status and rights for your group and make membership in the group positive and helpful.

What do you do about non- group members (especially members of the dominant social groups) wanting to help, give advice, etc.? Options I've seen and have thought about:

1. Be open to all suggestions, let anyone with good ideas and apparently earnest good will participate in shaping your group's direction. Pro: aves to wide range of knowledge, skills, ands labor. Cons: risk of having lots of influential people in the group be (at least nominally) from the very groups causing oppression, disenfranchisement of your group's members from leadership and overall direction, recapitulation of the oppression dynamic within your group.

2. No participation from dominant-group (ie oppressor group) members. Pro: not the con stuff above. Con: restrict expertise, knowledge, skills, etc. to whatever is already in your group, further alienation of the dominant group (reasonable response: fuck those guys anyway, but on the other hand it can sometimes be helpful to have goodwill from a more powerful group), creating a groupthink-like echo chamber in your group (having been in various groups in my life, this one seems like a big potential problem).

3. Nonmembers can sort of participate, but not like group members; they can sometimes offer thoughts but need to be quiet when told to, and are excluded from some kinds of discussions. Implicit: the only people who actually have a right to participate are those who share the identities or experiences or whatever that make them actual group members. Others are allowed limited participation at the group members' (or leaders') pleasure. Pro: most of the pros of #2 (maybe watered down a little?) Con: most of the vibes of #2 (maybe ameliorated a bit), alienation of some of the allies from the dominant group who might not want to participate as only second-class citizens in something they care about.

There are probably lots of other, smarter models but I don't know them so...

#2 seems like what I see enacted in some online spaces. It looks like a reasonable compromise. There are some dangers (at least I currently think so), including the phenomenon of "friendly fire." Sometimes members of the marginalized group can attack the dominant-group allies, often for insufficient or imperfect commitment to advancement of the marginalized group's agenda. This might look like gatekeeping, identity-shaming, "putting them in their place," "if you really cared about X you would do Y," or even just terminology arguments.

Of course, friendly fire can alienate the most helpful allies, removing their knowledge, skills, advocacy, and support from the movement. An underlying problem, however, is that it is really difficult to know if an ally actually is an ally. We have all seen trolls, moles, etc. wanting to participate in the direction or even just discussions in marginalized groups, only to find out they are acting in bad faith. A related problem is that some sincere allies are only allies up to a (problematic) point, or only if they get specific personal benefits from allyship.

This isn't just a question of how best to advance the agenda of a marginalized group, it is also a signal/noise problem with both conscious and unwitting deception and bad actors. I don't know the best way to do things. As a person whose identities are mostly from dominant/oppressor groups, but who cares deeply about social (and regular) justice, I'm very interested in this set of issues.

[toointojoelmiller]

favs are 6 and 9 (lol)

1, 3, 8 are very close (13.8%, 15.2%, 14% respectively)

2,4,5 consistenly the bottom 3 whole time (2.3%, 3.5%, 4.6%)

Thoughts:

First Place: Ep 6: Miller Boys: Now We Have Two!

was immediately in the lead, massively for a while, and stayed in first place the entire time. That is a STRONG result. *claps for episode 6*

this does not surprise me because ep 6 has sooo much packed into it including:

awesome and hilarious scene with couple at the start that Joel and Ellie *stick up and rob*

Panic Attack Joel

Joel and Ellie joking with each other and bonding on way to Jackson... Ellie clearly looking at him as a father figure, asking him to teach her stuff, joking around

jealous Ellie when Tommy comes back in the picture, feral Ellie in the dining hall and sassing Maria

The Brothers at the Bar Scene

The Bedroom Fight Scene ('course I do)

The Pedro Emmy Winning Scene

THE FIVE HAPPIEST DAYS OF ELLIE AND JOEL'S ENTIRE LIVES TOGETHER (somebody shoot me)

university/stabby

Joel you gotta get up I can't fucking do this without you I don't know where the fuck i'm going or what the fuck I'm gonna do Joel please Joel please

Second Place: Ep 9: Joel Miller Did Nothing Wrong

if this is a surprise did you even watch the same show because this episode is flawless in my opinion

Ignoring a Giraffe to Smile at His Happy Daughter Joel

It Wasn't Time That Did It Scene (this ended my life)

The Terminator Joel Scene

Dad-Daughter Hike Joel

chef boyardee and guitar and you okay? - just you kinda seem extra quiet today so - no it's fine

It was all her she fought like hell to get here

No you take me to her you take me to her right NOW please you don't understand

[I have no other choice] I do

Last Place: Ep 2: Tess's Kiss Scene

look, I get that an episode has to be in last place. what a testament to the quality of this fucking show that it could be one that is THIS good

this ep was in last place for the entire poll, and didn't get a single vote for a looong time

if you haven't rewatched this one all that I much I do recommend it. It's actually one of the ones that I have found the most rewarding to rewatch.. lots to pick up on that is easy to miss. lots of reward from taking in the background and sets and performances in a bit more detail

I LOVE the action parts of this, we get a real look at bamf Joel

it is such a good exploration and representation of where Ellie and Joel are starting their journey.. we get such a glimpse at all of these layers of Joel, made so fucking amazing by Pedro, and Bella fucking nails Ellie's optimism and vulnerability and nerves and bravery

the fact that this got a nom at MTV awards for Best Kiss is fucking hysterical until the end of time

Most Surprising: Ep 5: Endure and Survive (or not)

initially surprised me to watch it stay so low in the poll because I have rewatched a ton of this one (ok maybe I fast forward through Kathleen scenes always no hate I love Melanie Lynskey but we truly dgaf)

however looking at the entire episode list I shouldn't have been so surprised ... same problem as ep 2 - there are too many amazing options that split the vote!

(like when an actor is nominated for an award and it's just bad timing because a popular show just ended that also has amazing performances and there's a chance the rose coloured glasses of *this is the last season* will get in the way of the other actor getting the award that they so fucking DESERVE!!!!)

"Everything is great" dead pan Joel

QUALITY Joel and Ellie. "Ellie making him introduce himself, the simultaneous "I'm not her dad/he's not my dad" (OK CHILDREN whatever you want to tell yourselves), Ellie roasting Joel for caving in and doing her little impression of him.. TOO MANY TO LIST

The Suburb Sniper Sequence (was fucking perfect in my eyes and I bet I have watched it fifty times)

Bella's performance when Sam goes fungus and Henry goes bang is one of the best moments of acting in the entire show they are MAGICAL

I was wrong about:

thought ep 1 would have higher votes

thought ep 3 would have less votes

expected ep 8 to be in top 3 at least

Thanks for sharing and voting this was super interesting. The conclusion I have made is that all of the episodes are fucking incredible and you should rewatch start to finish because I promise you've missed a ton.

Attention rewatchers of The Last of Us:

[existslikepristin]

Activated My Trap Card

This one is VERY old. Even from before What A Bummer.

Tags: TheLounge?, CLC, Seungyeon, Yeeun, Eunbin, male reader insert, scary ladies, the most uncomfortable threesome with an audience of one, vote story

~~~~~

You stand in front of the door to Cube Entertainment's offices. You got a strange call a few days ago telling you to come to this address in order to "make a lot of money." You were worried that it might be something illegal, or a scam, but after you looked the address up you got a little excited.

And it seems like you were right to be! After a minute or two, the door opens and you see Seungyeon standing there, looking straight into your eyes. She's wearing a super low cut black tank top, a pair of jean shorts that look like they've been cut extra high for optimal showing off, and the most basic pair of black flip flops ever. She doesn't look surprised to see you.

"Yeah, there you are," she says in her deep, beautiful voice, putting her hands on her hips, "I knew you would be perfect. Come on in. I've got a job for you."

She stands aside to let you through the doorway and closes the door behind you.

Unsure of where to go, you wait for her to make the next move. She does exactly that, walking past you and letting her hand graze past your thigh on the way. That had to be an accident right?

With her back turned to you, you look down and she that her tank top is mostly backless, and her shorts reveal about half of her butt cheeks. There is so much skin on display to you right now. You make an effort not to look, but it's damn hard.

You're about to take another look when Seungyeon spins around gives you a deadly look in the eye. "So tell me... who's your CLC bias?"

Holy shit, why is she putting you on the spot all of a sudden?! She looks like she wants an answer, and fast! This really was a trap! Fuck!

Options: 1. (Picked:) Seungyeon 2. Seunghee 3. Yujin 4. Sorn 5. Yeeun 6. Elkie 7. Eunbin

~~~~~

"Y-y..." you stutter, trying to think about how fast you can turn around and open the door to run.

"Yeeun?" Seungyeon takes a step toward you. She's very, very close.

You stumble back and bump up against the door. Seungyeon follows.

"Y-you," you manage to say.

A mischievous half grin grows on her face. "Yu...jin?" She punctuates the "jin" part by pressing herself up against you. You're still nervous, but you suddenly think you know what this is about (that isn't some shit like assassinating you). She's soft but firm, like you can definitely feel the dancer muscles under her tender skin. Except for her tits, pressed against your ribs. Those are totally soft, other than two tiny points of hardness.

"Nah... you."

You feel Seungyeon's body shiver from top to bottom, and she slides one of her legs up yours, trapping you against the door just a little more. Her hands are suddenly on your shoulders.

"That's what I was hoping. I saw you a while ago. You didn't see me, but I saw a picture of me on your phone," She squeezes your shoulders a little, like she's getting needy, "Do you touch yourself when you see me?"

You gulp. You're really not sure if telling the truth about that will help your case here.

Then it's your turn to shiver, as Seungyeon licks your neck, then buries her face in it. "Tell me which one of my holes you fantasize about being inside the most."

Well, what do you say?

Options: 1. (Picked:) "I've always wanted your pussy wrapped around me." 2. "Do you think your throat can take all of me?" 3. "Spread your ass and I'll show you." 4. "Hole? But what about your tits?"

~~~~~

"I've always wanted your pussy wrapped around me."

...

Holy shit, you've never seen clothes come off a person so fast. You barely catch a glimpse of Seungyeon's nipples before they're smashed against your chest again.

"Well I want to wrap my pussy around your cock," she says, already lowering your pants, "Help me make that happen, okay?"

You're not sure how you're supposed to help, since you're pinned between the door and her paralyzing, hot body. You feel your pants dropping to the floor, taking your underwear with them. Your dick springs up and slaps Seungyeon's pussy. Of course you're already hard.

Seungyeon isn't waiting for anything. She lifts herself onto her toes, and your dick gets just enough room to be able point fully up. Your tip rests somewhere in her folds. She reaches around her back and you feel her fingers adjust you very slightly, and suddenly you feel your entire dick being engulfed by her as she drops back down.

She groans. Loud. You're very aware all of a sudden that you're having sex in the front hallway of an entertainment company's office and look around. Seungyeon grabs your chin and forces you to look into her eyes though. You see stars dancing around them, but that's probably because you're feeling light headed from the pleasure being forced onto you right now.

The look she gives you is... intense. The whole time she's moving her body just right to keep your dick inside her, despite the fact that she's so soaking wet and slippery and at such an awkward angle. She manages it well though.

"Do you like this? Hm?" She asks. You open your mouth to answer but all you get out is a moan as she squeezes your dick with her pussy. Against your stomach, you feel her abs working to make that happen. What a fucking talent!

She smiles and pulls your head down to her open mouth. You open yours too and it gets assaulted by her tongue, dancing just as wildly as her body does.

When she finally breaks away from the thing you could call a kiss, she moves her chest off of yours to let you get a really good view of her jiggling tits, shining with sweat. If you're honest, you've already seen most of them thanks to the clothes she wears, but with nothing to cover them at all they're absolutely amazing.

"I need you to... cum, alright?"

Woah, that's sudden. Does she mean inside?

"The first cum... happens fast," she pants between every couple of words. No wonder, since she's still fucking you while just on the tips of her toes, "but that's what... we need... You need to last... longer for the next round."

You definitely already feel your orgasm coming, she doesn't need to tell you that. But wait. Next round? What is she talking about?

Simple poll this time:

Choices: 1. Take charge and cum the way you want to! She didn't specifically say she needed you to cum inside her, but that's a risk you're willing to take. 2. (Picked:) Are you joking? She knows what she's doing and has a plan for MORE? Don't take charge, she'll make you cum the way she wants to!

~~~~~

No way you're risking doing something she doesn't want you to right now. Not after she mentioned a "next round."

"It's happening now!" you say through your half gritted teeth. You really hope she knows what you meant, but you're having a little trouble forming full, meaningful sentences right now.

Seungyeon gets both of her arms around you and squeezes. Her eyes lock on yours again and you're captivated. You can't look away. "Do it... then."

Her hips grind against yours, and your orgasm hits you like a runaway train. You're dizzy, but you can still notice that she's squeezing down on you. As your cum fills her up, her eyes roll up, she bites her lip, and a grin spreads across her face.

You barely register that you slump to the floor, with Seungyeon's clamping pussy bringing her down with you.

"You dumb fucking hooker."

Suddenly, your senses all come back to you. That wasn't your voice. Or Seungyeon's. Oh shit. You can't see where it came from. But you recognize it. You start to imagine yourself getting beat up by body guards, or thrown in jail, or... fuck, maybe exiled from South Korea? Is that a thing that could happen?

So, whose voice was it?

Options: 1. Seunghee 2. Yujin 3. Sorn 4. Yeeun 5. Elkie 6. (Picked:) Eunbin

~~~~~

With a semi-exhausted sigh, Seungyeon leans to the side and looks over her shoulder. You feel a sense of impending doom as you see that the voice came from the daddy long le-- er, you mean, "maknae" of CLC, Eunbin.

Eunbin is only about fifteen feet away down the hall, wearing shorts (not as short as Seungyeon's, but still revealing her full legs), a blue sweatshirt, and tennis shoes. She looks... well she looks stone-faced as normal, but you bet she's super angry, based on the tone of her voice.

"Beannie, it's all good, okay?" Seungyeon sounds annoyed. She stands up, a wet plop nearly echoing as she comes off your dick. She faces away from you. If you weren't terrified, you would be admiring the bottom view of her bare ass and pussy dripping with your cum. Actually, you just came inside her. You're suddenly even more terrified, thinking about the entertainment company lawyers that are about to sue you into oblivion.

There's a dead silence for a solid ten seconds as the leader and the maknae stare each other down. You barely have the self consciousness to cover your dick with your hands.

"Don't you want to try him out?"

You stare up at Seungyeon's back. Could she make this situation worse? Don't mock the witness!

Eunbin's deadpan glare lowers down and locks with your eyes. ShiiiiIIIIT. Her look goes a little further down, right at your hands. And she licKS HER LIPS, WHAT?

"I'm busy, ass whore. Besides, the bitch is waiting with her cunt wide open," she swears evenly, like she's discussing the mild weather. You would question what she's saying if you weren't so confused, and still light headed.

Seungyeon groans, this time with annoyance rather than with pleasure like earlier. She turns around and bends over to grab your arms and starts pulling. You have to assume she wants you to stand, so you try, but it's awkward, trying to stand without revealing your mostly softened cock. Once you're up, she yanks on your hands, flashing Eunbin. Yet, she only looks for half a second, then turns and walks through a doorway. The same one Seungyeon starts dragging you toward, all the while with your cum slowly dripping out of her onto the floor.

What the fuck is happening here?

And who's the "bitch" Eunbin is talking about?!

Options: 1. Seunghee 2. Yujin 3. Sorn 4. (Picked:) Yeeun 5. Elkie

~~~~~

As you make your way through the door, dragged by Seungyeon, Eunbin is nowhere to be seen, but there is definitely another person. You're not sure you recognize her though.

She's tied down with some soft looking rope to a cushioned table. And the ropes are all she's wearing, with the exception of a blindfold. The ropes are holding her down and holding her legs wide open, but her arms are completely free. Doesn't seem like effective bonda--

The door slams shut behind you, making you just about jump out of your skin. Eunbin was hiding behind it! She has on exactly the same expression as before, too. She must be determined to creep you the hell out.

Before you can do or say anything about that, Seungyeon grabs your chin and turns you to look at the tied up girl on the table again. "See there? That's Yeeun. She's been a very good girl until today. She's only had sex a couple times before, but last month she told us that she wants to be a little slut, so that's why you're here."

You see Yeeun biting her lower lip. Seungyeon reaches down and starts stroking your dick back to life.

"You can fuck her any way you want to, as long as it's hard, and as long as you can do it for a really, really long time. And if you can do that..."

Seungyeon drops to her knees and takes your mostly hard dick in her mouth, diving all the way to the base and quickly sucking off whatever was left from the first round. She pops back off and licks it from the bottom to the top.

"If you do that for her, I'll definitely be calling you back."

You look back and forth from the leader of CLC below you and the rapper in front of you. Should you really? This seems crazy.

"What will it be? You can take her sweet pussy all the way to the moon and back, but she's not on the same prodigious birth control I am,"

You mentally breathe a sigh of relief at that, but also wonder what the hell qualifies a birth control as "prodigious."

"If you're afraid of putting a baby in her though, we already pre-lubed her pretty little ass. It hasn't been used before, but you should glide righ-"

DEAR LORD, Eunbin's ever-expressionless face appears right in front of yours, out of nowhere, "Or you can face fuck her. I've been dildoing this stupid thot's dumb mouth for days to get her ready for your fatass penis, if you have the balls," she says, nearly monotone. You're seriously confused by her rude behavior here and suspect she might be hiding a torture room somewhere in this building.

From the table, you hear Yeeun. You may not be at a good angle to see her, but it's definitely her. You'd recognize that sweet, meek voice anywhere, "I'm ready... please fuck me?"

Holy damn. This is really happening isn't it?

Options: 1. (Picked:) Take that risk! Pussy time! 2. Well, if her ass is already lubed... 3. Don't risk Eunbin crushing your skull. Throat fuck Yeeun. 4. Why is titfucking still not an option?! Lol, jk, we all love her boobs, but she's not big enough for that. 5. Run the fuck away! These bitches are actually insane!

~~~~~

You take a deep breath. This is just plain insanity that you are witnessing before your eyes.

Insanity is contagious, apparently.

You step around Seungyeon, and stand over Yeeun. She's at just the right height, and your dick rests on her pelvis, between her legs. You hear a short gasp of excitement from her... and two more behind you, which is definitely still weird.

You back up a few inches, bend your knees just a bit, and move forward again. Yeeun is a bit small, so it takes some pushing, but you can see the anticipation building on her face (what isn't covered by the blindfold). With a thrust, you're in.

Yeeun sighs and a smile crosses her face. Seems you made a good choice. She's going to like this.

"Woohoo! Now make her a slut!"

Again, you nearly forgot about your audience. Seungyeon moves to stand right next to you, one hand on Yeeun's inner thigh and the other one squeezing your ass cheek. Yay, fun...

For hours, you pound Yeeun into the table. Seungyeon stays with you the whole time, climbing on top of Yeeun, sliding herself all over you, and licking... pretty much everywhere.

A couple of times you have to change things up, untying Yeeun and flipping her onto her stomach, re-angling her so you can hold yourself up mostly by your arms, and eventually scooting her to where her head hangs off the table while you kneel over her.

You cum at least four times, but it's hard to be sure, since you think you went basically numb after the first three hours.

Yeeun seems to have lost her mind around that same time. Her blindfold fell off at some point while you were fucking her from behind and now you can see that her eyes have become unfocused. Every time you pull out to adjust after the second hour, she whined and tried to get you back in. But anything coming out of her mouth eventually turned into needy moans.

You kind of wonder to yourself how realistic it is to have lasted so long, for Yeeun to have actually gone half comatose, or for this process to have "turned her into a slut," but hey, it was bliss for you.

Seungyeon gets on her knees between you and cleans off your exhausted cock (and the area around it) with her tongue. It's a little sore actually, but you're not about to complain.

She stands back up and wraps her arms under yours, pulling you in. "I think you were successful, baby. Yeeun is going to want so much more from now on. Let's hope the baby you definitely put in her doesn't slow her down."

Oh. Right.

"So, what's next? Want any kind of... reward before you go?"

With her hips slowly rubbing side to side against yours, it's pretty obvious what she means, but hey, she asked, so...

Options: 1. (Picked:) You're drained, but you'll try for Seungyeon! Even if it results in embarrassment! 2. You want more, but you don't think you can get it up anymore. Be smooth and give her your contact info. 3. Uh, yeah. The call you got said you were going to get paid money for this. That's a reward. 4. Maybe just something to drink? You're fucking exhausted! (Warning, this option is mad kink territory.)

~~~~~

With your cock just about ready to fall off, you aren't sure how well this will work, but you're willing to try for Seungyeon. You grab her by the hips. A smirk crosses her face, and she doubles down on grinding against you.

You lift her chin up for a kiss. It's your turn to take charge with her now. She coos into your mouth. Her fingernails lightly scrape either side of your spine, sending tingles all up and down your body. Her entire behavior just changed! Sheesh, and all you had to do was take the initiative in grabbing her? This girl changes her mind as fast as she takes her clothes off.

The sweetness continues for the better part of ten minutes. You could swear the room's temperature is evening back out, from the sun-like heat earlier to being very pleasantly warm.

Seungyeon slowly breaks away from the kiss, looking into your eyes with less intensity and more... care. She leans her head back, and you take the hint, diving in and sucking carefully at her neck. Her silent shuddering is only interrupted by a moan coming from behind you.

You can guess what it is, but curiosity gets you to turn enough to look. And of course, it's Eunbin. She's still staring, which is still creepy. But she's also got both hands moving inside her shorts. She's probably been there all along, so you guess she can stay and keep watching. You doubt she'd leave even if you asked...

Trying not to think too much about your audience, you get back to work on Seungyeon, kissing her tanned skin from her chin, to her chest, to her toned as hell stomach, to her clit. Once there, her knees shake, so you decide to set her down somewhere she won't fall. It's time to pay her back for all the oral service she's been giving you!

Seungyeon backs up at your touch, until she leans back against the table in the middle of the room, and onto Yeeun's half conscious body. The skinny girl groans as she's suddenly used as a back rest, but Seungyeon doesn't seem to have any interest in fixing the problem.

This is your moment. You're going to make Seungyeon squirm on top of her rapper. You'll make her explode! You start leaning down, tongue halfway hanging out of your mouth...

"Damn, you're still not hard?"

She's holding you back by the forehead, looking between your bodies down at your lifeless dick.

"W-well, yeah, I mean, I just..." you gesture down at Yeeun. That's where your hardness went, and it's still dripping out of her at a moderate pace!

Eunbin's hands are on your shoulders, pulling you away from Seungyeon. It's a bit of a shock, to say the least.

"I'll call you later! Buh-bye!"

The next thirty seconds are a blur. You're dragged, stunned, out of the room, through to the opposite end of the hallway you came in from, and shoved out a door into an alley.

"See ya, fuckface," is the last thing you hear from Eunbin before the door slams behind you.

What the hell...

The door reopens, and you spin around just in time to get a face full of your pants.

"Don't forget your stupid clothes, you degenerate," Eunbin throws you one last insult before the door closes again.

It's a little chilly out here.

[GAME OVER]

[osamusriceballs]

That reminds me of the light novel chapter about the captains and vice captains playing cards (spoiler: RIP Akasgi). TWO PEOPLE VOTED THE PAN NOW, DON'T WORRY. AND YES, I'D VOTE THE PAN TOO. I only added the door for more variety (didn't have enough creativity for 2 other options) but isn't he cute with all those bandaids? 💙 (don't turn notifs on, I spam A LOT) But I tend to do silly polls from time to time, yes! I think people like them. -Ele (1/2)

I'm happy that you're feeling better! My hand is okay since I'm not writing anymore haha. Today I just... existed. I was mocked by Micchi too. Tragic. Ah, when people tell me to drink it's hilarious because I always drink a lot all the time, like some people worry that I drink too much, so when I get told to drink more I'm like "MORE?!?!" hahaha -Ele (2/2)

—————————

The way I realized just now that these polls are probably anonymous- and I end up telling you everytime what I voted for- I SHOULD MAKE YOU GUESS ARGH I‘M GONNA RIOT NO ONE TOLD ME THAT BEFORE, I‘M A TWITTER BABY, I MADE IT JUST FOR A PHONE GAME YEARS AGO, BUT YIKES!!!! 😫😫 (I even chose the random username they suggest cause I was like- yeah I’m never gonna use it anyways 🤷🏼‍♀️ it‘s literally a random combination of numbers, I don’t even know exactly which ones, I could literally not tell other people my username, cause I just don‘t know it myself 😫)

But enough of my twitter stories 😂💖

Yes he looks indeed cute with those bandaids, cannot deny that- BUT ELE- DON‘T LET HIM INSIDE THIS HELL THAT WE CALL KITCHEN AGAIN 😫😫 at this rate you‘ll have to cover his whole face with them, and he is too pretty for that 🥺 don‘t do that to us 🥺

Existing is good I’d say! That means the good days can come! 💖

And the M in micchi stands for Mocking Master I tried pls that was bad even for me

Okay then- I’ll tell you something else like- don‘t forget to floss 👈🏻😎 cool advice from a cool person hehe~

Sleep well Ele!! 💖💖